hurricane golf

hurricane sandy loomed off the coast of south carolina when we woke this morning at 0500. after calling the good folks at lions paw, we determined that the course was open and we were playing! with winds gusting up to about 40 mph and rain pelting down...we were off! the game today was a modified stableford format. the insurance guy starting at 10, air force guy at 14, myself 19 and the marine at 25. which means the insurance guy had a target on his back, all against him. conditions were probably as bad as it could get at times...and with 200 yard par 3's into the wind several of those tee shots were with drivers...for the short knockers.

as the round progressed the numbers started getting closer to even and the weather got worse. the temps dropped and the rain continued. everyone was soaked to the bone and since we were the only 4 golfers on the course...we were not rushed, but at the same time we were in kind of a hurry. not sure about you, but playing golf in wet underwear is a bit difficult. although the air force guy seemed to be having some sort of weird fun.

just to give you an idea of how bad the wind was...on an approach shot to a par 5, my third shot was about 129 yard to front of the green, which normally would be a smooth pw for me. i hit a perfect 6i and came up short!

it came down to 18 a long par 5 with trouble left and ob right. after hitting my 3rd into the greenside pond, i thought for sure i was toast...but as usual all square. the insurance guy and myself tied with a 27, the marine came in 3rd and the air force guy brought up the rear.

the air force guy, the marine and i can now cross off the played in a hurricane from our bucket list. we already played in snow storm, what will be next?

tomorrow is last round, straight up handicapped singles at the tigers eye. check back on monday for the results...until then golf your balls.

panthers run | lions paw

we have hurricane sandy breathing down our back...so we played 36 today just in case we spend the day at the bar tomorrow.

got the day started off at big stacks...steak and eggs! great service and a little known hang out for vanna white, she is from mb.

panthers run was dots game and th marine kicked ass...30 dots! He knows how to play the game...here is the tally:

marine - 30
the air force guy - 16
insurance guy - 18
me - 15

so after it all said and done the marine had enough quarters to buy dinner!

course was in good shape, greens were better today than yesterday.

lunch at the course was awesome, cheeseburger was off the hook and the cole slaw was bangin'

the guys at the course were all regular as they could be, and we really appreciated the assistance.

2nd round...lions paw...ryder cup format, teams the marine and the insurance guy vs. the air force guy and me. course was in good shape, greens were also rolling great. first 6 was best ball, marine team wins. second 6 was alternate shot, marine team wins. last six was singles...
the air force guy vs the insurance guy - insurance guy wins
marine vs me - all square

great day, great weather, much fun!

dinner at outback and much drinks, tomorrow we play lions paw if it is not pouring down the rain.

golf your balls

leopards chase

what a beautiful day for golf...shame i had to waste it. everyone drove down this morning for a 12:30 tee time, sun and puffy white clouds. golf course was in very good condition...a couple of greens had some issues but they all rolled great.

 today was a ryder cup format...first six was 4 ball, next six alternate shot and last six was head to head singles. Teams were the service men (the marine and the air force guy) against myself and the insurance guy. supposedly an even pairing and would have been if i would have brough a golf game. a slow start put us down 4 on the first six...i know right. then the alternate shot portion got a little better...but still a 1 hole loss for us.

the obvious singles match would have been the marine against me and the insurance guy against the air force guy...but when we pulled up to the 13th tee i asked the insurance guy who he wanted...i want the marine...i think i can take him. a battle began...and at the end and after the dust cleared...it was all square.

 a great drive, a great day of golf, a great dinner, and now in our awesome room we are drinking heavy... as they say the weather is here wish you were good.

 

Dont forget to golf your balls.

 

 

Tomorrow is panthers run and it is a dot game

bull creek

you ever play a round of golf with people that just make you laugh? i played with the cow farmer, puddin and the bean counter today at bull creek. first i will say that for the small amount of money you pay to play at bc....it is worth it. the guy who runs the place is real regular. the course is in great shape and the greens were rolling good...a bit slow but good.

i introduced you to the bean counter a few months ago at a riverwood blog. the bean counter is a big guy, 6' 4" probably 240ish, with this deep, loud resonating voice..and a very regular guy...very fun to play golf with...just don't want to watch his swing. so on number one tee the teams are determined, puddin and the bean counter against us... also on the number one tee the onslaught of verbal abuse began, i'm gonna kick your ass, you cant spell golf, your mother is ugly...you name it...funny thing about the abuse, it was from the bean counter...directed at puddin...his partner. i would have spit milk out my nose have the round. i really enjoy playing golf with a bunch of guys who just want to have fun. now don't misunderstand that; i like to get serious and compete...but i have not really played enough this summer to get serious.

so if you want someone on your team that can talk major junk, you want the bean counter. and if you want someone on your team that can take major junk, you want puddin.

we have a foursome going to myrtle beach in a few weeks that will be fun, i will try and blog after each round if i am sober enough, so keep tuned for more on that...also if you are wanting to get some club work done, don't go to the guy who has a shop in the popular driving range on capital boulevard in raleigh...word is he will make you some crappy clubs and then laugh at you after he takes your money. of course i am referring to the last post, but keep tuned for more on that as well...don't mess with my wife, kids, car or clubs, unless of course you want me to go irregular on your ass.

until next time... golf your balls.

club fitting

if you go back in the history of my blog you will find a post "club review" that I told you about my irons...and how i was fitted for them. I continue to be impressed with the performance of these irons. i mentioned in that post that i thought there were bad clubs and good clubs; with most of the major brands being good.

a lot of you are aware of the club fitter that was playing on gwat in d flight...who offered a free spining as a raffle that i won. i had my irons and woods spined, noticeable difference. a lot of you are also aware that this particular club fitter had some issues, a head came off of one of the marines clubs as well as one of mine. due to this, i would not recommend this club fitter.

i am a self admitted tweaker...i like to tweak my car, swing and clubs. i have been through a few drivers in the 6 years of me playing golf...and finally i found a driver that i was actually hitting well...the titleist with the rip shaft. well on my trip to mb to tweak my swing, it snapped the shaft...omg, i did not just do that!

most of you know that i have also had several different pga teaching pro's... one who stole $300 from me, one who changed my swing about 12 times, another who stole $100 and one who wanted to change everything about my swing...and then finally joe bernat, who was gold...

all of the above is to preface this...

cow farmer suggests i go to his "guy" to get my titleist re shafted. so that is what i did. i go to see the shaft guy who's shop is located at a popular driving range on capital boulevard in wake forest, nc. he tells me that he is not just going to slap any old shaft into my club, he is going to have to "fit" the shaft to me. he interviewed me for about 30 minutes and then had me hit one of his demo clubs. i hit the demo club like a pro! he used a gizmo on the shaft to determine my swing speed...204, 206, 209, 211 and 214. we then went back to discuss the results and he told me that the shaft for me was a certain model...not the one that i just hit very well, but one that was similar in flex and weight. he is the club fitter...so ok. i decided to have him do my fairway woods and my hybrid as well...as this type of shaft is matched so all of them would "feel" the same. i went home that night and decided to not have the titleist re shafted but rather have him build me a club with the same head as the demo club...all in all an order of over $800. he told me it would take a few days to get the shafts and then a few days to build...i could not wait! i hit that demo club about 280 at the range with a nice little draw.

i got the clubs to the driving range as soon as i could...to find out that there was something bad wrong...short left, short right, low, high, a good one. I hit about 40 balls and would say 3 were good. omg, this has to be me...bad day. come back next day, same result. very frustrated, these shafts are not "fitted" to me...possibly a mistake in the fitting process? not sure...one more trip to the range...same result. I could pull my back up driver out in the middle of this mess and hit one right down the middle.

i call the club fitter and schedule a meeting...telling him the results of my 3 trips to the range. i get there today and he has a guy hit the club to prove to me that there is nothing wrong with the club...it is a good club. well the guy is a pga teaching pro that could probably hit any club in the entire place...i am thinking to myself, what the hell does this prove. i never said the club was bad, i just said i cant hit it... so i hit it...not bad but still not good. the pro then tells me that i have adapted my swing to fit my crappy back up driver an now that i have a good club all the defects in my swing are evident...he would be more than happy to help me with my swing. really did he just say that to me? so the club fitter takes me back to show me how crappy my back up drive was by putting it on the bench and flexing it..a bit of wobble...and i am sure he thought it was going to be more than it was.  then he put on the new club and showed me how straight it was. i explained to him that i was a bit disappointed that i was being told that the problem was my swing not the club. he told me i should take up the pro on his offer to give me lessons...i told him i was not driving an hour to get some guy who i don't know and at this point don't like to show me how to swing to hit these clubs...he said it would be beneficial and worth the time. i told him i was not going to do that...he then looked me in the eye and told me that i would need to get my swing fixed if i wanted to be able to hit his clubs.

i guess i will need two swings one for my irons and one for these super duper special clubs that can only be hit by people with super duper special swings...what a load of bs.

not once did the club fitter think that maybe he made a mistake or that we should check to see if the fitting process was correct, it is a shame that people cant admit mistakes, but instead go on the defensive and point fingers at other people. i don't have a perfect swing, not even close...i want to get better and will, but really a club that cant be hit unless you have a good swing...but my cheap tm driver i can? i don't think i missed a fairway at prestonwood with my cheap tm.

you can go to this place if you want, but my suggestion would be to run in the opposite direction as fast as possible. typical poor customer service, smile and be nice as long as everyone is happy, a little issue arises and treat you like poo poo.

until next time don't for get to golf your balls.

cga | 12 oaks | 4-ball

what a wonderful day to play golf! the marine and i played as a team today at 12 oaks in holly springs. those of you who have not played the course would like to know that it s a nicholas design...which translates into really hard. i am just thankful that nicholas and donald ross didn't team up to design a course...then you would not be able to hit a fairway and all your putts would be downhill...

so after a warm up on the best practice facility in nc, we were off for our round! i have played 12 oaks a few times in the past and have come to the conclusion that there are at least $50K in out of bounds, red hazard and yellow hazard stakes on the property. also i am still playing with my back up driver and woods..woot!

the marine and i ham and egged our way around this incredibly difficult course like pro's. i even went birdie/birdie...and that is a first! we had the pleasure of playing along side some other guys who were almost regular...one was a real talker and thank goodness was not in my cart.

the marine had just purchased a bran new hybrid, which he wielded successfully on all attempts...and at the end of the round we finished with a net 63. enough to put a flag in both of our hands (cga version of 1st place trophy) and two gift certificates for $80 each. the marine has a new shirt and i a new vest!

i now have a delima... you see on december 2nd this year the cga is holding its annual, tournament of winners, a large event held in pinehurst. to enter this tournament you must have won during the season...and now i have won twice...with different partners. first win at prestonwood with the cow farmer and now a win with the marine at 12 oaks. so i asked the td (joe), what do we do? he confirmed that the 3rd gets to play by himself or find another single winner of 4-ball from this year.

next time i am going to tell you about my driver and woods...so until then, don't forget to golf your balls.

the river

another great day on the golf course, today was the river golf club, and in pretty good shape. today it was the cow farmer, puddin, the counter and myself...with a special guest...the cow farmers wife...more about that near the tail end of the story.

so puddin and i were a team and puddin was playing well today...as usual. the cow farmer struggled all day, but the counter and i believe that there was some self imposed pressure that was not normal...the toe is a little better but performance anxiety got the better of him today.

so puddin and i make the turn one up, not feeling like we are winning but rather we are being given chances. there were two highlights of the day..puddin chipped 3 times for birdie...three times! the highlight came at the tail end of the round, you should have been there.

after our drives on seventeen, puddin realizes he is supposed to pick up his kid...like in 5 minutes...so he is rushed to the parking lot, leaving me to play the last two holes by myself. thanks a bunch puddin...leave the c player against two a players! needless to say i lost the lead and ended up losing the back and the overall. the 18th was the best hole of all, the cow farmer finally came through with a birdie...we had been hoping he would do so the entire round...truth be told we were hoping he was going to have the round of his life and shoot a 59...but the birdie alone was worth the trip to the river.

so for those of you wanting to play a good course with some relative good greens for under $20...check out the river golf club. until next time don't forget to golf your balls.

ps tails we win