I'm being traded..

I was running my blog through Google and saw a link to BlogShares. I have no idea what they do or how it works but looks they're some kind of fantasy blog stock trading game site. I noticed that my blog has been indexed as a "blogshare". Wow..I feel honored. I'm being traded currently at $5.93 Neat. Check me out.

Redhawk...

As the title suggests I played at Redhawk G.C. last week. We were actually planning on playing at Temeku Hills and then that was cancelled. Then we decided to play at Oceanside G.C...and that too was cancelled. I was then going to play with some other people at Los Verdes and low and behold my buddies come up a pitch to play Redhawk.

I was all ears since I always heard about it and wanted to play there someday. Well it was sooner than later and we got a morning tee time which made it more enticing. Needless to say I scratched Los Verdes, and I've played there numerous times anyhow, I was off to Temecula to play The 'Hawk.

It was an absolute gorgeous day and the clubhouse was quite unique. All the buildings looked like small spanish style villas. It had a real cozy feel about it and everyone was real friendly. It was my buddies birthday a week ago and Redhawk let's you play for free if it's a week before or after your birthday. We ended splitting 2 full green fees 3 ways, it was the three of us..always, which even made it better.

I didn't have time to practice so it was my typical show up and off to the 1st tee. The first hole was a narrow, blind dogleg right to an elevated green. Not the most fun way to start the day. I managed to hit my drive pretty well and had about 140 yards left to the green. I was telling my friend, that I was carting in, that I always get amazed when we are able to hit the very 1st tee shot down the middle. I used to say it was all luck but now I'd have to say there's also a fair amount of skill involved also to pull this off too now. I'd say hitting a 1st shot, straight down the middle, without any practice, in the early morning, is one of the toughest shots.

My 2nd shot ended up with me pulling it left and I was just off the green. I chipped back on and fortunately didn't roll off since it was a multiple-tiered green. All the greens at Redhawk were like this. I ended up 2-putting for a bogey..but happy.

I won't go into details but it was a nice course but i really did expect a little more from my expectations about it. The greens were in nice shape and there were some rough spots on the fairway at times. I'm not sure if it rained there but some of the fairways were a little soggy. The course also runs through a housing tract which took away from my intial impression of it as well.



All in all the course didn't play as tough as people said it played and the famous "island" green (it's surrounded all around by sand..so you can still get up and down) was not menacing one bit. There was one particular hole, a par 4, that had the St. Andrews style "pothole" bunkers guarding the front of the green. I was fortunate not to have experienced it..it was VERY deep. I did lose 3 balls but not because of the difficulty of the course but rather of my really errant tee shots and a bad approach.



One thing I hated about Redhawk, and others that don't have it, was the lack of yardage markers. The only thing that was a visual marker was the black and white candy striped 150 yard marker. Maybe that's why they sell the yardage books for a buck at the pro-shop. They did have "hidden" markers on the fairway but I gave up trying to find them. For a course of this "magnitude" you'd expect them to have a standard GPS unit installed on their carts.

I would suggest to anyone to play here once just because of the hoopla/reputation it has, but that's about it.

Guy Don LaFontaine

Who knew..I love that guy.

The X Factor..

I just got an email today from Callaway Golf, I'm on their mailing list..sorry..not a staff member, and it was introducing the new X Hybrid. It looks great and much better looking than the Heavenwoods. I don't know too much about them yet and still checking up on it.

As we set about designing the X-Hybrid we worked to incorporate and build on what we learned from our first two hybrid designs, the Heavenwood Hybrid and the FT-3 Hybrid. This hybrid has a slightly different loft progression, with each hybrid having one degree more loft than previous offerings. This new loft progression, combined with the Center of Gravity (CG) location, makes it easy to get the ball in the airand stop it on the green. The relieved area on the back of the sole was designed to reduce turf drag and the rails were added to help stabilize the head through the turf. -Callaway Golf R&D

It's quite a coincidence that I'm looking to trade up my current hybrids and would love to try these out. I have to start making my calls..lol

Solus Save-us..!

I played the Solus wedge last Saturday..yeah, I know, it's been awhile since but I just haven't had time to post..we're currently in the process of adding a room addition to our house and I've been talking with all sorts of people hunting down the best rate..blah..blah..blah..

Anyway, the Solus is a good wedge..period. I can't say great because I think I need to put it through some more various shots from the fairway. I did notice that it was a hair lighter than my previous Cleveland 588 Gunmetal, but I'd say this is due to the shaft. The Solus wedge comes with a proprietary True Temper shaft which is specifically designed for the wedge. It feels more like a regular flex than anything, but it's fine. I've heard some people, with faster tempos, have upgraded the shaft to a DG S300. I'm fine with it..and I think the smoky color of the shaft looks cool.

The play and touch around the green was as great if not better than the Cleveland. There is alot of feel and feedback from the wedge. I really can't say if it checked anymore than the Cleveland though but the feel was very good. I friend of mine who also has the same wedge says that they WILL rust but all you need to do is just give it a shot of WD-40 or some silicone spray and it'll be fine.

The wedge has a square toe which was took a bit to get adjusted too since I was familar with the more rounded toe on the Cleveland's. All you Titleist Vokey users will be more familiar with this style and I guess it's the more "desired" type of toe by the PGA Tour pro's.

I did like how the leading edge was flush when I addressed the ball. It was confidence inspiring and I felt that I was going to have good, clean contact. I can see why these play great from tight lies. This is due to the "crescent cut" system they use where it enables no bounce on regualr shots and then if you open it up you get bounce. Anyway, it's a keeper for now.

New Wedge..

After much research I've decided to leave the major wedge manufacturers behind and try out the Solus wedge. I've seen the infomercial..numerous times..but really didn't fall for it. What really pushed me toward this wedge was the fact that the grooves on my 51 deg. Cleveland 588 Gunmetal, that's a mouthful, have worn down and the fact that I was a fan of Frank Nobilo in his days.

I really can't say if it has really made an impact on how the ball checks on the green but I figure this would be the best opportunity for me to try this wedge out. I'm also interested to try out their "crescent cut" system. It allows for bounce when you need it..like in the bunker when you open the face up..but then no bounce when you're off a fairway or really when you're in a tight lie.

You may be asking why not just replace it with another 588 Gunmetal..which would be the smart thing to do..since I'm so familiar with the Cleveland wedges. I've played with the 588 series my whole golf career..I know it's good..so I figure if the Solus doesn't pan out for me I'll just pick up a new Gunmetal 588. A co-worker of mine plays with the whole Solus wedge set (51,56,61 deg.) and said they REALLY check up so he had to make some adjustments but could attack the pin..which has got my mouth watering..

You vs. PGA Tour Pro...

I was comparing stats today on Yahoo! Golf and ran across some neat tidbits. For your viewing pleasure compare your stats to the "worst" (yeah..right) PGA player stats :

Driving Accuracy: Jimmie Walker 49.8% (fairways hit)
(Joe Durant (1) 79.2% / Tiger Woods (146) 60.7%)

Birdie Average: Hidemichi Tanaka 2.6/round
(Tiger Woods (1) 4.4/round)

Par 5 Birdie: Mark Brooks 28.5%
(Tiger Woods (1) 57.1%)

GIR: Todd Hamiliton 56.7%
(Tiger Woods (1) 74.2%)

Eagles: Ian Poulter (five-way tie) 1
(J.B. Holmes (1) 19 / Tiger Woods (10) 12)

Par 3 Birdie: Ryan Hietala 5.4%
(Kirk Triplett (1) 21.2% / Tiger Woods (26) 14.9%)

Scoring Average (actual): Hidemichi Tanaka 73.2
(Tiger Woods (1) 68.7)

Driving Distance (avg.yds): Corey Pavin 265.9
(Bubba Watson (1) 318.4 / Tiger Woods (6) 306.4)

Putts Per Round: Bill Glasson 30.2 putts/round
(Aaron Baddeley (1) 28 / Tiger Woods (140) 29.4)

Par 4 Birdie: Hidemichi Tanaka 10.0%
(Tiger Woods (1) 21.8%)

I was surprised with the par 3 and par 4 birdies stats which seemed much lower than I expected. I was also surprised to see how low Tiger was ranked in the putts per round category..wow.

Golf Contract

Current Golf Contract: (I can play all the golf I want as long as..)

1. It is Saturday.
2. get home, meaning in the house, by 12:00 P.M.

These rules may seem harsh/rigid but I have been able to abide by them for the longest time. Sure, there have been times when I've been in breach of contract but have gotten off with a verbal warning or the dreaded "stink eye".

Well, I had a heart to heart and was able to renegotiate the current terms of the contract to be ammended as thus:

New Golf Contract:

1. I can practice/play golf THREE (3) times per month.
2. A MINIMUM of TWO (2) of the practice/play rounds MUST be completed with me at the house by 10:00 A.M.
3. I can play ONE (1) FULL, uninterrupted, non-threatening, non -worrysome, non-"stink eye" 18 hole round ONE (1) time per month.
4. FULL 18 hole rounds CANNOT be played back-to-back, consecutively.
5. I am ALLOWED to play back-to-back 9-hole rounds. (as long as I'm home by 10:00 A.M.)
6. Practice/play rounds (9 or 18 holes) not played WILL NOT carry over into the new/next month. USE OR LOSE.
7. This contract can be renegotiated/terminated AT ANY TIME by wife.

Now at first this may seem rigid but I guess I'm counting on playing that ONE time in the month with out any worry of impending/imminent penality. That's about it..So what do you guys think?

What did they put in my coffee?!?

I just came back from playing golf with a couple close buddies of mine in San Diego. We played at The Vineyard in Escondido. I've played there before and I remember the greens being fast and ultra-undulating..ugh Anyway, I'm working on 4 hours of sleep from yesterday night to today so forgive me if this post is a little hard to follow.

Anyway, I showed up about 30 minutes before out tee time to warm up. Today was the first time I got to hit the "new" irons and driver (Callaway X-16 Pro Series and X460 Tour). I hit the irons well and noticed a slightly higher trajectory too which was SOOO nice. The shafts, Dynamic Gold SL, did feel a touch lighter but perfect. They felt just like my previous set, X-14 Pro Series, but had a higher launch which I was expecting.

As expected I had no problems with the Callaway driver. Only thing I noticed was the peculiar sound the X460 made at impact. A lower, duller, "PING" sound compared to what I'm used to from Callaway drivers. The shaft was perfect (Fujikura Tour Platform 26.3, regular flex). I haven't been this happy with a driver since my Great Big Bertha II 415.

I was the first to tee off and decided to start the day with a #7 Pro V1. I pulled two balls of my bag one was a #1 and #7. I decided the #7 would bring me good luck for the day..which it did..I ended up carding an 86. I hit almost every fairway except two of them and had multiple GIR's. I was only 4 over on the fron BUT then went 12 over on the back.

The reason for this was I had two back-to-back holes (both par 4's) where I got triples on..which started with bad tee shots. My driving can be my best friend or worst enemy. I managed to pull in the reins and recover with a par on the very next hole which absolutely boosted my confidence...which this game is all about.

I usually fall apart, especially with these guys, when I start playing bad. I just have the worst time recovering when I play with them. On the other hand when I'm hitting frozen ropes down the fairway they don't even appear on my radar.

As expected we played skins for a buck and I ended up being the big winner and won $14...it's been AWHILE since I've been in the black. I can't say whether I can attribute my play to my equipment or ability. I'd say it was a concoction of both.

Iron Men..

I was perusing through one of my favorite golf blogs, EatGolf, today and was reading up on some local guys that qualified for Q-School. I actually didn't know there was a "pre-qualifying" event to get into Q-School. I know already that Luke Swilor has his own blog. Actually it was dead for a while but looks like he's back updating it which is great.

We also have Joe Larson (Newbury Park) and Steve Harsha (Simi Valley) that are also professional golfers playing on the Hooters Tour. Joe made it to Q-School also but Steve appears to have fallen on harder times with an ankle injury. It's interesting to read from their perspective, trials and tribulations of trying to reach their ultimate goal of playing in "The Show".

Got the other one..

The last of my Scotty Cameron's that I sent to get restored came in yesterday from the Custom Shop. It was the Pro Platinum Laguna Two. I also did a full restore on it and it came out great but noticed that a few of my requests weren't done. I requested that the "SC" stamp be done on the toe and to also replace ALL the white paintfill with the "Merlot Red".





It was basically restored back to original but the stamp was placed on the rear in "Merlot Red". All the other paintfills were back to original..nice..but boring. I'd highly suggest though if anyone is considering bringing their old Scotty back to speed to send it to the shop. I got both my orders in UNDER the 40 days they state on their site.

Back Home..

Well, if you guys have been following my blog lately you know that I've gone through a few sets of irons in the last month. I had the Titleist 775, Titleist 690.CB and right now the Titleist 704CB. As you can tell I was trying to be a "Titleist guy" but it just hasn't happened..my game that is.

I've decided to go back to the Callaway's but have upgraded to the X-16 Pro Series. The 704CB's are great but I can honestly say I've lost 10 yards. Previously, I was able to hit my 7 iron (Callaway X-14 PS) 160 and the 8 iron 150. I had to club up with the 704CB, respectively.

I can honestly say that I've hit the best with the Callaway's than any other iron to date (except my original Mizuno T-Zoid PRO that I shot a 76 with about 2 years ago). I know new irons take time to get adjusted to but knowing that I was shooting low to mid 80's rounds with the X-14's, well, and I'm not getting any younger..like the L.L. Cool J song goes.. "I'm going back to Cal(ly)..Cal(ly)..Cal(ly)" ..sorry that was bad..but quick..no? I just don't have time to "re-build" my game right now.

In lieu of all this I did decide to get a up'd set of shafts and got the True Temper Dynamic Gold SL. I'm very familiar and played with the DGS300 shafts before but these are 20% lighter with the same stiffness as the S300. This weight reduction also allows for an increase in swing speed as well. Perfect. I looked all over and decided to get them at Callaway Preowned since I know they're legit and they ship fast..unlike Jiangbo Han.

Right now I'm still driver-less (thanks to our good ol'friend Jiangbo) and still looking. I played the back 9 yesterday morning with the Titlest 503H and also decided that these will go up for sale shortly. They look great and feel confident but I just couldn't get comfortable with the iron-hybrid head and the I just didn't like the feedback off the face. It had a "click" sound which I'm not a fan of..very reminiscent of when I played with the Mizuno Fli-Hi hybrid..which that too was similar in design to the 503H.

I should have everything settled and back to normal by this week and then crawl back into my hole.

Brand Spanking New..

I was surprised to find out that the Scotty Cameron Coronado Classic putter that I had sent in earlier to get restored was finished way ahead of schedule. I received it from start to finish in 22 days! The Scotty's Custom Shop site said it would take 40 or more days, which was much more than a pleasant surprise.





Yes, it is the same putter..I kid you not. Unfortunately, I really don't have a place for this putter and it would get as much attention as the IBBF I had earlier. You may ask why even bother in the first place but I guess that's my enjoyment in it. I like the hunt of a finding that unique putter..it's all about catch and release.

Anyway, I still do have a few "trophy-pieces" that I plan on keeping for a while though so all is not lost.

Golf Cart KO..

You've all seen videos where you see a group of people doing donuts on the course or just flat out abusing a golf cart. Well here's one where the golf cart fights back.



No need to go to the cards..straight out..K-O!

Alriiiiighttttt...

I didn't realize until when I was going to right about a new golf club purchase when I noticed that this will be my 100th post..HOO-RAY!! *pop! goes the champagne* Anyway I really didn't think I'd make it this far and figured my g-blog would lose my attention and wither away..but on the contrary I'm enjoying doing this more than ever.

Ok, back to work, I decided to replace my hybrids with the Titleist 503H utility (hybrid) irons. I'm only going to test out one at the moment (22 deg.) and see how it fits into my game. I went with the same shaft as my current irons, Dynamic Gold S300, which should keep the feel consistent.

Right now I'm driver-less since I planned on receiving a TaylorMade R7 460, in lieu of my 905T that I sold, but unfortunately Jiangbo Han put an end to that and should be enjoying a nice, hot heaping bowl of won ton soup, at my expense, somewhere in mainland China.

I'm still going to play this weekend and maybe just using my current hybrids off the tee. I figure I hit my 17 deg. hybrid about 220 off the tee, so I should be able to move around the course fine. Who knows..this may do wonders for my game too.

Also to commemorate my blogosphere acheivement I have decided to come out of my nomadic cave and register for my own MySpace account. I'm still trying to figure out how it works. It just seems like you accumilate MySpace friends to the "N"th degree and then..but as a true nomad I can always have friends.

Wi Seong-Mi Can Dance..

Koreans love golf ..and they love Michelle Wie (Wi Seong-Mi, her korean name) Too bad there aren't variety shows like these in the U.S. A friend of mine gave me a link to a korean variety show called Ha-Ha. It showed the big Wiesy in a contest where a man (korean celebrity) tried to jokingly flirt with her and get her attention. She then verbally fires back at him in a funny remark.



Anyway, I thought what would be even more surprising or entertaining is to see Michelle dance which I'm sure none of you have seen on network t.v. here in the U.S. I think she's a good sport.



Here's another of her in what looks to be a driving contest. It also looks like there was a previous The Masters Open champion there sporting the "green jacket". Good slow-mo camera.

Jiangbo Han..

You may ask or might have already done a Google on Jiangbo Han. No, he/she is not an up and coming star on either the PGA or LPGA tour and not a dominant player overseas or a top-notch collegiate level player. I got scammed/ripped off by Jiangbo Han (Ebay seller name was date0) yesterday on a purchase I made for a TaylorMade R7 460 driver.

This criminal scammer put the fraudulent Ebay BIN (Buy It Now) auction up and I bit..hook..line..and sinker. I consider myself pretty savvy, well..not anymore, in spotting bogus auctions. Everything looked pretty good and I don't buy from overseas at all. The seller was actually based out of Pocatello, ID (Mary Kay Sherburne) and it all looked good.

I made all the proper notifications through Ebay/PayPal (they're the same). I actually did find the email for Jiangbo Han when I went into my PayPal account. His email and PayPal account was based in China..wonderful..to this hour, date I have not received any replies..go figure that.

Hindsight being 20/20, there were a few "red herrings" that I should've picked up on but didn't look deep enough. Look out for these eyebrow raisers:

No Feedback from "Buyers": My scammer had decent positive feedback (98%) but all the feedback were from Sellers..odd.

Cheap Shipping: The scammer listed it as worldwide low-cost shipping BUT the same price as domestic.

Same Item Picture/Different Ebay ID seller: This is usually a dead giveaway but this scammer used the same photo in another BIN auction.

I'm sure there are other dead giveaways but this guy had his ducks lined up. I'll still buy from Ebay but less likely from individual seller's..live and learn..and Jiangbo Han..if you're reading this..I want my money back..or at least $190 worth of broccoli and beef.

Goooo...Team!

Not the best start..waking up LATE and almost missing the sign-in for my first club tournament..but I made it. After check-in I got a bunch of goodies which included a GREAT fitting (I have a "Hal Sutton" head..hats just fit me bad) Adidas golf hat, Adidas golf towel and a pack of Noodles..which I'm sure I'll give away too.

I was surprised how many players were there. It was a shotgun start and with two four-somes at each hole..equalling 144 players..never seen so many golfers amassed in one location. I found my name on the team roster sheet, for lack of a better word, and I was in on team 17A.

The biggest buzz going on that morning was the $100 buy-in per team or $3600 purse. I thought there would be a few, that were like us, that were not going to buy-in..nope. It was a little humilating when the pro-shop was announcing (loudly, I thought, over the P.A. system) that "The teams that we have NOT received buy-in's yet..team 17A..17A..this is your last chance..Team 17A". I heard various snickers and guffaws..but heck this was my first club event so..oh well

We all got in our carts and then the starter announced over the P.A. system..GO! It looked like a wild golf cart race..kinda' funny I thought..but well directed traffic.

Our "first" hole was the 17th hole, par 3. I was amazed how well trimmed the tee boxes were for today and ALL the tee boxes were officically marked using the SCGA markers. We have four sets of official SCGA tees at our club (red, gold, blue, black). It turned out with my current index, 16.5, I was the "C" player. The "captain" of our team told me that I should tee off from the gold tees today..fine with me. I usually play from the blue tees anyway and with the new irons it just took a little pressure off from the start..or so I thought.

Our "D" player, who said he was a 25 index'er, played from the red tees..he said he plays from the blues..I'm glad he played from the reds. I hit second(our batting order was from the red tee to the tips) and pushed it BADLY right..ugh..not a good start. Everyone else got on and with the 4-man scramble format I was fortunate to pick my "errant" shot and take it back onto the green.

Our "D" player missed the putt for birdie but gave me a great view of the break. It was a quick downhill left to right breaker. I set up..took a nice stroke..good contact..birdie! Everyone was hootin' and hollerin'..wow. We also birdied the 2nd hole also, not me, but we were onto a GREAT start.

I'm not going to break down each hole..that would take forever..like this post already has..but we ended up going (-5) under for the round. We just about had a birdie opportunity on every hole but just a little out of our "index" reach and just made numerous pars.

I didn't have time to eat lunch with the team because something came up, wife called, so I high tailed it out of there. I was surpirsed for a scramble format how long the round took (5 hours) but we all were really taking time reading the putts.

Anyway, overall, I had a GREAT time and enjoyed the cameraderie throughout the round. We had great guys and our "A" and "B" players were fanatastic. No attitude and very endearing to the team..good bunch of guys..kudos to all.

Jitters..

A very late night post but I'm playing in my first tournament tomorrow at our club. It's actually a 4-man scramble so I won't have to worry about hitting good shots all the time..as if I did right? They are going to place four people (A,B,C,D player) in each group based on their index. Right now I'm at a 16.5 so I think I'll be somewhere between the C and D player. I was going to not play but figure if I'm going to do this it has to be now or never.

This may be crazy but I'm also going to test out the new irons (Titleist 704 CB) tomorrow. They want us to check in at 6:00 a.m. so I figure I'll check in and then get a bucket in. This may be not the smartest move but with this 4-man scramble format I figure I'll either hit a few bad and the others will carry me..or I'll just play so bad that I won't be playing in another tournament for awhile.

Hold your breath..

Hot..then ice cold..barren..wasteland

I played Meadow Lake Golf Club in Escondido last Sunday. I decided to leave the 775's back home, more on this later. I was playing with a couple close buddies that I haven't played with since last February. Since they both live and work in San Diego it's been difficult to get together with all our different schedules. Anyway, the course was beautiful and unbelievably not too many people playing for a Sunday. It felt more like a country club than a muni. I shouldn't give away any secrets but this place has to be one of the easiest places to get a tee time.

It's not a long course, measuring at 6580 from the tips, but all the fairways are undulating and there are many OB's and blind shots throughout. There are numerous elevation changes too. I usually walk but looking at this place I decided that wasn't going to be the plan this day. The course call for accurate shots but a friendly course overall.

I believe I have a mental problem when playing with these guys. I tend to play very bad for some reason. To make a long story short I shot a 101. I was smoking hot in the beginning and won 8 skins on the front. I even had a birdie and a couple pars back to back. What really killed me were the OB's all over the place. There was an easy par 3 starting the back 9. I pushed my shot slightly to the right..behind a staked fence. Then on the next hole, a par 5 dogleg right, I drove the ball to the right which landed OB. I tee'd the ball again and same thing.

My driving started to leave me for some reason. I felt that I was tensing up and felt I was in a choking big time. We were playing for a few skins but harmless. I'm not sure what to do when this happens though. For some reason I just can't scramble when I'm with these guys..it was awful. I know I'm a better player than I was last Sunday. Anyway, I was bummed out playing so bad and still recovering. I lost all confidence in my driving toward the end of the round. I'm most likely going to play this Saturday to try to get my game back.

I played the back 9 the day before with the 775's. I really liked the scoring irons but then after that I noticed a couple things which really didn't work for me. First, there was much more offset than I expected. I tended to draw too much or I had to compensate by opening my stance even more. Second, the shaft (NS Pro Regular) was not firm enough for me and I had some timing/tempo problems. Overall, I'd highly suggest this set to the up and comer aspiring player. Perfect first set of irons for the serious golfer.

I've decided that I will be a Titleist man and find the perfect Titleist set for me, it's just going to be a matter of time. I am waiting on delivery of the 690.CB but after doing some more research I found that the 704 CB may be more up my alley..the quest continues.