It’s the second trip of the THP Event series called Shaft Up with UST Mamiya in 2022. For those that have missed the previous years, Shaft Up is a series of 3 events on the THP Forum where lucky forum members win a full fitting, golf at amazing course, new equipment and oh yeah, it is all 100% free including airfare. This year trip 2 is being held at Victoria National and it is going to be an amazing follow.
Shaft Up #3 contest is coming soon. Check out the details here and you could win one of these amazing trips.
Before getting ahead of ourselves however, Shaft Up #2 is coming next week and just because you will not be at Victoria National with Danny Le from UST Mamiya, and myself, does not mean you cannot win an amazing prize.
How to Enter
Two THP Forum Members are heading to Indiana to get fit by into the new Callaway Rogue ST driver along with a premium UST Mamiya Shaft. Then they will be playing as a twosome against Danny and myself. Those forum members are @montantk and @qwkz51
Step 1: Post below and include the following information.
Who will win the match? To make things even, we will be giving up a stroke per hole except par threes in match play.
What is your current driver?
What shaft is in your current driver?
What is your favorite UST Mamiya driver shaft?
Step 2: Follow along with this Live Update Thread and see if you were right and if you are the lucky winner. The updates will kick off below beginning with travel.
The Prize: We have a killer THP Prize Pack filled with amazing goodies going out to the lucky winner of the contest!
If you like our weekly contests, make sure you share them across the social media platforms below and check back each day for more new exclusive THP content.
Entries must be submitted by Sunday June 12th at 11:59pm ET. The winner will be chosen randomly from those that guessed right. Please remember only one entry per person.
[QUOTE=”BuffaloPlunger, post: 10737689, member: 59303″]
This course should be at the top of everyone’s bucket list!
[/QUOTE]
absolutely is on mine now. Blown away by what I saw. So happy that you guys got to experience it!
[QUOTE=”JB, post: 10736031, member: 3″]
We may have a little gift for the plunger
[ATTACH type=”full” alt=”8B53B6CC-6F4F-4987-BE9D-946C3DBDF644.jpeg”]9096889[/ATTACH]
[/QUOTE]
That’s great!
[QUOTE=”fuffle master, post: 10736404, member: 47863″]
Why do I cringe seeing this if [USER=50607]@J.B. Cobb III[/USER] was driving the cart?
[/QUOTE]
What did I ever do to you??
What an absolute amazing event!
[QUOTE=”Qwkz51, post: 10737640, member: 47150″]
Trying to go through this thread. I did see this and snagged pictures[ATTACH type=”full” alt=”20220614_132844.jpg”]9097057[/ATTACH][ATTACH type=”full” alt=”20220614_132840.jpg”]9097058[/ATTACH][ATTACH type=”full” alt=”20220614_132838.jpg”]9097059[/ATTACH][ATTACH type=”full” alt=”20220614_132835.jpg”]9097060[/ATTACH]
[/QUOTE]
Oh man the headcover of the emergency balls is incredible. ?
[QUOTE=”Qwkz51, post: 10737640, member: 47150″]
Trying to go through this thread. I did see this and snagged pictures[ATTACH=full]9097057[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]9097058[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]9097059[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]9097060[/ATTACH]
[/QUOTE]
That pro shop looks like a lot of fun. If I ever get a chance to visit and play, I’ll be picking up quite a few things. Definitely the emergency ball stash hat that [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER] picked up and one of those Johnnie O shirts.
[QUOTE=”Qwkz51, post: 10736168, member: 47150″]
Into what [USER=3]@JB[/USER] refers to as the Kentucky condo or rape tunnel. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: headed to 13[ATTACH type=”full” alt=”16553067104026447450728825824798.jpg”]9096911[/ATTACH]
[/QUOTE]
I might steal this comment next time I with the KY side of my family ?
[QUOTE=”BuffaloPlunger, post: 10736878, member: 59303″]
Since I started golf. I’ve tried putting lefty a little bit but it’s very uncomfortable for me and I struggle lining everything up
[/QUOTE]
Guy in my league foursome does the opposite (hits right, putts left). You’re the first other person I’ve heard who switches sides to putt, but hey whatever works!
[QUOTE=”baylrballa, post: 10737915, member: 52381″]
Oh man the headcover of the emergency balls is incredible. ?
[/QUOTE]
You mean.. this one? [ATTACH type=”full”]9097086[/ATTACH]
Well flight was cancelled. Currently waiting to check into the hotel along with 200 (not exaggerating) other people
[QUOTE=”Qwkz51, post: 10737970, member: 47150″]
You mean.. this one? [ATTACH=full]9097086[/ATTACH]
[/QUOTE]
[media=giphy]yoJC2B1sHdXJjPTnEs[/media]
[ATTACH type=”full”]9097088[/ATTACH]
[QUOTE=”BuffaloPlunger, post: 10737979, member: 59303″]
[ATTACH type=”full” alt=”0031B6EA-4306-408C-A83A-F8691CA5C18F.jpeg”]9097088[/ATTACH]
[/QUOTE]
Dang that sucks. Hope you are able to get sorted soon.
[QUOTE=”checkered, post: 10737989, member: 5710″]
Dang that sucks. Hope you are able to get sorted soon.
[/QUOTE]
Scheduled for mid afternoon tomorrow
[QUOTE=”Qwkz51, post: 10736168, member: 47150″]
Into what [USER=3]@JB[/USER] refers to as the Kentucky condo or rape tunnel. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: headed to 13[ATTACH type=”full” alt=”16553067104026447450728825824798.jpg”]9096911[/ATTACH]
[/QUOTE]
Hold up. That fan standard or you bring that?
[QUOTE=”Datkison, post: 10738005, member: 56571″]
Hold up. That fan standard or you bring that?
[/QUOTE]
Brought it, I love it. Uses my Ryobi batteries, and I keep use it every round during the summer. It moves just enough wind to make it bearable.
[media=giphy]3oeSAD00YsGzUPTmqA[/media]
Long read, my recaps:
Day 1: Being 2hrs drive time I had a late leave on travel day but I somehow timed it perfect. I pulled into town just as [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER] flight landed. By the time I got to the airport, I waited maybe 5 min. Introduced myself, got him loaded up, and headed to the course. We were greeted by concierge who took our clubs, bags, shoes etc and gave us a cart. We followed them like 30 seconds and we were at the cottage. We walked in and were greeted by [USER=47008]@DannyLe[/USER] and [USER=3]@JB[/USER] . Immediately there was a display of heads and shafts just inside the door. We were shown our private(labeled) rooms and sat down to talk about the event, life, gear, and golf. [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER] walks out of his room and says “I swear it wasn’t me, but this toilet won’t go down”. Danny calls and the pro shows up 5 min later, plunger in hand and fixes the issue. We laugh, and blame Kyle.. he denies it.. it was a good laugh.. and Buffalo Plunger is born.
Dinner time: we took the carts back to the clubhouse, and sat down for dinner. [USER=3]@JB[/USER] ordered a couple appetizers, crab cake, shrimp cocktail, and charcuterie board and drinks. I had a couple of old fashioneds. I ordered the wagyu New York Strip, green beans, and Mac and Cheese, which brings my only regret. I asked about the forbidden rice, and chose the green beans. They were great, but others ordered the rice and raved about it. The Mac was fantastic, the steak was amazing. Perfectly salted, grilled to perfection. Danny and JB floated the idea of heading to the putting green when we got back… but we didn’t have any of our clubs. They were gracious enough to loan us their extra putters so we could at least putt on these greens. It was only about 88 degrees at 830pm, so we were only out for about 30-45 min. We headed back in, talked for a bit then headed to their rooms to shower and bed.
Day 2: hit the range at opening(7:30) I knew my swing was on the fence and the range confirmed it. (I knew I should have got that extra range day in! ?) we headed to hit up the practice round promptly at 8. We were joined in a few holes by Adam(Dormie Network’s head fitter) and the VN club pro.
Practice round:
It was at least 90* and had sprinkled a little on the way to the range, so it was humid. But who cares about the heat and humidity when you’re looking at this course! It’s honestly awe inspiring. I got the FULL experience, I got to see the course from nearly every angle and every lie… except the fairway ?. Kyle was hitting them well, but it was honestly too much to carry alone. Although we weren’t keeping score.. we knew it was ugly. [USER=3]@JB[/USER] was clear to remind us of the score we weren’t keeping ? and how close it wasn’t. It took a solid 10 holes before we edged them out for a hole on 10. We finished, I’m not sure if it was sweat, or drool or all the water on this course, but we all were drenched. We headed to the clubhouse for lunch. I had the double smashburger and fries.. so good. After lunch we headed to the range for fitting and again driver was ABYSMAL. No excuses, but let me give some excuses: I was hot, I couldn’t get comfortable. [USER=47008]@DannyLe[/USER] got a few numbers from my gamer(TSI3). Forgive me if I’m off, but I believe it was fluctuating from high 130’s ball speed guiding, to low 160’s on an all out swing but spinning like a top. I think max carry was around 215 and breaking hard right. It wasn’t good, I might have sky marked a head once or twice trying to get numbers. We took a break, and [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER] put on a display. I think Danny had him fit in less than 10 swings and he was absolutely bombing it including some 270+carry. Honestly reminded me of my swing before my shoulder injury(but much straighter, and from the wrong side of the teebox).. ahh to be young again. Anyways, Danny and JB called it, as there was basically nothing to be gained by me swinging even more. The plan was to resume in the morning. Kyle was excited to go put the new driver in play. We started on 10, played 11, 12, 13, then headed back to get ready for dinner.
Dinner day 2:
I was not going to make the same mistake twice. I again went with a steak, but this time I went with old fashioneds to wash down Wagyu Ribeye, again absolute perfection… and FORBIDDEN Rice, and creamed corn…so exceptional, so choice. After dinner and a few drinks Danny said let’s go hit a few holes. JB headed back to the cottage to work. The three of us hit 3/4 holes, driver was still all over the place. Danny hit me with a few tips, planting seeds for the next day. We headed back. Everyone was a pretty quick retreat to their rooms for showers and bed. About 10pm a blaring alarm goes off outside my window. I knocked on JB’s door, I had no clue what it could have been. I go outside and the sewer pump station alarm was going off. I have no idea of it was related to the plunger situation from day 1 or not ?. We tried to call the office but no one was there. It eventually shut itself off. No biggie, we all head back to bed.
Day 3: 7am rolls around, we load our stuff up to make checkout easier. Danny and JB talked about my fitting, Danny said I was definitely in the Max and between a blue and black shaft whose and he would just give me both and they had made a call on my fitting based on they had enough to get it right. So we were going to the range to try a few things. In an effort to de-clutter my bag, I took my extra putter, and gamer to my vehicle. I get to the range and Danny asked if I brought my old driver…**crap. I misunderstood and now he wanted to get a comp between the two. Danny makes a few suggestions, and like a switch it changes. From hard slices to baby draws and absolutely beat straight drives and it was shot after shot. I don’t have true numbers, but I went from a day 1 average of probably 180yd slicing to a day 2 average of 230-240 yds. Absolutely incredible. Kyle is pounding them dead straight and the confidence for both of us is building. Holy sh*t where was this yesterday? ?
Day 3: Shamble
We struggled on holes 1-3, albeit significantly better than the day before. What kept us in the rest of the way was good team pick me ups. If Kyle had a rough hole, I had a good one, if I had a bad one, Kyle picked it up. Once or twice we both had bad ones ?. We get to 16, I went in left rough, Kyle goes in water, Danny goes in, JB goes right… into the hillside rough. Reload: I go in the water… again, as does Kyle, JB hillside again Danny goes short and in the bunker, we concede. Move to 17 dormie, JB goes in the bunker but is playable, Danny his a bomb and is dry. Kyle goes way ob, I hit land but way short and in the rough. We talk about the situation on the drive over, we see the impending doom. We chip into the fairway, and realize what we need to get anywhere close. I told Kyle we are sitting 300+ out from JB/ Danny the only shot we have is a great driver off the deck shot. High risk, high reward and low percentage chance but honestly what did we have to lose? We both pulled them Kyle missed with his shot, I hit a decent shot but it ran into the deep rough. It was over. We drive up and concede. Danny thinks he can make the early flight back to Texas. Great timing! They tell us to play 18 and they’ll meet us at the clubhouse. We pull up say our goodbyes, and they invite us to stay and have lunch on them. We had a great lunch and I drop Kyle at the micro-airport ? and head towards home. With a head full of great memories.
Dormie network: Absolute first class all the way. Everything you need at these venues is there. I’ve never seen the head pro circling the track filling carts with ice and fresh cold water bottles. It was just an absolute unreal experience and almost unbelievable that “normal” people have access to this level of experience.
Victoria National: There were other people staying there, but it was never crowded. I don’t know that we ever saw anyone other than maintenence workers in the course, and we played reasonably fast. The only exceptions was on the replay rounds we ran into a few others. The restaurant was top notch, and always had open seats. Fantastic, if you pass an opportunity to play any of the courses in the Dormie Network especially this one and choose basically anywhere else, you are CRAZY.
[USER=47008]@DannyLe[/USER] the man behind all the goodness at UST Mamiya. Such an absolute genuine human with so much experience and one of the best dudes you’ll ever meet. He was able to nail down a winning combo when I honestly couldn’t hit a ball out of my shadow. Thank you for your time, generosity and knowledge. I can’t wait to build on what we worked on today.
[USER=3]@JB[/USER] the THP Mastermind! I’ve had the great fortune of meeting JB in 2 other events. JB is as advertised, he’s like a kid at these events. He truly loves seeing his forum members try new equipment and courses and enjoy them as much as he does. He is master trashtalker, and will ride you mercilessly when you are less than stellar, and turn right around to be your biggest cheerleader when you do it right. JB thank you for coming up with these crazy ideas, beautiful courses, and getting companies on board with bringing them to this group of Hackers.
Kyle/MONTANTK/* [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER] *
Dude, keep smashing that driver! I truly miss having that much speed in my swing, and it was a pleasure to watch you punish those ProV1! You’re so close to dropping that handicap and shooting some crazy low numbers. You’ve got a world of talent, and a great swing. Keep grinding brother! I would gladly tee it up again any day with you, anytime! I loved hearing stories of some of the exceptional courses you’ve played and loved your enthusiasm for the game. I’m positive if it wasn’t 110 out this afternoon when we finished, you’d still be out there playing. Absolutely Great dude!
Fantastic recap [USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] and thanks for bringing us along for the ride! Looked like an unforgettable experience on a truly bucket list course.
I’m gonna say the sewer pump station alarm was definitely related to the plunger incident on night 1?
Incredible recaps Carl, enjoyed them and so glad for you to got to experience this!
[USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] Hot Carl and [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER] well played gentlemen, a great follow!
[USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] thats as good a recap as I’ve seen. I really enjoyed following along.
[USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] sounds like you got some ultimate consolation with the shafts. I will be curious where you end up with a Lin-Q Blue and Black. great recap and updates along the way!
Great recap [USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] . Just got caught up. Sounds like everyone played their best, great pictures and follow as always.
Hopefully the flight has no issues today [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER]
So sorry this happened.
[QUOTE=”JB, post: 10738093, member: 3″]
Hopefully the flight has no issues today [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER]
So sorry this happened.
[/QUOTE]
We should be golden today. No worries at all! This is the twisted yet fun side of traveling?
[QUOTE=”Afizzle2100, post: 10737440, member: 56757″]
What an absolute great follow. Thanks for the laughs, pictures, and average man’s POV on this course that hosts the Koran Ferry Tour Championship every year.
thanks [USER=3]@JB[/USER] and [USER=47008]@DannyLe[/USER] for organizing another perfect event. Danny takes the fun at every experience to a different level.
Those dormie network Johnny O shirts are absolutely phenomenal. Top of my pro shop wish list at the Dormie club.
[/QUOTE]
The Dormie pro shops are so cool that an enterprising THP’er could probably set up a cottage industry buying gear and shipping it to other THP’ers kind of like The Masters.
Thanks for that recap [USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER]
A lot of work, but we love reading them..
Great recap Hot Carl!! Great example for everybody right there. Hope everything goes smoothly today ?!!
Was able to get out and play a Wed nite event at the club yesterday afternoon, Just got to read the recap by [USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER], well done and a great read from your perspective, thank you
Outstanding recap [USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] ! You and [USER=66107]@Mon[/USER] err [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER] were a pleasure to follow and showed alot by battling adversity in the practice round and coming back strong the next day!
Recap Part 1:
Day 1
Leading up to the event @Qwkz51and I were talking quite a bit. He was my Sherpa as I was getting ready for my first experience. Did some stuff around the house before I left for the airport to keep me busy because I was VERY excited! I was looking forward to posting the first food pic but [USER=3]@JB[/USER] beat me by seconds! After an uneventful afternoon of traveling, Hot Carl met me at the airport and we got to talking about the poor girl at the airport who was dragging her luggage across the parking lot because she didn’t realize it had wheels???. After about 20 minutes, we reached the course and it did not disappoint. The staff took our clubs to storage and took our bags to the cottage. Right out of the gate the service was phenomenal. You would think the parking lot would have been packed but there were only a handful of cars and Dormie Network prefers it that way as their goal is to have ideally no more than 74 golfers play per day. We got to the cottage where I met [USER=3]@JB[/USER] and [USER=47008]@DannyLe[/USER] for the first time and I knew right away it was going to be a fun few days! We settled into our rooms and got a sneak peek at some of the shafts/heads we would be using the following day. Talk about hype! The cottages were very roomy and basically had 4 smaller hotel rooms in it. In the back of my mind I was also very excited to see the menu?. Hoping I’m not mixing up the timeline at this point but we talked for about an hour and went to dinner. Danny and JB explained how things would work and we talked about previous events and really anything you could imagine. The menu is small at Victoria but honestly I don’t think there was a single item on it that didn’t sound delicious! We started with some appetizers (crab cakes, charcuterie board, and shrimp). Everything was very good. The crab cakes tasted very fresh and those were probably some of the best shrimp tails I have eaten! We got our entrees and they did not disappoint. My ribeye was cooked perfectly and don’t even get me started on the forbidden rice??. In all honesty, the Mac and cheese was just as good! After dinner we went to the putting green and although [USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] and I didn’t have our clubs, JB and Danny let us use their putters. We got to try out the new all black LA Golf putter along with some putters that had UST Mamiya All In putter shaft. Let me tell you, that shaft is something else. I never thought much about putter shafts but I will be snagging one for sure when they come out. After watching JB hit some skinny chips into the tall grass and a bunker on 9 green, we went back to the cottage. I went into my bathroom and this was the humble beginnings of BuffaloPlunger. I won’t get into the details of my bathroom experience but I swear it wasn’t me! Luckily, one of the staff came to fix the issue. We talked a little more about everything under the sun before calling it a night. At this point, Hot Carl and I knew we wouldn’t be getting much sleep because we couldn’t wait for Tuesday….
[QUOTE=”BuffaloPlunger, post: 10738153, member: 59303″]
We should be golden today. No worries at all! This is the twisted yet fun side of traveling?
[/QUOTE]
Love that positive attitude.
Hot Carl is a trend setter
[ATTACH type=”full”]9097114[/ATTACH]
[QUOTE=”Nate<80, post: 10738417, member: 57367″]
Love that positive attitude.
[/QUOTE]
Travel hiccups don’t bother me. They happen. Atlanta got some storms yesterday which caused a bunch of chaos. Stuff like this always makes for good stories
[QUOTE=”JB, post: 10738419, member: 3″]
Hot Carl is a trend setter
[ATTACH type=”full” alt=”C195AF8F-3A5E-4BCD-8ADF-5F3890D64439.jpeg”]9097114[/ATTACH]
[/QUOTE]
love this shirt!
[QUOTE=”BuffaloPlunger, post: 10738420, member: 59303″]
Travel hiccups don’t bother me. They happen. Atlanta got some storms yesterday which caused a bunch of chaos. Stuff like this always makes for good stories
[/QUOTE]
I totally agree. I always try to make the most of it and have a good time!
[QUOTE=”JB, post: 10738419, member: 3″]
Hot Carl is a trend setter
[ATTACH type=”full” alt=”C195AF8F-3A5E-4BCD-8ADF-5F3890D64439.jpeg”]9097114[/ATTACH]
[/QUOTE]
It’s honestly such a good shirt all 4 of us wanted it.
[media=giphy]3ohzdIuqJoo8QdKlnW[/media]
Fantastic course. Incredible accommodations. Serious SWAG. Awesome food and libations. Excellent competition. Mid round forum name change!
But the absolute best thing was the ginormous gains from the driver fittings!
How about an extra 10 yards? Yep. Make it 20. Ok. Can we do 30? Sure. 40 perhaps? No problem. 50. If you insist!
Let’s stop there. Gotta save some for the Shaft Up #3 participants.
Way to go everyone! Well done.
Fantastic recaps [USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] !
Day 1 recap is great [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER] ! Sorry to hear about the flight delay!
[QUOTE=”Muchmore18, post: 10738834, member: 56094″]
Fantastic recaps [USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] !
Day 1 recap is great [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER] ! Sorry to hear about the flight delay!
[/QUOTE]
All good! I’m going to type up part 2 and 3 at the airport
[QUOTE=”BuffaloPlunger, post: 10738848, member: 59303″]
All good! I’m going to type up part 2 and 3 at the airport
[/QUOTE]
Perfect place for it!
Love the recap [USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] thanks for bringing us along your journey. Fingers crossed for success with your new driver!
[QUOTE=”Qwkz51, post: 10738035, member: 47150″]
Day 2: hit the range at opening(7:30) I knew my swing was on the fence and the range confirmed it. (I knew I should have got that extra range day in! ?) we headed to hit up the practice round promptly at 8. We were joined in a few holes by Adam(Dormie Network’s head fitter) and the VN club pro.
Practice round:
It was at least 90* and had sprinkled a little on the way to the range, so it was humid. But who cares about the heat and humidity when you’re looking at this course! It’s honestly awe inspiring. I got the FULL experience, I got to see the course from nearly every angle and every lie… except the fairway ?. Kyle was hitting them well, but it was honestly too much to carry alone. Although we weren’t keeping score.. we knew it was ugly. [USER=3]@JB[/USER] was clear to remind us of the score we weren’t keeping ? and how close it wasn’t. It took a solid 10 holes before we edged them out for a hole on 10. We finished, I’m not sure if it was sweat, or drool or all the water on this course, but we all were drenched. We headed to the clubhouse for lunch. I had the double smashburger and fries.. so good. After lunch we headed to the range for fitting and again driver was ABYSMAL. No excuses, but let me give some excuses: I was hot, I couldn’t get comfortable. [USER=47008]@DannyLe[/USER] got a few numbers from my gamer(TSI3). Forgive me if I’m off, but I believe it was fluctuating from high 130’s ball speed guiding, to low 160’s on an all out swing but spinning like a top. I think max carry was around 215 and breaking hard right. It wasn’t good, I might have sky marked a head once or twice trying to get numbers. We took a break, and [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER] put on a display. I think Danny had him fit in less than 10 swings and he was absolutely bombing it including some 270+carry. Honestly reminded me of my swing before my shoulder injury(but much straighter, and from the wrong side of the teebox).. ahh to be young again. Anyways, Danny and JB called it, as there was basically nothing to be gained by me swinging even more. The plan was to resume in the morning. Kyle was excited to go put the new driver in play. We started on 10, played 11, 12, 13, then headed back to get ready for dinner.
Dinner day 2:
I was not going to make the same mistake twice. I again went with a steak, but this time I went with old fashioneds to wash down Wagyu Ribeye, again absolute perfection… and FORBIDDEN Rice, and creamed corn…so exceptional, so choice. After dinner and a few drinks Danny said let’s go hit a few holes. JB headed back to the cottage to work. The three of us hit 3/4 holes, driver was still all over the place. Danny hit me with a few tips, planting seeds for the next day. We headed back. Everyone was a pretty quick retreat to their rooms for showers and bed. About 10pm a blaring alarm goes off outside my window. I knocked on JB’s door, I had no clue what it could have been. I go outside and the sewer pump station alarm was going off. I have no idea of it was related to the plunger situation from day 1 or not ?. We tried to call the office but no one was there. It eventually shut itself off. No biggie, we all head back to bed.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=”Qwkz51, post: 10738036, member: 47150″]
Day 3: 7am rolls around, we load our stuff up to make checkout easier. Danny and JB talked about my fitting, Danny said I was definitely in the Max and between a blue and black shaft whose and he would just give me both and they had made a call on my fitting based on they had enough to get it right. So we were going to the range to try a few things. In an effort to de-clutter my bag, I took my extra putter, and gamer to my vehicle. I get to the range and Danny asked if I brought my old driver…**crap. I misunderstood and now he wanted to get a comp between the two. Danny makes a few suggestions, and like a switch it changes. From hard slices to baby draws and absolutely beat straight drives and it was shot after shot. I don’t have true numbers, but I went from a day 1 average of probably 180yd slicing to a day 2 average of 230-240 yds. Absolutely incredible. Kyle is pounding them dead straight and the confidence for both of us is building. Holy sh*t where was this yesterday? ?
Day 3: Shamble
We struggled on holes 1-3, albeit significantly better than the day before. What kept us in the rest of the way was good team pick me ups. If Kyle had a rough hole, I had a good one, if I had a bad one, Kyle picked it up. Once or twice we both had bad ones ?. We get to 16, I went in left rough, Kyle goes in water, Danny goes in, JB goes right… into the hillside rough. Reload: I go in the water… again, as does Kyle, JB hillside again Danny goes short and in the bunker, we concede. Move to 17 dormie, JB goes in the bunker but is playable, Danny his a bomb and is dry. Kyle goes way ob, I hit land but way short and in the rough. We talk about the situation on the drive over, we see the impending doom. We chip into the fairway, and realize what we need to get anywhere close. I told Kyle we are sitting 300+ out from JB/ Danny the only shot we have is a great driver off the deck shot. High risk, high reward and low percentage chance but honestly what did we have to lose? We both pulled them Kyle missed with his shot, I hit a decent shot but it ran into the deep rough. It was over. We drive up and concede. Danny thinks he can make the early flight back to Texas. Great timing! They tell us to play 18 and they’ll meet us at the clubhouse. We pull up say our goodbyes, and they invite us to stay and have lunch on them. We had a great lunch and I drop Kyle at the micro-airport ? and head towards home. With a head full of great memories.
Dormie network: Absolute first class all the way. Everything you need at these venues is there. I’ve never seen the head pro circling the track filling carts with ice and fresh cold water bottles. It was just an absolute unreal experience and almost unbelievable that “normal” people have access to this level of experience.
Victoria National: There were other people staying there, but it was never crowded. I don’t know that we ever saw anyone other than maintenence workers in the course, and we played reasonably fast. The only exceptions was on the replay rounds we ran into a few others. The restaurant was top notch, and always had open seats. Fantastic, if you pass an opportunity to play any of the courses in the Dormie Network especially this one and choose basically anywhere else, you are CRAZY.
[USER=47008]@DannyLe[/USER] the man behind all the goodness at UST Mamiya. Such an absolute genuine human with so much experience and one of the best dudes you’ll ever meet. He was able to nail down a winning combo when I honestly couldn’t hit a ball out of my shadow. Thank you for your time, generosity and knowledge. I can’t wait to build on what we worked on today.
[USER=3]@JB[/USER] the THP Mastermind! I’ve had the great fortune of meeting JB in 2 other events. JB is as advertised, he’s like a kid at these events. He truly loves seeing his forum members try new equipment and courses and enjoy them as much as he does. He is master trashtalker, and will ride you mercilessly when you are less than stellar, and turn right around to be your biggest cheerleader when you do it right. JB thank you for coming up with these crazy ideas, beautiful courses, and getting companies on board with bringing them to this group of Hackers.
Kyle/MONTANTK/* [USER=59303]@BuffaloPlunger[/USER] *
Dude, keep smashing that driver! I truly miss having that much speed in my swing, and it was a pleasure to watch you punish those ProV1! You’re so close to dropping that handicap and shooting some crazy low numbers. You’ve got a world of talent, and a great swing. Keep grinding brother! I would gladly tee it up again any day with you, anytime! I loved hearing stories of some of the exceptional courses you’ve played and loved your enthusiasm for the game. I’m positive if it wasn’t 110 out this afternoon when we finished, you’d still be out there playing. Absolutely Great dude!
[/QUOTE]
Great recaps and the rest of the ? story ??
[QUOTE=”BuffaloPlunger, post: 10738255, member: 59303″]
Recap Part 1:
Day 1
Leading up to the event @Qwkz51and I were talking quite a bit. He was my Sherpa as I was getting ready for my first experience. Did some stuff around the house before I left for the airport to keep me busy because I was VERY excited! I was looking forward to posting the first food pic but [USER=3]@JB[/USER] beat me by seconds! After an uneventful afternoon of traveling, Hot Carl met me at the airport and we got to talking about the poor girl at the airport who was dragging her luggage across the parking lot because she didn’t realize it had wheels???. After about 20 minutes, we reached the course and it did not disappoint. The staff took our clubs to storage and took our bags to the cottage. Right out of the gate the service was phenomenal. You would think the parking lot would have been packed but there were only a handful of cars and Dormie Network prefers it that way as their goal is to have ideally no more than 74 golfers play per day. We got to the cottage where I met [USER=3]@JB[/USER] and [USER=47008]@DannyLe[/USER] for the first time and I knew right away it was going to be a fun few days! We settled into our rooms and got a sneak peek at some of the shafts/heads we would be using the following day. Talk about hype! The cottages were very roomy and basically had 4 smaller hotel rooms in it. In the back of my mind I was also very excited to see the menu?. Hoping I’m not mixing up the timeline at this point but we talked for about an hour and went to dinner. Danny and JB explained how things would work and we talked about previous events and really anything you could imagine. The menu is small at Victoria but honestly I don’t think there was a single item on it that didn’t sound delicious! We started with some appetizers (crab cakes, charcuterie board, and shrimp). Everything was very good. The crab cakes tasted very fresh and those were probably some of the best shrimp tails I have eaten! We got our entrees and they did not disappoint. My ribeye was cooked perfectly and don’t even get me started on the forbidden rice??. In all honesty, the Mac and cheese was just as good! After dinner we went to the putting green and although [USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] and I didn’t have our clubs, JB and Danny let us use their putters. We got to try out the new all black LA Golf putter along with some putters that had UST Mamiya All In putter shaft. Let me tell you, that shaft is something else. I never thought much about putter shafts but I will be snagging one for sure when they come out. After watching JB hit some skinny chips into the tall grass and a bunker on 9 green, we went back to the cottage. I went into my bathroom and this was the humble beginnings of BuffaloPlunger. I won’t get into the details of my bathroom experience but I swear it wasn’t me! Luckily, one of the staff came to fix the issue. We talked a little more about everything under the sun before calling it a night. At this point, Hot Carl and I knew we wouldn’t be getting much sleep because we couldn’t wait for Tuesday….
[/QUOTE]
Hope the travel day goes smoothly today. Great Day 1 recap and looking forward to Days 2 and 3! Shrimp tails ?.
dammit, my auto-correct has added “hot carl” to the list
[QUOTE=”baylrballa, post: 10739051, member: 52381″]
dammit, my auto-correct has added “hot carl” to the list
[/QUOTE]
[media=giphy]MDsyEMQwbczzx5Cjh6[/media]
[QUOTE=”baylrballa, post: 10739051, member: 52381″]
dammit, my auto-correct has added “hot carl” to the list
[/QUOTE]
That’s going to be awkward at some point. It should be HAWTCRAWL :ROFLMAO:
Finally time for Day 2:
Due to excitement I was up around 5:30. Stayed in bed for a little bit to catch up on the posts and got ready for the day ahead. For those wondering, there were no plungers needed the rest of the trip. I knew that this was going to be an awesome day but [USER=47008]@DannyLe[/USER] and [USER=3]@JB[/USER] exceeded my expectations. The morning started out pretty normal with a few shanked wedges on the range. There was some playful banter going back and forth but I could not wait to step on that first tee. We headed over to the putting green for a bit. I wish I took a picture but every morning there is a small 4 ball pyramid near each pin for those who want to warm up. I thought this was pretty cool. We finally headed to the first tee and [USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] and I could barely contain our excitement. Truth be told, I don’t really remember my tee shot. I do believe I ended up in the left rough and it was my first experience with how bad that rough actually was. I tried hitting a 6i and it just swallowed the club. We played a mock match with no strokes and it was not Hot Plungers day. We had some drivers that weren’t really working for us and that is not a course you want to be struggling off the tee. Despite all the lost balls, it never took away from how amazing the course truly was. I also still don’t think that the course is too hard. I think it’s a perfectly balanced test of skill. A high handicapper probably will have a tough time breaking 100 but that’s how it should be at a course like this. After baking in the heat, I went back to the cottage to change before lunch. I think the best thing about the lunch menu was just how simple it was. A handful of items that weren’t overly filling but tasted excellent. This is going off tangent but the whole dining experience there reminds me of a book Anthony Bourdain wrote where he talks about good food only needing 2-3 quality ingredients. Everything on the menus there was simple yet perfectly prepared. Now back to golf…We sat down with the pro who was an awesome guy, we talked about the course, what Dormie Network is all about, and some personal golf stuff. In the back of my mind part of me couldnt wait for lunch to wrap up so we could go to the fitting. [USER=47150]@Qwkz51[/USER] was up first. He went through a couple of combos with Danny but I think the heat was getting to him and I don’t blame him. It was hot and sticky outside. An overnight rest was all he needed because his driver looked REALLY good on Tuesday. I wouldn’t be surprised if his gains surpassed mine because he has some speed behind the club. I stepped up to the plate and hit a few warm up drives. The spin was like that of a 5 iron which was killing me. [USER=47008]@DannyLe[/USER] is so good at what he does that the first ball I hit with the first combo dropped spin by probably 1500rpm and I picked up 30 yards of carry. After that ball I knew the Lin-Q black was the shaft. It felt very stable and it didn’t feel heavy at all despite being almost 20g heavier than what I’m used to. What really got my attention too was that Danny wanted me to really get after the ball and I think that makes a huge difference. We all want distance off the tee so why is it that most fitters would rather fit you into something with a more controlled swing and then just let you try and hit bombs after the shaft has been picked? Why not check both boxes with the shaft? Needless to say, I think UST Mamiya is going to make its way into a few other clubs in my bag. After the fitting, Hot Carl and I went out on the back 9 to practice for the match the next morning. We got to hole 12 and the hole wrapped around a pond with water and bunkers lining the left side of the hole almost all the way to the green. To cover the bunkers you were looking at probably a 260-270 carry. I decided to take them on because one more lost ball wouldn’t hurt me (thanks JB) and to my amazement, I covered it! Had I taken that line earlier, I wouldn’t have even had a chance. We ended up playing to 14 and the heat got the best of us so we went back in and cleaned up for dinner. We sat in the cottage talking about our initial reactions to our fittings and discussing what was ahead. After an hour or so we headed to dinner and the forbidden rice made it onto 3/4 of our plates. I can’t stress enough how good it was. I ended up going with a pork chop, JB got the burger, Danny got crab cakes (those need to be talked about more), and Hot Carl got the ribeye. Once again it was another immaculate dinner. If I’m not mistaken, I believe that’s when the BuffaloPlunger was given wings on the forum. Until the day I die, I will proclaim my innocence when it comes to who clogged the toilet. After dinner we ended up heading back to the cottages and called it an early night. I was in bed when I heard Hot Carl talking about some sewer alarm going off. I couldn’t really hear it but I did hear him mention that the plunger might be the culprit. Had JB or Danny been in his room I might have been?? I went to bed knowing that there would be big shoes to fill. By the end of day 2, I probably could have been talked into becoming a member because Dormie Network is the sh*t (this message has been approved by BuffaloPlunger).
I’m about to hop on my flight home so day 3 and maybe a brief day 4 will come later tonight