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c0ncept's Golf Thread

Floor-is said:
First: your distances are very very close to mine. Basically I'm a few yards shorter then you are with the driver and the wedges. But my gaps are better, I've built up my whole bag around the gaps..

60° - 60m
56° - 75m
52° - 90m
48° - 105m
9i - 120m
8i - 132.5m
7i - 145m
6i - 157.5m
5i - 170m
4i - 182.5m
20° hybrid - 205m
4wood (16.5°) - 225m
Driver - 245m

Sometimes I leave the 60° home and take my 3iron to fill the gap between the 4iron and hybrid, but I rarely need to do so :) I am thinking about going 48-54-60 or 48-53-58 but find it difficult to find the right sole and bounce. :)

Nice read by the way, like your write ups about the rounds you play!

If you're going for a fitting, talk to the guy(s)/lady about the complete bag. From a fitters' standpoint it's a whole different game looking at a complete bag/setup or part of it. I've been fit, have been at a lot of fittings and seen what horrible fitters can do and what good fitters will do. Find a good one, give him the grand idea, have him help you on finding the gear you'll fall in love with. (Oh and hitting balls in an indoor age doesn't work for everybody. My fitter makes me hit balls of a board, of a mat and off the grass.)

(My fitter is a friend, I've been at over 50 of his fittings. Been at other places to get fit and with friends/acquaintances who where fit.)
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Yeah I have been fit before but it was a disaster and I have been afraid to do a fitting since. The fitting will be done both indoors with foresight and trackman as well as outdoors instead of hitting into a net like the last person I went to (top fitter in WA state is a lie). I really trust Blake because we have talked for 2 years now and both have the same ideas about things and Steve is just a freaking genius lol. The irons I play now were basically just me taking the irons I used in high school and getting new shafts in them but they are by no means right for me. I have for the most part fit the bottom of the bag with the wedges I want to use and that is where I decided to start the bag (scoring clubs). From there it is going to be PW-5 iron (with the ability to swap a 4h for the 5i). The issue with the irons was not so much gaps but that because of the shafts don't hold up the 7-5 irons hook too much. The scary thought is I can hit the 6 iron 200 off the deck and 210-220 off a tee when I am feeling well and that screws up a lot of gaps at the top end.
 
Worked a lot on putting today and finally am seeing a grooved stroke with the B1. The weighing of it has just been phenomenal for adding control. Pace has been better than usual although I need to see if I can put an alignment aid on it. One of my favorite ways to practice putting is finding the little holes that a few courses have...They are like ball sized holes for those that have not seen them and both speed and aim has to be a lot better. Here was a video I took from 10 feet:



Really liking this putter I just hope I can groove the new irons once I get them. I also will be testing the Ping i25 Irons so those should see a lot of use.
 
Played a match today at Whirlwind Cattail course...jeez that course can play long when it is cold and wet. I won 4 and 3 but could have easily won 7 and 6 had I not left a few on the green inside of 5 feet. Scoring wise it wasn't the happiest day after a few plugged balls but I recovered and shot a nice +2 on the back which saw no birdie putts drop and a few very unlucky chips (I hate sprinklers). Highlight of the day would be hitting the 235 yard par 3 and leaving 7 feet for birdie. Holes like that used to scare me into hitting bad shots. I hit driver well today the irons were good too but a little short due to the cold weather and the muddy fairways.

I went into the place I practice yesterday and learned that I need to put an alignment line on the putter to help control the short tap ins that I tend to not read. Today gave me a ton of confidence as I played from 6700+ and even played a few of the holes from the 7300+ tees. Putting is what is holding the scores back and I think that should change as I work on things.

I expect to get the i25s in next week and if they perform how they did when I demo'd the 7 iron they could be a great fit.
 
Played the tips today and really had a weird day. Driver was accurate, wedges were good, putting was alright, irons were left. Shot a 1 under 34. Birdied the par 5 by sticking a wedge 3 feet from 120. Got up and down from two bunkers which was awesome since I avoid sand like the plague. I really need to figure out this iron thing because all the offset is causing hooks like crazy. I can't wait to try the i25s and see if they will work.

Hole 1- Par
Hit driver really well and left 135 in. Hit 9 iron choked up and ended up past the pin with a 12 foot slightly downhill putt. Had a little too much speed on the putt and it stayed left.
Hole 2- Par
Hit driver again dead straight (then hit another for good measure). Had 160 in and hit 8 iron through the green onto the back fringe. Lagged close for a par.
The drives:
Spoiler
2hyyv06.jpg

Hole 3- Par
Hit 6 iron pin high into the sand...hit a great shot but long and onto the fringe just past the hole. Hit a perfect putt and saved par.
Hole 4- Par
Hit a draw off the tee which left 180 in instead of 130 like usual. Tried to hit 7 iron and came up just short of the green and like 8 feet from the pin. Two putted.
Hole 5- Par
Hit an open face 7 into the wind and ended up perfect center green. Stayed high on the left to righter and blew it by but made the come-backer.
Hole 6- Par
Hit 3 wood off the tee to avoid running through the fairway. Left 8 iron in and I didn't start it right enough so I ended up pin high left in a bunker. Scariest bunker shot for me with a long carry to get out of sand but a short landing zone before water. Got it out to a few feet and tapped in.
Hole 7- Birdie
Driver, 7 iron, 48* to 3 feet. First hole I felt a good swing on when I hit the wedge.
Hole 8- Par
Hit a really short drive and ended up on the up-slope of the creek area. Hit 8 iron but fell back and ended up just short of the green. Chipped up to a foot and tapped in.
Hole 9- Par
Hit a good drive here and followed it up with a horrible shot trying to squeeze a 9 iron to a back pin. Chipped short but was able to sink the par putt.
Also here are pictures of the first two holes I will try to get the rest later:
2elqame.jpg


24dizxf.jpg
 
Off to Washington for a week. Hoping to see if I can get some range time in and even meet up with the old swing coach. i25s are going to get their first test at Chambers Bay and surprisingly I am not too nervous about them. Lots of putting work is going to be done this week though since I leave way too many strokes out right now.

Tap Tap Taparoo
 
I think we're unintentionally creating a little tradition, Andrew. A little more than a year ago I THP delivered the RocketBladez for testing just before myself and a few THPrs headed to Chambers. Now we're doing the same thing, but this time you are testing the i25s. If you don't mind, I'd love to put a few swings on them at the range :)
 
tequila4kapp said:
I think we're unintentionally creating a little tradition, Andrew. A little more than a year ago I THP delivered the RocketBladez for testing just before myself and a few THPrs headed to Chambers. Now we're doing the same thing, but this time you are testing the i25s. If you don't mind, I'd love to put a few swings on them at the range :)
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absolutely buddy...poor John.





Tap Tap Taparoo
 
Was a mixed day being back in Washington golfing. The pings seem like they may be a fit but it is early. The putter had the speed today but my eyes didn't. Driver just does not want to be in my bag. I hit it well and then I will try and get "clever" and it throws the round off. 11.5* fairway wood is back on the ponder since I was hitting a 13* longer than driver off the tee.

Tap Tap Taparoo
 
Played a great round on Sunday at Chambers Bay in Washington. I shot a 77 that could have been a lot lower had the weather not been what it had been. I was nowhere close to dressed for that amount of rain. 1 birdie and 6 bogeys. Need to not get creative with driver on long holes.

My driving was great at the start and I was hitting the i25s very very well all day. I ran into issues with the weather early and I couldn't swing to my full distances which really got to me on a few of the longer par 4s where I was playing for bogey at that point.

I had a few good looks at birdie that there was no chance of making due to the water on the greens. In all honesty where my game is at has me very confident and possibly next month I will be back in tournaments if the i25s play the way they have when I get back to Arizona.

Sand shots are not a thing I dread now as I have really found a groove in the new swing and have been getting up and down with ease.
Putting is still a coin flip in terms of converting birdies sadly and I need to figure out what exactly is throwing the aim off so much after I find the line.
Driver is accurate enough that I think I can deal with the pace of the distance gains.
Irons were very accurate up here and if that keeps up I have no doubt I will be hitting a lot of greens in reg.
 
Nice dude. Bummer that you had to play Chambers in a Biblical flood, but sounds like you still got a good read on your game. I need to get to the point you are with greenside sand shots - my goal at this point is just get the ball out and on the green, and if I even do that I'm happy. I'm very good at hitting out of fairway bunkers, but the open faced greenside sand shot still gives me fits.
 
SkiBumGolfer said:
Nice dude. Bummer that you had to play Chambers in a Biblical flood, but sounds like you still got a good read on your game. I need to get to the point you are with greenside sand shots - my goal at this point is just get the ball out and on the green, and if I even do that I'm happy. I'm very good at hitting out of fairway bunkers, but the open faced greenside sand shot still gives me fits.
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Literally you could auto card a bogey or double if I hit into a greenside bunker until about 3 weeks ago. I found a way to simplify the process and have had no issues getting out and have been putting it pretty close. I just had to learn to cut across the ball so I play it like a flop shot. The other thing is just don't slow down at all...better to be long than still in the bunker.
 
c0ncept said:
Literally you could auto card a bogey or double if I hit into a greenside bunker until about 3 weeks ago. I found a way to simplify the process and have had no issues getting out and have been putting it pretty close. I just had to learn to cut across the ball so I play it like a flop shot. The other thing is just don't slow down at all...better to be long than still in the bunker.
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I'm similar, it's gonna be no better than bogey and potentially significantly worse if I go into a greensider, particularly if it's a deep one. You're definitely right about better to be long, and I know I'm a culprit of slowing down, because I can't seem to get the notion of the bladed shot out of my stupid brain :banghead: So you just play it exactly like a flop, or is your ball position different? My other problem is that I can never seem to agree with myself on how far behind the ball I want to hit.
 
SkiBumGolfer said:
I'm similar, it's gonna be no better than bogey and potentially significantly worse if I go into a greensider, particularly if it's a deep one. You're definitely right about better to be long, and I know I'm a culprit of slowing down, because I can't seem to get the notion of the bladed shot out of my stupid brain :banghead: So you just play it exactly like a flop, or is your ball position different? My other problem is that I can never seem to agree with myself on how far behind the ball I want to hit.
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Frank took a video of one of the bunker shots and so I saved it because I was impressed by the changes I made.
2cdzpds.jpg


The ball is a little up in my stance (also open stance) and I really try to swing across the ball. I play the shots by touch never changing how far behind I hit I just swing harder or softer but always THROUGH the ball. Decelleration is where the bad shots happen. It is a very controlled swing and the legs don't move much at all.
 
That is hugely helpful man. Thanks, I'm gonna keep this mind when I head over to practice today. Kudos on your big improvement in this area, sounds like you have a really good system worked out. Do you change any of this depending on the consistency of the sand, or just how hard you swing?
 
SkiBumGolfer said:
That is hugely helpful man. Thanks, I'm gonna keep this mind when I head over to practice today. Kudos on your big improvement in this area, sounds like you have a really good system worked out. Do you change any of this depending on the consistency of the sand, or just how hard you swing?
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Well wet sand and dry sand are very different but from what I have seen I swing a little harder from dry sand but it stops faster. I do change how much I open the face though depending on if I need to get over something high. Frank had a video of me dropping a ball in that 18th bunker I'll see if he can put it up.
 
c0ncept said:
Well wet sand and dry sand are very different but from what I have seen I swing a little harder from dry sand but it stops faster. I do change how much I open the face though depending on if I need to get over something high. Frank had a video of me dropping a ball in that 18th bunker I'll see if he can put it up.
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Do you mean THAT bunker?? The hellhole in the middle of the fairway? That had to be an impressive shot haha
 
SkiBumGolfer said:
Do you mean THAT bunker?? The hellhole in the middle of the fairway? That had to be an impressive shot haha
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Better to be in it than above it. He said he will post it tonight. I hit a great out but jeez did I feel small in that thing. Glad I was smart enough to not hit into it this time.
 
Here's some footage of c0ncept in that pot bunker on the 18th fairway.

 
Nice, still remember the advice you and Dan gave me in Vegas when I buried one into the face of the green side bunker. Well done man!
 
J4U said:
Nice, still remember the advice you and Dan gave me in Vegas when I buried one into the face of the green side bunker. Well done man!
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yeah those lies suck and you hit a beauty in there I couldn't believe it was short. Just gotta learn to take your medicine sometimes.





Tap Tap Taparoo
 
Starting on fitness in the next few days. The plan is tightening up my core and strengthening my wrists. This is definitely the part of competition sports that I did not miss.

Golf wise I want to see if I can get some gap work done to get the new distances with the i25s. I have a rough estimate now but I don't trust it.

Tap Tap Taparoo
 
Okay to start off I finished up with the distances and they were kind of surprising to me. I assumed with going to heavier shafts and weaker lofts I would lose distance but that was not the case at the lower end of the bag where the wedges and short irons have been great.

4i - 210 Yards
5i - 195 Yards
6i - 180 Yards
7i - 165 Yards
8i - 155 Yards
9i - 145 Yards
W - 130 Yards
U - 120 Yards
S - 110 Yards
L - 100 Yards

Today I played a little match play to try to work on getting used to pressure situations. We ended up taking the match to the 18th where it was too dark to finished but we still tried and tied but at least I won the strokes. I dropped a lot of shots due to sand issues but that is on me. I totaled 8 shots dropped due to poor shots out of the bunkers. <-- THAT NEEDS TO NOT HAPPEN!!!

Hole 1 - Hit the drive right where I wanted it and flew 9 iron right over the pin again and into the bunker. Hard ground in the bunker caused a long chip and I just missed the par putt.
Hole 2 - Hit another great drive that went through the fairway into the wash. Took a drop and hit a LW that left a decent ways for par and just drained the long putt.
Hole 3 - Hit a great 6 iron that still managed to roll onto the back fringe but left a make-able putt. Lipped out on the low side.
Hole 4 - Hit a perfect drive that left 100 yards in. Hit LW but left it just right and it rolled down the slope but pin high. Hit the chip and left about 3 inches for par.
Hole 5 - Tried to hit an 8 iron into the wind but caught the toe a little and found the front bunker. Again hard sand and the ball ended up in the fringe. Decided to chip it and didn't read the straighten out part of the break.
Hole 6 - Tough par 4 but I pulled 3 hybrid off the tee and hit a great shot that unfortunately didn't draw and found the sand. Thought I had enough club but was wrong and ended up short of the green and rolled back into the hazard. Chipped up and sank the putt.
Hole 7 - Hit a long enough drive to go for it in 2. Couldn't decide on 4 iron because I didn't know if I could get it there or hitting a light 3. Hit the 3 and did not hit it well but ended up just short of the green. Chipped up and realized as soon as I hit it that it was going to roll past the hole by a long ways. Had a 12 foot downhill putt and hit it perfectly and it dropped for birdie.
Hole 8 - Short par 4. Hit a bad drive distance wise but it was in the fairway. Hit a SW in and ended up just right in the bunker. Hit a decent out but couldn't convert the huge breaking putt even though it was short.
Hole 9 - Hit what I thought was a great drive until I realized how far the sand was then wondered why I hit driver. Had 100 yards left and hit it about 40...then another 40...then like 15. Sank a huge bogey putt to halve the whole.
Hole 10 - Hit a good drive and had 100 in. Hit LW over the green but got up and down from the bunker (it was soft!!!!)
Hole 11 - Hit the best drive ever on this hole...Just under 300 yards...yes 300 yards. No cart path no crazy bounces just a great swing. Hit LW in and just over read the break on the birdie putt.
Hole 12 - Got worried on the distance again and rushed the 4 iron off the tee so hit it heavy. Chip was on line but took a weird hop and went flying long. Putt was too hot and didnt take the break.
Hole 13 - Hit a good drive. Hit driver off the deck to see if I could hit a cut around the moguls but didn't aim far enough right. Was about pin high to the right and chipped up to where I wanted and the ball just missed going in by an inch but yay easy birdie. (Travis chipped in for eagle to win the hole -.-)
Hole 14 - Short par 4. Hit 4 iron great and had 95 in. Tried to open the face a little because I remembered flying the green from 100 out on 10 and ended up just short in the front bunker. Horrid lie in the bunker and hit it into the lip. Grabbed Travis' wedge and hit a great out and made the bogey.
Hole 15 - Hit 4 iron into the bunker. Was in a section that needed a good raking but oh well. Hit the sand shot a little long and into rough. Couldn't get the par chip in.
Hole 16 - Last par 5. Hit a good drive and then hit a good 4 iron that left 115 in. I hit a high U wedge and grazed the flag on the stick. Easy tap in birdie.
Hole 17 - It was starting to get dark at this point. Hit a good drive and then hit 9 iron in but just bounced off right. Chipped up to 4 feet and two putted because I just wanted to win the hole. (stupid!!!!)
Hole 18 - Hit a great drive right. Hit a provisional and then realized when we drove up that the first one was in play and in great position. Had 165 in so I hit 7 iron because it was colder and dark and was just trying to hit the front of the green. Ended up clearing the bunker and having about 15 feet in. Two putted because it was just a little too dark.


Need to work on bunker play as well as not hitting into sand and being more confident of club choices. Yay progress though right?
 
Been looking at stats a lot recently and have found areas to improve. There are parts of my game that used to be a lot better so I know I can improve still.

Averages:

FIR - 68.3%
GIR - 50.9%
Putts - 1.65

The GIR stat has definitely gone up a little but the FIR stat has dropped about 10-15%.

For FIRs I think I just need to focus a little more on hitting the right lines as well as not hitting through the fairways on the short holes.

I broke down GIRs by hole type and found:

Par 3s - 44.7%
Par 4s - 50%
Par 5s - 65.4%

That par 3 percentage is really not sitting well with me since those are the hole where I have to be playing center green generally and I obviously have not been doing that.
The par 4 percentage is lower than I expected but I know it is trending upwards a little as I switch back to a ball that has more spin. (Last round was 67% and the two misses were still close)
Par 5s used to be par holes but I have been seeing a lot of birdies lately as the wedge shots have been improving. The goal was 60% and so far I am there. New goal will be 70%.

I want the overall averages to be closer to 80% FIRs and 70% GIRs which should be doable.
 
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