LIVE UPDATE THREAD Shaft Up #1 Contest with UST Mamiya

[Golfers Anonymous]

Day 2: Golf, Driver Fitting, and FOOD!

Day 2 was a big day with lots of golf, the driver fitting, and good food. I was pretty excited to get the day started and see the course. We got ready and headed to the clubhouse for breakfast. It was a buffet style breakfast with pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, roasted potatoes, oatmeal, and maybe one other thing? It was good. Real good. After that we went to the putting green and did some chipping and putting while waiting for the maintenance crew to finish up the range. The entire property is meticulously maintained and the range is no exception. Once they were done, they brought about range balls and filled the box at each station with Titliest ProV1x balls. Most looked like they could be new. I can only recall one other course I've played having Titleist range balls. Very nice indeed.

It was a little cool out and there were a few drops of rain here and there. I was worried it might turn into a more steady rain, considering my luck, but fortunately it stopped and the clouds even started clearing once we were on the course. So after warming up at the range, we headed to the first tee. First tee nerves are REAL. I can’t imagine the first tee jitters at something like the Morgan Cup with everyone watching. The fact that hole 1 can be a bit visually intimidating didn’t help. Short is bad, left is no good, and right is only slightly less bad than the other two. Somehow, I hit a decent drive and the practice round was underway. I won’t go hole by hole, but I did learn a few things. One, the greens were going to kick my butt. They were in such great shape and they were pretty fast. Add in the crazy undulations and 3 putts were plentiful. The other thing I learned was the importance of knowing where to hit your shots on this course. Lastly, Danny has some serious game and JB was no slouch either. Even with a pop per hole, we were going to need to play well to win the match on Wednesday. Oh, I also can’t overstate how stunning the course is. The views were breathtaking on each and every hole.

View attachment 9082801View attachment 9082802

After a fun practice round on the front 9, we headed back to the range to start the fitting. I was so freaking excited for this! I’ve never been fit a club, so this was going to be awesome. After Danny got everything setup, I started with my current driver to get some baseline numbers. I was playing a TM Sim Max with the Fujikura Ventus Red 5-S shaftLaunch was staying in the 7-9 degree range and ball speeds in the 140s with a high of 149. Spin was on the low side, around 1400-1700, though most were in the 1400 range, if I remember correctly. I think my longest carry was around 251 yards.
View attachment 9082789View attachment 9082796
First up, we tried the Rogue ST Max D with the LinQ Blue shaft. Numbers were better, but I was going left a bit too much. Swapped in the ST Max and it was much better. Then we tried the LinQ Red and man it was good! Long, high, straight bombs! Danny wanted to try the Helium Nanocore shaft and the results were also really good. It ended up coming down to the LinQ blue and LinQ Red, but Danny had me try the LinQ Red one last time and it was pretty obvious that was the fit. It also felt like I had just a bit more control with the LinQ Red and that just further helped my confidence. Launch angle was up in the 9-11 degree range, spin was 2000+, ballspeed in the 154 range, and one of my best carry distances was 269 yards (can’t remember if that was the longest, but I think it might have been). Big time increases for me and dispersion was much better.
View attachment 9082798View attachment 9082799
Next up, Danny started working his magic on Hackitup. I don’t know all of the shafts they went through, but I heard some impressive carry distances and based on the shots I was seeing, there were some serious gains being made. After the fitting we went back to the cottage to change into shorts, while Danny put together out new drivers, then headed to the clubhouse for Lunch.

Lunch was fantastic. The pulled chicken tacos were GREAT. After lunch, we headed to 10 to play the back 9. It started as well as I could’ve hoped with a great drive. I missed the fairway just a little left on 11, but I think I hit every fairway after that with the new driver. I can’t stress how huge that is for me, considering how much I have been struggling off the tee recently. Confidence was sky high at this point. Hackitup and I played the back pretty well. We even managed a birdie on hole 17. It was so much fun! After the back 9, our original plan was to go back to the front, but there was a group going out, so Hackitup and I went to play the back again, while Danny and JB headed back to the cottage to do some work.

The second round on the back was fun and we managed to score pretty well. The extra time with the new driver was nice and it gave us more opportunities to play those crazy greens. Though, I still don’t know that it helped me putting. It was a great afternoon. There wasn’t many people on the course, so we were able to play at our own pace and we still had plenty of time to get cleaned up and ready for dinner after the round. I actually had enough time to go do some shopping in the pro shop. Got me a shirt and putter head over, got my father-in-law a divot tool, a ball marker for my niece, and a tshirt for my wife. Also grabbed some of the little markers while I was there.
View attachment 9082803

Like all the other meals, dinner was great. I went with the ribeye this time with their steak fries and it was wonderful. Dessert was a chocolate cremeux (I think that's what it was called?) I'm still not 100% sure what it was, but it was good. After dinner we headed back to the cottage and saw that they had the lights on and the pins placed on the 18th green. Me, hackitup, and Danny went out and did some night putting, which was pretty cool. All in all, it was just an awesome day. The course was amazing, the driver fitting turned out even better than I could've hoped for, and I got to hang out all day with some awesome people.

All while that Evolve divot tool is sitting there looking amazing

 

[will]

All while that Evolve divot tool is sitting there looking amazing

My FIL was pretty excited about it. I would have got one for me, but I have that sweet UST Mamiya divot tool now. It was still tempting though.

 

[hackitup]

Recap
Day 1

I was the first to arrive on Monday. There were a few thoughts that came to mind pulling up to the valet. The biggest was that the course was flat out beautiful. Followed by the videos didn’t do the elevation changes justice. And back and forth it went. I hopped in the golf cart where I caught my first view of the 18th green on the way to the cabin. Well over 20,000 square feet of green with a trough and undulations.



I got to the cabin and put my stuff away. I started snapping pics. I saw the name tags on the doors and thought that was a cool touch. I set about exploring the property almost immediately. The back patio definitely had my vibe. I knew I’d be posting from there later. I sat at the fire pit while the goats bleated their displeasure at me. I should’ve fed them to get on their good side.




I hung out on the back patio and soaked in as much as I could. Will arrived shortly after and we talked story a bit. I’m always nervous about meeting new people, but I had no reason to be. @will is good people and we kind of just let our disbelief out and geeked out at how crazy everything was. It was such a relief that we got along well as that was something I was worried about.



I wasn’t worried about dinner. There was no question it would be out of this world. Just your typical slice of heaven that we’ve come to know through all the live threads. We talked a bit. Ate a bunch. I may have misread the menu as saying choose two sides. The second night I realized it said sides feed two.

We headed back to the cabin after an eventful day. Danny and JB had some work things to tend to and I headed back to the patio. There’s just something about sitting there looking at the gorgeous scenery and enjoying some fresh air and THPing.

Edit to add: When I turned in I noticed something odd. My cheeks were hurting. Apparently I don’t normally smile and laugh as much as I did on the first day and I felt it. It was a weird thing to notice but it made me laugh a little more.

 

[Muchmore]

I may have misread the menu as saying choose two sides. The second night I realized it said sides feed two.

Wait wait wait...I don't remember obscene amounts of food in any pictures...did you order two sides the first night??

 

[hackitup]

Wait wait wait...I don't remember obscene amounts of food in any pictures...did you order two sides the first night??

Yeah. I held off on posting the creamed spinach since @Davidhibler double posted asking about it. Potatoes and creamed spinach with NY strip steak. And dessert to wash it down. I was so stuffed I chose a small plate the next night.

 

[Muchmore]

Yeah. I held off on posting the creamed spinach since @Davidhibler double posted asking about it. Potatoes and creamed spinach with NY strip steak. And dessert to wash it down. I was so stuffed I chose a small plate the next night.

So you had a steak and two sides that could have fed the whole group?

 

[Jeff Spicoli]

Recap
Day 1
View attachment 9082834
I was the first to arrive on Monday. There were a few thoughts that came to mind pulling up to the valet. The biggest was that the course was flat out beautiful. Followed by the videos didn’t do the elevation changes justice. And back and forth it went. I hopped in the golf cart where I caught my first view of the 18th green on the way to the cabin. Well over 20,000 square feet of green with a trough and undulations.

View attachment 9082836

I got to the cabin and put my stuff away. I started snapping pics. I saw the name tags on the doors and thought that was a cool touch. I set about exploring the property almost immediately. The back patio definitely had my vibe. I knew I’d be posting from there later. I sat at the fire pit while the goats bleated their displeasure at me. I should’ve fed them to get on their good side.

View attachment 9082837
View attachment 9082838

I hung out on the back patio and soaked in as much as I could. Will arrived shortly after and we talked story a bit. I’m always nervous about meeting new people, but I had no reason to be. @will is good people and we kind of just let our disbelief out and geeked out at how crazy everything was. It was such a relief that we got along well as that was something I was worried about.

View attachment 9082840

I wasn’t worried about dinner. There was no question it would be out of this world. Just your typical slice of heaven that we’ve come to know through all the live threads. We talked a bit. Ate a bunch. I may have misread the menu as saying choose two sides. The second night I realized it said sides feed two.

We headed back to the cabin after an eventful day. Danny and JB had some work things to tend to and I headed back to the patio. There’s just something about sitting there looking at the gorgeous scenery and enjoying some fresh air and THPing.

Edit to add: When I turned in I noticed something odd. My cheeks were hurting. Apparently I don’t normally smile and laugh as much as I did on the first day and I felt it. It was a weird thing to notice but it made me laugh a little more.

What an epic place to hang out and play.

 

[hackitup]

So you had a steak and two sides that could have fed the whole group?

Yes. I think it was a 16 oz steak too, which is bigger than I normally order. Reading is fundamental. I failed that night.

 

[hackitup]

Day 2
Day 2 started with breakfast. I went lightish after the previous night’s dinner. It was good but better was yet to come. We had a slight wait as they were still mowing the range. They keep up the entire range and the attention they paid was noticed. I looked down and saw we were using ProV1 and ProV1X practice balls. Nice!



I do not have great recall of holes or how I played certain shots so this will be more of an overall recap. Hole 1 is daunting. There is no good miss, only not terrible off to the right. JB and Danny led us off and @will and I looked at each other. I can’t speak for will but two THP Experience rookies on the tee box could have led to all sorts of interesting shots and they were all running through my head. I tried to play it cool but I was about as nervous as I’ve ever been. I’m not sure I breathed until my ball landed safely in the fairway. First tee nerves are a thing. Will was safe but off to the right. No duffs, no tops, and 2 balls in play. Let’s go!


We had some good shots and some shots that led for opportunities to make a great recovery. I couldn’t figure out chipping on the greens. They were running a little fast so maybe that’s why I wasn’t seeing my normal amount of check, but every chip was given a chance to go in if I got lucky. The green complexes were unbelievable. Seeing that much undulation combined with some speed and false fronts made for some funny reads. JB didn’t use the civil war surgeon line, but I’m pretty sure he thought it a bunch.


My shot of the first 9 came on the par 4, 6th hole. Playing from the white tees it was about 278 with a big drop in elevation to the center of the green. Danny and I both ended up on the green in one. I wanted to dance around but trust me when I say nobody else wanted to see that. The rest of the front 9 was a blast. JB and Danny can golf their ball. Seeing that up close and in person was awesome. Maybe a little intimidating, wondering if we’d be able to keep it close even with a stroke per hole.



Looking back up to the tee box.

Lunch, fitting, and 18 practice holes were up next.

 

[hackitup]

Day 2 afternoon
Lunch was okay. Kidding, of course it was delicious. I had some fruit to help with my stamina because it seemed like a good idea. I finally realized there was a wine room enclosed in glass at the Ballyhack clubhouse. I had never seen something like that where the wine storage was also a display. It held my attention like a dog seeing a squirrel running around.

Fitting time. Will went first and I snapped a bunch of pics. He wasn’t short, but he wasn’t maximizing his distance either. Seeing him get fit and how quickly Danny keyed in on what options would work best was amazing. He threw in a Helium to see if he could eek out some extra club head speed but it didn’t work as well as the Red or Blue. Seeing the improvements will put down was an advertisement for getting properly fit.


Then it was my turn. I’m very self conscious about my swing. It’s ugly, but it’s mine. So there was more than a little bit of trepidation. Again, Danny keyed in on a few shafts that would fit the bill. We started with the Rogue ST Max and that would be the head for me. I wrote about my fitting earlier but let me just add how impressive it is to watch Danny work. After a few swings with a shaft he went to a different shaft to get better results. We tried a different head and after 2 swings we moved back to the ST Max. No wasted swings, no excess, just laser focused efficiency. I was told to go after it and I got some ridiculous numbers that I don’t think I’ll see outside of a range but it was enough to let me know this shaft can handle whatever I can give it and more. Final combo: Rogue ST Max 9.0 with UST Mamiya LinQ Black 6F4.


We played the back 9 twice after the fitting. People like @will will always amaze me. Regardless what equipment is in his hands he just kept his swing and saw the immediate improvements that we saw on the range. There were 3-4 drives where he drove it to the same number to the yard. How’s that for consistency?

Me, well I’m what you might call a mental midget. When I trusted my swing and believed I would find a good landing area that club straight up performed. When I started thinking about my past and praying I didn’t hook it I’d swipe all the way across the face. The second 9 treated me better as I got a little more comfortable with the combo and built some trust. My approach shots weren’t always on point but it led to some cool course pics.


I took the opportunity to hole in from about 20-30 yards for birdie on the 17th. It was a pitch shot to an elevated green where I could just see the start of the fringe as the green ran away towards the back. I landed it just on the green and the ball made a beeline for the stick. I didn’t see it go in but word is it went in with some pace.

Dinner was fabulous yet again. I went with a small plate after the previous night’s mistake. Fried cheesecake bites are the stuff of dreams. After dinner we headed back to the cottage and I tagged along for some night putting on the 18th green. We got some putting tips from Danny while we were out there. Mainly about pace uphill and downhill on those greens having way more of a difference than you’d assume.

Before I knew it we were headed back to turn in for our final sleep. I had been feeling fatigued from the 27 holes of golf but now I was beat. I used my Theragun a few times while at the cottage that night. I stared at my new driver for a bit. I couldn’t believe I got a free driver, free shaft, got to play an incredible golf course, and was fed all this great food. And I had my first Old Fashion too. A little peek into my mind: I was very scared I wouldn’t do justice to my new driver and shaft. Probably not the best thought heading to bed the night before competition day.

 

[hackitup]

Final Day - Day 3

Well, talk about bittersweet. Here I was about to play 18 holes against Danny and JB with the forum following along. This is the most exciting thing to ever happen to me. I’ve done some cool things but this tops them all. Yet I knew it was coming to a close and I didn’t want it to end. It was almost overwhelming. Luckily I had to put my luggage in my car so I got a chance to keep my mind occupied before it started getting dusty.



We had the first tee time and I think we were all feeling the previous day’s golf. Most (all?) of us skipped breakfast and hit the range to warm up. Then we went off to play our final round of Shaft Up #1.

Will and I took turns driving the struggle bus off the tee. There was only one hole where we both failed to get a ball in play. We kept chugging along hole by hole, shot by shot. I don’t remember many shots. But I remember the ride in the cart. How we kept each other in good spirits. How we talked about still being in disbelief. How good JB and Danny are. How this course still looked amazing. How insane it was that we were given the opportunity to partake in this slice of awesomeness. How lucky we were to be there. How much it was going to hurt to play our local courses after all this. How we think the other is going to see a big handicap drop soon.

Final Thoughts
You can read up on how it all played out but for me this was so much more than that one round. I posted before that my son (9 at the time) was the one who got me into golf. I was fine pounding my $30 driver 150 yards at the driving range. He wanted to golf and he was not interested in taking lessons but expected me to know everything about golf so I could fix whatever came up. Kids! lol

@JB and @GolferGal had a vision and saw it through. I got to meet the man behind the idea. They created a place on the Internet where people were expected to not treat people like the Internet normally does. And you all do that every day. Or most days. That lets people ask newbie questions and get answers instead of getting roasted. That lets people like me help my son learn the game the way he felt comfortable so we have something to share the rest of our lives. And I sincerely thank you all for that gift. It’s a bonus that his swing looks nothing like mine and I’m sure he’s grateful for that. Being able to participate and experience this entire trip was pretty emotional because of how I view THP.

Danny is amazing. He is the shaft fitter you want when you get fit. He’s a hell of a stick and he’s really just a nice guy. I’ve been a UST Mamiya fan from playing their Recoil 460 in my first new set of irons. But I hadn’t been exposed to their options outside of their ProForce shaft. JB warned us that we’d probably see an influx of UST Mamiya shafts in our bags and he’s right. The only questions are what color and when.

@will it was a pleasure getting to know you and sharing this experience with you. I’m looking forward to reading about the bombed drives you’re hitting to the middle of the fairway.

Personally, I wasn’t happy with not being able to showcase the shaft as well as I thought it deserved in my on course play. I need time to get comfortable with changes. You see how we get when Off Course drops a day or two early. But in one range trip after Shaft Up I’ve seen the shaft performing very well. I’m beyond excited about being able to trust a fit again and look forward to posting in the M40X Woods thread.

 

[JB]

Final Day - Day 3
View attachment 9083198
Well, talk about bittersweet. Here I was about to play 18 holes against Danny and JB with the forum following along. This is the most exciting thing to ever happen to me. I’ve done some cool things but this tops them all. Yet I knew it was coming to a close and I didn’t want it to end. It was almost overwhelming. Luckily I had to put my luggage in my car so I got a chance to keep my mind occupied before it started getting dusty.

View attachment 9083190

We had the first tee time and I think we were all feeling the previous day’s golf. Most (all?) of us skipped breakfast and hit the range to warm up. Then we went off to play our final round of Shaft Up #1.

Will and I took turns driving the struggle bus off the tee. There was only one hole where we both failed to get a ball in play. We kept chugging along hole by hole, shot by shot. I don’t remember many shots. But I remember the ride in the cart. How we kept each other in good spirits. How we talked about still being in disbelief. How good JB and Danny are. How this course still looked amazing. How insane it was that we were given the opportunity to partake in this slice of awesomeness. How lucky we were to be there. How much it was going to hurt to play our local courses after all this. How we think the other is going to see a big handicap drop soon.

Final Thoughts
You can read up on how it all played out but for me this was so much more than that one round. I posted before that my son (9 at the time) was the one who got me into golf. I was fine pounding my $30 driver 150 yards at the driving range. He wanted to golf and he was not interested in taking lessons but expected me to know everything about golf so I could fix whatever came up. Kids! lol

@JB and @GolferGal had a vision and saw it through. I got to meet the man behind the idea. They created a place on the Internet where people were expected to not treat people like the Internet normally does. And you all do that every day. Or most days. That lets people ask newbie questions and get answers instead of getting roasted. That lets people like me help my son learn the game the way he felt comfortable so we have something to share the rest of our lives. And I sincerely thank you all for that gift. It’s a bonus that his swing looks nothing like mine and I’m sure he’s grateful for that. Being able to participate and experience this entire trip was pretty emotional because of how I view THP.

Danny is amazing. He is the shaft fitter you want when you get fit. He’s a hell of a stick and he’s really just a nice guy. I’ve been a UST Mamiya fan from playing their Recoil 460 in my first new set of irons. But I hadn’t been exposed to their options outside of their ProForce shaft. JB warned us that we’d probably see an influx of UST Mamiya shafts in our bags and he’s right. The only questions are what color and when.

@will it was a pleasure getting to know you and sharing this experience with you. I’m looking forward to reading about the bombed drives you’re hitting to the middle of the fairway.

Personally, I wasn’t happy with not being able to showcase the shaft as well as I thought it deserved in my on course play. I need time to get comfortable with changes. You see how we get when Off Course drops a day or two early. But in one range trip after Shaft Up I’ve seen the shaft performing very well. I’m beyond excited about being able to trust a fit again and look forward to posting in the M40X Woods thread.

View attachment 9083209

It was great meeting you.

 

[hackitup]

It was great meeting you.

Believe me, the pleasure was entirely mine. This whole thing has been so surreal and I can’t wait to see what you do at Victoria National.

 

[Muchmore]

Yes. I think it was a 16 oz steak too, which is bigger than I normally order. Reading is fundamental. I failed that night.

My man!!

 

[hackitup]

And just because JB warned us and I didn’t believe him. Here’s a shot of some new shafts that will be installed after my next weekend of golf. I have played Recoils before but after my swing speed outgrew the R shafts I never went back even though I chased the same feel ever since. There’s a reason my friends say I’m the dumbest smart guy they know.

 

[JB]

And just because JB warned us and I didn’t believe him. Here’s a shot of some new shafts that will be installed after my next weekend of golf. I have played Recoils before but after my swing speed outgrew the R shafts I never went back even though I chased the same feel ever since. There’s a reason my friends say I’m the dumbest smart guy they know.

View attachment 9083324

You are going to enjoy those.

 

[will]

And just because JB warned us and I didn’t believe him. Here’s a shot of some new shafts that will be installed after my next weekend of golf. I have played Recoils before but after my swing speed outgrew the R shafts I never went back even though I chased the same feel ever since. There’s a reason my friends say I’m the dumbest smart guy they know.

View attachment 9083324

Sweet! Pretty jealous of those, not gonna lie. I think I’m going to swap to Recoil 95 shafts, but might swap my 3 wood shaft first.

 

[JB]

Sweet! Pretty jealous of those, not gonna lie. I think I’m going to swap to Recoil 95 shafts, but might swap my 3 wood shaft first.

I’m glad you got a chance to test out my 95s

 

[hackitup]

Sweet! Pretty jealous of those, not gonna lie. I think I’m going to swap to Recoil 95 shafts, but might swap my 3 wood shaft first.

Being able to confidently hit 3W off the turf would add another tool in your belt. But I did enjoy the Recoil shafts when I played them. It’s a tough call but no bad choice between the 2.

 

[will]

I’m glad you got a chance to test out my 95s

Yes! Thank you for letting me hit them. The Recoils felt great and any concern about control was gone pretty quick. I even hit the 5-iron pretty well, though I don’t know that I’m ready to cut mine down to 8-iron length just yet. lol

 

[will]

Being able to confidently hit 3W off the turf would add another tool in your belt. But I did enjoy the Recoil shafts when I played them. It’s a tough call but no bad choice between the 2.

Yeah, the new driver will bring most of the par 5s in range at my home course, but I need to be able to hit 3 wood off the turf consistently. I might go that route and work my way down the bag and do wedges last.

 

[shanewu]

Day 2: Golf, Driver Fitting, and FOOD!

Day 2 was a big day with lots of golf, the driver fitting, and good food. I was pretty excited to get the day started and see the course. We got ready and headed to the clubhouse for breakfast. It was a buffet style breakfast with pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, roasted potatoes, oatmeal, and maybe one other thing? It was good. Real good. After that we went to the putting green and did some chipping and putting while waiting for the maintenance crew to finish up the range. The entire property is meticulously maintained and the range is no exception. Once they were done, they brought about range balls and filled the box at each station with Titliest ProV1x balls. Most looked like they could be new. I can only recall one other course I've played having Titleist range balls. Very nice indeed.

It was a little cool out and there were a few drops of rain here and there. I was worried it might turn into a more steady rain, considering my luck, but fortunately it stopped and the clouds even started clearing once we were on the course. So after warming up at the range, we headed to the first tee. First tee nerves are REAL. I can’t imagine the first tee jitters at something like the Morgan Cup with everyone watching. The fact that hole 1 can be a bit visually intimidating didn’t help. Short is bad, left is no good, and right is only slightly less bad than the other two. Somehow, I hit a decent drive and the practice round was underway. I won’t go hole by hole, but I did learn a few things. One, the greens were going to kick my butt. They were in such great shape and they were pretty fast. Add in the crazy undulations and 3 putts were plentiful. The other thing I learned was the importance of knowing where to hit your shots on this course. Lastly, Danny has some serious game and JB was no slouch either. Even with a pop per hole, we were going to need to play well to win the match on Wednesday. Oh, I also can’t overstate how stunning the course is. The views were breathtaking on each and every hole.

View attachment 9082801View attachment 9082802

After a fun practice round on the front 9, we headed back to the range to start the fitting. I was so freaking excited for this! I’ve never been fit a club, so this was going to be awesome. After Danny got everything setup, I started with my current driver to get some baseline numbers. I was playing a TM Sim Max with the Fujikura Ventus Red 5-S shaftLaunch was staying in the 7-9 degree range and ball speeds in the 140s with a high of 149. Spin was on the low side, around 1400-1700, though most were in the 1400 range, if I remember correctly. I think my longest carry was around 251 yards.
View attachment 9082789View attachment 9082796
First up, we tried the Rogue ST Max D with the LinQ Blue shaft. Numbers were better, but I was going left a bit too much. Swapped in the ST Max and it was much better. Then we tried the LinQ Red and man it was good! Long, high, straight bombs! Danny wanted to try the Helium Nanocore shaft and the results were also really good. It ended up coming down to the LinQ blue and LinQ Red, but Danny had me try the LinQ Red one last time and it was pretty obvious that was the fit. It also felt like I had just a bit more control with the LinQ Red and that just further helped my confidence. Launch angle was up in the 9-11 degree range, spin was 2000+, ballspeed in the 154 range, and one of my best carry distances was 269 yards (can’t remember if that was the longest, but I think it might have been). Big time increases for me and dispersion was much better.
View attachment 9082798View attachment 9082799
Next up, Danny started working his magic on Hackitup. I don’t know all of the shafts they went through, but I heard some impressive carry distances and based on the shots I was seeing, there were some serious gains being made. After the fitting we went back to the cottage to change into shorts, while Danny put together out new drivers, then headed to the clubhouse for Lunch.

Lunch was fantastic. The pulled chicken tacos were GREAT. After lunch, we headed to 10 to play the back 9. It started as well as I could’ve hoped with a great drive. I missed the fairway just a little left on 11, but I think I hit every fairway after that with the new driver. I can’t stress how huge that is for me, considering how much I have been struggling off the tee recently. Confidence was sky high at this point. Hackitup and I played the back pretty well. We even managed a birdie on hole 17. It was so much fun! After the back 9, our original plan was to go back to the front, but there was a group going out, so Hackitup and I went to play the back again, while Danny and JB headed back to the cottage to do some work.

The second round on the back was fun and we managed to score pretty well. The extra time with the new driver was nice and it gave us more opportunities to play those crazy greens. Though, I still don’t know that it helped me putting. It was a great afternoon. There wasn’t many people on the course, so we were able to play at our own pace and we still had plenty of time to get cleaned up and ready for dinner after the round. I actually had enough time to go do some shopping in the pro shop. Got me a shirt and putter head over, got my father-in-law a divot tool, a ball marker for my niece, and a tshirt for my wife. Also grabbed some of the little markers while I was there.
View attachment 9082803

Like all the other meals, dinner was great. I went with the ribeye this time with their steak fries and it was wonderful. Dessert was a chocolate cremeux (I think that's what it was called?) I'm still not 100% sure what it was, but it was good. After dinner we headed back to the cottage and saw that they had the lights on and the pins placed on the 18th green. Me, hackitup, and Danny went out and did some night putting, which was pretty cool. All in all, it was just an awesome day. The course was amazing, the driver fitting turned out even better than I could've hoped for, and I got to hang out all day with some awesome people.

Awesome stuff! I want that driver setup and putter cover!

 

[shanewu]

And just because JB warned us and I didn’t believe him. Here’s a shot of some new shafts that will be installed after my next weekend of golf. I have played Recoils before but after my swing speed outgrew the R shafts I never went back even though I chased the same feel ever since. There’s a reason my friends say I’m the dumbest smart guy they know.

View attachment 9083324

One of my favorite shafts ever. You will love them I bet.

 

[hackitup]

One of my favorite shafts ever. You will love them I bet.

If my preferences haven’t changed, and I don’t think they have you are probably right. I like the lower part of the shaft to feel like it’s powering through the ball and the upper part of the shaft to feel firm and stable. From what I remember that was how the Recoils performed.

 

[will]

Awesome stuff! I want that driver setup and putter cover!

Driver setup is just a great combo and has made a huge difference for me. The putter cover I just love so much. I was eyeing it every time I went in the pro shop and finally decided I had to have it.