The Live Update thread for the 2021 Project X Experience with Mizuno is here.
A couple of months ago we held a contest where the lucky winner was given an all expenses paid trip to GA and while there he will visit the Mizuno Production Facility in Braselton, GA get fit for a new custom Project X driver shaft and play golf at the beautiful Chateau Elan. Today that event kicks off.
You will be able to follow along with the entire THP Experience live below. Questions will get answered in the ask us anything portion of the week, golf will be played and everybody will have a front row seat. This lucky THP forum member is about to have a few memorable days and the updates will be coming fast and furious.
If you have Project X shaft questions or Mizuno equipment questions or anything else at all, drop them below and they will get answered over the next few days. Follow along both here and on our Instagram Stories for behind the scenes looks and course pictures.
We have a jam packed itinerary over the next few days that you will not want to miss.
Itinerary
Wednesday Evening: Meet and Greet Dinner at Chateau Elan with Keenan Phillips from Project X
Thursday Morning: Tour Mizuno Facility with Chris Voshall from Mizuno
Thursday Lunch: Fitting by Keenan Phillips and Chris Voshall for new driver and custom shaft. Thursday Afternoon: Golf with Chris Voshall and Keenan Phillips at Chateau Elan
Thursday Evening: Ask Us Anything Dinner with Keenan and Chris.
The 2021 Project X Experience with Mizuno is here.
Found the pic I was looking for, new avatar ?
Buckle up fellas, the rollercoaster ride continues ? . To assist in the march to 7.5 mil I’ll do each hole as it’s own post.
Hole 10 is a long par, and I tried to play a big draw to cut the corner. Never gave it a chance and got a lucky kick out of trees to just short of the bunkers at the corner. Still a mile to go say I hit a good 5 iron that the PTX Pros gave some assistance on because it wasn’t flush, and thankfully it wasn’t because it probably reaches the bunker if I do. 125 left so I grab my 50 and proceed to hit a shank that stayed in play. Tough downhill lie, but hit a decent spinner again that needed another 5 yards and length to be good, but still just on the fringe. Grab putter and misjudge the speed (big surprise ?) and have two putts to get in for 7. Keenan absolutely annihilated his drive (see the circle for roughly where he wound up) on this hole.
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#11 was another hole like many other on the day. Hit a nice power fade (little heely so thank you ST-Z) that puts me in good scoring position. Well I grab my 9 iron and wait for it, cold top it ???. Regroup and grab the 58* wedge and clip it real well. Another low flighted spinner that checked beautifully. Vosh winds up just outside me and gives me a great read as he drains his but I pull the putt so in for bogey.
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Still sounds like you had a fun round [USER=59217]@thewilderside[/USER]! Great recap!
[QUOTE=”thewilderside, post: 10244529, member: 59217″]
Buckle up fellas, the rollercoaster ride continues ? . To assist in the march to 7.5 mil I’ll do each hole as it’s own post.
Hole 10 is a long par, and I tried to play a big draw to cut the corner. Never gave it a chance and got a lucky kick out of trees to just short of the bunkers at the corner. Still a mile to go say I hit a good 5 iron that the PTX Pros gave some assistance on because it wasn’t flush, and thankfully it wasn’t because it probably reaches the bunker if I do. 125 left so I grab my 50 and proceed to hit a shank that stayed in play. Tough downhill lie, but hit a decent spinner again that needed another 5 yards and length to be good, but still just on the fringe. Grab putter and misjudge the speed (big surprise ?) and have two putts to get in for 7. Keenan absolutely annihilated his drive (see the circle for roughly where he wound up) on this hole.
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Wow this course looks tight. Did it feel like that from the tee too?
#12 took me by surprise upon a Shotscope review but either way. Longer par 3, was sure it said 185 playing longer due to uphill and wind so I grab my 5 iron and absolute flush it. I mean this thing had more height than any short iron I hit on the day, including the 9 iron on #8 that nearly cleared the towering tree in front of it. There was some wind in our face as I was sure it was longer than 165 but Shotscope says otherwise. Regardless it was a nice reminder of how good the PTX Pros feel when you find the sweetspot. Wind up pin high in the bunker, but not a bad miss by any means. Step into the silky smooth bunker, dig in, and plop one out within a makeable distance. Miss the putt, another slight tug but a satisfying bogey nonetheless.
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[QUOTE=”YukonLiving, post: 10244558, member: 50273″]
Still sounds like you had a fun round [USER=59217]@thewilderside[/USER]! Great recap!
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It’s pretty amazing recapping how badly I scored just how much fun I had. The company I got I to keep during this round undoubtedly made it so.
[QUOTE=”jfox789, post: 10244580, member: 60107″]
Wow this course looks tight. Did it feel like that from the tee too?
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Yes and no, there were certainly trees on every hole but I have little doubt we would have found nearly every errant shot if not for the leaves.
[QUOTE=”thewilderside, post: 10244595, member: 59217″]
It’s pretty amazing recapping how badly I scored just how much fun I had. The company I got I to keep during this round undoubtedly made it so.
[/QUOTE]
Honestly, that’s exactly how I felt after my round in San Diego back in 2019. Playing with THP’ers and KP was just a ton of fun!!
#13 followed a predictable pattern but I’ll tell the story anyway. Hit a nice drive that was going uphill and into the wind. Distance not great but I wasn’t far behind Keenan so I know the geography and wind impacted distance. Chunk my approach, followed by another nice low spinner that checked immediately. After pulling the last few putts I really wanted to focus on a good stroke. Well I did, but forgot to pay attention to speed ????. Ran it way by and couldn’t make the comeback so a double.
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[QUOTE=”thewilderside, post: 10244599, member: 59217″]
Yes and no, there were certainly trees on every hole but I have little doubt we would have found nearly every errant shot if not for the leaves.
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The East Coast in the fall needs a rule that if you find any ball you can play it. But doesn’t sound like there were many to find.
#14 has some regrets. For one, it was one of the few holes we didn’t bring the quad down on. It looks like a long way to the gully, but Shotscope says it’s 275 to clear. I tell Keenan I didn’t come all the way down here and get fit for a new driver to layup. Line up, tell the guys I’m stepping on this one, and absolutely pipe one dead straight and crushed. It was enough of a smash job that (in my head anyway) it rattled Keenan into overspending and losing his right. We went searching but never found it, in all honesty I think we weren’t looking in the right spot after reflection. We were checking in the gully but think we should have been looking where I circled. I think it went straight when I needed that hint of fade I’d been playing. Either way, it was easily the biggest drive I hit on the day. Rest of the hole was pretty bad. Shanked a 4 iron, dropped up about where it went and hit a decent 50 to just short, hit my worst chip of the day, followed by one that got on and two putts for a very loosely scored 8.
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[QUOTE=”jfox789, post: 10244654, member: 60107″]
The East Coast in the fall needs a rule that if you find any ball you can play it. But doesn’t sound like there were many to find.
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It was pretty wild, we all spent a fair amount of time searching leaves for each other’s shots and legitimately didn’t find any ball in the leaves until #16.
[QUOTE=”thewilderside, post: 10244673, member: 59217″]
It was pretty wild, we all spent a fair amount of time searching leaves for each other’s shots and legitimately didn’t find any ball in the leaves until #16.
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Wow! How busy was the course?
Have you stopped smiling ear to ear yet? ?
#15 is a nervy replica of #12 at Augusta. A mostly water carry to a tiny green guarded by bunkers front and back. Was playing 155 and I asked Keenan what he was doing and he said slightly choked down 8 so I figured a smooth 8 would work. Obviously with the shanks ever present I was mighty nervous. Step up and put a good swing on it that winds up a couple yards long and to the left of the pin but a darn good shot if I do say so myself. Hit a solid chip on and give myself a solid look at par but can’t convert. I don’t mind, told the guys if you’d told me I could card a 4 and move on from the hole I’d have hopped right back in the cart ?.
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[QUOTE=”jfox789, post: 10244688, member: 60107″]
Wow! How busy was the course?
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Not remotely busy. We never saw anyone behind us and the only hole we had any wait on was approach on 14 and tee on 18. It was fantastic. We wrapped up our round in just over 3 1/2 hours which is pretty remarkable considering we did try to locate multiple balls in the leaves.
[QUOTE=”Golfers Anonymous, post: 10244690, member: 59233″]
Have you stopped smiling ear to ear yet? ?
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I mean yeah I’m back to reality but every time I reflect on what just happened that goofy grin reappears ?
[QUOTE=”thewilderside, post: 10244716, member: 59217″]
I mean yeah I’m back to reality but every time I reflect on what just happened that goofy grin reappears ?
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One of the best feelings in the world ?
[QUOTE=”thewilderside, post: 10244714, member: 59217″]
Not remotely busy. We never saw anyone behind us and the only hole we had any wait on was approach on 14 and tee on 18. It was fantastic. We wrapped up our round in just over 3 1/2 hours which is pretty remarkable considering we did try to locate multiple balls in the leaves.
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Wow!! 3.5 hours might be a THP record! That’s awesome!
Looks like an incredible trip. Thank you for all the detail and letting us follow along!
#16 and at this point I’m getting a little sloppy with the driver. I’ll partially blame fatigue since I’d taken a lot of swings at this point. Drive 1 sees the clubhead twist in my hand at contact sending the ball a mile right. Take another swing and over correct winding up left and in the leaves (never found). Keenan absolutely annihilated his drive, which was even more impressive when you consider JB told him he’d be disappointed if he didn’t drive the green ?. Hits a mid low bullet that had the green not been elevated absolutely settles on the green, an absolute crush job. I head up and drop roughly where I expected my ball to be, leave a pitch short, chip on and a couple putts for a loose 6. Keenan hit a good chip then crushed his birdie putt a solid 15 feet by the hole, but proceeded to can the comebacker for par. Said he was some glad to hit that cuz he woulda been real mad to make bogey after that drive?
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[QUOTE=”thewilderside, post: 10244716, member: 59217″]
I mean yeah I’m back to reality but every time I reflect on what just happened that goofy grin reappears ?
[/QUOTE]
That last for about 2 weeks then at least 2-3 times daily afterwards
17 and my sloppiness continued. Hit a decent drive but started it too far right so the fade with it put it in the dreaded leaves again ???? Drop and catch a 5 iron chunky. Clip another good wedge but leave it well short and proceed to 3 putt. This is the hole you see the clip of Keenan walking in his birdie putt with a look of utter disdain as he knew he missed it immediately.
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Outstanding recap so far [USER=59217]@thewilderside[/USER] seems like the new driver was treating you pretty solid. Can’t fault that for the fatigue after going after some of those drives on the range.
Fan of the course too, I would say?
Last hole of the round and it’s a visually beautiful finishing hole. Thankfully we had a couple minute wait on the tee box as it allowed me to regroup a little. I really wanted to finish strong. Thankfully I mostly did. Hit a real solid power fade that we initially thought wound up in the bunker but must have just cleared it. Step up and hit a marginal PW but it wasn’t shanked and found the green. Had a solid 70 feet for birdie and didn’t lag it all that close, leading to a 3 putt bogey but a solid ending nonetheless. Overall Shotscope puts the number at 104, and it’s higher than that for sure if we played straight to the letter of the law but it was easily the most enjoyable round I’ve ever played that went over 100.
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[QUOTE=”MWard, post: 10244769, member: 3474″]
Outstanding recap so far [USER=59217]@thewilderside[/USER] seems like the new driver was treating you pretty solid. Can’t fault that for the fatigue after going after some of those drives on the range.
Fan of the course too, I would say?
[/QUOTE]
1000%. The course was challenging but fair and was in fantastic condition. The replica holes were very well done. It honestly reminded me a little bit of home with the trees, just a much more enjoyable grass to play off than I’m used to up here.
[USER=59217]@thewilderside[/USER] Sounds like you made the most of your experience. Keep that swing grooved. The driver seems to work really well for you.
[QUOTE=”thewilderside, post: 10244807, member: 59217″]
1000%. The course was challenging but fair and was in fantastic condition. The replica holes were very well done. It honestly reminded me a little bit of home with the trees, just a much more enjoyable grass to play off than I’m used to up here.
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:unsure: Bermuda like grass was more enjoyable? I think I missed the reasoning behind this after I blacked out in fear of being hit by your 170+ mph ball speed.
[QUOTE=”MWard, post: 10244817, member: 3474″]
:unsure: Bermuda like grass was more enjoyable? I think I missed the reasoning behind this after I blacked out in fear of being hit by your 170+ mph ball speed.
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I enjoyed the turf interaction a lot. Vosh or Keenan did say that it’s tougher, especially the rough, when it’s not dormant but it felt great to me.
[QUOTE=”thewilderside, post: 10244825, member: 59217″]
I enjoyed the turf interaction a lot. Vosh or Keenan did say that it’s tougher, especially the rough, when it’s not dormant but it felt great to me.
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That’s fair, it was a bit dormant. It’s not so bad when dormant. It’s awful when it’s wet and when some courses let it grow just a bit more.
[QUOTE=”MWard, post: 10244839, member: 3474″]
That’s fair, it was a bit dormant. It’s not so bad when dormant. It’s awful when it’s wet and when some courses let it grow just a bit more.
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What is it like when wet? Anything long is a pain in the @ss for me ?
[QUOTE=”thewilderside, post: 10244847, member: 59217″]
What is it like when wet? Anything long is a pain in the @ss for me ?
[/QUOTE]
Thicc, with two C’s. So when Bermuda grass and its jerk like friends (zoysia) get wet, it clumps. So now you have a bunch of blades of thick grass, holding moisture, and clumping. The ball in bermuda doesn’t always settle down to the bottom, either. Sometimes it does, sometimes it sits on top of the grass a bit. So if it’s on top of the grass, what happens if you go down after it? Is it going to come out clean like it was on a tee? Are you going to go right underneath it and hit it on the top grooves aka this is going absolutely nowhere? If it’s sitting down, how clean of contact can I actually make? Or is this basically a total pitch out sideways?
[QUOTE=”MWard, post: 10244858, member: 3474″]
Thicc, with two C’s. So when Bermuda grass and its jerk like friends (zoysia) get wet, it clumps. So now you have a bunch of blades of thick grass, holding moisture, and clumping. The ball in bermuda doesn’t always settle down to the bottom, either. Sometimes it does, sometimes it sits on top of the grass a bit. So if it’s on top of the grass, what happens if you go down after it? Is it going to come out clean like it was on a tee? Are you going to go right underneath it and hit it on the top grooves aka this is going absolutely nowhere? If it’s sitting down, how clean of contact can I actually make? Or is this basically a total pitch out sideways?
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Oh, yeah that doesn’t sound pleasant. So I’ll amend my original statement to I really enjoy the turf interaction of dry, dormant Bermuda ?
[QUOTE=”thewilderside, post: 10244871, member: 59217″]
Oh, yeah that doesn’t sound pleasant. So I’ll amend my original statement to I really enjoy the turf interaction of dry, dormant Bermuda ?
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Here’s hoping you get into more THP events where you can experience awful bermuda, so we can have a great laugh about you saying this was your favorite grass ever.:drinks:
I’ll definitely :drinks: to that ?
[QUOTE=”JB, post: 10235902, member: 3″]
Answering your question right now about grain flow forging. I will let [USER=59217]@thewilderside[/USER] dill you in on the answer. Good question
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[USER=2320]@Canadan[/USER] reading back through and this jogged my memory. So the way they forge is unique and patented in that they hand stretch the billet before they begin forging. This means the grain is all flowing the same way, whereas other forms the grain will not have the same consistency. This plays a key role in the feel and sound we all so love in a Mizuno product.
[QUOTE=”JB, post: 10236536, member: 3″]
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Oh fun fact, I canned this putt
[QUOTE=”JB, post: 10236636, member: 3″]
This green is wicked
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Can confirm, I rolled what I thought was a solid putt just by that ran right off the green ?
[QUOTE=”JB, post: 10236719, member: 3″]
No sir, just shaft testing
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Was really cool listening to a shaft guy in Keenan work with someone who could articulate what he liked or didn’t like about what he was feeling in the shaft. Think Vosh went through at least 3 before settling in.
[QUOTE=”JB, post: 10236856, member: 3″]
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This was first hole I hit with the RDX Smoke Blue, my ball flew over the right hand corner of the bunker seen on the left. Still think my drive on 14 was longer but I have the confirmed numbers on this one (#9)
[QUOTE=”mtbloco, post: 10237056, member: 53632″]
When we ([USER=59217]@thewilderside[/USER] , [USER=56757]@Afizzle2100[/USER] , and I) we were doubled #teamtallguy…..i’m just 6’2″ and i was the SHORT one on the team!
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Their team was definitely on the shorter side, not to throw shade at [USER=22002]@JDax[/USER] [USER=46979]@chefkritter[/USER] or [USER=47008]@DannyLe[/USER] since they did beat us. [USER=46570]@MSEASU[/USER] was the center for their team
[QUOTE=”JB, post: 10237177, member: 3″]
Final hole and straight down the hill
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Another good reference shot, my drive cleared the right side of the left hand bunker. Keenan had me by 15 yards and center of the fairway.
[QUOTE=”Canadan, post: 10237597, member: 2320″]
Is my guy [USER=54609]@Vosh68[/USER] drinking a mule?!
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Yes Vosh and I both went Mule, they were perfection
[QUOTE=”thewilderside, post: 10244714, member: 59217″]
Not remotely busy. We never saw anyone behind us and the only hole we had any wait on was approach on 14 and tee on 18. It was fantastic. We wrapped up our round in just over 3 1/2 hours which is pretty remarkable considering we did try to locate multiple balls in the leaves.
[/QUOTE]
And set up a GC on almost every tee box!
[QUOTE=”Junkyard, post: 10245318, member: 12544″]
And set up a GC on almost every tee box!
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Funny thing was it accidentally got bumped to lh at one point. Took us a minute to figure out why it wasn’t reading ?
[USER=59217]@thewilderside[/USER] Have you figured out how to explain how awesome the end of last week was to your co-workers, friends, and family?
[QUOTE=”hedley_lamarr08, post: 10247210, member: 37622″]
[USER=59217]@thewilderside[/USER] Have you figured out how to explain how awesome the end of last week was to your co-workers, friends, and family?
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Not yet, at least not quickly ?. I was on the phone with [USER=59894]@JeffreyRoy86[/USER] from Braselton to Atlanta running down the trip, and he gets golf. Someone who doesn’t I’ll have to pare down from hour and half so they don’t glaze over ?
Just catching up on your hole recaps [USER=59217]@thewilderside[/USER] ! Thanks for doing that even with less than ideal results game wise! Like you said though, a lot of fun going over it even if the play wasn’t great, because of the company you were with!
Couldn’t find the thread for the the 2021 ST-Z so thought I’d throw thoughts in here. Played 36 sim holes today and boy was I an adventure (as usual). Had some swing ideas that I was excited to try and (shockingly) they didn’t work how I thought they would. This combination remains fantastic when I do my part. Took me about 27 holes to figure it out, but chilling my tempo out and choking down a bit turn this combo into a fairway finder.
The thing that continued to stand out was that I still don’t see wild fades/hooks. Don’t get me wrong I was all over the map today, but i wasn’t seeing something start down the middle of the fairway and hook or slice 50 yards. A 50 yard miss was the result of starting line of the shot (pull draw/push fade). Given how off I was all day that made me happy. My final swing of the day was the choked down, smooth tempo swing that produced a beautiful high baby fade that was my longest of the day at 305. If I can ever figure my swing out the ST-Z / Smoke Blue combi could be a legitimate weapon this year ?