golf

i have been browsing around the internet and i got this bright idea to look for corporate promotional golf stuff because a coworker of mine gave us some things she had laying around from previous tournaments. golf ball sleeves and towels and logo'd balls and stuff. when you host a golf tournament it seems you give away some schwag. it turns out they have just about anything you could imagine, neoprene ball sleeves/pouches, tees, ball markers, turf repair tools, towels, balls of all qualities and prices, all logo'd up and tricked out.

after i get more into the summer and actually start playing, i am going to start a collection of golf balls of the places we play. i noticed that our local course has logo'd callaway balls for sale for $2. and when my son did his golf merit badge he got a national guard one who was one of the sponsors for their free use of course and range and stuff. i'm assuming that most golf courses have their own logo and balls and this is pretty standard to pick one up at a new course? if not, i am going to start our own tradition anyways, see how many different local and state courses we can play when we go somewhere.

they even have golf ball racks/shelves to display them on. i might talk to kave about it and see what he thinks he could make something like that for out of his tobacco barn reclaimed wood. he did a great job on my ecig vaping shrine and stand and drawer.

meanwhile, i decided to pick up a new ball marker...

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i'll have to remember that, i don't think my instructor would let me take the club and balls home. what kind of ice cream did he order?

all kidding aside, that is really cool jcpcavin. it looks like she is having fun too. i notice she is doing something deliberate on her swings, she is turning her body after the club swings through and following it around. you might have a natural there.

I don't recall but I got the vanilla and it was scrumptious! :cool:

 
i wonder if tom has ever considered getting some golf balls made up with the tsptalk logo? i would definitely pick a sleeve of those over another coffee mug when i get lucky and win the monthly tracker or guess the pretend employment numbers.
Did somebody mention TSP Talk golf balls? Great idea. I just ordered 50 sleeves of 3. Topflite.

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Did somebody mention TSP Talk golf balls? Great idea. I just ordered 50 sleeves of 3. Topflite.

golfball2.gif

tom, you have nice balls.

how can i get my hands on them? are they going to be for sale in the tsptalk storefront soon? i am definitely going to get some of those and put one in my collection. suhweeet!
 
today we had planned to go to the range and practice our last driving session and then some chipping and putting on the practice green, but it occurs to me since it is mother's day maybe all the gals are at home or church receiving their accolades and if they are smart the guys are at home and church with them. so we might actually shoot our first round today if the course if empty. i am still planning on not keeping score this first round and just shooting 9 holes and getting used to the course and the flow of things. our range practice sessions aren't getting much better and we're hitting consistently not erratically so much now so maybe it is time.

we did happen to be in the biggest city in the state yesterday, and visited a for real dedicated golf only store. it was cool. i didn't get measured for clubs because i am still developing my swing and want to get in a bit better golf form as well as physical shape before shelling out for a real set of clubs. at our level these inexpensive ones are just fine. but you can tell the quality of the nicer 'professional' clubs. like a dream, they feel like butter in your hands and so sophisticated on the construction and appearance. maybe in a couple of years i could justify the expense.

i liked the nike vapor fly's but a strange thing happened when i picked up the 9-iron. i felt like erin nordegren and wanted to bash tiger's cheating face in, so that is not going to work for me. god i wish i felt like erin nordegren i would never leave the house. the callaways seemed really high class, and they are the manufacturer of our entry level sets and i really like those, but unfortunately the winning powerball ticket was sold in new jersey and i did not buy my ticket in new jersey so i guess the new clubs and the rock star party bus are going to have to wait a little longer.

we did pick up a few more 'accessories'. i love buying golf stuff even though we aren't really golfers, yet. i got a leatherlike scorecard holder, a cleat bag/tote, a multitool for cleaning and repairing clubs and it has a ball marker too. also i got a dozen new balls because they had a special if you spend so much then get a discount. so i picked up some callaway balls, not the fancy ones, damn those are expensive at ~$4 per ball. we got some for about $1.25 per ball which is only a quarter more expensive than the pinnacles i already have. they are the callaway 'warbirds', pretty cheap i'm sure but i really liked the logo on the package and they are callaways!

so it's off to the range and maybe shoot a round. happy mother's day everybody.
 
Hey Burro. Glad to see you're still at it. I played on 18 holes on Thursday. I shot a 47 on the front nine...good score for me but pulled a muscle in my shoulder on the 15th hole so decided to hold off for a few days. I think you will like your Callaways. They make nice clubs and they are forgiving...a very important feature....I live for FORGIVENESS.

Good point about Mother's day. Shield Maiden and I met up with a bunch of friends for Mom's Day brunch today. We eat at a French (snooty) place on special occasions (unified wives decisions so the guys just do what we're told). I always order the "beignets" but the waitress always gives me a cold shoulder look because I order them as BenGays...:D:D:D

Anyways...hit em straight and hit em long..and stay out of sand and water

FS
 
oh we had a blast again today, my kid agreed he will play a round for sure next time. i ended up sitting in the shade on a bench by the putting green after i had had enough but he wanted to keep practicing chipping and putting. at first when we started he wasn't really trying and i can tell it is because he knows he is going to lose so it is better to look 'cooler' like you don't care about losing. but lately he has hit some good ones and compliments go a long way. also, on the putting green after i missed an easy 6-footer i naturally rolled off a good "corksoaking motherforking dognam sonofabiatch" just as smooth as honey and he busted up laughing. i told him "hey, that is acceptable in golf", and he lightened up considerably after that. it's good to teach your kids how to handle failure is what all the parenting books say, so maybe i am on the right track there.

i noticed something interesting today about body form or muscle memory, it must be an instinct or something because i've started to notice it in other golfers too, but today i felt it for myself. when i nailed an uphill sloping right 20-foot put and sank it, my knees buckled just a bit and sat down in the air, yes! it felt so right. also on the driving range when i would hit it straight and long and almost on the flag i was aiming at i could tell before looking up and tracking on the ball in flight. i have been trying to start my hips rotation and keep my head down and follow all the way through smooth. and when i do that right i end up facing squarely down the course with my right heel off the ground to just the toe and the sole vertical and facing almost exactly behind me, with my club over my left shoulder locked into that 'sweet shot man, damn' pose, that's how you are supposed to watch a shot fly straight down the course i guess. it seems if you hit it right your body just falls into place where it should be, or maybe the other way around, i don't know yet.

so i can hit my 3 wood off a tee a good 175+ yards down the range and mostly straight about 3/4ths of the time, +/- 25 yards left or right. and i got the 9-iron 75+ yards in the air and bouncing another 10 or so pretty predictable too. i can tell though that it is going to take a long time and lots of shots to ever reach a green and if lucky then 3 putt.

so we are ready now, next time out is the big 'first 9 holes', i can't hardly wait, i hope the weather holds out. today was like 70 degrees a frickin heat wave. it is pretty sad when you work up a sweat hitting a bucket of balls. maybe we should rent a cart at first.
 
the course was pretty full for what i expected on mother's day. the manager said it always fills up after church and folks have been calling all day. apparently there are some mom's out there that like to golf. i saw a few interesting things.

one was an old couple, she could hardly get around but he was patient with her and driving her in the cart and picked her ball out of the cup on the 9th green and it was obviously something they had done together many many times before but not so much any more. i thought that bit of chivalry was pretty inspiring.

another foursome was a dad/mom and son/daughter-in-law group. the young gal was not so much into golf but the mother-in-law was and so that was some good family time they were having.

and when we were leaving this pudgy guy is walking up to the clubhouse with his two kids in tow, none of them looking really excited about golf today. but obviously that is what mom wanted because she stayed home, 'leave me alone give me some peace' is what i imagined she must've asked for today. i bet she was already soaking in a hot bubble bath with the candles burning and breaking out a new set of d-cells, finally a few hours to herself.

people are fun, and funny, and strange what you see sometimes. who knew golf had anything to do with mother's day? it's all good.
 
we played our first full 9 holes today and oh it was a blast! lots of things to talk about, that is just about the best damn entertainment for $27 ($13.50 each) you can get if you ask me.

we decided to no matter what not keep score. which turned out to be a good thing rather quickly. on the first tee i hit a pretty good 3-wood but topped it and it made it to the fairway bouncing over the youth/women's tee. one fairway in regulation, check. my kid likes to try to crush the driver but he always lines up wrong, he is ambidextrous and writes/swings right handed but throws/kicks as a lefty, and his brain sees some unusual angles. but he doesn't like to take advice from me, which i don't blame him for. so his first drive took off like a rocket and then apparently one jet failed and it headed for the trees separating the driving range but bounced of a trunk and landed almost mid-fairway. ha! two greens in regulation, we might be pretty good at this!

nope we zig zagged all over the place and the foursome behind us was starting to get impatient. but we just kept hitting our shots, the first hole was well over 10 shots each. but then that foursome never caught up to us. but we did get passed by this cool old couple, man and wife i assume, they played probably the most efficient golf i can imagine. one cart, two of them, he would hit from the professional back tee and then drive her to the ladies tee and then they would just keep moving. at hole 5 tee we waited and let them pass us. their 4th green was pretty awesome. she hit it but way away from the hole, and he came up short. so they park their cart in between green and next tee and he grabs wedge and putter and she grabs putter and they head their ways and he chips and then tosses it aside and goes hold the flag for her then she putts then he pulls the flag and drops it and putts his own then she putts then he holes out. they never stopped moving or waited on each other, it was quite a dance. then they blasted of in front of us. it was something to see.

we got passed again by two guys each in their own cart before the 6th tee. father and son. the dad was all of 80 and the son pushing 60 at least. they hit from the youth/ladies tees and it was another duo working in tandem thing. this was dad's day and they played it their way. they both owned their own private gas golf carts not electric. and buzzed passed and then buzzed up the field. boom boom boom, go to go. cool.

my kid turns to me and says "don't get all lovey-dovey, neither of us will be golfing when you're 80". frickin smartass.
 
so now for the fun parts!

my kid is a whiz at the 5 hybrid off the fairway, if he can hit the fairway. he hit a shot 150 yards probably, dead straight took two bounces and landed on the green, best approach ever! you could just see his pride. then he 5 putts but no prob, i had plenty of those too. but that is when i saw him first light up, he was thinking 'i can do this', that is a good thing for a dad to see. i was so happy for him.

i 'kuhfrikkinrushed' a drive off the 6th tee for 200 yards with my 3-wood. that is an official golf term for when you crush a shot but even mo frikkin better as in 'oh yeah baby i kuhfrikkinrushed that one!' straight up and straight down and only 10 yards of center. boom. i hit the next iron shot perfect distance too would've been flag deep on the green for a birdie putt except i went 20 yards wide in the rough. and then donked off the chip and a few putts. but for a minute there i was a legend in my own mind.

the best shot of the day though was my kid's approach on the 9th. he is lined up crooked again and i told him just listen, do this. square your feet, turn this way a bit. now scoot up a bit. hit it! he was so mad at that point he didn't even think. he just killed the 8 iron 100 yards dead center, it took one bounce then up on the green and rolled towards the hole only maybe 15 feet away. goldamn was he proud of himself. yeah! and he almost made the putt too, just a foot short which is better than blasting it off the green like he usually does.
 
so we just had a blast. i was walking up to the 8th tee, got all smug and said 'i haven't lost a ball yet'. then i shanked it off in the trees over the fence. well crap. then i lost another one in the cattails on the ninth (we don't really have water out here, at least not enough to waste on artificial lakes and stuff, just sloughs and drainage draws and they are pegged off with marker where the water would be in a really wet place like arizona or california).

my kid lost 5 balls i think. i lost two. but we found one. so that is about another $6 down the hole. i shot my pinnacles i loved in my youth, but am going to hit the free topflite balls my coworker gave me next round. and then i am pulling out my callaway warbirds and going to 'kuhfrikkinrush' it. my son had so much fun. he even said 'well this is way better than sitting inside not talking to each other'. bingo! yes! worth every penny. we laughed a lot. apparently he thinks it is funny when i miss my shot and roll of a string of cuss words to make a sailor blush.

ah, good times.
 
dang i am getting old though. after walking 9 holes what seemed like miles my feet hurt. and i tried a little too hard on the 8th after i lost my ball and didn't pull anything but pushed my back muscles a little too hard. and i was getting out of breath. but we don't need no stinkin cart. i can do this. it will get better. total fun. we are going again next week for another round. and if the weather is good some more driving range practice. if i can just get him lined up right he will start killing it. he like how it feels when he hits a good shot, better than dad. i have no problem with that. so maybe success can be his motivator. and i wore my new cargo shorts and polo shirt, look at me, all uptown and stuff. first sun my legs have seen outside of a swimming suit in years.

watch out, here we come. golfing is totally fun.
 
Sounds like a wonderful day of golf. I play again this Thursday. All the guys I'm playing with are better golfers than I am so I really enjoy it. It makes me concentrate and play better. I'm going to the pro soon to get some help with my driver. It just isn't working for me and I know it is something fixable. Hopefully this year I can get that club moving things better for me. For now, the 3 wood is doing a good job. Glad you had a great time. You'll enjoy being the Dad and kid out there when you're 80 Burro.

Our big news is that my son (age 35) is getting married on June 3rd. He is a blue collar guy and he and his bride want to get married in Vegas so we're all heading up there on June 3 and 4 to have a bit of a celebration (the marriage, good food, some shows, and some slots). I'm glad for my son. The girl he is marrying is a real sweet heart. He is a lucky guy.

All the best,

FS
 
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