Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there...hope you got a sweet tie or a watch that will stop working once it hits moisture. I got my dad some bright yellow golf balls (Srixon) so that he can see the golf ball better on the course, especially at dusk.
Here are some videos for the Dads...
Too lazy to take the kid out for a walk? No worries, just grab you a remote control car:
Need to really put your stamp on a road trip? Enjoy.
The Dad's Life Anthem. So True...
Thank you dad for all that you have taught me in life. I hope to pass along those things to my kids one day.
Numerical Summary for the weekend:
2 - days my phone spent in a bowl of rice. I dropped it in the pool Friday afternoon, took it apart and let it sit in rice until Sunday morning. It started right up and everything works great. I still can't believe the rice did the trick.
27 - hours spent either watching or playing golf. First off Rory McIlroy...un-freaking-believable. What a tournament for him. So glad I got to watch it from start to finish.
3 - penalty shots incurred during my round at Lochinvar with the brother-in-law and his brother. I don't think that has happened to me in a long, long time. Found every possible water hazard. Still managed to shoot a 76, but oh what could have been...
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Best Drivers of 2011
Alright, let's get back to the main reason I started this blog...golf!
This spring at the Shell Houston Open qualifier, the PGA guys were using equipment I had never seen before. As an amateur, I consider myself to be on the long end of the distance spectrum throughout the bag. My drives are consistently around the 290 - 300 yard mark while hitting around 50% of fairways. Compared to the pros, I couldn't muster the strength to match their distance. Most of the pros had been measured over and over to find the right club head and shaft combo. The ease at which they swing and the distance they produced got me thinking about my current setup and how it might be completely wrong for me.
As a lefty, demo clubs are about as rare as a hurricane in Iowa. So instead of purchasing a bunch of custom ordered drivers and hoping one would work out, I traveled all over the Houston area to demo days. I found that 4 drivers are really worth taking a look at if you are a more skilled golfer.
Background: If there was a shaft upgrade available, I would choose that club. Otherwise, I was stuck with stock shafts for the demo. Titleist, Cobra and TaylorMade offer interchangeable shafts so they had an unfair advantage over the Callaway.
Specs: Avg swing speed - 116mph. Optimal Launch Angle - 10*. Optimal Spin Rate - 2700rpm. Avg Angle of Attack: -0.7*. Avg Smash Factor - 1.44
Cobra S3
Probably the most forgiving driver I have ever hit. Also, probably one of the worst stock shafts I have ever hit (Fujikura Blur). It was a little difficult to hit a consistently straight drive but man were they long. Cobra's elliptical face design really is cool because it applies to just about every golfer. Where are most of your mishits? High on the toe, low on the heel. Kudos to Cobra for the most realistic driver head on the market...just a shame that if you want a shaft to fit your game, you will need to pony up another $200 on top of the $300 price tag. Plus I love the name of the driver: S3...that's my initials. I should buy one solely for the label!
Final Grade: B- (Only because of the subpar shaft)
Callaway Razr Hawk Tour
Sweet Mary and Moses this is by far the longest, hottest driver on the market. Into the wind, this driver was about 15 yards further than any of the competition. Normal wind conditions, the Cally was tied with Titleist. Their stock shaft, the Aldila RIP, is a great shaft for most golfers...but not for me. I needed something to launch lower with a lot less spin. This is quite a step up from the FT-9 Tour. It is the only one of the 4 that features a fixed head unlike the other 3 adjustable heads.
Final Grade: A
Titleist 910 D3
Most of the time I skip over Titleist. Why? Because they have always been to hard for me to hit and they were the most unforgiving club in the shop. The last Titleist driver I owned was the 905R and it was a rocket...if you could find the sweet spot the size of a gnat's ass. This club completely changed my opinion about their forgiveness. This club actually HAS some forgiveness. I first hit the Diamana 'Ahina (the updated WhiteBoard) and thought I had fallen in love...that is until I put in the Oban Devotion shaft (a $150 upcharge) and this had a hard time not going in my bag. The adjustability of the club is nice and it is just enough to tinker but not overwhelm you.
Final Grade: A (would have given A+ but the price is a little steep)
TaylorMade R11
The tinker toy of the golf world. Yes, they are on TV more than we can count. Yes, out of the 9,756 options, 1 is bound to work for each golfer. However, the white driver is too bright for me in the Houston summer sun and the spin on this driver was way too high for me. I don't ground my club so the face angle adjustability doesn't come into effect. I tried the heaviest, stiffest shaft available and it still couldn't bring the spin rate down. For people with slower swings, you need spin to keep the ball airborne; however too much spin causes the ball to balloon and reduces roll.
Final Grade: B+
If you are in the market for a driver, please go get fitted. Do NOT buy right off the rack. There is so much technology out there that can find you the right combination. Sure, we would all like to blame the club instead of our swing, but if your driver is older than 3 or 4 years, you will benefit from the latest and greatest out there.
Numerical Summary for the Week:
1 - rounds of golf played in the last 4 weekends. Yes, I have been going through the typical withdrawal symptoms: shakes, nervous twitch, cold sweats and spontaneous golf swings in the office.
0 - number of good shows on this summer. Living on reruns is getting old and no I can't dance, she shouldn't date that guy and I am sure someone has a great voice.
25 - mpg average in the Shelby on my trek from Houston to New Braunfels, up to Waco and then back to Houston. Who says 320 hp V-8 engines aren't fuel efficient!?!
This spring at the Shell Houston Open qualifier, the PGA guys were using equipment I had never seen before. As an amateur, I consider myself to be on the long end of the distance spectrum throughout the bag. My drives are consistently around the 290 - 300 yard mark while hitting around 50% of fairways. Compared to the pros, I couldn't muster the strength to match their distance. Most of the pros had been measured over and over to find the right club head and shaft combo. The ease at which they swing and the distance they produced got me thinking about my current setup and how it might be completely wrong for me.
As a lefty, demo clubs are about as rare as a hurricane in Iowa. So instead of purchasing a bunch of custom ordered drivers and hoping one would work out, I traveled all over the Houston area to demo days. I found that 4 drivers are really worth taking a look at if you are a more skilled golfer.
Background: If there was a shaft upgrade available, I would choose that club. Otherwise, I was stuck with stock shafts for the demo. Titleist, Cobra and TaylorMade offer interchangeable shafts so they had an unfair advantage over the Callaway.
Specs: Avg swing speed - 116mph. Optimal Launch Angle - 10*. Optimal Spin Rate - 2700rpm. Avg Angle of Attack: -0.7*. Avg Smash Factor - 1.44
Cobra S3
Probably the most forgiving driver I have ever hit. Also, probably one of the worst stock shafts I have ever hit (Fujikura Blur). It was a little difficult to hit a consistently straight drive but man were they long. Cobra's elliptical face design really is cool because it applies to just about every golfer. Where are most of your mishits? High on the toe, low on the heel. Kudos to Cobra for the most realistic driver head on the market...just a shame that if you want a shaft to fit your game, you will need to pony up another $200 on top of the $300 price tag. Plus I love the name of the driver: S3...that's my initials. I should buy one solely for the label!
Final Grade: B- (Only because of the subpar shaft)
Callaway Razr Hawk Tour
Sweet Mary and Moses this is by far the longest, hottest driver on the market. Into the wind, this driver was about 15 yards further than any of the competition. Normal wind conditions, the Cally was tied with Titleist. Their stock shaft, the Aldila RIP, is a great shaft for most golfers...but not for me. I needed something to launch lower with a lot less spin. This is quite a step up from the FT-9 Tour. It is the only one of the 4 that features a fixed head unlike the other 3 adjustable heads.
Final Grade: A
Titleist 910 D3
Most of the time I skip over Titleist. Why? Because they have always been to hard for me to hit and they were the most unforgiving club in the shop. The last Titleist driver I owned was the 905R and it was a rocket...if you could find the sweet spot the size of a gnat's ass. This club completely changed my opinion about their forgiveness. This club actually HAS some forgiveness. I first hit the Diamana 'Ahina (the updated WhiteBoard) and thought I had fallen in love...that is until I put in the Oban Devotion shaft (a $150 upcharge) and this had a hard time not going in my bag. The adjustability of the club is nice and it is just enough to tinker but not overwhelm you.
Final Grade: A (would have given A+ but the price is a little steep)
TaylorMade R11
The tinker toy of the golf world. Yes, they are on TV more than we can count. Yes, out of the 9,756 options, 1 is bound to work for each golfer. However, the white driver is too bright for me in the Houston summer sun and the spin on this driver was way too high for me. I don't ground my club so the face angle adjustability doesn't come into effect. I tried the heaviest, stiffest shaft available and it still couldn't bring the spin rate down. For people with slower swings, you need spin to keep the ball airborne; however too much spin causes the ball to balloon and reduces roll.
Final Grade: B+
If you are in the market for a driver, please go get fitted. Do NOT buy right off the rack. There is so much technology out there that can find you the right combination. Sure, we would all like to blame the club instead of our swing, but if your driver is older than 3 or 4 years, you will benefit from the latest and greatest out there.
Numerical Summary for the Week:
1 - rounds of golf played in the last 4 weekends. Yes, I have been going through the typical withdrawal symptoms: shakes, nervous twitch, cold sweats and spontaneous golf swings in the office.
0 - number of good shows on this summer. Living on reruns is getting old and no I can't dance, she shouldn't date that guy and I am sure someone has a great voice.
25 - mpg average in the Shelby on my trek from Houston to New Braunfels, up to Waco and then back to Houston. Who says 320 hp V-8 engines aren't fuel efficient!?!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Motopony
Yes, this is a golf blog but all I have done lately is discuss music. Well, my next post I will talk about the golf club testing I have done but there is a new group out I am trying to spread the word about.
The group is called Motopony and they just released their debut self titled album a few weeks ago. I heard their music on my Slacker.com radio station.
King of Diamonds by tinyogre
Wait For Me by tinyogre
Seer by tinyogre
Just some very chill music that I have really enjoyed listening to at work and at the apartment. Their King of Diamonds song is actually free on Amazon.com right now.
Numerical Summary for the Day:
0 - Amount of TV I have watched this evening. Actually doing productive stuff like laundry, dishes and cleaning. My apartment now smells of fresh linen, bleach, vanilla, and lemon. Hello headache!
The group is called Motopony and they just released their debut self titled album a few weeks ago. I heard their music on my Slacker.com radio station.
King of Diamonds by tinyogre
Wait For Me by tinyogre
Seer by tinyogre
Just some very chill music that I have really enjoyed listening to at work and at the apartment. Their King of Diamonds song is actually free on Amazon.com right now.
Numerical Summary for the Day:
0 - Amount of TV I have watched this evening. Actually doing productive stuff like laundry, dishes and cleaning. My apartment now smells of fresh linen, bleach, vanilla, and lemon. Hello headache!
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