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No Lost Balls

Played a round at Cinnabar Hills yesterday to celebrate a buddy's birthday.  Ended up losing 9 balls.  Most balls I've lost in a long time.  These days I tend to lose about 1-4 per round (one or two in a hazard, another one or two in some tall fescue/tree), but 9 is unaccepted.  It's one thing to not score well (bad putting day, don't have the short game touch, irons not dialed in, etc.) but to lose 9 balls means you're out of control with your swing, which at this point in my golf career is completely, absolutely unacceptable.

Those 9 lost balls were eating at me all night.  I knew that unless I did something about it before the weekend ended the frustration would linger and build and I would have a very very bad week.  So I went and played Wente as a single walk-on for some redemption.  Wente is currently my favourite course in Northern California, a Greg Norman design with great views of the Wente vineyards.  Highly recommend it.

Got put with some European guys.  Very nice, even bought me a polish dog.  A couple of pars, a shit load of bogeys and two blow-up holes.  Nothing to write home about.  But here's my redemption: not a single lost ball.  I played the entire round, start to finish, with the same ball, a Callaway i(z).  From purely a cost perspective this was great, because a dozen i(z) balls with California's crazy tax is $50.  I normally don't play the i(z) but they just came out and I wanted to give them a try.  They're spinnier than the Sxiron Trispeeds I normally use but I can't justify $4/ball on a regular basis.

I'm pretty sure this is the first round I didn't lost a single ball.  Even those few rounds when I broke 90 and played well I'm fairly certain I lost one or two in a hazard.  Today, there was only one shot where I thought to myself, shit, there goes $4.  Wente is a lot more forgiving than Cinnabar Hills, but there's still a number of creeks, lakes and tall fescue to lose your balls in.  Plus there's those vineyards along the fairways.  

 

2K10 Resolution #2

Stealing resolution #2 from a Friends episode.  In 2K10 I'm going to try/do something new every day.  Can be a small new thing or a big new thing, just as it's new.  For example, today, I had Quiznos but instead of getting the jalapeno chips I really like and always get, I went with the sea salt and vinegar chips.  Then for dinner I had a salad, something I never have for dinner.

2K10 Resolution #1

2010 is well underway, but better late than never.  Resolution #1: don't let things beyond my control bother me.  I have a tendency to let things, often little things, annoy the shit out of me.  Whether it's crooked politicians in D.C., know-it-all golfers at the driving range, or bums at the gas station, there's nothing I can do about it/them so why harp and soak in all that negative energy.  In 2010 my "serenity now!" will be "beyond my control!"  Whenever I start to get annoyed I just need to scream, "beyond my control!" and go find a Seinfeld rerun to watch.

Adidas Powerband Sport Bag

Bought an Adidas Powerband Sport stand golf bag today.  My Ogio Vaporlite's back pocket has a tear and its zipper is also broken.  A bit disappointing considering I've had the Ogio bag for less than a year.  Almost bought the TaylorMade TMX bag on overstock.com a few weeks ago but decided I didn't want a manufacturer's bag in case I switch to non-TaylorMade clubs.  That left me with basically Ogio and Sun Mountain.  Didn't want to go with Ogio again for obvious reasons and while Sun Mountain has some nice looking bags I hate that their logo is so prominently featured on all their bags.  It's like driving around in a Honda with a huge "Powered by Honda" sticker on the hood.

Then I saw the Adidas Powerband Sport stand bag in black.  Very low-key looking bag, just the three Adidas stripes on the sides and one small Adidas label on the front.  The 7 zippered pockets are great for organizing things (my old Ogio had only 5) .  In addition to the 7 zippered pockets there's a water bottle holder on the left and a misc non-zippered pouch on the right.  I think Adidas meant this to hold your scorecard (because there's a pen holder next to it) but it can hold other small items as well.  Comes with a clip for hanging accessories and towels.  I actually prefer the Ogio's towel loop over the clip but I guess the clip is handy for other things besides towels.

I figure this new bag should shave a point off my index.

The Classic Club

I managed to squeeze in a round at the Classic Club before driving back home.  Golfweek ranks the Classic Club #8 in California, right ahead of Torrey Pines.  The course was built for the Bob Hope Classic Tournament, hence the name, but Phil Mickelson and other Tour players didn't like the windy conditions so it's no longer the host course as of 2009.  But my motto is: play where the pros don't want to be play.

I really liked the course.  Unlike other Palm Springs area courses the Classic Club is a standalone golf course, not part of some resort, hotel or community.  There's just a huge clubhouse and the course.  Very isolated and very tranquil out there.  The Classic Club is run by Troon Golf, the same management company that runs Indian Wells.  Just like Indian Wells the facilities and service were great. 

The fairways are very wide and very open.  No houses to distract you.  Really tempts you to try to crush the ball every time.  There's water troubles off the tee on several holes but if your driver is half decent you'll be fine.  The bigger problem is the approach shots.  Several greens are very well protected by bunkers and water.  Got a hint of the wind when we made the turn but wasn't too bad.

Got in a few pars and one birdie after my 7-iron got within a foot of the hole.  But overall score, nothing to write home about.  Still a fun round.

I would put the Classic Club in the "should play" category for courses in Palm Springs area.  So here's a summary of courses I'd recommend:

Thumbs Up

• Indian Wells Celebrity
• The Classic Club
• TPC Stadium

Thumbs Down

• Terra Lago (North)

Neutral

• Gary Player Signature
• Westin Mission Hills Pete Dye Course
• TPC Stadium

I have TPC Stadium listed twice because I'm in between on this course.  Yea, it has the island green, some cool holes, the crazy bunkering, the name appeal, etc.  But it just didn't do it for me.

Indian Wells Celebrity Course, Trip Review

After a great round on Tuesday at PGA West (Stadium Course) I had a horrible day Wednesday at Terra Lago (North).  Wasted the entire morning taking care of low pressure in the tires.  By the time I got to Terra Lago it was too late to grab breakfast or warm-up at the range.  I've heard good things about Terra Lago but driving up to the clubhouse nothing really impressed me.  After checking in I noticed the course was packed.  Felt like I was at the local muni on a Sunday, even more after seeing the condition of the fairways.  Should have paid a little more and played a nicer course.

Started off with a par but the rest of the day was blah.  Definitely did not break 100.  Part of the problem was I was playing with this couple who were absolute beginners.  They didn't know golf etiquette like who's away or not stepping in your putting line.  Took so many mulligans.  Made concentrating/focusing that much more difficult.  The bigger problem was I just wasn't hitting the ball that well.

I couldn't end 2009 with a bad round so I decided to play Indian Wells Celebrity Course today.  Golfweek rates Indian Wells very highly on their "Best Courses You Can Play".  The Players Course is #10 and the Celebrity Course is #14 (California rankings).  Picked Celebrity because the discount was bigger.  As soon as I drove into the resort I knew I would have a good round despite my lower back cramping up.  The clubhouse was great, the locker room was first class, staff was very friendly.  After checking in I headed to the driving range.  If there was one thing I didn't like about Indian Wells it was the driving range.  Has this weird mound running across.  But the practice putting greens was awesome.

Things started off pretty bad, triple bogey.  But I bounced back with a bogey on the 2nd then GIR and 2-putted the 3rd for par.    Made mental mistakes on the 4th and 5th holes for doubles.  But then I went bogey, par, bogey, par.  46 out.  Not on pace to break 90, but felt like I was playing really well, felt like I could par every hole.  

Back nine started out great.  GIR, 2-putted for par.  Not sure what happened on the 10th, carded a triple.  But the one thing I've learned over the past few rounds is you can't let a bad hole ruin the rest of your round.  Then I went on a good stretch: bogey, par, bogey, bogey, par, double, bogey for a 45 in.  Had my only 3-putt of the day for that double.

Course was in good condition and I really like the layout.  No houses line the fairways so you can really go for it without worrying about breaking windows.  Undulating greens were fast but not too fast so very playable.  Really like the greens, thought they were more interesting than the Stadium Course.  Frankly, even though TPC Stadium is more famous and has more name appeal I prefer the Celebrity Course.  If I were to play again I'd play Celebrity over Stadium.

Great end to 2009.  Top priority for 2010 is to get my chips about 3-4 feet closer.  Right now it's chip, 2-putt.   I need to get it about 3-4 feet closer on the chips so that I can have a better chance at 1-putting.  That brings the bogeys down to pars, doubles to bogey, etc.

TPC Stadium at PGA West Trip Report

Played a round earlier today at Pete Dye's famed TPC Stadium at PGA West.  The Stadium Course is (in)famous for a few things

• In 1998 the Tour players signed a petition to never return to the Stadium after deeming it too difficult.
• The 17th par-3 island green (Alcatraz).  The yardage books advises: Can't miss right, left, short, or long.  Good Luck.
• Host of Q-School every other year.

Pretty intimidating resume.  But I actually had a great round and found it very playable.

My tee time was 10:30 so I arrived around 9:15 to warm-up.  The PGA West complex is massive.  I've never seen anything like it before.  5 (maybe 6) golf courses in one community.  The clubhouse is pretty awe inspiring, with wall-sized photos of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, etc.  The pro-shop has a huge autograph of Anthony Kim on their Nike display.  In the locker room I bumped into Stewart Cink.  OK, I made that up, but it definitely felt like you could run into a pro around here.

Headed out to the range, complete with pyramids of balls.  Take that Quail Lodge.  Didn't want to use up all my good shots so after only about 30 balls headed out to the putting green.  Was expecting very fast greens but found it relatively slow, confirmed by the fact that I only 3 jacked once. 

After a slight delay because two groups were no-shows we teed off at 10:40.  Perfect day.  Sunny but not hot and no wind.  I got paired up with this older gentleman who recently retired and was visiting his sister for the holidays.  Great guy.  Friendly, loves the game, takes it seriously but understand it's still just a game.  Shot a 73 yesterday at Indian Wells, so he's got some game.

The starter put us with these two other guys.  One looked like a tool and proved it when he asked the starter if they could go out as a twosome.  No course is going to send out a twosome.  He's either 

• really good and doesn't want to deal with hackers (snob)
• too unfriendly to play golf with strangers (uptight)
• bad and doesn't want to embarrass himself (pathetic)

As it turns out he was pathetic.

Things started out slowly, double the 1st and 2nd.  But a good chip led to a 1-putt for par on the 3rd.  Pete Dye wasn't going to shut me out today.  Followed the par with a bogey and another double.  Then came the shot of the day for me.

The 6th hole is a monster of a par-3.  From the tips it's 255 yards. 

Luckily we played the forward tees, so it was only 187 on the scorecard.  My rangefinder said 198 to the pin.  Much of this is forced carry over water.  My cart partner hit a good shot, leaving himself with a 50 feet putt.  I hit a great shot.  A high cut with my 3-wood gave me a good look at birdie, about 15 feet.  I was so nervous over the putt I barely tapped it and still had about 6 feet for par.  Got the par.

Back nine started out so-so: bogey, double, double.  I kept pulling my irons after good drives.   Then my cart partner gave me a tip he got from John Daly, relax my two middle fingers on my right hand.  Seemed to work.  Birdied 14th and the 17th.

The 14th is a short 350 yard par 4.  As long as you can avoid the bunkers it's a relatively easy hole.

  After two more bogeys it was onto the island green 17th.  For some reason I felt really calm and assured.  There was absolutely no question in my mind that I'd get on.  Can't explain it but I just knew that I'd hit a good shot.  My cart partner hit first, got on, about 6-7 yards short.  The other two guys found water, not even close.  My turn.  From the forward tee it was a very straight-forward 133 yard shot.  My 8-iron went about 6-7 yards long.  My partner putted first and got his birdie.  As soon as his putt dropped I knew I'd get birdie too.  Was meant to be.  Sure enough, got my birdie.  

One of my best rounds.  Not in terms of absolute score, but I just felt like I was playing really well and in control.  For the most part I stayed out of trouble, my shots generally went where they were suppose to, and only 3 putted once for bogey on the 7th hole.  Driver was good, found the fairway most of the day.

On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best, I'd rate TPC Stadium 7.5-8.  It's a nice course, no doubt, but after a while I found the bunkering to be a little boring/repetitive.  I guess I've already seen some of Pete Dye's bunkering at the Westin Mission Hills so the novelty wasn't there anymore.

As for difficulty, TPC Stadium is Jekyll and Hyde.  As long as you stay out of the bunkers it's not that difficult of a course, maybe a 7-7.5.  The greens weren't tricky at all and rather slow.  But, if you end up in the bunkers, forget about it.  These bunkers are so deep and punitive you can easily go from bogey to snowman.  Then the difficulty probably skyrockets to 9-9.5.

17 is definitely cool if you've never played an island green.  5-6-7 is probably my favorite stretch.   

Callaway uPro Mac Problems

I decided not to renew my iGolf (now Bushnell) NEO subscription.  Thought it'd be $19.99 for the year but it's actually $39.99.  $40 ain't that much, but I hate that it doesn't work with my Mac, forcing me to go into work to download and sync courses.  Plus I wanted a more feature rich GPS.  The Callaway uPro seemed ideal.  Mac compatible, aerial photography, flyover videos...Not a big benefit at the local muni, but I imagine at new courses or courses with lots of trouble the satellite images and flyover videos would come in really handy.

Unfortunately, it did not work with my Mac (I'm running 10.5.8).  The uPro would say it's connected to the host but the USB drive (that's what the uPro basically is) doesn't mount.  I did get it to work with my Windows PC, but then it crashed after trying to sync about 10 courses.  PITA so I returned it.  But here's the email I just got from uPro support about the Mac issue in case anybody out there is having some problems.  Good luck, the uPro looks awesome, just wished it wasn't so buggy.

Here are some instructions on formatting your device and restoring the files to your microSD card.

1.       On the uPro, navigate to Format microSD in the Device Settings menu

2.       At the warning screen, hold the left arrow button for 5 seconds

3.       After the screen changes warning information, arrow to the left and select YES (highlighted selection will be lighter gray)

4.       Screen will show “Please Wait! Format In Progress…” for a few moments, then return to Device Settings

5.       Press the menu button twice to return to the main menu

6.       Connect your uPro to your MAC

7.       Open the uPro drive by double clicking it and verify it contains two folders: “course_data” and “system”

8.       Click on this link: https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=ZW9DcmxVMVhCMTVMWEE9PQ

9.       Click on Download and Save to your MAC (preferably the desktop)

10.   Open the Disk Image that has downloaded to your MAC

11.   Double click the restore file

12.   Click “Open” then click “Start”

This will complete after approximately 10-15 minutes.  Once complete, open the uPro drive on your desktop by double clicking it and double click the MacSync icon to synchronize the uPro to your MAC.

Preparing for TPC Stadium

Getting pretty excited and antsy about tomorrow's round at TPC Stadium at PGA West.  After checking in at the hotel, motel, Holiday Inn I stopped by practice area to work on the easiest shot in golf, the bunker shot.  Pete Dye is known for his creative (insane) bunkering so I figured I better learn how to play out of the sand.  Then I realize no practice centers have 40 feet deep bunkers for me to practice.  But it's the water holes that I'm really looking forward to.

Here's the signature 17th hole, known as Alcatraz.  The original one is at TPC Sawgrass, another Pete Dye monster, but this one is just as intimidating.  That little bunker in the front is an insult to injury.  Imagining thinking, "yes, I'm dry!" then seeing your ball land in that little bunker.  I might have to play from the tips on this hole to see how it feels to be at Q-School trying to earn your Card and seeing nothing but water.

The par-5 5th looks pretty interesting, a double dog-leg, double water hazard hole.  Least the bunkers don't look too bad.

Should be an interesting day tomorrow.

2010 WITB

The 2010 season is just around the corner--"2K10" as the Golf Channel calls it.  Achieved my 2009 goal of cutting my handicap in half (not too hard when it started out 30+).  2010 will be much more difficult.  To put myself in the best position to consistently score in the mid 80s I have to have the right equipment.  So here's my "what's in the bag" for 2010:

2008 TaylorMade Burner Draw driver, 10.5* 
Tried the Nike Sumo2 5900 with limited success and kind of gave up on the Adam Speedline.  The Burner's draw bias and the closed face does help my inability to close the club face so I'll stick with it for a little longer.

Nike Sumo2 3-wood (15*)
Pretty easy club to hit off the tee.  Love the sound it makes--very solid.  Can't hit it "off the deck" though.

J36 Birdgestone hybrids, 19* and 25*
By the time TGW had the 22* in stock I realized I couldn't hit these clubs, that's why the 22* is missing.  But last few rounds I'm able to hit the J36s again.  Much easier to hit than my long irons. 

Bridgestone Precept 21* rescue
Bought this club off of eBay when I knew absolutely nothing about golf.  Picked Bridgestone because I like their Potenza tires.

2009 TaylorMade Burner irons (S, A, P, 9-5)
Played 4 rounds with these irons--so far so good.  Have no idea if the 2* flat makes a difference but I like the high launch and distance.  Good for stroking your ego too since TaylorMade played around with the numbering.

Cleveland Classic 1 / VP-1 putter
I bought the Classic 1 putter after reading a PGA guy went to a local shop, bought the $80 putter out of his own pocket and won a tournament.  Only thing I don't like about this putter is it's a little long for me at 35".  Didn't want to get the exact same putter just shorter, so went with the Cleveland VP-1 at 33".  Should arrive tomorrow.  Hopefully the VP-1 will be as good as the Classic 1.

TaylorMade Penta / Srixon Trispeed balls
If I continue to play like I've played the last couple of rounds then I'll stick with the Pentas.  But if I start losing 3 sleeves per round again like I did at The Bridges it's back to the $14.99 Srixon Trispeed.

Adidas Inertia gloves
Like the thickness on these gloves, not too thick, not too thin.

Zero Friction tees
One tee will last me an entire round, plus they're suppose to give me an extra 5 yards (yea right).

iGolf Neo GPS
Like the small pager size but having to transfer/download courses is a pain in the ass.  Yearly subscription fee also sucks.  Doesn't work on my Mac also sucks.  But will probably will renew since I'm bound to play one or two new courses next year.

Bushnell V2 w/ Slope
I'm not dialed in enough to benefit from the +/- 1 yard accuracy of laser but I like the slope feature.  The magnification also comes in handy to see trouble ahead.

??? shoes
Wearing old, worn out Oakleys.  They're no longer water proof due to cracks.  Tried some Nikes but they didn't fit right, too big.  Tried some Pumas but they're too tight.  Puma shoes are way too narrow in general.  Hopefully the Bite Biosport I ordered yesterday will be the one.  They got pretty good reviews for being super comfortable.  And not bad for $50 clearance.   

??? bag
I actually like my current Ogio Vaporlite bag a lot, but the zipper broke on the back pocket.  Thinking about getting the TaylorMade TMX.  I have a fondness for white bags and this is one of the better looking white bags out there.  Feel l a little guilty spending money when the Ogio is still very usable.

FRS energy drink
Used to be a Gatorade Tiger Focus guy, but Tiger obviously can't focus on anything except p****y so I'm going with FRS.  Afterall, it's endorsed by Derek Fisher.