Thousand Yard Drive

Just a tiny update

2008-02-19T19:09:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted on here for a while so I thought I'd get up to date here.

Golf - I've gotten the TaylorMade Burner (10*5) for a late Christmas present. It added about 40 yards to my drives but sometimes the ball just goes too high up in the air and that's when the wind starts making a mockery of my tee shots. I've played three times in two months. I'm going to blow a gasket at this rate - any self respecting man can't go this long without hitting a ball. I hate Northern Kentucky weather. It goes something like thus:

Monday: 65 degrees, partly cloudy.
Monday Night: 40 dropping to 10, with "winter weather" coming in. Begins as sleet and freezing rain, then changes over to snow (or vice versa).
Tuesday: A nasty mixture of slush, ice, sleet, and snow is on the ground. Typically 1-3 inches.
Tuesday Night: It freezes over if it hasn't already.
Wednesday: 20 degrees.
Thursday: 40.
Friday: 60, partly cloudy. You'd think it was a nice day to play golf, but if you try, you're going to learn the hard way that a golf cart is not a 4x4.
Saturday: Rain/cold front comes in. Rinse and repeat.

Politics: I will never vote for John McCain. Ever. Even though I am a registered Republican, I would rather see John McCain and his candidacy sink, and have a socialist in the White House, than see a demented lunatic like McCain in office.

Personal: New Year's resolution was to lose 50lbs. I've lost about 10 so far.

Also, I've picked up hypermiling as a new hobby - basically, getting as many miles out of a gallon of gas as possible. I'm a regular on the CleanMPG forums: http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/index.php

and there's a lot of good information. I drive a 2000 Toyota Echo, five speed, with an EPA rating of 29/37 city/highway. Last time I filled up, I got 48.5 miles to the gallon.

New year - resolutions, results, etc.

2008-01-04T02:44:00.000-05:00

Been a while since I posted here. Gotta give an update for everything that's gone on.

First off, my grades. I don't know how I did it. Period. About a month ago, see, I'm really in the shit hole, headed for about 2.6 and about to fail a stat's class. So I start studying my ass off about a hundred hours a week, forgoing everything else I do, just so I can study. And at the end of the day, I have a 3.067 for the semester, cumulative, exactly 3.fucking 250. I couldn't have cut it any closer (I have a $3,000 scholarship on the line, which requires 3.25). I didn't slide under the wire. I was on the damn wire. End of story. I celebrated with a case of beer that night...heh...

Second off, my Christmas. Got myself a TaylorMade Burner, which I tried out on the course, and it probably added 40 yards to my drives. To paraphrase a playing partner, I had no idea a golf ball could be hit that far...

Third, my new year's resolutions.

1. Lose weight. Again. I got on the scale today and was like "Holy shit, 295?!" I need to drop 50.
2. Get better at golf. Showed some promise since, if I could just keep a ball in play off the tee.
3. Have more fun, spend more time with family.

So, yeah, that's that. Oh, and driving around in snow is a pain in the ass. My four-banger doesn't heat up quickly enough, and it's 10 degrees outside...

i hate math

2007-12-09T21:04:00.000-05:00

Ugh. There's got to be a law against trying to learn this much within the space of a week. I've spent probably 50 hours this week struggling to learn the stuff I'm going to need for finals, which are next week. And I still don't know shit about stats. I swear, if anyone even tries to suggest I take another math class, I am going to shove a chicken up their ass...

Golf update - I tried extending my left thumb and pulling the right one (wrapping it around the grip) to the left. I added 15 yards to my 6 iron that way, so maybe 30 with the drives? I may yet be able to hit a ball 300 yards.

What about me? Part 3 - the man

2007-12-05T13:29:00.000-05:00

After rambling on and on about my golf equipment, and such, I'd figured I'd finally want to get around to talking about...well, myself. I'd like to say I'm an average joe, but no matter how hard I try it just doesn't happen. Let's just say...well, that I'll describe myself in detail over time, since I'm really not sure how to condense it into one post. But I'll go over a few obvious things. Politics and religion. :)

Why golf? - Heh, it's addicting. The reward of hitting a good shot or a good round - however slim the chances of it truly are - is sot of like a slot machine or lotto ticket, it almost lets you win, but doesn't, really.

Democrat or Republican? - Neither. Used to be a Republican, and probably would still vote Republican, but that's really just voting my wallet. All the Democrats want to do is tax your ass off. Other than that, it's same shit different piles.

Who, then, in 2008? - Michael Savage. Newt's pretty good although he decided not to run. Of those running, really, nobody. My most important issue is illegals in this country destroying our economy and taking our jobs - in this case my vote goes toward Tom Tancredo or Ron Paul. Bottom line, really, in '08, is Anybody But Clinton.

What about me? Part 2a - the ball game, cont.

2007-12-05T10:14:00.000-05:00

I'd forgotten to mention in the last post that the biggest downfall of my game isn't even putting (putting is a painful, slow-bleed death) but rather blowup holes. It's not even necessarily a Tin Cup shot, it's usually just when I completely lose it at some point on the hole (most commonly off the tee but can happen anywhere.) I've gotten a 21 after four consecutive duck-hooks into the woods off the tee and half a dozen bad chips, I've had a 17, two 15's, a 14, three or four 12's and 13's, and so on down.

I recently got a 14, in fact - on the par 5 18th hole at Willows - about 550 yards. OB left, and OB right after 150 yards (driving range, it's fenced off.) I was three over at the time (playing a nine hole round on a back nine that is capable of tearing a Tour pro a new one). Went as follows:

1: Duck hook OB.
3: Crushed down the middle about 260.
4: 3 wood sliced into the driving range.
6: 3 wood push-sliced into the driving range.
8: 3 wood hit real fat, pushed but in play (under a tree)
9: 8 iron way the hell off the toe, 20 yards short.
10,11: TC Chen'd my chip shot to 45 feet.
12, 13, 14: three putt.

Usually I'll lose it off the tee, although in this case it was the 3 wood that went berserk - I've chipped three or four times, took an Adolf in the trap (And I've also TC'd a sand shot before), or five putt (like I did during the club championship on my way to a 27-over 99).

Golf can drive a man insane.

What about me? Part 2 - the ball game

2007-12-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

All of my buddies immediately know when I say "play ball", "ballin", or "balled", they immediately know I'm talking about golf. It's just how things go, despite the occasional text message that "it's golf, not ball". I'm still trying to convince them that a liter of cheap vodka and a golf cart can make golf more of an extreme sport than basketball ever could, but I'm not getting very far...

At any rate, I'd like to explain a bit more about my game. I currently play to a 12 handicap (12.4 - last calculation I did was in September, and winter golf doesn't count, I don't think). My scoring average is closer to about 95, though. I've gone from 37 (+1) for nine holes to 61 (+25) within the space of back to back rounds.

My strongest parts of the game is driving and iron play. People talk about hitting 3 wood off the tee, but I'm almost as consistent with the driver (I hit about half the fairways per round, with 2/3 of the misses not being bad ones) with the 3 wood, so when it's a tight hole and distance isn't a limiting factor, I'm going to bash the driver anyway. But when I do miss badly, I miss by a mile... actually, most of my time on the course is spent in places the designer never even imagined a golf ball could be hit to.

When you spend as much time looking for a ball and then trying to get out of the trees as I do, you not only get imaginative in what kind of shot you'll make but also you get much better at actually making them, which has vastly improved my ballstriking this year. I've got my on days and off days, but it's generally good.

Chipping is so-so. I'm not completely blading the chip and having to chip again, but I do have a hard time getting up and down (although a lot of my putts after chips are in the 6-10 foot range, those are makeable and I'm not converting there either).

Putting's usually my letdown. If the goal was just to hit the ball within 20 yards of the green, there, that's your score, I could be on Tour. A bad hole (typically a par 3) goes as follows: Tee shot misses the green (usually short if I ding it off the toe), the chip is chilidipped/barely makes it on/races off other side as if the ball stole something and is running from the LAPD, and then another chip and/or 2 or 3 putts later, I've got at best a double bogey, sometimes a triple and a quad. And I didn't even lose a ball.

I take about 40 putts per round on average (my goal for '08, which is to get to a 5 handicap, primarily revolves around not three putting and getting up and down more often).

Ego hats off, folks.

All done? OK. This is how far I hit the ball (on a good strike - not perfect but not way the hell off the toe, either).

Driver - 275 +/- 25. Depends greatly on conditions. If it's dry I'll take full advantage of it and hit a draw, and I can get it out over 300. Or if it's wet I'll not risk the draw turning into a duck hook and just kick it into play, 250 or so.
3 wood - 240. I can get it down to 180 if I grip down on it. It's my go to club. Some people have the 7 iron, others the sand wedge, others the hybrid, I have the 3 wood. I can do anything with it. Sand, work the ball, draw, take it to the inside to hit a cut, anything.
3 iron - 220 +/- 20. Depends greatly on how dry it is again, because of how much roll I get. I cranked one about 260 once, but it was pretty dry out.
4 iron - 190-200. I actually rarely use this club.
5 iron - 180 or so. Do I get to use this sometime this year?
6 iron - 170-175. From here on down a good strike is guaranteed, and my distance (and launch angle) improves greatly.
7 iron - 165. My second go to club, in this case for short irons.
8 iron - 150-155. I actually don't use this often.
9 iron - 140.
PW - 125-130. I use this for a lot of shots inside 90 yards or so because, well, I'm better at manufacturing a shot with this.
52* - 110
56* - 90-100. I use this for pitches and chips when I need the ball to stop on a dime (it's the Vokey).
60* - I don't hit a full shot with this - I only use it out of sand and for high lob shots around the green.
Putter - I haven't done this on the course, but I have driven a ball about 150 with a putter before, with about a 8 degree launch angle...

What about me? Part 1 - the bag

2007-12-04T23:19:00.000-05:00

So for something interesting I'd thought I'd go ahead and put what I actually play with on the course. As Winston Churchill said; "Golf is a game where you hit a small ball into an even small hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose." I agree with that, and I strongly advise you to as well.

In fact, the sooner you concede the fact that the ball will always win regardless of what you do or how hard you try, you'll play better and have much more fun.

I have to give credit to the really big golf club maker, though. Whoever it was, he ignored time honored traditions such as lessons and practice and instead gave us golfers what we really needed: a sweet spot the size of a compact car. So instead of slicing the ball 200 yards into the woods, we're now slicing the ball 300 yards into the woods. Shanks, duffs, worm burners and banana balls - most of us still hack it up. And we're pretty sure it's the equipment's fault... thanks to whoever invented the really big golf club - we can't hit the side of a barn but at least we can swing one.

But I'm off topic here. I'm actually going to explain what's in my bag here.

The bag itself is an old Cobra Outback bag that's 5-7 years old. I'm not really sure, exactly. It looks pretty nice and it's a worn out brown color, but it's an excellent cart bag and holds everything I need in it. I picked it up from the range guy for only $10. And it beat the hell out of my old Wilson bag which came with a cheap set some time ago.

My driver is currently a King Cobra F-speed driver, which came out last year. I'd found it on sale in the pre-owned section for $150 when it was worth twice that much. It came with an Aldila NV-55 regular shaft, which I eventually had pulled because I was spraying my shots (I replaced it with an NV-65 stiff.) I'd like to upgrade to an L4V, but I can't find one that gives me a decent launch angle. Either it takes off like a rocket at eight degrees or balloons at 16 or more (and in both cases only travels 230-240 yards.) My current driver goes 250-300 (depending on conditions - 250 carry though).

My 3 wood is a Titleist 906F2, again a find in the pre-owned section when a new club is twice as much. It comes with a stock Titleist shaft which I'm looking to replace with an NV in the spring (or the VS Proto ByYou? I've heard good reviews about that one.) I don't know what I'd do without my 3 wood. I can hit it 240-250 straight as an arrow, I can work the ball with it, or I can grip down and hit it 180 when my long irons are on the fritz. I've even hit it out of the sand and advanced the ball 200 yards before...

My irons (3-PW) are the King Cobra 3100 I/H, about two years old, I think. Paid about $350 for them used (Hey, used clubs in good condition for half the price? I'll take it any day of the week.) They come with S300-something (I am not entirely sure, actually?) steel shafts. All I know is I took steel because I was tired of hitting a shot fat and watching the clubhead fly down the fairway when it was fitted with a graphite shaft.

Call me a Neanderthal, but I hate hybrids and don't understand how anyone can hit them. Period. I've tried almost every tip imaginable (and a few ones I'd made up out of nowhere) to hit one and one of three things happen: topper, weak push, pop up. I'll take my 3 iron anyday.

My wedges are the Mizuno MP-R (52*07 and 60*05) and a Titleist Spin-Milled Vokey (56*06). It says 58 on it but I'd had it bent strong because too much bounce (like on most sand wedges) just causes me grief out of tight lies and the typically hard sand I play out of. I'd just hit gopher burners.

My putter is the Yes! Victoria II which I'd actually bought using credit from a returned hybrid (Nickent 3DX, if I recall correctly). I wouldn't leave home without it. It's heavy enough to keep my from spraying my putts, and for some reason...well, only a golfer would know the feeling that for some reason he was meant for a club when he picks it up. Yeah. I'd had it extended to 37 inches because my grip leaves me bending over quite far otherwise.

The ball - I'll play any ball, as long as it's round and close to its original color. Except perhaps those nasty one-piece range balls, and anything clearly waterlogged, dead, or cut up. In a serious round I'll hit a Pro V1x (a la club championship '07 where I hacked it up 94-99 = 193 to finish very far down the leaderboard) but not otherwise, since I tear the cover off those things and need to replace 'em every six holes or so.

Other stuff in my bag - depending on the last time I'd bought tees, anywhere from ten to four hundred tees jammed into one pocket, up to fifty balls in the bag (I ride in a cart usually - if walking I cut it down to rock bottom), a copy of the Rules of Golf, about $10 in change scattered in the pockets, and a few ball markers. Most recently I bought one of those little umbrellas which go over your bag when it's raining, too.

Perhaps I'll update this as it changes, especially in the spring.

So, yeah...

2007-12-04T22:52:00.000-05:00

I'd figured I'd create something to kill some time, especially with winter setting in (Right now it snowing outside and the forecast is for three inches.) and rounds of golf are becoming about as rare as hen's teeth. I'm not even sure if the golf course is open when it's snowed on the ground, but if so I will be out there with an orange ball...

I got the idea for the name "Thousand Yard Drive" while imagining myself on Tour, and I'd just cranked one down the middle of the fairway. And I'd visualize the announcer saying "300 yards...". Well, 300 became 400, became 650, and so on. So I'd thought I'd go all the way and say "a thousand yards"....

A lot of the stuff I talk about here will be golf related, but also something else may come up and I'll mention it on here.