43-43 for an 86 this morning…finished by noon

Tripled #1 and then doubled #2 next…but then pulled out of the funky nosedive start.

Ping iE1 5-PW were back in the bag…and went with 3 & 5 hybrid combo…my gapping seems best with this setup. The Pings have won the starting job until further notice.

Best putting round I have had for quite some time…went with the HB Soft Milled 11S for its first ever 18 hole round…staying in the bag for now.

Damn near got my first HIO on #12…par 3 @ 172 yards…flushed a 6 iron…missed by only a few inches…got the birdie.

@Mattyv made his no longer usual pilgrimage to SoCal, and I was able to join him and his son and a friend for a round before they headed back to the Oven State (AZ). Always great to play with you Matt! This makes 5 or 6 summers that I have gotten a round in with Matt, always a good time.

Coming off a 4 year worst score last time out, I had low expectations. We played Hidden Valley in Norco CA, which is a peril filled adventure through the hills. My driver has been a mess lately, so much that I picked up a new PXG Black Ops driver this week, and I brought extra balls.

And of course, my game was rock solid today. 10/14 FW, 13 greens. Only driver blemish was a pull on 18 into the gunk. Greens were shaggy and really slow as the course combats summer heat, and I couldn't get any putts over 10 feet to the hole. Ended up with a surprise 75.

MattyV won the chunk-off, I didn't have any chipping issues today. 😁

    Sparky

    Fun round today. I knew you were shooting well. I made the cardinal sin of making a birdie on the 1st hole. It downhill after that. Had a nice mix of pars and quadruple bogeys with some doubles and singles mixed in. I don't even think I can card this round with the number of unplayable drops I took. I had a great time and the course is so much fun that I didn't care about my score much. I need to practice and get my game squared away. Steve picked a winner for lunch. Badlands BBQ was rock solid and kept our bellies full all the way home. Nice shooting today Steve! I seem to be your good luck charm!

      Played our back 9 today in -2. Driver fine, irons still poor for the most part. After work tonite I’ll hit the range maybe

      39-38 today. Irons, fairway woods, and short game were working well. I hit 11 greens but had 35 putts, including three 3-putts from long ranges. One of those was for a par on a par 5. I crushed a drive and then hit a beautiful 7 wood onto the green. But since I played to the fat side of the green, I was 60 feet away, putting up a hill and then down and curving hard. Had I known how pure I would catch the 7 wood, I would have taken the chance of aiming over the giant bunker. 🙂

      I didn't feel like I putted badly, but the numbers say differently.

      Unhappy golfer today.....I'm sitting out playing in my travel group today, and won't play at the home course Thursday either. My back has been giving me problems for 3 weeks (a "knot" or "charlie horse" right between the shoulder blades that prevents me from swinging effectively) isn't getting any better, so maybe R & R together with ice and then heat and then stretching will do the trick. I tried "playing through it," and that just made it worse. I hope this is the answer, b/c sitting here on a beautiful summer day with a gentle breeze is no fun! 😞

        fatshot she said she thinks is muscular, so I'll try anything!! 😆

        I would find a reputable massage therapist and give it a try! Maybe you will even get to experience the little electrical shock pads to help loosen up your muscles prior to the therapy session.

            Typhoon Yeah, she did.....actually gave me an extra 10 minutes. But that was 2 weeks ago, and for whatever reason it didn't seem to do much good.

                fatshot ugh, I know that spot you’re talking about. Feels like a lump behind your shoulder blade area. Tender to touch.

                  Shot 42 in league last night and lost. Had I played the person I was scheduled to I would have won. My partner couldn't make it so I got a sub. He's a much lower handicap so he became the A player and I was the B. The 2 A players shot 43, I shot 42 and the other B player shot 39. He actually missed 2 short putts to let me win 2 holes lol. On the plus side the rain stopped right before our tee time.

                    Typhoon EMS is crazy… you get that muscle spasm feeling if it’s up too high.

                    Never got anything out of it. This reminds me I have one at home. Somewhere.

                      Typhoon This guy is hot and cold. He's my age, but has been semi-retired for at least 5 years. Plays golf every day. I have 39 scores posted including 9 hole league rounds; he has 160 rounds posted without league. This year he finally dropped from a 22 to 18 cap. Every so often he puts up a great 9 hole score in league. He rarely wins anything so I can't call him a sandbagger. He is a serious stoner though lol.

                      This year league is exactly like last year. Both seasons we won the first half and then ran into hot golfers in the 2nd half. I should be competitive shooting 42 for 9, but not even close lately. I started badly last night, but was even par 14 thru 18 and didn't win a hole.

                        Played yesterday, and decided to play the senior tees at 5300 yards. Shot 38-37-75. One birdie, 11 Fw and 11 GIR. 16 putts on the front using the new Lean Lock putter but sent it back today. Just too uncomfortable getting into position with it. Felt like I was wrestling it. I could see where it would have potential for some people though.
                        Plan was to try 3 different swings for 6 holes each. Started with the Ballard swing and things were going well so kept it for 9. Tied the old Master Key swing (anybody remember that?) and gave up after 2 holes. Not horrible I parred both holes but didn't hit anything really solid. Switched to the RSS swing and that was the definite winner. Picked up 10-20 yards on drives and it's easy. Played 6 holes in 2 over but one was a 3 putt GIR. That's what I'll try next time out.