Golf!!!2!

[DoubleK]

And probably plus cart.

Speargrass is $69 weekday and $89 weekend, including cart and a not much further drive.

[DoubleK]

Has anyone seen the Flat Cat putter grips for sale in Calgary? I've checked GolfTown and Sport Check, no dice.

[CarlLester]

Flat Cat is on Amazon.ca - I know not local, but could still have it in a day

[DoubleK]

Last time looked they didn't have the size I was after. Seems to be backordered.

[jayswin]

I know Heatherglen seems to be popular here, but does anyone find a lot of their par 4's to be kind of uninspiring? A lot of them feel like you're just teeing off at a wide open driving range.

So many holes just have a couple trees with other holes filled with golfers as the main source of scenery. The grove kind of feels like a true golf experience for the most part, but the other two kind of make you feel like you're grocery shopping - Up one aisle, down the next, up the next.

[CarlLester]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Last time looked they didn't have the size I was after. Seems to be backordered.

Yeah, seems to be the case on golfworks.ca as well - some sizes in stock, some backordered.

[CarlLester]

Doesn't Heatherglen's popularity stem from the fact that it is usually one of the first courses to open in the spring and it's relatively cheap? Other than those factors, once the season is in full swing, there are undoubtedly much better options.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by jayswin

I know Heatherglen seems to be popular here, but does anyone find a lot of their par 4's to be kind of uninspiring? A lot of them feel like you're just teeing off at a wide open driving range.

Pretty sure the holes north of the canal are newer, thus the lack of trees.

I like Heather Glen for what it is, a tight parkland style course.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by jayswin

I know Heatherglen seems to be popular here, but does anyone find a lot of their par 4's to be kind of uninspiring? A lot of them feel like you're just teeing off at a wide open driving range.

So many holes just have a couple trees with other holes filled with golfers as the main source of scenery. The grove kind of feels like a true golf experience for the most part, but the other two kind of make you feel like you're grocery shopping - Up one aisle, down the next, up the next.

That garbage course Is popular here?

[kcin]

Anyone know what's happening with the Winston (the old Elks) and their plans for a new club house and some course improvements? I haven't heard or seen any progress on this front in a number of years and noticed they just rebranded and are trying to sell a bunch of memberships at discounted prices. I assume they are hoping to get some fresh members in to backstop a new club house and course improvements.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by New Era

To further the discussion on what you should do, reference this article.

http://golftips.golfweek.com/need-cu...lubs-1212.html

Getting fitted is useless if you can't hit the ball with any consistency. While a great marketing ploy, fitting is a waste of time and money unless you are a physical anomaly, being really tall, really short,having extra long arms etc. To someone with an inconsistent swing a one degree adjustment in any orientation is not going to make any difference. Same with a half inch longer club. Unless you have got your game dialed in and looking to make minuscule adjustments you're likely wasting your time and money. I equate this as to getting tailored clothes for a 10 year old. A waste of money.

Now, if you have that good swing down, and at looking to improve your game, get fittied. But make sure you do yourself the service of verifying that what you get sold is what you receive. I know of more than a few players that were told they were getting special orders but ended up with standard clubs. The only way to find out is to put them on a loft/lie machine and verify they were manufactured that way. When you do go down this road you are going to have to put your clubs on the machine and continually fine tune them back to your spec, as play will bend them out of spec and back to standard.

The bending process applies mostly to forged clubs, which are almost only blades these days. Most players are playing casted irons, which are very difficult to bent on a loft/lie machine. Casted iron is very difficult to bend as it wants to go back to the state it was originally cast to. Most club builders are not going to try and bend a casted product. A reputable club maker is not going to risk his well being and his equipment to try and bend a club that was not designed to bend. Cast irons are not designed to be bent and to do so requires more pressure than a bending machine can maintain. Something usually fails, and with a casted iron the failure is spectacular and results in shrapnel which can damage the machine and the operator. If you're thinking of bending a club make sure you're buying forged irons. Recognize that forged irons are also for advanced players and are no where near as forgiving or corrective as the casted clubs available.

Strongly disagree with this post.

1) fittings don't cost anything, so it's pretty easy to get your money's worth

2) getting fitted does not necessarily mean changing the lie or adding length. It also means finding the right shaft for your swing speed and many other factors

3) no matter how inconsistent you are (and we all are, more or less), there is a base swing speed and base pattern to your swing. Getting clubs that work best for your swing will substantially improve your game. So will becoming more consistent - but that's on you

The wife, who couldn't break 110-120 and was wildly inconsistent, got fitted for new clubs and instantly dropped to 95-105. The proper shaft and club style helped her get the ball in the air more consistently and hit it further. Those things gave her confidence and aided in her becoming more consistent.

Also, one of the reasons that people aren't consistent, and don't hit the center of the face very often, is that their clubs don't fit. I have a half inch extension in mine and they are 2 degrees upright. Before I got fitted, I rarely hit the center of the clubface. Now I do with significantly more consistency. Because the clubs fit me better.

There is no question that if you want to get better at this game, lessons are the way to go. And practice.

But suggesting a fitting wouldn't help is crazy.

By the way, added 10 yards to the driver this year by changing shafts under the guidance of my pro. Same swing + better club for my game = longer, straighter drives.

[DoubleK]

Amen

[Dion]

Getting fitted for the right clubs and shafts is the best thing you could do for your game. Finding the right grip size also helps greatly.

[DoubleK]

Took the day off work and went out to Delacour. The place is in great shape. The greens are perfect.

Mosquitoes are starting to show up, but were tolerable.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

1) fittings don't cost anything, so it's pretty easy to get your money's worth

If you're getting your fitting for free, then why not. But I would be highly skeptical of anything you get for free. I would only take fitting information from someone with training and expertise in the mechanics of the golf swing. Some schmoe at Golftown is likely not going to be one of those guys. If you're going to get a free fitting, make sure you go and get a second and a third opinion.

2) getting fitted does not necessarily mean changing the lie or adding length. It also means finding the right shaft for your swing speed and many other factors

This I completely agree with. But this is also a change for a more advanced player. Again, a consistent swing matters. You don't need a great swing, just a consistent one to take advantage of equipment tweaks. If you don't have that consistent swing, all the equipment advances in the world aren't going to help.

3) no matter how inconsistent you are (and we all are, more or less), there is a base swing speed and base pattern to your swing. Getting clubs that work best for your swing will substantially improve your game. So will becoming more consistent - but that's on you

Yeah, well I strongly disagree with this, as does any player worth his salt. It ain't the arrow, it's the indian. A good player can make any club work. Will it allow the player to perform to their optimum by playing with lesser equipment? No. But they shouldn't become useless without their fit clubs. For example, I was up in Calgary for a funeral two years ago and some family and friends wanted to go golfing a couple times. I didn't bring my clubs with me so they cobbled some clubs together for them. I mean a real dogs breakfast. Wilson Fatshafts with graphite shafts, a couple mismatched wedges (a 53* cleveland and a 58* vokey), a Cobra baffler 3 hybrid, a Ping G15 driver, and a rusty Scotty Cameron Circa 62 Mod 1 with hardly any grip. We played two courses I'd never seen before (Delacour and Blue Devil) and even with all that working against me I still managed to break 80 both days. Sure, I would have liked to have my custom built 588s, but you make due with what you have, and what you have is your swing and your head.

The wife, who couldn't break 110-120 and was wildly inconsistent, got fitted for new clubs and instantly dropped to 95-105. The proper shaft and club style helped her get the ball in the air more consistently and hit it further. Those things gave her confidence and aided in her becoming more consistent.

I'm glad this worked for her. I guess the first question to ask is what was she playing prior to being fit? Was a $200 beginner set that is made from the worst components out there, or were they good clubs designed for a lady?

I am not going to argue that fitting can have some benefits. I spend time on a launch meter a couple times a season just to make sure that I am aware of changes in my swing as I age. Very beneficial, especially as you get older. But you have to be careful where you have this stuff done and who is doing the tweaks and recommendations for you. You don't go to an untrained chiropractor to do adjustments to your body, so why would you do the same to have someone make adjustments to something that can screw your body up?

Since we're sharing fitting stories, my sister went and got a "free" fitting. She's a taller woman and can hit the ball pretty well, for a lady. The schmuck that did the fitting talked her into a men's set of clubs with senior flex shafts, all with 1* up and a 1/2 length add to the shafts. When she told me about them I said I was highly skeptical. She plays 4-5 times a week so I thought she might adjust to the clubs. Well, she started out okay but was getting chunky with her shots. Her angle of attack was changing on her. To make matters worse, she started to develop elbow problems which resulted in a late season injury. All of this is attributable to a poor fitting. She was swinging clubs too long, too stiff, and too heavy for her joints to sustain. She had to do physio all winter to repair and buildup her elbow.

So as she was preparing for this season she asked me what to do. I told her that just eye balling her she was standard/standard and should be in a ladies flex shaft. I said if she wasn't comfortable with that assessment to go get fit, but to do so at two different places, and compare notes. Not surprising, the two free fittings came up with different specs. I then sent her to her club pro to do a fitting, which cost her a lesson fee, but she got properly fitted this time, on both a launch meter and impact tape (sole and face on a board). Long story short, she was standard/standard - with mid sized grips (missed on the grips).

I played with her shortly after she got her clubs in February and her swing was back in control. More importantly, she was swinging a club that was the right weight for her to control. So far she's got no issues with her injury and he scores are headed in the right direction.

So yes, a fitting was very beneficial here, but only to fix a problem caused by a bad fitting. Be careful where you get your fitting and make sure they are reputable and have a clue.

Also, one of the reasons that people aren't consistent, and don't hit the center of the face very often, is that their clubs don't fit. I have a half inch extension in mine and they are 2 degrees upright. Before I got fitted, I rarely hit the center of the clubface. Now I do with significantly more consistency. Because the clubs fit me better.

I would probably say that working with your professional contributed more to your swing improvements than a new set of clubs did. Like I said before, if you have a ####ty swing it is highly unlikely a 1-2* change in anything is going to make much of a difference in correcting anything. Only a swing correcting will solve the problem. That is not to say that you need to have your swing torn down and rebuilt. Small changes can make a world of difference - like a grip pressure change or toeing in or out of the club to correct ball flight.

There is no question that if you want to get better at this game, lessons are the way to go. And practice.

But suggesting a fitting wouldn't help is crazy.

Lessons then fitting is the way to go. You don't become an awesome driver by going and buying yourself a Porsche with custom seats, although I knew a whole bunch of dbags in Calgary that believed that was the case. You become an awesome driver by learning how to drive, learning how to use the machine as it was designed and intended. Same thing with a golf club. Although I know a ton of people who believed that they could improve their game by going and buying new clubs every year and having them custom fitted. Sadly, that ain't how it works. It ain't the arrow, its the indian.

By the way, added 10 yards to the driver this year by changing shafts under the guidance of my pro. Same swing + better club for my game = longer, straighter drives.

And this makes perfect sense and shows the benefit of launch meter technology. Finding the right shaft and kick point is crucial to maximizing the performance of your clubs. When it comes to tweaking your game and equipment, the launch meter can be your best friend. I'm glad your pro is working well for you. They are invaluable resources that people should use more often!

Hit 'em long, and hit 'em straight.

[Dion]

Golfing on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Can't think of a better way to spend a long weekend.

[TheSutterDynasty]

Speaking of delaocur and mosquitos I will never go back after the nightmare swarms that were there at the end of last season. Literally unplayable.

[DoubleK]

They weren't nearly that bad this time.

I played in August last year and almost left. 15 and 16 seem to be the worst holes.

[Weitz]

Playing Water Valley tomorrow morning. It's a great little track!

[DoubleK]

Valley Ridge today for me.