2020 Golf Thread
- Thread starter TFP
- Start date
My dad had a friend who did that too. Developed some form of mouth / throat cancer later in life. Not saying it was connected but it couldn't have helped.
I'm super confused over whether people are actually gargling their golf ball or this is some weird joke that's flying over my head.
I'm pretty sure that my father used to put whole golf balls in his mouth to clean them back in the day, and I think I followed his lead to some extent when I was a kid. But I remember at a pretty early age hearing Curtis Strange talk about how his father Tom - a club pro and talented golfer in his own right - died from cancer before the age of 40. And yes, Tom Strange used to put golf balls in his mouth to clean them; Curtis absolutely blamed that practice for his death. So I never did that again.
I see golfers lick their fingers all the time to clean the ball. If I don't have a wet towel, I'm playing with a dirty ball all round.
CT just put exec order in place requiring masks in all public places. We got email from pro - to safely comply with that order, we now have to wear a mask during golf. Lol.
1) Good question on enforcement. Also a question about why this would apply to a solo player. But it's somewhat moot because...
2) Club clarified it, and said mask not required if you can keep the 6 feet thing. The order came from golf committee, not the pro himself (who was put in a tough position), and I guess there was enough combination of complaints and more clarity on the latest tweak of the Gov's executive orders that it was not a hard requirement.
I guess if there's a lack of compliance on the 6 feet thing, a mask order could go into effect. It would change the experience for me, as my glasses would fog up and it's be a PIA to deal with. But I'd figure it out/deal with it if I had to.
I'm going to lose my mind if the courses in MA don't open soon. I live about 1,000 feet from my club and the course is completely shut down. No walking around on it, even the parking lots are blocked, but the course is in pristine shape. Literally perfect. The nicest it's ever looked in the 15+ years I've been a member. I see it every day, taunting me, laughing at me...
I did get to swing some clubs today though. My buddy has a second home in Seabrook, NH and he bought like 3 lots of land on the marsh about a half mile from his house, and built a "man town." He put in a green, with 4 different tee boxes playing 50, 70, 85 and 95 yards, along with his garage that holds his collector cars and game room. It's heaven on Earth. Can obviously only work on the short game, etc., but my God, if he would have let me, I would have moved in and left my family behind. He even has a bedroom in the loft above the garage.
I've got some awesome pics of it, but I can't figure out why this damn site says all of the photos I take on my phone are too big to upload them, even if I resize them when i save them to my computer...
I did get to swing some clubs today though. My buddy has a second home in Seabrook, NH and he bought like 3 lots of land on the marsh about a half mile from his house, and built a "man town." He put in a green, with 4 different tee boxes playing 50, 70, 85 and 95 yards, along with his garage that holds his collector cars and game room. It's heaven on Earth. Can obviously only work on the short game, etc., but my God, if he would have let me, I would have moved in and left my family behind. He even has a bedroom in the loft above the garage.
I've got some awesome pics of it, but I can't figure out why this damn site says all of the photos I take on my phone are too big to upload them, even if I resize them when i save them to my computer...
That sucks, Death. It boggles my mind MA isn’t open.
Opening Day at my club today. Tee times, not shotgun start. To-go bag lunch instead if post game lunch. But a beauty of a day. One minor upside to all these closures is my weekend mornings are available for golf for the first time on about a decade. Before it was kid sports coaching and watching.
TBH, in big picture I’d rather be watching kids sports, but my son had given up baseball for golf, so I’m not missing much.
Opening Day at my club today. Tee times, not shotgun start. To-go bag lunch instead if post game lunch. But a beauty of a day. One minor upside to all these closures is my weekend mornings are available for golf for the first time on about a decade. Before it was kid sports coaching and watching.
TBH, in big picture I’d rather be watching kids sports, but my son had given up baseball for golf, so I’m not missing much.
We played for the first time in six weeks today in Orange County California. Local muni. That’s the good news. Bad news was it hit about 90 degrees and no carts. I had to call it after 11 holes. My old arthritic knees couldn’t take much more. It was glorious to get back out there. No restrooms, no flags, no food, or drinks. Pretty good adherence to social distancing and masks. It wasn’t ideal but beat the hell out of doing nothing. We are hoping carts will be available next week.
Same here. It's dumb. The risk is minimal but the course is closed. I'm probably in closer proximity to people on sidewalks when running through my neighborhood than I would be on a golf course. And certainly when in a grocery store. Hopefully the state chips away at this stuff soon.
Running lol
You don't need to lie to impress us. I'm sure some of us already kind of like you.
Yeah between me and my neighbor we have about 20 holes complete w teeboxes and flags. One tee box is elevated about 50 feet on a hill in the sticks. Most are par threes but I'm thankful I have it. I'll go mobile to see if I can get some pics up. My swing was in meltdown for a while there and now it may be the best I can get it.
Before we started building them we looked into buying a GC2 launch monitor and software, but from a virus standpoint it made much more sense to get outside.
Town next to Seabrook if you're around
I would have killed myself without it and I'm only borderline joking
Oh, I'm around. Don't even tempt me. If they don't open courses here, you say the word on any weekend, and I'll be there in 25 minutes. Maybe 15 minutes with no traffic and cops not pulling anyone over.
Is there any word on when MA might open courses? I’m supposed to have a golf outing on the Cape the last weekend in May (weekend after Memorial Day). Hoping we can still pull it off, although I bet some guys won’t go.
Stay at home order just extended for 2 more weeks. However, the state is forming a panel to discuss phased reopening. Not great news. At least the weather looks somewhat craptastic for the extended forecast so maybe not a ton of golf would have been played.
I guess I'll keep running in the meantime. Because somehow that's controversial.
My dad will be able to golf at his course in Illinois. Only twosomes and sounds like they're spacing it out a ton but it's golf. Range still isn't open.
Did you take the day off yet and book 36? I don't know how you've all survived. This is the longest I have been home without work travel in many years. I would have gone nuts without golf.
Range not open sounds dumb. Close every other stall. Set out wipes at the ball machine. Where are the points of contact?
It's been like 25/75 open/closed for ranges around here. Some places have just been smart and decided against using baskets and range machines and just included balls in the price while others seems to have made no concessions on how they handle range balls. The balls themselves need to be washed between uses, but otherwise, include them in the price and set them up in piles on the range. Whatever. You get used to it.
Playing Salish Cliffs Friday (they are opening early) and they don't have restrictions on play since they are on a reservation and can basically do what they want in this state.
Then I'll play next Friday and Saturday. I can't fucking wait.
TBH, this has probably been really good for my game. I set the net up in the back yard and forced myself to work on some stuff that I've been lackadaisical about. My putting was really starting to get bad and I've been grinding with the putter too. Whenever I'm bored, I force myself to either workout or practice my golf game.
I wish I had that discipline. I practice putting on the mat when things start getting out of whack and (used to) go to the range when I don't have time for a round. Next year I hope to get the Mevo+ and finally be able to see Trackman level stats at home. I can hit balls all day with data based feedback but get quickly bored just hitting into a net or putting on a mat. I'm playing tomorrow, Friday and then in a tourney on Saturday. If things don't get better I'm going to take up canoeing or something.
Got the Odyssey Stroke Lab Seven S (lefty). It was $130 in new condition shipped. Everything on the site is 25% off the list price when you add it to your cart, it's insane.
https://www.callawaygolfpreowned.com/golf-clubs/putters/odyssey-stroke-lab-putters/putters-2019-seven-s-stroke-lab.html
There's a TON of putters on there for awesome prices. Mostly Odyssey/Toulon.
Well, damn, it looks like they're opening to non-members as well. I was not aware of this. I have to get out on a course.
What did you order? I'm looking too after my last couple of rounds. I'll do eBay to save money and not limit selection. I really want to go to a good putter fitter before buying anything, but not sure that's going to be possible any time this summer.
Well, you just cost me money, thanks
I got a Stroke Lab 7 (face balanced whereas S is toe hung). It mostly matches my current 7 black, which is why I got it. I want one in my basement by my putting mat that's similar to my main putter. For $135 it's worth the experiment.
Hampton Falls? I've got a sprained MCL at moment, but I might be tempted someday to test it out.
Maine courses reopen 5/1, btw.
For Maine residents only, FYI. All visitors to Maine to self quarantine for 14 days.
Well golf courses never formally closed due to COVID-19 here in RI, so we formulated a new schedule for our weekly Monday afternoon league based on everyone's comfort and mobility. We were supposed to open on April 20 and end mid-August, however our adjusted schedule was a 4-week "preseason" not counting towards the standings starting April 27 with first official round to happen May 25. Going to double up and play 18 instead of 9 for a few weeks to still end by Labor Day.
The golf course we play at is:
* Not allowing any out of state residents to play.
* Tee times are spaced out to 15 minutes or longer to minimize the risk of playing up to the next group.
* No riding carts are allowed and you must walk (carts with one rider per may be back in early-mid May). Due to knee/leg issues with a few players this is primarily what pushed back the official start of season.
* Clubhouse is not open obviously and you pay from the outside at a window.
* Sand bunkers have no rakes, and if the ball is in a sketchy sand lie due to landing in a footprint or divot you get a preferred lie.
* The pins all have pool noodles around them from inside the hole up a few feet above grade so the ball does not fall into the hole and a hit of the pool noodle counts as in the hole.
This last item led to some hilarity on a par 3 we played Monday. One guy hit his first 2 shots into different bunkers, then the 3rd shot was a low missile that took a chunk out of the pool noodle. As there are no requirements for velocity when hitting the noodle, we were forced to consider his ball holed for a par. The noodle also allows us to be more aggressive on close putts obviously, like you are playing with gutter bumpers while bowling.
The whole scene of no one else out there in addition to the terrible low 40s and gloomy weather made it surreal to start play again. But the exercise of walking 9 holes was worth it, as forcing myself to get a decent workout has been difficult for the past 5-6 weeks.
The golf course we play at is:
* Not allowing any out of state residents to play.
* Tee times are spaced out to 15 minutes or longer to minimize the risk of playing up to the next group.
* No riding carts are allowed and you must walk (carts with one rider per may be back in early-mid May). Due to knee/leg issues with a few players this is primarily what pushed back the official start of season.
* Clubhouse is not open obviously and you pay from the outside at a window.
* Sand bunkers have no rakes, and if the ball is in a sketchy sand lie due to landing in a footprint or divot you get a preferred lie.
* The pins all have pool noodles around them from inside the hole up a few feet above grade so the ball does not fall into the hole and a hit of the pool noodle counts as in the hole.
This last item led to some hilarity on a par 3 we played Monday. One guy hit his first 2 shots into different bunkers, then the 3rd shot was a low missile that took a chunk out of the pool noodle. As there are no requirements for velocity when hitting the noodle, we were forced to consider his ball holed for a par. The noodle also allows us to be more aggressive on close putts obviously, like you are playing with gutter bumpers while bowling.
The whole scene of no one else out there in addition to the terrible low 40s and gloomy weather made it surreal to start play again. But the exercise of walking 9 holes was worth it, as forcing myself to get a decent workout has been difficult for the past 5-6 weeks.
No, Salisbury. Rain the next 3 days so I'm not expecting much
Are they going to be checking IDs?