Golf Fitness: Journey To 100

As you take two seconds to glance over at my smiling face, you can tell that fitness hasn't been a concern of mine for quite some time. In fact, my last major "fitness goal" that I had on the books came nearly 7 years ago when I started riding road bikes to ride from Seattle to Portland after a challenge from a friend. Well, that was long ago and far away, but the last time I was actually in shape, the second Bush was in office and Bad Day was rocking the Billboard Music Charts. I tipped the scales at a low of 190 pounds that summer and was playing golf once or twice a week. 2006 was a long time ago, and life has done everything it can to get in my way between now and then, but last week started a new commitment to getting back to a being a bit healthier. Here's my week one recap.

Working out isn't a huge option for me right now. Being upwards of 300 pounds really limits what you can and can't do as far as gym activities go, but the first step is reeling in the nutrition aspect of my life. I began using the FatSecret App on my phone last summer when I made my umpteenth stab at getting healthy in the last 2 years. It worked so well for the week that I tried it that I kept it in my memory banks. As I started back on this journey, it was easy to pick it back up and start rolling with it.

The App tracks food intake, calories, and has a social community that is building each other up on their weight loss journeys. If there is something that works, it's seeing positive reinforcement from other people who are doing what you are doing. Think of it as playing 2 shots better than you ever have before and having your playing partners comment all round long about how well you are putting and how sharp your approach shots look. It really builds your confidence and keeps your focus going to try and do even more with the next shot. It's the same thing here. Losing weight is like a round where not everything clicks. Some times the scale goes up - you hit a shank, but sometimes the scale drops more than you expect - like hitting a green from the trees. It's not a pretty thing, but it's the truth.

So, here's where this gets really personal and I hope you (or anyone that this gets shared with) can find it helpful. If you are 10 pounds overweight or 100 pounds overweight, it all starts with small changes. My 2018 reboot of my "getting in shape" plan, I officially started the process last Monday morning. On February 5th, I woke up to a scale that read 324.0 pounds. Not a number that made me happy at all. Actually, in all honesty, it was about 20 pounds more than I thought it would be. My Goal in this was to lose 100 pounds to reach a weight of 200 pounds. Seeing that number made me move the needle to 225 for a primary goal, with a secondary goal of coming in for the last 25 pounds to come down to 200 even. This is just the beginning stages though, so let's not put the cart before the horse.

The Beginning: 324 pounds. Again, not what I was expecting, but not the most horrible news on the planet. At least I haven't had a stroke or something debilitating happen to me yet. Let's get this party rolling before something does. I decided to start off with a similar approach to my 2006 successful run with using Slim-Fast style shakes as a supplement to a big calorie cut. My target intake is 1800 per day, but I'm more concerned with the quality of those calories than the quantity at this point. For those wondering, no, I don't think the shakes do anything to help me lose weight, nor do I think they suppress hunger, but what they do offer is a great way to get needed vitamins and minerals that may not be included in what I'm eating. In other words, they offer a nice balance of nutrients for when I cut them out from not eating so many calories.

Day One: 314.2 pounds. Yep, there goes that water weight… I really hate the first day of a diet. You get that huge drop from your body reacting to water weight and having to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes. Eventually, everything starts to calm down, but there is always day two. The scale showed a nice 9.8 pound drop today and that was after a 1400 calorie day that included a shake and a banana for breakfast; a shake and ham for lunch; and a dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes and salad. It was a good day one start, and maybe tomorrow will go almost as well. Hopefully that water drop won’t come back on day three.

Day Two: 310.8 pounds. Well, that was fun. I managed to rally another 3.4 pound drop today. It was good to see the progress even after a huge day two. I kept on track with a 1500 calorie day that included 2 shakes; ham and eggs for breakfast, ham, sweet peppers and celery for lunch; and then a hamburger patty, a few fries (since when is 18 fries a serving???) and some cooked green cabbage. I am working hard on tracking what goes in and out so I can get adjusted properly and watch what trigger foods set me up for bad days.

Day Three: 308.4 pounds. Well this is getting good isn’t it? It’s the third day and I’m down 15+ pounds already. At this pace, I should be done by the end of the month. Well, I know it won’t keep up at this breakneck speed, but I’m very happy with how it’s going so far. I kept on going with the shake and eggs today, but added a few slices of pepperoni instead of ham for breakfast; for lunch, I had chicken breast, mini peppers, dill pickles and a shake; and dinner was a Taco Time “Fit Hit Bowl” and a cup of corn chowder. Again 1300 calories and a very solid feeling day in the loss department.

Day Four: 306.8 pounds. Hitting the scale today was actually a bit of a gamble. I knew I made a good calorie choice for dinner, but I was worried about the salt content leaving me up for the day. Instead, it was another 1.4 pound drop. Bonus! I kept on keeping on with the solid breakfast of 2 eggs, but tried mixing in the chicken breast instead and it was a nice flavor change. Keeping it interesting keeps things moving forward, right? It’s also worth noting at this point, I’m only taking in about 200 calories at 6 AM, then having the 200 calorie shake at 8 AM after I’ve been at work for a bit. I count that as breakfast, but it’s really breakfast and a snack. This passes me easily till noon where lunch kicked in again with more of the oven roasted chicken, some sweet red pepper, the left over cabbage from burger night and a shake. Dinner was an awesome adventure of flavors also with a burger patty, a cooked mashed potato patty and a veggie mix of Brussel Sprouts, onion and mushrooms. All in all, I pushed in just over 1700 calories for the day, but they were good, clean calories. I’m feeling good about this week.

Day Five: 304.6 pounds. Clean eating is paying off. Another 2.2 pounds gone. I had so much fun with the eggs and chicken yesterday, I did it again today. Had the shake at work and then had a nice lunch of chicken, sweet peppers and another shake. The day was going well, but then came the news of – we needed to go to the mall to get a present for someone. Uh oh… I quickly searched for good eats and found Panda Express would be the best option. I actually got more food than I needed and kept the total calories under 700 for the entire meal. I skipped out on the rice and went with the mixed vegetables. I stayed way from the fried bases like Kung Pao Chicken and went with broccoli beef. I had some mushroom chicken and black pepper chicken to finish it up – and again, it was more food than I needed. The funny part, it was fewer calories than the fried rice and an 1/4 serving of what I was getting the week before when I’d head out to dinner. The day finished up at just under 1600 calories and I felt fantastic about my choices.

Day Six: 303.8 pounds. Not even Panda Express salt could slow down this train! Better not think too hard though, because I have a weekend in front of me now. Kept breakfast consistent with the eggs, but flipped back to the ham for today. I like to cook the ham to give it a crisp like bacon when I can, so that’s a good weekend thing. I skipped the shake this morning because I just didn’t need the extra boost as I slept in a bit. Unfortunately, I was home for lunch. I was hoping to be on the course, but a tweak in my hand kept me off the course this weekend. Instead, lunch was ham, celery sticks and snap peas with a shake. After lunch, we dropped the kiddo off at a birthday party and headed out for a date night. We hit the Asian market for dinner and I had spicy pork with about a cup of rice. It was the largest calorie content meal I had all week, but it was so good. I also was smart and took about half of it home. After dinner we perused Target for about 40 minutes looking for movie snacks. I finally found Oh Snap! products (they are AWESOME) and some Skinny Pop popcorn. I’ll fully admit to sneaking them into the theater, but I still bought a $5 coffee from them so I don’t feel too bad.

Day Seven: 302.6 pounds. Even with a dinner out and a late night movie, I woke up another pound lighter today. Eggs, ham and coffee were on the breakfast menu. The leftovers from dinner were lunch (did I say I saved half of it? It was more like 1/3 I bet…) I added some snap peas and celery sticks for filler. From there, it was off to a party – I was good, just having coffee – and then a quick visit to the south end. It was another dinner out (How did this happen three times in the first week starting this???) at Taco Time where I had my chowder and Fit Hit Bowl again. The day clocked in at just under 1100 calories, which was dangerously low, but I had to make something work being on the road for most of the day. Overall, I’d say it was a good end to the week.

Week One Weigh In: 302.6 pounds. I couldn’t be any happier with how week one went. Hopefully I can keep up the pound plus a day loss for this week before slowing to a more normal couple of pounds a week. I do love seeing the double digit losses for week one though. It’s already starting to feel different, but I can’t wait to clear that first 25 pounds off myself. Make sure to stay tuned next week for the week two update!

Would I Play Hogan Irons Instead Of Wilson Irons?

With the exception of a few sets here and there during the time I worked at a golf shop in high school and the year I spent with my Ping S59’s, I have always carried Wilson irons in my bag. In fact, it’s always been Wilson irons and wedges for as long as I can really recall playing the game. From my first set of 1989 Wilson Staff Fluid Feels to my FG100’s, they have always just felt perfect in my hands and played extremely well for me on the course. You see, back when I started playing golf in 1989, we used to visit our local driving range about once a week. It was this little hole in the wall place called Christie’s in Federal Way. It was a little 250 yard driving range that was surrounded by a par 3 pitch and putt. There were far more modern driving ranges around, but there was something about walking in to that old pro shop and seeing the owner smiling behind the counter that made us want to be there. That range is the place that I fell in love with bladed irons and the entire reason why I still play Wilson to this day. Of course, had a few things gone a bit different, I may not have ended up getting my beloved Fluid Feels and picked up something a bit different – and that’s where this story begins.

Back at Christies, they had some pretty amazing “new” clubs on the shelf, but even back in the day, my first glance was always the used club rack. As much as I loved the sparkle of new chrome, I knew the reality of hitting that first rock in a bunker or taking a nasty chunk out of the sole when you play that punch shot from the trees, so ‘new’ wasn’t something I needed to have in my bag. That said, the late 80’s and early 90’s was such a gorgeous time for club makers. Wilson had their Fluid Feel blades and the Gooseneck irons. Tommy Armour released the classic 845’s, Ping was dominating the industry with the Ping Eye 2’s and other manufacturers were coming out with clubs that turned heads, but for some, like the Cleveland VAS, it was for the wrong reasons. One brand that carried the name of one of the greatest golfers of all time was also continuing to kick out some of the best looking designs on the planet – Ben Hogan Golf. In 1988, Hogan produced the Apex iron, which to this day is still one of the cleanest, most simple, gorgeous designs of all time. A classic muscle back, with a thin top line and virtually no offset. I remember them clearly sitting next to the Wilson Gooseneck irons that also found a home in my Dad’s bag back in the day. I remember hitting those Apex’s, then the Staff’s, then the Apex’s again, then the Staff’s again, not being able to truly choose what ‘felt’ better. I hit them for about a month, just a few balls per range session, before the Wilson’s really established themselves as the club that I really had to have. Of course, coming up with the $400 that the blades were marked at as a Sophomore in high school was going to be next to impossible, but I was bound and determined to do it. By now you may be wondering what all of this has to do with today, and well, that’s a great question.

Hogan Golf all but died in 2003 when Callaway Golf purchased the brand and its assets. The assets are really the reason Callaway wanted to purchase the group, and for a measly $125 million, wouldn’t you have wanted to have the names, “Top-Flite” “Strata” and “Ben Hogan” in your golf library? Strangely, Callaway has revitalized the Top-Flite brand and done some great department store branding under the Strata label, but they left virtually every Hogan memory behind. By 2008, Hogan Golf was nothing but a name that came up in conversations among golfers that may have had a set or tried a set at one time in their lives. Callaway had rebranded the Apex line as a Callaway club and shoved the Hogan name into a deep dark corner of the room. This all changed in 2012 when Perry Ellis, yes the clothing company, purchased the Ben Hogan name from Callaway, primarily to manufacture apparel. Then came 2014, when Ellis licensed the rights to club making to Terry Koehler and the real fun began. In 2015, Koehler released a new Hoganesque design, the Fort Worth 15, which was followed quickly by the PTx irons. Various other hybrids, driving irons and wedges have followed, but the 15’s and the PTx’s were definitely irons worthy of going in any player’s bag.

The new Ben Hogan golf has not had a great deal of luck out of the gate, even declaring bankruptcy in early 2017, but they have once again risen from the ashes and are currently offering two incredibly beautiful iron sets, a stunning driving iron, a stellar hybrid option and some of the best wedge grinds available today. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time or energy to order up the demo package that they have available – it’s $20 in shipping back and forth (plus a $250 hold on your credit card) to test out a 6 and 9 iron in either model, or the utility iron or hybrid – and you can demo them on the course or at the range for almost 2 full weeks. You will need to make sure to send them back within that 14 day window or your card will get charged for them, but you basically have a full week with them to hit balls and get a feel for them. It’s really a great program since they aren’t available at local stores.

Now, you may be wondering why this “Wilson Guy” is writing up so much about the new Hogan irons… And to that I say, this blog is all about getting more bang for your golfing buck and I believe that the two offerings from Ben Hogan Golf are seriously great values. When you compare the cost of my FG100’s to the cost of the Fort Worth irons, you are saving almost $350 going with the Hogan’s. When you compare the Titleist 718 T-MB ($1750) or the Callaway Apex MB ($1300) to them, you save even more. While $650 for a set of irons is hardly a “value” concept, when you think about the long term investment of a quality set of clubs that can be custom fit to your specs, $125 a year for 5 years of use isn’t all that tough to swallow. In fact, It begins to look like an even better value long term when you work in the 3 for $240 wedge deal.

Now, the question probably begs to be answered,  “Would I play the new Hogan irons?” I have to say that I’m in a space right now that I am in my 3rd season with my FG100’s, so I am still at about $350 a year in value on those clubs, so I would probably not pick up a set for myself due to the fact that investment wise, I’m still paying for my FG100’s. That said, if it was time to start looking, say 2 years down the road, and these were an option, you could bet that I would be ordering that demo setup yesterday to try them out. They look absolutely stunning and both irons have great benefits. The Ft. Worth look to be a bit more ‘blade like’ and the PTx are designed to give a bit more help getting the ball in the air. Either way, both are a bit of a player’s iron, and both would look very nice in a new Hogan bag on my shoulder. Hopefully by the time I’m ready to “reclub” I have the option of trying them but I have a feeling Wilson will have something new to replace my beloved FG100’s by then anyway. Still, if you are in the market, hit up www.benhogangolf.com and check out their offerings.

Snuck Out For A Quick Nine Yesterday…

Impromptu nine anyone? That’s what I decided to tackle yesterday afternoon in the rain and wind that was blowing through the area. While it may not have been the best decision to head out to the course yesterday, it did turn out to be a very enjoyable round of golf – except for the few downpours and plugging balls. Still, even with the horribly wet weather, The Golf Club At Echo Falls still played very well. There were quite a few spots of “where did that ball go?” due to the new water hazards that could be found all over the course, but if you stayed to the higher side of the holes, it wasn’t a bad day to play. I did make a few decisions prior to teeing off that were strange but fun… First off, I continued my simplifying my wedge game idea by deciding to only use my 51° wedge for approaches inside 125 yards. Then I also pulled out a classic, the 2005 Nike One Gold balls that I still have about a dozen and a half left of for the round.

The round started off pretty much as normal. A nice 185 yard 3 hybrid found the center of the fairway on 1,  but there was ZERO roll to be found on this hole. Plus the wind and rain were really keeping distances in check. I caught my 51° wedge a bit heavy our of the slimy fairway and came up about 30 yards short of the pin. A chip on and a 6 foot putt for par had me rolling. The second hole, for some strange reason, played even better than the first for me. A 17° hybrid climbed the hill about 205 yards and left me another partial wedge to the green. I hit a 2/3’s strength 51° wedge to the green and landed about 10 feet from the flag. I needed a bit of help on the putt as the greens were playing very slow and this particular putt looked a bit bumpy, but fortunately, the putt bounced its way towards the hole and found it for a birdie 3. The par 4 third was up next and I was sitting at 1 under par after 2. A 218 yard 17° hybrid found the left edge of the fairway off the tee, even with the wind pushing straight back at me. The lower loft cut through it rather nicely and actually even gave me a bit of a rollout on this shot. A 51° wedge from 60 yards found the back edge of the green and left me about 20 feet for another birdie. I ran the putt up to about 2 feet of the hole before it stopped short and tapped it in for my par. Still holding at one under after three holes.

The par 5 fourth hole was up next. The wind was a bit more swirling on this hole, but I still managed to poke a 261 yard drive off the tee but opted to play the slightly drier right side of the fairway today. It got hung up a bit in the hills, but had just enough draw to find the edge of the fairway. Going down the hill, a 169 yard 8 iron barely found the front edge of the green. I should have paid closer attention to my GolfPadGPS on this one as the pin was more center and my max yardage on my 8 iron had me pinned to front of the green with a perfect shot. Still, I had my 8 iron in hand and hit that ‘practically perfect’ shot into the green. Came up a full club short, just like I thought, but it was still on the green. A 40 foot putt for eagle came up about 3 feet short of the hole, but an easy birdie was all mine on the short par 5. The 171 yard fifth hole was up next. I learned my lesson on the 8 iron at 4 and pulled the extra club on on 5. My 168 yard 7 iron found the left edge of the green, and left me about 40 feet for birdie. Again, a good first putt to about 2 feet left me an easy putt for par and kept me at 2 under. Finally the weather let up a bit on the 6th hole. In fact, it was while I was driving over to it that the rain stopped a bit and the wind died down. I grabbed the driver from my bag and managed to hit a very strong tee shot for the first time all day. The 335 yard drive caught a dry part of the hill and rolled out nicely into the right side of the fairway. A 160 yard 9 iron came to rest on the front of the green, but left me almost 70 feet to the hole. Again, not knowing what to expect from a shot on a hill like this made club selection a bit precarious to say the least. From there, I hit a brilliant first putt that actually looked like it was going to fall with about 10 feet left. The putt then stopped breaking and rolled about a foot past the hole. Another tap in birdie and I moved myself to 3 under par for the round.

The par 3 seventh, or my arch nemesis was up next. Of all the holes on the front side, this one seems to be the toughest for me to get a good look at birdie on. Today was no exception. Even with the wind down a bit and the rain not falling for the moment, This 160 yard hole plays perfectly between clubs for me. A full 8 iron finds the front fo the green and a full 7 iron finds the back. Take a bit off of that 7 and I’m in the right front bunker. Try to muscle up on the 8 and it’s usually stage left for me on this one. It’s just “that” hole. Today I opted for the solid 8 iron, which sure enough, found the front edge of the green. My 50 foot putt came up short and left me a scary 5 footer for par. Luckily, my putt literally bounced into the hole for that par and it kept me stead at 3 under par. The par 4 eighth was up next and by this point in time, the wind and rain were starting to come back again. I hit a quick 17 ° hybrid out to the middle of the fairway, leaving myself about 140 to the flag. A solid pitching wedge should have gotten there, but it hung in the wind just enough to come down on the front edge of the green instead of settling pin high. My 30 foot putt came up a touch short again, but it did leave me a 3 foot tap in for par. Even in the wet and wild weather, I was clinging to a 3 under par score entering the last hole of the front side. On the ninth hole, i finally hit the shot I have been dreaming about on this hole. A perfectly struck, bomb from my driver that started straight at the bunkers lining the right side of the fairway, then drawing in to the center of the fairway, like it was drawn up on paper. I figured it had to be a solid 260-270 off of that tee, but when I pulled up on the path near the ball, my GPS was still showing 100 yards in – or about 240 away from where I started. I didn’t get it, I killed that ball and it was just dead in the fairway. Oh well, off to a nice 56° wedge to the green and a two… Wait… My first putt from 40 feet didn’t exactly go as planned. In fact, it was by far, the worst shot of the day. I struck the putt and watched it roll towards the hole. It slowly rolled, right online, towards its target. Then, it just stopped. About 12 feet from the  hole, the putt just put the brakes on. I had the line on the finishing putt, but I hit it a bit firm (mainly due to the one before it stopping on a dime) and rolled it about 18 inches past the hole. There was my tap in, but it was for a bogey 5 on the ninth hole.

That left me to make the turn or head home at 2 under par for the day. Since conditions and the weather were so sketchy, I decided to call it a round and head home for the day. Overall, it wasn’t a round where anything was learned and it wasn’t something I would write home about. I took advantage of the two easy par 5’s on the front today and had a somewhat lucky birdie on 2. I also had a somewhat unlucky bogey on 9, so it all evened out nicely. With us now entering our ‘wet time’ of year, I’ll see how many quality rounds I can get in between now and the end of my Winter Membership at Echo Falls, but I’m not too excited for the next couple of weeks. We had a very dry winter up until January, but it looks like the wet pattern in here for a bit. Still, any round where you can hit 7 fairways and 8 greens is a pretty good day – even if the weather is awful and the outlook is for more of the same. Those 7/8 days just make you want to get back out there and do it again. On the flip side, I love the ease of getting to Echo Falls and I love the course itself, but I’m really looking forward to playing a few different courses when the weather turns this spring. I almost feel that Echo sets up too well for my game and that may be helping me generate some better scores than I should be getting. Maybe next round I’ll try and play from the Gold tees to give the course a different look, or maybe a few more rounds at the Blue tees for a bit of a mix. All I know is my game it working very well at the moment and should only get better with the weather.

Where To Find Me On Social Media

There are literally hundreds of places to find people online and finding the actual person or thing you want to follow can be tough. I wanted to take a few minutes to highlight my social media accounts so you know where to look and which accounts to set up alerts for to see my live feeds from courses and photos from the course. So without further lagging, here is a list of accounts that you should add to your followers/likes/alerts if you want to have the most fun with this blog.

Twitter – https://twitter.com/golfing4less – this is the home Twitter account for this blog. It features the Deal of the Day post and great photos from rounds all week long. It also features random golf thoughts and possibly some new equipment shares that you may have missed elsewhere.

Twitter – https://twitter.com/waazzupppp – this is my personal Twitter account and usually the one that I live broadcast on Periscope on from the course. I would say that my personal account is split into 4 sections – Golf/Tech/Dance and Family. If you’re a fan of any of those, I’m totally worth a follow.

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/backinthefairway/ – Much of what is posted here is the same as the @golfing4less Twitter account, but not everyone has Twitter, so I added a Facebook page as well.

Periscope TV – https://www.pscp.tv/Waazzupppp - This is linked to Twitter, but just in case you are a PSCP.TV fan, you can directly access the videos here if you miss a live stream.

Email – backinthefairway@gmail.com – You can always reach out to me with an email question or comment at the address listed here.

That should probably get you started for now, but be on the lookout for more posts about more outlets coming on board. I’m sure I will be posting things to my YouTube page coming up, but it may be a ways off as that venue is already packed with amazing content – and you probably don’t need me muddling that up. If you see a social site that I am not currently sharing on, let me know in the comments below!

Tech To Help Your On-Course Game

Statistics. They power just about everything in our lives today, and our golf games are no different. There are literally hundreds of different range finders, GPS units, Apps and stat tracking programs that can help anyone play better golf, but how does one go about choosing the right one for their game? Would your game benefit more from a range finder, dialing in exact carry distances to the flag or would it benefit more from an App that tracks how far your 'real world' shots go? Would it be better to invest in a GPS watch or an online shot tracker to improve your game? Probably the biggest question to ask yourself is if any of it is really necessary at all?

With every great system, there comes a drawback. For example, with phone Apps, the information they send and receive is only as accurate as the GPS in the device that is using them. If you have a highly accurate phone, you'll undoubtedly get good results. If you don't, well you may as well go back to pacing off distances from the 150 marker. If you use a range finder, you can accurately measure most distances, but unless you cheat and use the slope measuring system, you might trick yourself into a few short shots without even know it. Of course, probably the biggest issue with any of the golf tech solutions is, what's the actual cost of the system to use it to its full potential?

Starting off with the easiest and most simple solution, the range finder. These typically run between $150-500 and for the most part, are a "You get what you pay for" item. The lower cost models may not have as strong of zoom, or as high of quality of optics or even a rechargeable battery system. While it may seem crazy to spend this much on a range finder, getting accurate yardages on the course can benefit your game immensely. At the bottom of the range, you will find accurate readings that take longer to lock. At the top of the range, you will get laser focused high speed readings. For my money, a unit like the sub $150 Golf Buddy LR5 is a great option. Just make sure to pick up some extra "CR2" batteries to put in the bag, just in case you go dead mid-round.

Moving on from lasers to satellites, GPS units offer a pretty good deal for most players, if you shop the fine print. If you aren't picky about color, you can score deals on watches like the Bushnell Neo Ion for well under $100. Of course, they won't have fancy stat tracking options, but they do get the job done on identifying hazards and flag stick distances. Callaway, Garmin and TomTom also make some exceptionally strong offerings in the Golf GPS watches, though I highly recommend checking out course listings prior to purchasing one. Moving on from wrist worn units to handheld devices, GPS industry leader, Garmin has one for just about every budget available. From the simplistic Approach G10 to the full-featured Approach G8, Garmin's GPS's are second to none in quality and compatibility. Of course, that name comes with a price as the value based G10 come in at $129.99. The line begins to blur on the G8 model, as this $349.99 model can actually recommend clubs to you based on past performance. This unit also take into account the slope of the hole for adding and subtracting distance. The biggest question to ask yourself when you are getting ready to make the move to a satellite based system is if you are accurate enough with your distances to worry about it or not and how much are you willing to spend if you need to update it later?

Again, we begin blurring the tech lines when we start talking about Apps for devices. Take that old phone you have laying around in your desk drawer. Did you know you can turn that into a fully functional Golf GPS for nothing? Popular Apps like TheGrint, 18Birdies, Hole19 and a many others, give users a chance to use Google's own mapping system to plot out distances to greens all over the world. Even better, most of these Apps feature some sort of a "free" version, whether it's disabling certain functions or placing small advertisements on the yardage pages. Either way, using a smartphone as your gaming GPS is not a poor move - unless you need your phone for other activities as well or that it has one of those batteries that just isn't what it used to be. From the freemium Apps to shot recorders, your smartphone can do far more for you game than you ever imagined, and it only gets better with some additional investment in hardware.

Yes, those Apps with additional hardware. It's the best of both worlds, at least sometimes, but it's not without a serious hit to the pocket book. From GolfPadGPS's Link and Tag system to GameGolf's Live system and even the Arccos 360 system, every single on-course shot tracking system has some good things, and some bad things going for it. Starting with the GolfPad system, the obvious drawback is the $229.00 price tag and the $19.99 a year premium membership cost. GameGolf Live features a lower price tag at $99.99 (normally $149.99) and no membership fee. While I liked the "membership free" GameGolf system, I chose the GolfPad one due the fact that the App is Android Wear compatible and it shows distances on my smartwatch. Finally the last player that I really checked out before making my plunge was the Arccos 360 tracker. Instead of leveraging NFC tags like the previous two, Arccos actually built the sensor into the grip cap and those caps then transmit a signal to the club when it senses the head impact a ball. The entire system is rather stellar, but many of the courses I would play have holes that crossed back and forth, tricking the system into being on the wrong hole. Also, it was a bit nerve racking hoping that there was enough battery left Both GameGolf and GolfPad had minimal issues with this, but again, GolfPad won out narrowly by having that Android Wear feature built in.

UPDATE: I just came across another "new" option that seems like it could be the best of both, no all, worlds. The Shot Scope V2 GPS watch/tag system may be the perfect solution to the tech scene. I read about this in the latest "MyGolfSpy" email chain, so check out this link to the Shot Scope V2 and see what you think. Keep in mind, this is a VERY new product, so I have not tested it, used it or even tried to see how well it works over all. I'm extremely interested in getting my hands on a setup for a round or two to try it out, so if anyone has a connection to try it out, please let them know!

Playing A Round: The Best Round I’ve Ever Played

It’s usually starts with a whim. It’s that non-planned trip to the course because the weather wasn’t supposed to be bad. It’s that day where you think you need to rush through your round to get home to the family, even though they are at the mall having a great time. Yes, today was that day. It started off with an excuse making marathon in my head of with so many other things to be doing, but ended up finishing so differently. It was the perfect day.

The round started off poorly enough with the 330 yard par 4 first. A simple 17° hybrid off the tee found the center of the fairway about 215 yards out. It left a solid 105 to the flag, which should have been a full 56° wedge in. Instead, I hit a 70 yard chunk wedge that landed about 40 yards shot of the green. A 60° wedge got me on and a two putt gave me my opening bogey. Again, a poor start to that whim of a round. The second hold was also far from perfect as I managed to jack that 17° hybrid up the hill about 200 yards. Again, my 56° wedge betrayed me as I chunked it again and left the same 40 yard shot into the green again. This time my 60° wedge landed about 5 feet from the hole and a one putt par. My drive drew a bit too much on the third hole, but was easily playable to the green. A slight over club to the narrow green with a 60° wedge left me a fun little 51° wedge back onto the green. A lucky one putt saved my par and let me move on to the fourth at just one over.

The par 5 fourth plays much longer than the 429 yard distance on the score card, but with the mud and muck, it gets even longer. Still, I managed to power a driver off the tee about 300 yards down the fairway. It was just in the light cut of the rough, but that grass was about the same as the fairway due to the mowers not being able to trim the area. After that, a solid pitching wedge found the green and left me about 12 feet for eagle. I ran the eagle putt up to about 10” from the hole and tapped in for the first birdie of the day. The par 3 fifth was up next. It was playing its full 171 yards today, but I felt the urge to hit a solid 8 iron into the green and thought that a full 7 iron would be too much. Unfortunately, I should have gone with the 7, as the 8 came up about 5 yards short of my target and left me a 50+ foot put for birdie. I’ll consider it a lucky two putt from there as my first putt stopped about 3-4 feet from the hole and left me a pretty easy finish. This brought me straight up to the second par 5 on the front of the course. A 277 yard drive left me about 235 yards down the steep hill to the green. I rifled a 6 iron down the hill, which managed to find the back edge of the green. I had about 60 feet for eagle, but had to settle for the birdie as my first putt was a good 5 feet short.

Moving on to the par 3 seventh, I hit an atrocious 7 iron that flared to the right of the hole and well short of the target. I’m pretty sure I caught it thick, but either way, a 30 yard 60° wedge got me on the green, but a two putt finish left me walking off the green with a bogey and put me back at even par for the round. Then, the eighth hole happened. I played through a group and felt the usual rush off the tee box, even though they were messing around on the 7th green instead of following me up. I managed to hit about 30 feet behind my ball (this may be a slight exaggeration) and the sand from the tee box managed to push the ball out about 130 yards. I had a good line to the green, but was just a mile from home, so I took the 23° hybrid and hoped. My prayers were answered as the ball sailed through the air and found the middle of the green for an easy two putt par. That brought me to the closing hole on the front side, the 361 yard par 4, ninth. I hit driver off this hole for once hoping to get past my usual hangout behind the tree on the left hand side of the hole. Fortunately, I made it past the tree, but my drive was still a bit left. The additional distance that my driver gave me allowed me to hit a 56° wedge into the green. The wedge found the right side of the green about 10 feet from the flag. The left to right breaking putt seemed to be on track the entire way and fell into the hole for another birdie. That’s three birdies and 2 bogeys on the front side for a one under par 35.

I debated going home after nine, but figured it would be a great time, and hopefully faster playing back side, so I continued on to the tenth. This hole sets up extremely well for me at about 105 yards. It’s a solid 56° wedge for me to the center, so a touch more or less gets me to the front or the back. The pin was up today, so a slightly softer shot landed about 6 feet from the flag. A quick putt to the hole netted me another birdie on the round and moved me to two under par. I moved to the 11th, where once again, I was stuck waiting for a group in front of me. I took a chance to do a live twitter update (follow me at http://www.twitter.com/waazzupppp or at www.pscp.tv/waazzupppp) and then hit my tee shot. I hit the best tee shot I’ve ever had on 11, flying down the fairway and landing softly in the center. A 125 yard 56° wedge found the back left portion of the green for an easy two putt par. The long 489 yard par 5 twelfth was up next. A 270 yard drive left me 180 on a direct line over the trees from the center of the fairway. I hit a solid shot that landed just on the left edge of the green leaving me about 60 feet to the hole. Another 2 putt birdie left me sitting pretty at 3 under par after 12 holes.

It was time to keep the round going on to the par 3 thirteenth hole. Playing nearly 180 yards today, I trusted my somewhat extended yardages today and played a solid 7 iron off towards the green. The ball once again found the center of the green, leaving me an easy putt for another birdie on the day. This was turning into a pretty amazing round, but I hadn’t been looking at my card the whole day, so I wasn’t sure exactly where I was at since the ninth, but I knew it was getting good. The fourteenth yielded another great tee shot with its sights dead on the flag stick. It came up just short of the hole and should have been another birdie, but I left the putt just short. The terrible dog-leg fifteenth was up next. A stellar drive with my 17° hybrid let me about 190 yards into the green. A solid 6 iron made the front edge of the green, but the nearly 60 foot putt didn’t find the hole for eagle. Instead a tap in 3 footer for birdie had me moving on to the finishing trio of touch holes at 5 under par.

The finishing holes at Echo Falls are the toughest three holes on the course, back to back to back. Playing nearly 360 yards, the 16th needs a good drive, but not necessarily a long one. I hit driver off the tee hoping to get a bit of the right hand fade to it and my driver didn’t fail me. The ball landed about 250 yards down the fairway, right in the middle. A 85 yard 60° wedge came up well short of its intended target when I caught it very heavy. Fortunately, it was just enough to make the front of the green and leave me a two putt par. Seventeen played very similar for me with a solid drive just to the left of the fairway. A good 7 iron from 165 yards found the green for another two putt par. I was still clinging to my 5 under score entering the final hole of the day. Almost all of the mystery is out of the 18th for me. The 142 yard hole plays a pitching wedge to the front or a 9 iron to the back. The pin was slightly up today, so I went with the wedge. The shot was dead on off the club face, but didn’t look like it was going to have quite enough on it. As the shot came down, it hit about 15 feet from the hole and spun back to about 25 feet. A quick putt towards the hole came up just inches away and let me tap in for one last par. My round was done.

This was definitely a round for the memory banks. My swing was solid, the bad shots didn’t kill me and my putter was red hot. It’s not that my putting stats were amazing, but I finished the day with 31 putts, whish is about 5 better than I usually do, and my score was about 5 shots under what I’ve been getting at Echo. I only hit 5 fairways, but 5 of the 7 that I missed were by such a small margin that it really wasn’t a miss. The poor tee shots were made up for by great second shots. Poor approach shots were made up for by great putts. It was about as good as a round can get and I’m really ready to go hit a follow up as soon as the weather permits.

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2018 What’s In My Bag And More!

Driver: Wilson Staff FG Tour F5 10.5° with an Aldila Rogue Black 70 X-Stiff Shaft and a single wrap Golf Pride MCC4 New Decade grip.

I have both the 9° and the 10.5° models and various shafting options for both. For some reason, the combination of the 10.5° head dropped 1° to 9.5° has played the best for me. I am also running the 11g weight in this model, which could be a bit of a help as well. My tee shots with the 10.5° model tend to be a bit more “fade” biased, so I wonder if there is a bit more of an open face angle to the 10.5° model than the lower lofted model, but even if it’s just a head game, right now, the 10.5° playing at 9.5° with the Aldila Rogue shaft is playing amazingly well for me this winter and I will continue to roll it out this summer.

Hybrids: 17°, 20° and 23° Wilson Staff FG Tour F5 hybrids with Mitsubishi/Rayon Fubuki 80 shafts in Stiff flex and Wilson branded Lamkin Crossline grips.

These are the new bad boys in my bag this winter. I really needed something that was a go-to club off the tee that could replace my 1 iron from the FG49 set. I also saw from my GolfPadGPS stats that my longer irons, the three and four in particular, were not nearly as accurate as I wanted them to be. I had a range session with my Dad when we played back in October where I hit a few of his hybrids with good results, so I ordered up the F5’s in the three available lofts to try out. Since it was the end of their life cycle, they were far less than the $229 price tag that they originally went for, but so far, these guys are priceless. I’m getting that ‘almost perfect’ tee shot with the 17° on a regular basis and the 20° fills in for the 3 iron very nicely. The 23° plays down to my 4 iron distance pretty well also. I almost regret not getting the X-Stiff in the 17°, but with the performance of it so far, I’m perfectly happy with what I have.

Irons: 5-PW Wilson Staff FG 100 with True Temper Dynamic Gold S300 shafts and single wrap Wilson branded Lamkin Crossline grips.

I love these irons. I love them so much, I’m not sure if there is another club around that I could play, much less that I want to play. Despite the issues that I had with the 3 and 4 irons over the last few months, the 7-PW in this set are rather deadly. The clean top line and narrow sole are exactly what my game needs and I can pretty well control my ball flight without any issue. The 5 and 6 iron are starting to get there, but with more practice being done at the shorter end of the bag, I need to prioritize those mid irons a bit more to get them feeling 100%. That said, I really wish I could track down the Lamkin Performance Plus 3Gen grips that the wedges use to put on these guys. I’m not loving the Crossline feel, especially in the summer months, so I’ll probably be spending some cash upgrading the set to the Golf Price MCC4 New Decade or another multi-compound grip to improve the feel of the clubs during the summer months.

Wedges: 51°, 56° and 60° Wilson Staff FG Tour PMP Frosted Tour Grind Wedges with KBS Hi-REV 2.0 (125) shaft and single wrap Lamkin Performance Plus 3Gen grip.

How much do I love these wedges… With a perfect gapping at 90, 105, 120, these guys not only fit perfectly in line with my FG 100 irons, but they also feel phenomenal out of almost every shot I take with them. From clean fairway lies, to embedded bunkers, I just have 100% confidence in these to get the ball near the hole. I’ve really been “over-thinking” my wedge game lately, and the last round I played I even went completely crazy with the thought of playing every shot from 125 in with my 51° wedge. Ever since the 5 wedge guy conversation happened, I’ve just not been 100% sure that I needed 4 wedges (including my FG 100 Pitching Wedge) in my bag. Still, with my bag set the way it is, I feel that I have the perfect gapping with my wedges to get things just right, so the three options will stay in my bag unless I need to make room for another club in the bag.

Putter: 34” Wilson Staff Infinite Grant Park with stock Wilson branded large grip.

Is there anything better than a putter that rolls the ball well and gives you a huge amount of confidence? This is how I feel when I line up the Grant Park over a putt. I love the longer sight lines, the contrast between the whites and darks and the impact line at the top of the face. It’s a stellar looking head and for lack of a better term, makes my putting pretty darn good. Moving from my aged Tri-Hot, the Grant Park is just 100% better for my game. I honestly think I’d make another putt or two a around with the TaylorMade Spyder Tour gizmo that I checked out at the same time as the Grant Park, but considering I could purchase 5 GP’s for the price of 1 of the TM’s, I’ll keep that $400 in cash and save it for more rounds. Overall, until something floors me, the GP will be my putter of choice.

Shoes: Skechers Go Golf Elite V3 – Black on Black

After years of being an Adidas shoe guy, I tried on some Skecher shoes at the store recently. I purchased two pairs of street shoes and love them. When my wife mentioned getting me something golf-related for Christmas, it was an easy thought to go try on some new shoes. First off, the Elite V3’s are top notch in the comfort department for me. They push in just the right places, and feel like walking on a cloud. The next important part for me is the price. I paid under $100 for these and I should get a full 2 seasons out of them with ease. I think that’s a pretty good value. The Adidas shoes I looked at were closer the $200 than $100 and were just as comfortable, but just like the putter above, I couldn’t see spending the extra on a “golfing name” when these worked just as well. For the record, the waterproofing on these is fantastic. I wore them during the monsoon round I played last week and my feet were totally dry. Needless to say, I’m really stoked with the purchase and plan on staying a Skechers Go fan for a while.

As far as the rest of the gear goes, I will be playing a few different balls this year – depending on the weather conditions. First off, the Wilson Staff Zip ($19.97 at Wal-Mart for 24 balls) is my winter ball of choice. It has good performance and a fantastic $0.86 per ball price tag. As we get closer to Men’s Club starting, I’ll be switching up to either the Duo Soft Spin or to the Duo U for more playability in harder conditions. I’m really impressed with the new Duo Soft line for this year, but the Duo U was a very consistent ball for me in the past, so it will be a check them both out for a few rounds before making a decision. I’m keeping my Ionix Lite bag for another season as it it wearing extremely well and still looks brand new. I was lucky enough to land a beautiful new Columbia all weather rain coat that will be perfect for the next few seasons at a local department store on clearance for $30. I love finding deals that good!

That’s my what’s in my bag for the beginning of 2018. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below.