weier.net - golf

Indoor Golf, 5.0

nospam@example.com (he) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:47:20 -0600

Bro#3 and I went out for some mid-winter golf refresher, indoors at Bunkers.

I shot an 82 at Troon...got my first ever eagle. Again, just like every time I golf a PGA level course.

Public Service Announcement

nospam@example.com (he) — Sat, 23 May 2009 12:14:17 -0500

Remember; stretching before golf is very important to both your game and your health. Don't forget.

Correct Pre-game Stretching Form. Study Carefully.

Indoor Golf

nospam@example.com (he) — Wed, 4 Mar 2009 21:11:00 -0600

This is the fourth time I have been indoor/virtual golfing over the course of 10 years...so I guess it is time I finally post something about it, eh?

A kindly vendor took us "golfing" at Bunker Indoor Golf in Minnetonka. You start off by agreeing to a time slice that is supposed to allow you to complete 18 holes (3 hours I think - since the game cuts out all the walking/carting/lost balls/ball marking) then you pay for whatever overage in time you ring up over the base rate. Whilst golfing you sit around a patio table with spinning cushy chairs and drink beers and eat pizza, hot dogs and chicken wings. Just like god intended manly sports to be.

Virtual golf is a simulator built out of projector, a screen, a couple of IR sensor strips and some crazy-expensive video game software - all contained in a 15' x 15' x 20' alcove. As you, with your own clubs, hit your real ball towards the screen (which is displaying your selected professional course from a list of dozens) the IR sensors pick up the trajectory and spin of the ball and then extrapolate it through the screen as your real ball falls to the floor. Visually this is pretty convincing, you don't even really notice the transition from physical to virtual. It shows you where you landed - you place you ball on the type of carpet (fairway/green, rough, sand, deep grass) that matches the lie and then you hit again...and again...and again.

There are complications as well, of course. It takes a while to figure out where you are supposed to be aiming at as you hit...and, no, the answer is not just as simple as "aim at the stick on the screen". Even afterwards I still could not explain to you what the answer is...but eventually your mind figures it out for you. Also I was unable to use any of my wedges because the path of the ball is so steeply upwards that the second sensor strip doesn't see the ball come through and nothing registers. This forced me to instead try to use partial swings on bigger clubs as I approached the greens...not optimal to my game. But these are small complaints when getting the opportunity to swing a club when it is 0° outside.
Continue reading "Indoor Golf"

Use The Force, Lu....uh.....Davis Love III

nospam@example.com (he) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:47:00 -0500

Darth Vader Plays Golf [via Kevin]

Not. Gonna. Happen.

nospam@example.com (he) — Fri, 6 Jun 2008 16:09:19 -0500

Ignoring the fact I have never been on a golf course where there wasn't plenty of hiding places...this would still never be used.

UroClub

2008 Golf #3 -- First Free Golf of the Year

nospam@example.com (he) — Tue, 27 May 2008 05:42:00 -0500

A vendor was so nice as to try to buy our love on Friday...so he took Mottaz and I out to my original Minnesota golf course (from 1996 until 2000) Braemar in Edina. At work used to play their 9-hole course weekly in the mornings. This time was going to get to play on the 'big people' course. Actually, this course has three 9-hole legs in their course; Castle, Hays and Clunie....you can roll any combination of these 9-holes into your 18-hole round. We went the simple route and just chose holes 1 through 18 (Castle + Hays).

I continued to use the "quiet eyes"...but that Alan Alda is full of shit. Well, maybe not - maybe I just am no good. I was totally hot and cold...sometimes the putting seemed zen-like...other times it was even more craptastic than usual. Still got work to do....

Perhaps the most notable part of this round was that our foursome was filled by a solo golfer...and not an ordinary one. Kelli Berns, Senior Team Captain of the University of Minnesota women's golf squad, who was doing a little practice for an upcoming LPGA qualifier went around with us. If I ever need a wake-up call about how bad I am this was it...she didn't score on the card with us, keeping her own....but it is not an exaggeration to say that she probably beat me by 30 strokes. Watching her swing is like seeing a golf machine - same perfect swing every time, it barely looks like she is putting any muscle into it...and then the ball goes 200 yards. I should have gotten an autograph for when she takes over the Tour.

(scorecard to come)

2008 Golf #2

nospam@example.com (he) — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:37:35 -0500

Had such a good time on Friday I went out this morning by myself to the same course.

After watching L's suggested Alan Alda's Scientific American Frontiers...I decided to use "the quiet eyes" for this round...I wasn't very good at keeping my eyes on the original ball position after I struck it....but it did feel like my consistency was improved...let's see what the stats say.

Highland Park 9 Hole									32.3/104
Nice morning - started 50° and finished 60°
Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Handicap	3	4	9	2	7	1	5	6	8
Yardage	444	120	301	365	301	349	152	312	311	2655
Par	5	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	35
he	5	5	6	6	6	4	4	5	5	46
GIR?	Y									11%
Fairway?	Y	LLL	R	LL	RR	Y	LLL	Y	RR	33%
Sand
Trees Hit*	1	1		1
Obstacle*				2	1
OB			1
Water
Chips	0	1 +1(P)	1	0	1(P)	1	1(P)	1	1	17%
Putts	2	2	1	2	3	1	1	2	2	35% (1.8 pph)
Notes	\|.!v.	\Tv..	/\v!	)FT-L!	R\LvR.	!L.!	?^..	!+.R.	/^^..	39%
No excuse for not getting a										43

* Number does not indicate a stroke taken...just that an event happened in a stroke possibly listed in another category.

"(P)" = Chip was actually putted off short fringe.

) = slice, ( = hook, \ = push, / = pull, | = straight, L = left, R = right, A = above the hole putting on a break/"on the high side", B = below the hole putting on a break/"on the amateur side", v = short, ^ = long, T = thin, F = fat, ? = mishit, + = too long of club selected, - = too short of club selected, . = perfect (for my skill), ! = spectacular (for my skill), Y = yips, D=drop for a stroke

2008 Golf #1

nospam@example.com (he) — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:43:00 -0500

Bah. Don't take pictures into the sun, idiot.

I was mostly trying to capture the crazy cloud pattern...which you can see...but...this picture is poorly composed for what it could have been this perfect morning.

First 2008 round of morning golf before work...4 other coworkers came out for the pre-office too.

OMG...I have never, ever, ever had this nice of weather for morning golf. It was 60° at 6AM...a perfect 2mph Floridian breeze and a speckling of clouds...by the end of the round it was up to 65°. Wow!

I think this round was all I could hope for, this being the first time I have swung a club in 2008.

PS: I didn't keep any of my nerd stats this time...maybe that is why I did so well - not analyzing so much.

Highland Park 9 Hole									32.3/104
ABSOLUTELY perfect morning - 60°ish
Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Handicap	3	4	9	2	7	1	5	6	8
Yardage	444	120	301	365	301	349	152	312	311	2655
Par	5	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	35
he	7	5	5	5	5	7	3	4	4	45
GIR?
Fairway?
Sand
Trees Hit*
Obstacle*
OB
Water
Chips
Putts
Notes
No excuse for not getting a										43

First Free Golf of the Year

nospam@example.com (he) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:45:53 -0500

As I was saying in my last golf post - the golf opportunities have been scarce this summer. Worse yet, I hadn't been invited to a single vendor sponsored scramble event yet. Finally the invite arrived on Friday from a vendor we bought our KVM/console server from for all the servers we moved this summer.

The event was at Keller Golf Course in Maplewood. A simply-laid-out, old, public course - but still well maintained and enjoyable. The best part about the invite was that we got to bring our entire own foursome - so we rounded up 3 of our best golfers...and me ...and headed out. It had poured 2" of rain in an hour the night before...but the morning was absolutely perfect - with a threat of showers far off in the distance that never came close.

We started the shotgun-start event on hole 17 - the beginning was pretty rough...only two of us starting out well, JP and me. Our tee box and fairway shot were good...but we weren't coming up close to the pin in regulation - and with the greens having been recently aerated we weren't sinking the birdies we needed. After a little bit the other 2 guys started to pick it up and we rolled off 3 birds in a row.

I have never golfed this well in my life...if it weren't a scramble event I think I might have shot somewhere in the high 80s. Smooth & consistent off the tee box. Amazing with my irons off the deck - I have never hit my 4 iron like this in my life. Out of all the shots I took - probably 55 or so...I only muffed 1 shot, hit it fat and went totally under the ball, usually I do that (or hit it thin) about 10 times per 18 holes. (It is hard to review the putting because when you scramble you have other people helping you aim - and reading the greens is one of my biggest problems....but it felt like I was hitting it solid and with consistent speed after the aiming was done.) Wow...what a round.

Continue reading "First Free Golf of the Year"

Some Golf

nospam@example.com (he) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 23:21:17 -0500

I smell something.

Well, it has been a rough summer for golf this year. We had a huge project at work that sapped all my energy to wake up early and get in rounds before work like I usually would all summer. So I only made it to two rounds before work - and one on the weekend with bro#3 -- and as you noticed I was too lazy to post anything about any of them.

Last weekend my ex-coworker, Charlie, was having his bachelor party and we went out and played 18 at Dahlgreen Golf Course in Chaska. It had the distinct smell of Nebraska all over in the air out there -- ripe. It was a windy day...temps started out in the 60s and started to head south after the front 9. By the last 3 holes it was downright cold.

Look familiar bro#4?

My tee box and fairway work was pretty good...but my putting was absolutely horrible. The greens were like linoleum and I just couldn't stop either rolling 20 feet past the cup or sallying it altogether thinking about how far I went past the cup last time.

I was in the cart with another coworker, Bob...a much better golfer than I am. ...and a good guy to bullshit with.

I got 3 pars and a birdie - the rest being of a pretty non-memorable skill-level. I finished with a 101. Damn putting.

I Still Have Time...

nospam@example.com (he) — Mon, 9 Apr 2007 10:54:35 -0500

I keep thinking to myself how I have never gotten a hole in one...not that I play much golf compared to many...but at a certain point you just think statistically it would happen by accident.

In high school I got within 6". Then just last year I seemed to have rolled right over (to me, standing back at the tee box) the right lip of the cup as the ball slowed to come to rest about 3' past the stick. Oh - I don't know if I should count them or not...but, at least 2 times where I have come in real hot and one-bounced hard about 2' up on the stick - only to come to rest about 20' away. So that makes about 2 real close calls in (as close as I can figure) approximately 250 games and thus around 2500 holes I have played - not very good percentage so far. Hmmmm...I wonder if I will ever get one?

Well, anyhow...if I can make it to 102 I still have a time to do it...

New World's Oldest "Hole-in-One"

2006 Golf #23

nospam@example.com (he) — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 22:01:00 -0500

When we got done with the first round we decided to burn up 3 more of those passes - but the person behind the counter wouldn't take our passes telling to come back and use 'em next time. So now instead of only 4 passes to burn we still have 7!! DAMN THE PLEASANTRIES!!!!

Still working on the new grip...a little better this time...but it seems to work better on long clubs than short...hmmm...

The best news about the second time around was that the groundkeepers had made it around to all the greens and blown the crap off them once - not that that meant there wasn't (fresh) crap on them...but at least there was only 1 hour's worth instead of an entire day's.

New Hope Village Golf
Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Handicap	9	3	7	4	5	6	2	8	1
Yardage	124	169	130	171	159	128	169	108	191	1353
Par	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	27
bro #3	5	7	7	6	3	5	6	4	7	50
he	4	6	4	3	4	4	5	5	4	39
father-in-law	5	5	7	5	4	5	4	7	4	46

New Hope Village Golf									rating: 26.7
58°ish - really getting into fall now...moving fast...good fall golf.
Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Handicap	9	3	7	4	5	6	2	8	1
Yardage	124	169	130	171	159	128	169	108	191	1353
Par	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	27
he	4	6	4	3	4	4	5	5	4	39
GIR?			Y	Y						22%
Fairway?	L	LLLL	Y	Y	L	Y	Y	LLLL	LLLL	44%
Sand
Trees Hit*		1
Obstacle*
OB
Water								1
Chips	1 (P)	3	0	0	1	1(P)	1	1(P)	1	23%
Putts	2	3	2	2	2	2	3	1	2	49% (2.1pph)
Notes	^^L.	)vT^vL.	.v^.	.v.	FT..	^v.	vv^R.	)vL.	)R..	33%
No excuse for not getting a										35

2006 Golf #22

nospam@example.com (he) — Sun, 8 Oct 2006 12:25:00 -0500

At the beginning of summer, we bought discount passes to play our old stomping grounds golf course...for $8 a round. Unfortunately, buying things and finding time to use them are 2 different things. So here we are at the very end of summer and we are still trying to burn these 2006 passes up.

It is definitely Fall now...we had to hunt for multiple balls in the rough buried in 1" deep piles of fallen leaves. The greens were all densely sprinkled with helicopter maple seeds, leaf stems and - to a lesser extent - full leaves as well. I am not saying that is an excuse for how poorly we shot...but it sure didn't help.

Just to throw in some more excuses: I was both trying out a new golf grip from bro #3's golf magazine and trying to switch to using chipping more than the almost 100% pitching I did all season...so lack of real world experience with those 2 really hurt the score today.

New Hope Village Golf
Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Handicap	9	3	7	4	5	6	2	8	1
Yardage	124	169	130	171	159	128	169	108	191	1353
Par	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	27
bro #3	7	5	6	6	4	4	8	5	6	51
he	4	6	4	4	5	5	5	7	4	44
father-in-law	5	5	8	4	5	4	6	5	8	50

New Hope Village Golf									rating: 26.7
55°ish - really getting into fall now; in fact there was so many leaves on the ground it impeded play
Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Handicap	9	3	7	4	5	6	2	8	1
Yardage	124	169	130	171	159	128	169	108	191	1353
Par	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	27
he	4	6	4	4	5	5	5	7	4	44
GIR?										0%
Fairway?	Y	LL	LLL	LLL	LLLL	Y	LLLL	Y	LLLL	33%
Sand
Trees Hit*
Obstacle*		1	1		1		1
OB
Water								1
Chips	2	3	1	1	2+1(P)	2	2	2	0	36%
Putts	1	2	2	1	1	2	1	2	2	32% (1.6pph)
Notes	vvv.	)^^^L.	)vL.	\vL.	)v?v.	^?^..	)v..	?^^^^.	)!R.	27%
No excuse for not getting a										43

2006 Golf #21

nospam@example.com (he) — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 23:25:46 -0500

Another round of golf that I really can't report my own game on...my company had its 9-hole golf scramble at what used to be my "home course", the Lost Spur...this We had a pretty good team...2 pretty regular golfers, 1 infrequent hitter, and an aspiring golfer-to-be. But after the shotgun start on Hole #7 the wheels immediately came off the cart. Our first hole was the only par 5 on the course...and we weren't ready for that challenge right off. ...or maybe this is just excuses... and then we crapped another one. After a while we fought back to 0 only to give it all away again...

Hole	7	8	9	1	2	3	4	5	6	Out
Score	+1	+1	0	0	-1	0	-1	+1	+1	+2

Blah....this is the first time I have ever scored in positive numbers in a scramble. The winning score was -5.

I hold myself personally responsible...I wasn't doing anything very well. We only used 2 of my drives and 8 of the 29 shots I took. And sans what other people did I was only happy with 16 of the 29 shots I made in the first place. I bet I will be picked last next year when the teams are divided up.

Oh well, the group was still fun...and that is what the day was supposed to be about.

2006 Golf #20

nospam@example.com (he) — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 15:41:00 -0500

Our firewall vendor was having an event at a fantastic Wisconsin course I played a scramble on last year - Troy Burne. We were allowed to bring 4 coworkers to the event so the scramble team was all us; Bob - who is probably the best golfer at work, Taz and I who are relatively consistent bogey golfers, and Dennis who doesn't mind golfing in scrambles but doesn't enjoy golfing on his own that much. With fun teammates like this we already knew it was going to be a good day not to mention the 81° and just a dabbling of clouds. Little did we know how good...
Continue reading "2006 Golf #20"