New Putter

I finally got off my ass and bought a new putter. I had been playing with a Ping putter that I had won in a sales contest about 7 years ago. Putter was crap and I putted like crap with it but could never muster up enough courage to put it down and get a new one, UNTIL.... I was at Golfsmith one evening and putting and I was just lights out inside Golfsmith with a Odyssey Tour putter. I decided to pick it up, paid $130 for it due to me having a 15% off coupon from the net with me. As I drove home, I called a buddy of mine and he told me that the Black series was a much better putter but they normally ran for about $250-299 and I told him that was out of my price range. He quickly interrupted me and stated that Golf Galaxy had them on clearance for $194 and that right now you can also take a additional 33% off all clearance products, so I turned around the vehicle and headed for the Galaxy. Sure enough, $133 dollars later after discounts I was the proud new owner of a Odyssey Black Series 1 putter. Back to Golfsmith I went to return my Odyssey Tour putter and after I was asked "Why I was returning it" and I told the guy the price I had just gotten the Black Series for, he pretty much told me I was lying to him. Too funny, I actually went out to my truck and brought it in with the receipt and showed him and he actually asked if they had any left cause he was going to run over there and get one as well!

The first time I used this putter was when I was up north in Brainerd and I love this thing! Sure I am still getting used to it, but my speeds are really getting dialed in and anyone who knows the golf, knows that speed is crucial in putting. Great putter and I really am glad I made this purchase.

Forgot about June

June has come and gone and not 1 post from myself... If I re-read one of my entries I would be sure to have noticed that I was going to blog as much as possible about as many rounds as possible. I have broken one of my own rules, is that possible?

Time for a quick monthly recap:
Played in 1 scramble so far, it was the Joe Sensor tournament held at Deer Run in Victoria, MN. I played with my buddy Chris and 2 of his buds. That tournament was a benefit to help bring awareness for adoption and assist parents in adopting kids or something... None the less, Golfing was good, won some prizes in the raffle and had a great time. I believe we ended up at -8 for the tournament and the winning team was -15. Highlight was I was about 3 yards short of long drive, I am not sure if that's a highlight or not, but none the less.

Weekly leagues are going good, I am still winning more than I am losing out there so I am happy with that. This past week we played a game were we took 2 of 3 scores per hole and added them together and played against the other teams, The team I was on shot a 75 on 9 or +3 and won of course.

The big news of the month however was the Brainerd Trip. This year I was invited by Todd and Meyer's (Golfing buddies and Todd Owns Corner Express gas station) to go up to Crosslake and hang out with about 1o other guys and golf the Brainerd courses. Now in the past I have done similar events to this but I don't roll as hard as Todd so this was a treat! To start things off, Todd rented a home right on CrossLake, about 3 doors down from *The Wharf* Now this home was a new construction home and the owners had just started to rent it out during the summer. This house was built in '08 and no lie, probably went for about $500,000. Needless to say, I would have been happy to just hang at the house and be in awe but we had to golf. It started off by my good buddy Tony getting me, Todd, Meyers, Walsh, and Stenny on the legacy with Tony for 25 bucks. We got all 36 holes in that afternoon/evening and had a great time. That night everybody else rolled into the home by midnight and several Sailor Jerry's were drank. The next morning we were up and at the Classic by 7am for our 7:30 tee times. Again, there were 12 of us playing and to be honest, I don't recall what game we even played. All I know is that the Classic is probably my 2nd favorite course to play. After we finished playing the Classic, we had to haul ass up to the Preserve to hit our 2nd tee time of the day. This time we played team best ball - 6 two man teams. I was teamed up with Troy A. We both were given a 10 Handicap so we both had bumps on the same holes, Kinda sucked but what really sucked was the fact that I played to a 103 and we didn't win Crap. That night, we had Sloppy Joe night at the cabin and then went back to the Sailor Jerry. For those who do not know Sailor Jerry, It's the bomb!!! Look for it at your local liquor store, it will be located right next to the Captain Morgan. That night we all went to the Wharf where I decided that it was time to break the Knob off and take it up past level 10. The highlight *I Guess, I don't remember* was me trying to get the bouncer (who claims to be training for MMA and has arms like tree trunks) to wrestle. I guess he was going to charge me 50 bucks to wrestle him because he was a professional or some shit! hehe. I also put Stenny in a choke hold and was about 1.5 seconds from having his light shut out but I would not let go until he tapped or so I was yelling! Anyways..... Was a lot of fun at the Wharf that night. Next Morning - We have 9:45 tee times back at the Preserve and I think I was still intoxicated as I stood on the first tee. However I play better that way and actually played a great game! This time the game was - Out of the 4 some, 2 people play best ball and the other 2 play scramble. The entire 4 some was 1 team but it was broken up after the tee ball to decide how the rest of the hole played out. A very fun game, hard to understand until you start playing it but it was great. Handicaps play a big part of this game as to see who gets a bump and who does not. Great game actually, however you need at least 3 groups to really get a good grasp on it. Of the 3 groups we had, the group I was in came in -10 under, Todd's group came in -14 and the 3rd group with Stenny came in +25. After the first round that day, I had to haul ass back to Crosslake and get both of my phones as I had left them at the cabin that morning, That was great... only like 25 missed calls and 36 emails and texts to respond too as I hauled ass back over to Deacon's to make the 3pm Tee Time. About 12 of the missed calls were from Tony as he was trying to get a hold of me as I talked him into playing with us at Deacons that day and he was trying to get a hold of me to confirm me being there!
So- Get to Deacon's *My fav. Course of all time* just in time to get into the cart and head to Hole 1. Tony was there so it was all good, we had 13 people in our 3 tee times this time. The game this round was Man in the box, 2 people per hole were in the box or their scores counted, the 2 that were not in the box that hole played each other for best ball. Basically it was 3 of the 4 scores counted with mandatory box players having their score count. I played pretty decent at Deacon's shooting a 93 with 3 holes where I scored 8 and a par 3 with a score of 6 for me. My highlight was hitting the green on the Par 4, 14th hole a 297 yard dog leg left that is reachable by few but you must clear about 27o yards of shit. I cleared it on accident as I pushed my drive way left but none the less drove the green. Tony laughed his ass off at me stating really loudly that any other hole anywhere else in the world, that ball would have been O.B. that's how much I blocked it left! But it was a straight bomb in my book. I also came in on the 18th and birdied out after reaching the par 5, 556 yard hole in 2.

After playing Deacon's I got into the ride and drove home. I figured that 108 holes in 2.5 days was enough for me :) Great trip and I am excited to get my butt back up north and do that again. Even after almost choking out one of our group members, I was invited back up next year. I think it's cause I make them feel young again. BTW I was the youngest guy there, they are all in their upper 30's to mid 40's.


I am back to posting and will continue to post now that I am back in the saddle

My next post soon to follow... like 5 minutes from now!