For those of us that follow golf

Post by **tnf** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 1:48 am

Let's begin our Master's thread here.

We have a draft lottery pool at work with about 15 guys in it. I drew 4th overall pick and took Singh, then with the late second round pick I took Montgomerie (sleeper, but he did well in the British last year) and with my 3rd round pick I took KJ Choi - who has done well in the past at Augusta.

The contest at work is pick 3, take your top 2 total places (i.e. 2nd and 8th gets you 10 points).

Put down your predicted order of finish and lets see how we do.

Post by **-Replicant-** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 2:08 am

ooo, tough one this year. phil looked really good in the last tournament, but I'm going to have to go with good old faithful and call tiger. goosen might have a good run at it as well

Post by **shadd_** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 2:20 am

Tiger Woods
Mike Weir
Phil Mickelson
Sergio Garcia
Vijay Singh
Goosen
Adam Scott

Woods of course. Wier seems to be playing well has the talent+smarts. Mickelson is always a good bet. Sergio seems to be growing up a bit and getting some needed smarts to go with his skill. VJ i give a chance if he can get his putting back on track. Scott seems to be due, solid player only a matter of time.

fuck yeah to mickelson last weekend. he's liking the new callaways it seems.

Post by **farad** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 2:21 am

...Mickelson...Toms...Donald...

...although Augusta won't give it out the understanding is that when the course is set up the way the super wants it the greens are running at 15 to 17 on the stimp...

...that's like putting on marble...

Post by **shadd_** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 2:25 am

i'd love to see daly on the leaderboard. has the skill but i always get my hopes dashed when rooting for him.

Post by **farad** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 2:31 am

...almost forgot...this is the official site...they're supposed to be live web casting from amen corner during the tournament beginning Thursday...
http://www.masters.org/en_US/index.html

Post by **Maiden** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:11 am

hard not to pick tiger.
I don't think lefty has it in him to pull of back to back moster weeks.
vj still has the yipps
jose maria could be a big factor
i like the choi pick tnf
been a long time since an old fart won this thing so I will go with.............................................
Fred Couples, yeah eat that
and how the hell did Villegas not get an invite?

Post by **tnf** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 12:49 am

Tiger's dad's condition will either be the distraction that keeps him from winning or the motivation that seals it for him IMHO.

My top 10 - not in finishing order yet.
Tiger
Jose maria
Choi
Dimarco
Lefty
VJ
Goosen
Donald
Toms
Appleby

Predicted top 5:
woods
lefty
Choi
Dimarco
Goosen

It's really a crapshoot though beyond picking the obvious top guys. I am really pulling for Choi this year...he's due and plays augusta well. I like his style of play.

Post by **StarShrieker** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:59 am

I'm not sure about a top-10 list yet, but I'm still rooting for Mickelson, or even more this year for DiMarco. Tiger, Goosen, Toms, and Love III will be up there as well.

Post by **busetibi** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:28 am

Woods.
Singh.
Mickelson.

Scott as an outside chance for top 3
He's due

Post by **tnf** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:20 pm

Well, right now I am looking pretty good having taken singh as the 4th pick. Monty isn't doing well, so I am pulling big time for Choi now. I need two. I won this pool at work 2 years ago picking mickelson, but that time you weren't counting your top 2, just your top individual performance. Now I need 2 of my 3 to do well...

Post by **busetibi** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 10:45 am

Vj= 3 double bogeys

he's history

damn that course looks hard

Post by **tnf** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 3:20 pm

he's not history, he's still in the hunt.

Post by **shadd_** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 3:26 pm

heh, a five shot spread means nothing in this tourney.

Post by **Maiden** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 3:32 pm

LETS GO COUPLES!!!!1

Post by **-Replicant-** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 3:33 pm

i think tiger can come back and have a strong round today. he was starting to show some good signs towards the end of his round yesterday, so I put him in my lineup today in the hope that he blows up (and that phil falls back a little bit). Its a risk, and it might come back to bite me in the ass, but its worth taking

Post by **tnf** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 3:52 pm

tiger is about right where he wants to be. I think he is usually happen as long as he hasn't shot himself out of contention after 2 rounds. If he's anywhere within 5 or 6 shots of the lead after 2 days, he could still be considered a heavy favorite if he plays well.

two of my 3 guys didn't make the cut, so I am out of my pool. So I am pulling for Freddy, then Phil, then Tiger.

If couples wins this it will be the greatest thing in a long time to happen to golf.

Post by **Chupacabra** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 3:59 pm

tnf wrote:Tiger's dad's condition will either be the distraction that keeps him from winning or the motivation that seals it for him IMHO.

if you are looking at it through the eyes of the media, could this type of thing be anything else?

Post by **shadd_** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 4:15 pm

what the fuck is up with duval? looks like he repacked the weight on and his game has gone to shit.

i think he had some depression problems along the way or what?

bleh rain delay, wanted to watch amen corner live on masters.org.

Post by **tnf** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:07 pm

Chupacabra wrote:
tnf wrote:Tiger's dad's condition will either be the distraction that keeps him from winning or the motivation that seals it for him IMHO.
if you are looking at it through the eyes of the media, could this type of thing be anything else?

Doesn't have to be through the eyes of the media. We've seen Tiger long enough to know what can motivate him - and there are externals that do motivate him strongly (take the comment Ames made before match play about how he was playing - before Tiger beat him 9 and 8.) So I see this as a factor that could go either way - he is so close to his dad that I think it will lead to 1 of 2 outcomes - he will channel that into his zen-like concentration and use play great, or he will simply be unable to shake the thoughts in the back of his mind about his dad's potential imminent death - so his game will suffer for it.

It's not just the media fed line of thinking.

Post by **-Replicant-** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:59 pm

speaking of golf-

i just bought myself a new driver, the 983E. $66 on ebay with a prolite stiff shaft

sadly, its a 8.5 degree driver, which could be a problem (i'd obviously prefer 10.5, but for $66 i won't complain)

slight upgrade from my TM Titanium Burner Bubble, haha

anyone have any opinions on it?

Post by **shadd_** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 6:06 pm

shaft flex, torque and kickpoint is everything. most pros use 9.5 and up but you see amateurs wanting 7-8. the right shaft with a 9.5 driver should be good for most people.

sidenote, i just bought my little girl a custom made 400cc, 15 loft driver. looks like some kind of weapon. :icon32:

Post by **tnf** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 6:57 pm

Some pros are up to 10.5 lofts. You will need to look at getting a shaft with the right torque and kickpoints for your swing speed as shadd_ mentioned. Otherwise you are going to have a hell of a time getting optimum launch angle. I'd tee the ball pretty high with that thing and really focus on sweeping it off the tee to try and get it high enough in the air.

The 983s are good clubs. I really like the 905s. I'm looking at getting a new driver this summer - can't decide which though.

So far I'm thinking of either a Callaway X460 Tour model
http://www.callawaygolf.com/en.CLUBS.Dr ... river.html
Probably go with a 9.5 (I've always used 9 or 9.5)
Or a Nike SQ Tour - the tour is a bit different than the regular SQ. I hate the color, but I hit the demo I tried a mile.

Or maybe the Cleveland HiBore
http://www.clevelandgolf.com/index.php? ... 2pk33hx58z

Interesting head shape, moves the sweet spot a bit lower on the clubface.

I don't know if I want to drop the money on the taylor made r7 series (they've got the r7 in a 460cc model now).

The Nike SQ tour is the most reasonbly priced, and the Callaway X 460 Tour isn't bad either.

Post by **-Replicant-** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:04 pm

i forgot to mention- i'm a 12 handicap with an average drive distance of 240-260 with my current (read: really really old) club.

i'm going to take it to the long range at my home course and spend a few bags of balls getting used to it. i may have it reshafted with something with a higher launch angle, since 8.5 is a bit too low for me. I play a 9.5 right now and am very happy with it, but I've heard the 983E has an even lower launch angle than the stamped degree number would lead you to believe, so i'm thinking i might need to move up to the adilia nv-65 high-launch shaft, or possibly the grafalloy blue. we'll see, i'm not a good enough golfer at this point where the launch angle will make or break my game- i have other issues to deal with, mainly my short game

Post by **tnf** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 8:44 pm

Sounds like a good plan with those shaft choices.

I've got some players who, if you just saw them at the range, you would guess are 4 or 5 handicaps. But they just choke around the greens. They've got really 'pretty' swings that were developed by private lessons at the cunt-ery club since they were wee ones, but in all of those lessons they never really learn how to score. I'm trying to do a lot of playing lessons this season, which probably annoys the kids because I zip around in my cart while they are walking and will constantly bug them about what the plan is for the next shot they are taking, why they are making that decision, etc.

There is one area I've yet to see a high school player really consider, the lay up shot on a par 5. My college coach called this the most important shot in golf. Most of the time they'll take as much club as they have to get the ball as close to the green as possible. It is tough to get them to hit, say, an 8 iron to lay up to 110 yards so they can hit a good full wedge. Its funny how they all think that they would naturally be better from 50 yards than from 100 yards simply because they are closer to the hole.