SB Nation User Blog: turnover

Breaking: Tiger Taking "Indefinite Break" from Professional Golf

turnover — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:03:09 -0000

After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person.

I can't really add much to this, but I thought it appropriate to post it here. Major media on it as well.

One would expect him to be back in time for the Masters, but there's no way of knowing.

Scandal-free open thread.

turnover — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:01:22 -0000

With so much of the discussion here (and in the golf world in general) currently dominated (and somewhat understandably so) by issues having little to do with the game itself, I thought it might be nice to have a thread free of such distractions. There are other things going on, both in the wider golf world and my personal golf world (a world characterized by excruciating mediocrity).

I'll kick this thread off with a tale from each.

Never lacking for drama is the final stage of Q-school, currently taking place at Bear Lakes in West Palm Beach. The drama is heightened this year by the presence of several well established names, foremost among them, of course, David Duval. Two rounds into the six-round ordeal, Duval is in 39th place at even par, seven strokes off the pace being set by Troy Merritt. Merritt, it should be noted, had a fine year on the Nationwide tour, winning once, pocketing just over $150k, and finishing 39th on the money list. 2004 Open Champion Todd Hamilton is having a rough go of it at eight-over.
Several weeks ago I asked folks here for a little equipment advice as I was looking to purchase a a new (well, new to me) set of irons. After a significant amount of research and gnashing of teeth, I settled on a very nice second-hand set of Mizuno MX-23s. The new sticks and I have played a couple of rounds together and we seem to be getting along just fine. This purchase has also inspired me to try my hand at do-it-yourself regripping. I have large hands, and require (at minimum) midsized grips. I have historically had the shop regrip my clubs, but after some research I've decided there's no reason I can't do this myself, thereby saving a little coin and, more importantly, developing a closer relationship between myself and my clubs. The materials should arrive from Golfsmith tomorrow, and I'll be tackling this task Saturday morning. A great day for it: the weather is supposed to be lousy, and hanging out in the basement regripping the clubs will keep my mind (and nerves) occupied prior to the SEC Championship Game. (Roll Tide.)

So, there are my scandal-free contributions to the conversation. Anyone else have any non-salacious golf thoughts?

Mr. Tastee, Tiger Woods, and A Culture of Voyeurs.

turnover — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:33:17 -0000

In the last decade, there was a brilliant (and all too short-lived) television show that aired on Nickelodeon called The Adventures of Pete & Pete. It was a live-action show, and concerned the lives of two brothers named Pete, their friends, their own personal superhero, and a rotating cast of bizarre characters that moved through their neighborhood.

The second-to-last episode of the first season of Pete & Pete was titled "What We Did on Our Summer Vacation." Central to this episode was the ice cream truck man, Mr. Tastee, who appeared every year at the beginning of summer, and of course disappeared as summer ended. Mr. Tastee wore a giant plastic ice cream cone head, so no one knew what he looked like. Indeed, no one knew who he was, where he came from, or where he went when the summer was over.

But children are children, and perpetually curious. They began asking questions, in an effort to get closer - to know Mr. Tastee. To their credit, they did so out of concern - they were worried that Mr. Tastee was lonely. Mr. Tastee evaded their questioning as best he could, but it ultimately became too much, and he did the only thing he could: he hit the road.

Later in the episode, it was left to another ice cream man, the decidedly lower-budget Captain Scrummy (fittingly if somewhat ineptly portrayed by R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe, a celebrity known to carefully preserve his privacy) to explain to the elder Pete that Mr. Tastee was just a private person. Captain Scrummy said, essentially, that Mr. Tastee just sold the ice cream - the kids don't need to know him.

It was a great episode. Seems that maybe there's a lesson there somewhere.

But it was just a television show, and real-life is something wholly different. Just as the kids wanted to know more about their resident celebrity, we demand to know as much as possible about our celebrities. And the higher the profile of the celebrity in question, the more we want to know. This is nothing new - we Americans seem always to have been this way. It may be a trait we inherited from our British forbears, whose tabloids and gossip rags make ours seem staid and tame by comparison.

No one is more aware of this than Tiger Woods. And for virtually his entire public life - which began, for all intents and purposes, when he was a toddler - he has masterfully controlled what is known about his life when he's not on a golf course.

And this, perhaps, is why the events of this past weekend are inspiring as much interest as they are. Weird things just don't happen in Tiger Woods' world, or, if weird things do happen, no one outside of Tiger's world hears about them. And why should we? It's really none of our business.

But now Tiger sits, with his wife and children (and, perhaps, lawyers and publicists), in his multimillion dollar home in a gated community, under something of a media siege. And it'd be easy to blame the media for all of this. There's something obviously askew when the self-proclaimed "worldwide leader in sports" seems to be relying on a gossip website for a significant amount of their reportage. But the fact of the matter is that the media wouldn't report it if folks didn't want to see it.

And thus we have the rampant speculation. Sex! Another woman! Violence! Hell - this story has it all! Or, even if it doesn't have it all, there's nothing in the world to stop us from believing it has it all. To our insatiable voyeuristic eyes, this beats a baby down a well or a boy in a balloon by a country mile! There's no stopping it now!

Unfortunate, to be sure. But as Tiger might say, it is what it is.

I have no more idea than anyone else as to what happened at Isleworth Friday morning. I'd love to be able to say that I don't care, because I realize it's none of my business. But clearly, something bad has happened in Tiger Woods' world, even if that bad something was nothing more than a minor car accident. And while I'd never go so far as to say that Tiger owes me an explanation, I will admit, however hesitatingly, that I'm curious.

It's not something of which I'm proud. But it is what it is.

Equipment advice please.

turnover — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:42:30 -0000

Hola, Wagglers.

As I believe I've mentioned in the pages before, I am a rank novice where this game is concerned. But I've recently begun to take things a little more seriously. As such, I've started mildly upgrading my clubs from the super-econo sticks the have occupied my bag for the past several seasons. (Picked up an old demo 975J that looked to have been hit maybe 20 times off eBay for $40 including shipping - Score!)

As part of this process, I've learned a few things that are critical when seeking out equipment that I had somehow never learned before - like the difference between forged and cast irons. And thus my dilemma.

I am not in a position to spend much. And I still need cavity-backed irons. But I would very much like the softness of a forged iron.

I've been scouting around for a second-hand set (I've nothing against used clubs) and I've hit a few I liked - Adams, older Mizuno, etc.

But today I stumbled across this listing on overstock.com. Now, I know Maxfli clubs have long been considered second-class at best. But then I found these reviews and began to consider them. I can tell that they are not an identical set of sticks, but still-and-all - they're forged and hyper-econo. The thing is that I have no idea as to the date of manufacture, and with Maxfli having gone through several ownership changes over the past several years, it's hard to know what I'm getting.

So, my question for y'all is as follows: anyone here no anything about the above clubs? And if they are unsatisfactory, anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

Nothing in the Universe Makes Sense Anymore.

turnover — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:52:03 -0000

Some things in this world seem certain. Death. Taxes. The sun rising in the east, and later setting in the west.

But now?

It's entirely possible that the world is coming to an end. Indeed, the end-timers may be correct. As I sit and gaze out my kitchen window, I half expect gravity to suddenly cease operations. Conversely, were gravity to intensify and cause the moon to fall from the sky, I would not be shocked. Nothing makes sense anymore.

I'm trying to decide how to spend my week. Right around the time Tiger and Yang were walking up the 16th fairway, I told my dad I might start robbing banks. Perhaps I'll start drinking a lot and sleeping around even more. Drugs? Not really before, but hell - why not, now?

Friends, the apocalypse may indeed be nigh.

So, anyway...do what you gotta do. Repent. Pray. Hug your kids.

Hell...smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Where the hell is my 9-iron?

turnover — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:19:35 -0000

Quite some time ago - maybe a year or more - i managed somehow to lose my 9-iron. After searching through the lost club bins at the courses i had recently played, I gave up and set about to find a replacement.

I've tried finding it via a couple of online "club-finding" sites, to no avail.

Has anyone here had any luck with any of these sites? Is there a site anyone can recommend?

Thanks in advance.

Help. (Grip change headaches.)

turnover — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:37:59 -0000

Alright, Wagglers: Here's your chance to help a brother out in his time of need.

I am in the middle of altering my grip. When I began playing several years ago, I was first taught an interlocking grip. Please bear in mind that it was no professional who taught me this - it was my dad, who (bless his heart) is not the most technically skilled golfer around.

Anyway, the grip worked alright for awhile, and I attibuted my all-to-frequent shanks to the fact that I'd just not very good. Recently, though, I've had a little more time to think about my swing, and I realized that my grip on the club was very loose at the top of my backswing. This was of course requiring me to essentially re-grip the club as I began my downswing. Timing, I figured out, was everything.

That will not do.

So I picked up Hogan's book and discovered that I had the club improperly positioned in my left hand, with the shaft running pretty much straight across my palm as opposed to diagonally. I'm working on making this correction, and it has indeed provided for a more secure union of hands and club on the backswing.[I haven't gone full-Vardon; I've kept the interlock (it just feels better), but I'm not altogether opposed to going to a full overlap.]

However.

Since making these changes, I've developed a slice of epic proportions. Seriously - this ball is so far out to the right that it would require a meeting of the John Birch Society to locate it.

Any idea as to what might be causing this new-found slice? I assume it has to be grip related, as that's the only change I've instituted.

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Sergio Montgomerie

turnover — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:54:56 -0000

By now, I'm sure everyone is aware of Sergio Garcia's comments regarding Augusta National yesterday on the Golf Channel, uttered after having limped to a T-38 finish in the Masters:

“I don’t like it to tell you the truth,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fair. It’s too tricky. Even when it’s dry you still get mud balls in the middle of the fairway. It’s too much of a guessing game.

“They can do whatever they want. It’s not my problem. I just come here and play and then go home. That’s about it.”

According to TGC's Shag Bag, Garcia has since issued an apology via his management company. (Read: damage control.) But let's face it: Serg will undoubtedly get two ears' full at Bethpage in June.

Garcia's bellyaching is becoming tiresome, to say the least. And it's beginning to remind me of Colin Montgomerie's legendary grousing that led to his frosty relationship with American fans. Montgomerie and the public managed to get over it and nowadays he seems to be generally respected by folks on this side of the pond, and perhaps even liked.

I suppose it remains to be seen whether the same will happen with Sergio. Surely his relationship with American fans has yet to sink to Montomgerie-like levels, but it's quickly headed in that direction. One wonders what happened to the imminently likable El Nino of a decade ago. I don't know - what's the Spanish phrase for "overgrown brat"?

It also remains to be seen whether Garcia will follow Montgomerie's path to golf's most unfortunate distinction, that of an incredibly talented player who fails to bring home one of his sport's most cherished prizes.

Happy Birthday Robert Tyre Jones - March 17, 1902.

turnover — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:40:26 -0000

Happy Birthday Robert Tyre Jones - March 17, 1902.

Seeking ball recommendations.

turnover — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:30:01 -0000

Good morning, y'all.

I am a weekend duffer. I've never seen fit to actually compute my handicap, but I generally shoot in the mid-90s. Because of my generally lousy play, I've spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time searching for errant tee shots in the woods and weeds; as such, I've had an opportunity to try out quite a few "found' balls over the years.

Anyway, I'm looking for a new ball. I was a fan of Maxfli's original Noodle, but the new Noodle is somewhat displeasing to me.

I tend to dislike so-called "distance" balls - feels like hitting a rock.

Costco (of all places) currently has a two-dozen pack of the Titleist Tour Prestige on sale for about $30. Has anyone had any experience with this ball? I was under the impression (from having read some old product reviews) that this ball had been discontinued. Anyone know if it's the same Prestige hey were making a few years ago?

Anyway, my ball criteria is generally determined by a) affordability; b) durability; and c) feel.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.