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While I was running this morning I was thinking: what do you all think will happen if/when elite athletes start specializing in golf earlier? I think as the research around CTE continues to build, and as D1 college scholarship arbitrage continues to point towards golf as a 'smart' option — to say nothing of the explosion of interest during the pandemic — I can see a world where at least some kids who might have ended up in the NFL or the NBA or MLB, and who have elite hand-eye and lots of power, decide to start playing golf instead. See e.g. https://www.golfdigest.com/story/wilco-nienaber-pga-tour-palmetto-championship-long-hitter-driver-tall-golfers for some speculation. Petey fucked around with this message at 14:56 on Aug 17, 2021 |
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Aug 17, 2021 14:54
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torgeaux posted:I just ordered a PXG third gen 3i. I will hit it well for one round, ok for three rounds, badly thereafter and then it will go into the bag for odd/not part of a set clubs. That is all. I picked up a cheap honma tw-x forged 3 iron for like $60 on eBay and it’s been absolutely amazing. 235 down the middle of the fairway, super useful on days when my driver swing abandons me.
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Aug 17, 2021 14:58
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Kirios posted:Look what came in the mail today! Less posting pics, more posting of a goon review. 
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Aug 17, 2021 15:00
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Petey posted:While I was running this morning I was thinking: what do you all think will happen if/when elite athletes start specializing in golf earlier? I think as the research around CTE continues to build, and as D1 college scholarship arbitrage continues to point towards golf as a 'smart' option — to say nothing of the explosion of interest during the pandemic — I can see a world where at least some kids who might have ended up in the NFL or the NBA or MLB, and who have elite hand-eye and lots of power, decide to start playing golf instead. This is a crazy stat to me Golf statiscian Lou Stagner posted a fascinating graph to Twitter recently that showed the percentage of starts on the PGA Tour by players 6-foot-2 or taller. Back in the early 2000s, the number hovered just under 20 percent; there’s been a huge uptick over the last two years, and 29.1 percent of starts on tour this season have come from players Nienaber’s height or taller. Every time I got watch a PGA tourney in person it amazes me how short a lot of the players are. TV doesn't really show that, well especially since I'm 6'2", but, man, most of these are on the shorter side. The first dude who is like 6'5/6'6 and realizes he's not gonna make it in the NBA and dedicates himself to golf, we're gonna see some really big distance.
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Aug 17, 2021 15:35
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Right, exactly. Just googling and looking at some lists — Ray Allen is a scratch golfer and 6'5". Best round ever was a 63, according to Golf Digest. Obviously he was a great NBA player, but if he'd just focused on golf, what could he have been?
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Aug 17, 2021 16:39
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A brooks koepka type player? The guy doesn’t sweat putting in a ton of practice and sometimes seems ambivalent about the game - didn’t he want to play baseball? His athleticism and good mental game allow him to be a top player on tour.
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Aug 17, 2021 17:04
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dangling pointer posted:A brooks koepka type player? The guy doesn’t sweat putting in a ton of practice and sometimes seems ambivalent about the game - didn’t he want to play baseball? His athleticism and good mental game allow him to be a top player on tour. Yeah but Koepka is only 6'0" so he can't take advantage of what mattfl is talking about. I'm more speculating about is what happens when you get someone like, I don't know, Lebron James or recent convert Jayson Tatum— 6'8" with incredible hand-eye and physical gifts complemented by hard work — who has the opportunity to pick up clubs rather than a basketball as his first sport, rather than — as it is for most NBA/NFL/MLB/etc players — a side hobby. Like Bryson says in that article up top, once you reach the ceiling imposed by technology standards and training, the marginal advantage will come from immutable physical characteristics, like height/length and hand-eye.
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Aug 17, 2021 17:46
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you want water polo lookin' dudes like Dustin Johnson, those types will also have way easier access to ranges, golf courses, instructors.
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Aug 17, 2021 18:04
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I’ve always wondered if there’s like an optimal height or body characteristics for golf. Like, a really tall and lanky guy may be able to generate 20% more swing speed, but at the same time that extra length makes it 15% harder to make good clean contact. Is it harder to be a great ball striker or putter or anything else if you’re tall vs short? Maybe there’s like some diminishing returns or something and they’ll find that 6’3” is the optimal size that can generate distance without sacrificing ball striking or short game or something. I’m talking in general though, and maybe it’s just as likely that the next dominant tour player is some 6’8” freak athlete, because that’s who we see on tour. Like, there’s a lot of 6’9” dudes, but there’s only one Lebron.
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Aug 17, 2021 18:16
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Keyser_Soze posted:you want water polo lookin' dudes like Dustin Johnson, those types will also have way easier access to ranges, golf courses, instructors. Totally. The shift towards better athletes being pro golfers has been happening for a while, but the limiting factor is still going to be access to golf as a kid. Golf has been making attempts to become less exclusive and easier to access for non-white, non-rich kids for years now, with programs like The First Tee and lay it Forward. But it's still infinitely easier for a kid to take a basketball or a soccer ball to a local park or their back yard and practice/play those sports than to get to a golf course or a driving range. Parents in the US keeping their kids away from football because of increased awareness of CTEs and other injuries is definitely going to help push more people towards sports like golf and soccer though. The other thing professional golf has going for it is the ever increasing earning potential (thanks Tiger!) for pro golfers. It's still nowhere near what the average NBA/NFL/MLB player will earn, and there are far fewer spots available to be an "average" level PGA tour player vs the major sports, but the money the top players are earning is definitely making "pro golfer" a more desirable thing to be.
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Aug 17, 2021 18:22
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You can be an absolute dogshit pro coming in 97th each week and clear like $200k per year still, right? :keanuwhoa: https://thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnetteam/2021/01/12/2019-2020-pga-tour-money-list-see-who-earned-the-most-total-money-121658/ 122. Scott Stallings: $664,849 + $101,000 = $765,849 his expenses are probably $200k? My local big giant mega range that serves beers until Midnight on weekends (Haggin Oaks, Sacramento CA) definitely has some spicy non-WASPS hitting balls and stuff, but most are already in their 20's and older. Keyser_Soze fucked around with this message at 18:53 on Aug 17, 2021 |
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Aug 17, 2021 18:49
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There will always be outliers, but I think there has to be an upper limit on usable height with a fine twitch sport like golf. Yes they may be able to hit 400 yard drives and 180 yard wedges, but what happens when they inevitably miss the green? Also I think the leverage question is less important than rotational speed when it comes to distance, and it seems there's a sweet spot there as well.
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Aug 17, 2021 18:51
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Josh Lyman posted:There will always be outliers, but I think there has to be an upper limit on usable height with a fine twitch sport like golf. Yes they may be able to hit 400 yard drives and 180 yard wedges, but what happens when they inevitably miss the green? Also I think the leverage question is less important than rotational speed when it comes to distance, and it seems there's a sweet spot there as well. I'd argue the tall high level college, not quite NBA player will have sufficient fine twitch muscle control to play well at golf. Being good at golf is primarily mental focus, an ability to do a series of coordinated muscle action the same way every time, and lots and lots of practice. Much like a free throw in basketball. What it doesn't include is "learning how to read a putt". However, with enough practice you get a good feel for it and our brains are wired to do that exact kind of pattern recognition and subsequent prediction of movement.
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Aug 18, 2021 06:07
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So, I have a set of clubs now, which is 5i - 9i, PW, GW. Also have a Putter and a Driver. Do I really need any other clubs? I have an old hybrid club that is like 19 degrees, but for some reason, I just can never hit the thing at all so I stopped bringing it. Was thinking I probably need a sand wedge, but I seem to be OK with the Gap wedge getting out of the lovely courses in NYC, since the sand is usually pretty hard and getting under the ball in the sand doesn't really seem to work. Usually play by myself or with Randos since I don't know anyone in NYC that golfs, so not trying to impress anyone.
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Aug 18, 2021 16:01
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Internet Savant posted:"learning how to read a putt" Oh hey old nemesis. More often than not my distance control has been spot-on but I have an easier time reading Tolstoy than a green.
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Aug 18, 2021 16:24
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Zarfol posted:So, I have a set of clubs now, which is 5i - 9i, PW, GW. Also have a Putter and a Driver. You most likely don't need any more, but if you already have the budget for some more, here are my thoughts: Are the wedges from the same set as the irons? If so, I'd recommend at least one dedicated wedge in the 50-60 degree range with some bounce. I feel like wedges from an iron set play more like shorter irons (10i and 11i) than wedges. For longer clubs, try a bunch and see what you're good at hitting and what your distances are. My set is 5i-PW and I picked up a 3w and 5w but I probably could have added a 4 hybrid instead, and might do that some day and take the 3w out of the set since I play mostly short courses.
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Aug 18, 2021 17:06
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So no full goon report yet as my turf toe is still barking and I can't do more than a 50 bucket ball at the range or so right now, but I finally took the R10 out to the range today. I'm someone that knows their yardages pretty well via Arccos and the G80 before selling it, and my local range has 8 different targets from 50-250 yards so I took it for a spin using my full bag and full shot. I was...shocked, to say the least. The R10 picked up every shot and yardages were never less than 5 yards (5 yards twice on my 3 wood shots, in fact) off from what I zapped on my rangefinder. The ball flights were spot on with some minor underreporting (hit a snap hook once, device registered it more of a draw, which hey, thanks for the vote of confidence R10!). One time it reported a straight shot as a minor fade but it couldn't have been more than a 10-15 yard deviation which is acceptable. The driving range app itself was fantastic - I was able to mark each shot with the club and it gave me a complete dispersion of my range session at the end. I haven't tested Home Tee Hero yet (waiting until my foot's a little better, so a week or so), or tested indoors yet (net still isn't here! also maybe a week or so), but oh my God, I'm still kinda grinning from ear to ear after that session. I've always wanted to do a golf simulator but it's always been nigh impossible to sell to my wife for 5000 dollars. But this device, good net and mat and an old iPad Air allows me to have wonderful practice in the winter up here in the PNW where it's cold and wet and the golf kinda blows. I've never used a Skytrak, or a Mevo+, or a GC2/4, etc. etc., but I can't help but think this thing will be a massive gamechanger in the market. It owns hard, 10/10 would preorder again.
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Aug 18, 2021 19:09
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Man, Garmin is just killing it. I’m already envious of some fishing buddies that have a Garmin Livescope on their boat, and now they are owning the golf simulator game too. What’s a realistic setup look like overall? $600 for R10 $3-500 for hitting mat $200-$300 for old laptop or iPad $200 for a canvas mat or net? If we are getting into sub-$2000 territory for a good home simulator setup(that can also be taken to the range!!!) I’m like really going to want to do that.
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Aug 18, 2021 21:40
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DoctaFun posted:Man, Garmin is just killing it. I’m already envious of some fishing buddies that have a Garmin Livescope on their boat, and now they are owning the golf simulator game too. So my setup heading into the offseason is this: Garmin R10 - $600 Spornia SPG-7 Net - $250. I got a 100 dollar net last year but I don't think it's up to the task and didn't want to go cheap on net. Maxfli 3 x 5 Hitting Mat (Kinda went cheap on here, was fine year 1 we'll see heading into this year, may upgrade next year) - $150 iPad Air 2 from goon - $100 Grand total: $1100, maybe $1200 if I commit to Home Tee Hero for a year (I very likely will, I honestly like the Mario Golf style graphics). Mevo+ and Skytrak are 2+ dollars not including anything else, right? And their add ons are significantly more expensive. You're looking at an easy $2000 difference between the R10 and the next simulator option right now.
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Aug 18, 2021 21:52
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Is there an Android app? Because then you could just drop $70 on an amazon fire and re-flash android back on it.
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Aug 18, 2021 22:20
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There's an Android app but the R10 comes with 5 free E6 courses on iOS with proper landscape support so that's why I bought the iPad. If you just want Home Tee Hero then yeah all you need is an Android phone/tablet.
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Aug 18, 2021 22:57
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I've started to get back into golf after like 5 years of not playing (and probably 5 years of just intermittent playing before that). Played a bunch of 9s around Chicago and 4 rounds of 18 so far this summer. It feels like a lot because I'd probably only played a whole 18 once ever before hahaha. Anyway I track my poo poo with my garmin gps watch which has been pretty helpful, but I was wondering if there were any other 'getting started' tips besides "just fuckin play"? The garmin golf app says my handicap is 28 soooo definitely super bad haha. ChiTownEddie fucked around with this message at 18:08 on Aug 19, 2021 |
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Aug 19, 2021 18:05
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Bro, a 28 means you normally shoot around 100ish. That's solidly average. About what I shoot and i played weekly for years. Given, my dad put zero importance on range practice and was a firm believer in course practice only. Because I can whack 14 driver shots in a round and try to figure out why I fade about every tee shot and fix it.  Or...i could go hit half a bucket on my driver and work on path and face angle conciously and fix it in an hour.
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Aug 19, 2021 20:32
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D34THROW posted:Bro, a 28 means you normally shoot around 100ish. That's solidly average. About what I shoot and i played weekly for years. Maybe the app is wrong then. I shoot like 120. (I clearly don't understand the handicap and just put it in instead of saying 120 lol)
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Aug 19, 2021 21:10
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ChiTownEddie posted:Maybe the app is wrong then. I shoot like 120. (I clearly don't understand the handicap and just put it in instead of saying 120 lol)  here, same. 10/10 would highly recommend you go buy like a 3-lesson pack from a local golf pro instructor with a good reputation in your area, it'll help you tremendously.
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Aug 19, 2021 21:18
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Mederlock posted:
This was easily the best money investment I made to my swing and golf game. Everyone should do it.
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Aug 20, 2021 02:51
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Koth posted:This was easily the best money investment I made to my swing and golf game. Everyone should do it. Again, . Golf pro got me thinking about the swing correctly and moving my body through the swing. After about three coaching lessons, I was good to go. Significantly decreased poor shots (I had a real bad slice). Shots mostly go straight ish now. I really need to go get some coaching on short game shots.
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Aug 20, 2021 04:55
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Kirios posted:So my setup heading into the offseason is this: Dang, that’s awesome. I’m putting it in the list for bonus time next year!
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Aug 21, 2021 04:23
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Played 9 holes twilight at the course in my hometown last night. I had my driver better than in recent days, and when we rolled up to 9, a narrow dogleg left where the safe play is a 4 iron and a wedge, I decided to go for it, for a shot I had often fantasized about but never tried.  I didn't think anyone was on the green — we hadn't seen anyone for awhile — but didn't have a clear view, because behind that sand midway down on the left is a big hill, and the trees to the left of the sand are thick and 150+ feet high 240 yards out — you're not past the trees until 291 in a straight line — so you're totally blind. I teed it high and swung really hard and yelled fore as soon as it left my club. Arced high up over the trees, and the parking lot to the left of them, fading back toward the green like it had eyes. When I drove up and over the hill, there were twelve seniors waiting there. Two foursomes watching the last one putt. My ball was on the front part of the green, 40 feet from the pin and 319 yards from the tee box according to golfshot. It must have just barely gone over the heads of 8 of them, and rolled up to the feet of the four on the green. I felt like the most powerful man in the world. I was also mortified that I had nearly committed a murder. But the assembled old-timers demurred, saying I had yelled, and how impressive it was, and what they would give to be young and strong again, and giving me a little golf clap, and insisted to stick around and watch me finish "the eagle." So of course, with them watching, thinking they were witnessing a young hotshot in the prime of his life, I three putted instead. Golf. Petey fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Aug 21, 2021 |
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Aug 21, 2021 13:56
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You ever see a movie and you know how it’s going to end 3 minutes into it?
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Aug 21, 2021 15:30
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FedEx: hang around Saturday to sign for your new 3i. Ok. FedEx: without notice, we've changed that to Sunday. Ok. FedEx, 830 Sunday night: hey, without a text notice like you signed up for, we've changed delivery status from Sunday to pending. Good luck.
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Aug 23, 2021 03:22
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Hit the driving range today for the first time in two years. Hi after many decades of playing golf I have finally figured out that with my swing less is more if I want to aim the ball straight. I'll take 230 straight off the tee instead of 250 with wicked slice any day
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Aug 23, 2021 19:42
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would going to golf galaxy to use their trackman setup be a good way to get an idea of my shot distance (and maybe not swing so lovely)?
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Aug 23, 2021 22:49
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Weedle posted:would going to golf galaxy to use their trackman setup be a good way to get an idea of my shot distance (and maybe not swing so lovely)? You can also use a driving range for that, or book a virtual golf game.
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Aug 23, 2021 23:46
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Did my first round in decades and was amazed to achieve 110. So now the target is to get under 100. It was so so much fun. Just dancing around with glee at the beautiful shots and laughing in horror at the terrible ones. Playing with someone much better was brilliant (5 handicap). They gave me some good advice when I asked which immediately translated into hitting things better, including this little thing where I move my feet up and down slightly on the spot to even out my weight - that stopped me sending the ball off to the right at 45 degrees. Oh and threatening to tase me if I kept looking up too soon and thinning the ball. Quite effective. Honestly tho I cannot understand this hybrid thing. Tempted to just go find a 5 iron I bond with instead but I shall persevere with it. Hitting the green with my 7 on some shorter par 3s was the best feeling Golf is mysterious. ClydeFrog fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Aug 25, 2021 |
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Aug 24, 2021 09:26
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ClydeFrog posted:Did my first round in decades and was amazed to achieve 110. So now the target is to get under 100. Swing the hybrid just like you would swing an 8 iron. Don't overthink it, get the face open the backswing, and don't' swing so hard.
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Aug 24, 2021 12:18
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They should make a golf video game that incorporates the thought catalog from Disco Elysium. Would be way more realistic to have your golfer suddenly get the snap hooks because they internalized a bad swing thought
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Aug 24, 2021 16:43
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Playing the Engineers Club in Roslyn NY tomorrow. Can’t wait to shoot 120 with a caddie lol
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Aug 24, 2021 17:27
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Pretty stoked that kiz won the last one and Finau won on Monday. I was thinking to myself that Finau tied for 4th going into the last day could lead to a victory. Two of my faves probably due to them showing up in youtube videos. I think Kizner was the first "fourplay" pro and Finau played with Eric Anders Lang. Pat Perez was also on the hunt going into the last day. I would love to play with him after seeing him on a foreplay episode. I love it when better players encourage and complement lower skilled players.
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Aug 24, 2021 22:42
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Infomaniac posted:I think Kizner was the first "fourplay" pro and Finau played with Eric Anders Lang. These are all reasons not to root for these wieners
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Aug 25, 2021 13:02
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