Played with Bernie. 45* and mostly cloudy. First day back after 9-day layoff with tendinitis.
Had New TS Driver in the bag for the first time. Though elbow was not feeling great and my swing was not even close to sharp, I was quite happy with results from TS. Even on misses off the center of face, the ball went far. Looking forward to being healed and having my regular swing back. This could be game changing.
In an effort to ease into the round, I did not play true golf on the first nine, which was actually the back nine. I just played golf-shot. I was there to see how my right elbow handled things and to try my new TS.
We went off the back to start. On my first drive with the TS, I missed the center of the face. But the ball took off anyway. In the low light, I couldn't see it land, but it was headed at the right fairway bunker. Bernie thought it was short of the bunker. I thought it was in the middle of the bunker, but when we got to it, it was OVER the bunker. I knew right away, this driver is gonna make a difference.
Blasted another down the left side on 11resulting in a wedge on and par. Hit 3W on 12th because we had to play it from the white tees. The blues were set back with the black teess and we looked at each other and agreed to play the whites on this one. It was 45*. This hole is hard enough as it is. Even from the whites.
On 13th I hit a decent drive, not my best. It was a bit too high for my taste. Bernie hit his and didn't hit it great. So he wanted to hit another. He did and hit it flush. Nice little draw, perfect boring trajectory. It looked like it was 20 yards past mine from the tee. He said he couldn't hit it better than that. When we got to our balls out in the middle of the fairway, I was still 10-15 yards past his best ball. I like this driver. Bernie was quiet.
Longer than normal drives again on the remaining driver holes on the back nine, yet only the one on 14th felt like I got it all and had the ball flight I like. I won the long drive contest (usually by more than 10 yards and some by 40) across the back nine, 7 to 0.
On the front, I decided to play real golf and keep score. Scored okay, but driver continued to give me good chances. If anything, my iron swing was a little shaky. No poor shots, but just didn't feel right and consequently, wasn't as sharp as I expected, though I still hit a few close. On 7th, after flying OVER the first and landing in the middle fairway bunker off tee, I was close to the lip. Tried to get out and home with an 8i. I guess I needed a 9i to clear the lip. Caught lip and it popped up in the air and went about 40-50 yards. From there, I hit a 58* lob wedge to 2 inches for a tap-in par save. Only once, can I remember reaching that middle bunker off the tee on the fly in the past. I like this driver.
By the final hole, my elbow was screaming. I had been massaging it the whole round, but it felt like I couldn't play another hole. After a nice drive and another par to finish, I just wanted ice on it. Went home and did so immediately.
Final score on the long drive contest between me and Bernie, 13 to 1. And I hit 3W on 12th to his driver. I like this driver.
Once I get the ballflight down a bit and start consistently hitting the center with my everyday swing and no tendinitis, I think I just might average 10-15 yards, or more, distance than I did this past season.
