Ping I15 in the bag

Huzzah… After a loooong time in between drinks, I now have a driver back in my golf bag. After the round at Cab del Sol where I smashed three wood – three wood brilliantly (highlight hole post to come), I decided I could manage to re-learn how to hit the driver and get a bit more distance off the tee.

At Cabo del Sol I hit the Taylor Made woods well and was going to get myself the new R11. Those things look amazing cool and the trickery in being able to adjust the club is phenomenal. I have the R9 Taylor Made three wood and I’ve managed to hit it fairly well, so thought I’d get the Taylor Made R11 to go with it. I had some Golf World vouchers so went to Golf World at Newmarket. The dude who helped me out was great, I’ll get his name and update the post later on.

Unfortunately the R11 is not in stock yet through most Golf World stores, but I wanted to get a driver whilst motivated, so decided to try out a couple of clubs in the net & on their “hawk eye” system which helps determine what shaft strength / style club you need and determine club suitability. I liked the looks of the Ping and also Adams drivers, so tried them both out.

Both clubs held a similar visual appeal for me, in that they didn’t look like massive bulbous distractions. The clubs both also felt good to hit shots with and produced similar results, but I ended up going with the Ping.

The “hawk eye” swing & shot tracking system was great as it effectively measured the trajectory, path and distance of the shot. I have been hitting shots with a high trajectory and this means they effectively stop where they bounce, with no run-on. So, even though I hit my irons well and a fair distance, they dont run on and I get robbed of distance. There was no evidence of this in the “hawk eye” tracking, with the shot trajectory being good, the shots straight (just a minor adjustment in stance required) and the ball carrying just under 200 yards (approximately 180 metres) on the fly. Once on the course and with some more practice I should be able to work that out a bit further.

Thanks very much to the guys at Golf World Newmarket, I appreciate your help!

Looking forward to next weekend’s round at Pine Rivers Golf Club and testing out my new Ping I15.

A review on the Ping I15 Driver can be found http://www.golf.com/golf/equipment/article/0,28136,1941092,00.html

Here’s the commercial for the I15 which has Bubba Watson in it.

highlight hole – 30th April 2011

Regularly blogging is tough…. I guess it’s about expectations and knowing you are not going to be able to post every day, or week, and accepting that & writing when you can.

So…. I got to thinking about another reason to get me posting regularly to this here little blog.

How’s about a “Highlight hole” post for when I play a golf hole particularly well. It might be one a round for the good courses I play and once in a while for Pine Rivers Golf Course (http://www.pineriversgolfclub.com.au)

It just so happens that I do indeed have a highlight hole from this weekend’s round at Pine Rivers. The competition this weekend was single stableford (my favourite) and Coxy had changed to play in the afternoon and John and Dean had both called in a no-show Saturday morning (lazy, hungover bums), so I was hitting the round with Ollie.

The highlight hole for this post is from a round played on Saturday the 30th of April at Pine Rivers Golf Club. The hole is the 162 metre long par 3 8th hole. This hole plays around 180 metres up the hill and there was quite a wind blowing left to right across the hole. The description from the club website reads:

More to this than meets the eye. Hole plays longer as the green sits on top of a crest. Due to its length and a small bunker which guards the front right part of the green, this hole can be very intimidating.

The hole is indexed so that I get two shots on this hole and I played it well on Saturday (obviously, or it wouldn’t be the highlight hole!).

I played a 4 iron and smashed my tee shot basically pin high and only just off the green. Very close to the green, but just off… maybe 10 cm’s off the green, so I was definitely going to putt. The putt though was tricky, as the green slopes towards the front of the green pretty sharply and I was going to have to put the putt high of the hole and if I ran it past too far, the ball would end up running right down to the front of the green basically. The putt would have been between four and five metres long. I had decided I was putting for a two putt par result as I was, to that point of the round scoring two points every hole and didn’t want to eff up the round. The putt though was a beauty and went straight in the back of the cup. That putt was my best of the day and other than that one putt, the putting over this round was VERY forgettable.

The result of that wonderful 4 iron and a 4 – 5 metre long putt was a birdie on a pretty tricky hole. The stableford score for the hole was a 2 for 5 points .

The 9th hole was the last of the round (we tee’d off on the 10th) and I hit a 5 and 2 to score 40 points on the round. A pretty good result, which saw my handicap drop 0.5 points and down to 27.3. My goal is to get that handicap down to 18 eventually and by the end of the year I want it down to 23.

Highlight hole for this week: 8th at Pine Rivers Golf Club. Birdied for 2 shots and five points.

#project365 – Jan 8 – Pine Rivers Golf Club

#project365 – Jan 8 – Pine Rivers Golf Club

Originally uploaded by ckjchambers

First day back at Pine Rivers Golf Club in 2011!

This photo is taken looking towards the green on 13th hole. This hole is not kind to me… It’s a 308 metre par 4, with a water carry, the hole is indexed as the 4th hardest hole on the course. I average a 6.4 on this hole…. I normally put my tee shot over on the right hand side of the fairway and trees stop me from having a reasonable approach shot.

Today though, I managed a 5, which included a stinky 3 putt! boo! My birdie putt was hit way too soft and the second putt was pushed to the right… blah!

Today’s round was pretty good. I hit a 90 off the stick, which is my second best score on the course, behind an 89 I hit in April 2009…

Going to have to check the Sunday Mail tomorrow morning to see if I manage to get on the podium.

#project 365 – Jan 3rd 2011

Jan 3rd

Originally uploaded by ckjchambers

This is my January 3rd entry for the #365project where I am taking a photo a day for 365 days.

This is a photo of New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees and it was taken during the broadcast of the Tampa Bay vs New Orleans match on Fox Sports. it was taken from my couch, it’s not a live photo.

During the NFL season I get up at around 3am each Monday and watch the game on the web or on Foxtel if they are broadcasting a match. Mostly I like watching the games because I enjoy playing fantasy football.

These early morning wake ups are why I usually need a redbull around 230pm on a Monday afternoon.

Week 2: Pine Rivers El Presedente Punters Club

Poor Deano… Mark Webber failed us last weekend.

I’m up this weekend and I am taking a multi-bet of:

13 Nov 2010 12:05 NBA Phoenix Suns to beat the Sacramento Kings @ $1.27
13 Nov 2010 18:30 NRL Kangaroos to beat the Kiwis on Saturday in the Rugby League test match @ $1.30
15 Nov 2010 04:05 NFL Indianapolis Colts to beat the Cincinnati Bengals @ $1.30
15 Nov 2010 07:15 NFL New York Giants to beat the Dallas Cowboys @ $1.15

As a multi bet this is paying $2.46 at $20 it’s a collect of $49.36

kick it home kids!

As one last subtle reminder to Deano that he’s in the red at the moment..

Chris

Pine Rivers El Presedente Punters Club

Ruh-roh…. On Saturday the Pine Rivers El Presedente Punters Club was born.

Michael Cox, John Wall, Dean O’Byrne and I are off to the Presidents Cup in 2011. To help pay the way we’re going to try and punt our way to a profit between now and then to pay for the whole thing (note sarcastic optimism).

Over the coming months I’ll be posting information about the club over on the “Pine Rivers El Presedente Punters Page”

El Presedente!

Bet numero uno was that Mark Webber would have the fastest lap in the Brazilian F1. Not true unfortunately for Deano. We’re 0 from 1.

Photo: Royal Links Golf Club

Royal Links Golf Club

Originally uploaded by ckjchambers

Photo Taken: 1st January, 2010
Photo Location: 8th hole, Royal Links Golf Club, Las Vegas

This photo was taken on the par 3 8th hole at the Royal Links Golf Club.

This course is modeled on many famous holes from golf courses in the United Kingdom which have hosted the British Open. The course is pretty cool and I had a very good round to boot.

http://www.royallinksgolfclub.com for the courses official site. I did not get to use the services of the “Par Mates”, maybe next time.

Favourite golf courses

I do enjoy a hit of golf. I’ve never been all that good at it, though this year I have been playing more frequently and have been getting better and even managed to win one of the Saturday competitions at the Pine Rivers Golf Club, which I have become a member of.

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to play some fantastic golf courses and I thought that would be an interesting topic to write about.

Laguna Quays www.lagunawhitsundays.info

Located in the beautiful Whitsundays, Kylie and I holidayed at Laguna Quays many years ago, before we were married. I played golf each day, whilst Kylie lounged by the pool. In hindsight, I was probably lucky to keep Kylie after playing so much golf….. This is a fantastic course, with a couple of stand-out holes. The 13th, which is a par 3 of 148 metres from the whites, features a sheltered tee area which hits into an open seaside green – the wind can play havoc with that tee shot. My other favourite would be the 9th hole, which is 425m par 5 from the white tees, with a water hazard hugging the right hand side of the hole. This 9th hole also has a lot of condo’s looking out onto the fairway, having a couple of guests watching me play the approach shot is about as close as I will probably come to having a gallery.

Most memorable about this course was that I hit a 49 on one nine, which was the first time I had broken 50 for nine holes. Also memorable is aforementioned fortune to have played golf quite a few days in a row and for Kylie to have not been driven off…

Bel Air Country Club www.bel-aircc.org

In Beverly Hills baby! Having the opportunity to play “The Bel Air” is probably the greatest golfing experience I will ever enjoy. It’s a private club with a significant sign-up and then annual fee. The member we had take us around the course said something like “You don’t ask to join, you are asked to join”. The day we played we had an ex-NFL Quarterback playing in the group in front of us (who one of us, not me, nearly hit with a wayward shot), there was a famous fashion designer a couple of groups back from us and there were many famous Los Angelians in the clubhouse before and after we teed off.

The course is immaculate and you are accompanied by a caddy who makes club recommendations, rakes the bunkers, fetches drinks and entertains you as you play the course. “Chicago” was his nickname, I recommend him if you get to play there.

A couple of lasting memories from the day here are:

in the locker room before teeing off, I sat down to put my shoes on and having done up the laces looked up and the name on the locker I was sitting in front of was G Norman. I kid you not!

having completed the first nine holes, you get in your buggy to drive off to the 10th, which you need to get through a tunnel, which is deep underground. Part way along the tunnel the caddy says to stop, so you do. He says get in that lift and press the button to whatever floor (I cant remember what floor). So you do and when you get to the floor you are in the club house! amazing….

having ridden the lift, you step out of the clubhouse and practically straight onto the 10th tee. The 10th tee has you hitting a par 3 (?) over a canyon, which has a suspension bridge to get you from one side to the other. The caddy is on the other side, with our buggies waiting for us….

the caddy and our host pointing out and rattling off the names of famous people such as Audrey Hepburn, Alfred Hitchcock and many others who own houses overlooking parts of the course

I’d say my favourite hole on this course was the 1st, which is just awesome. You’re standing on the tee, driver in hand (which freaks me out a little ordinarily anyway) which looks out over Los Angeles, an ex-NFL Quarterback in the group in front of you, you’ve just put your shoes on in front of G Norman’s locker and your head is spinning a little from the whole experience…

Other favourites include the par 3 10th, which has you hitting over a canyon after riding a lift to the tee box and the 18th hole which comes in under the suspension bridge of the 10th and is just a beautiful way to finish a round of golf.

I have no photos, it didnt seem the thing to do to take photos, but click through to their site for a few big pics on the home page: www.bel-aircc.org

The Grand www.grandgolf.com.au

Another of Queensland’s beautiful golf courses and located just in behind the Gold Coast. I played The Grand with three golf journalists who I was hosting as part of their visit to Queensland, when my role at TQ was to host these type of visits. Talk about a good job.

The story of The Grand is pretty amazing. G Norman was commissioned by a consortium of Japanese to build the course, but after an investment of $30m, the course was completed and open for only one day as the owners did not have the funds to keep the course open. The course was left to become overgrown for 5 years before being bought by a group of Australian businessmen, who again commissioned G Norman to bring the course back to life. The course is a private course, with there being an initial offer 120 shares, of which you must own one to bring guests onto the course.

The day I played the course it absolutely poured with rain and we were the only players on the course. Someone was ferrying towels from the clubhouse to us, so we could try to stay dry. Wasn’t going to happen….

I don’t remember specifically the favourite holes (it was somewhere around 1997 or 1998), but I do remember a beautiful uphill par 4 with a large dead tree off on the right as you tee off.

Pauite Golf Las Vegas http://www.lvpaiutegolf.com

I thoroughly enjoyed playing this course. It’s set about an hour or so outside Las Vegas, NV, in the middle of the desert. The fairways are cut beautifully into a rocky landscape. The guys at the pro shop told us, if you hit your ball off the fairway, leave it. Apparently this is because of the snakes, but I part suspect that it might have been to increase the number of balls they collect and sell second hand.

Most treasured memories from this course were the appearance of a lone wolf who trotted across one of the fairways as we aimed up for our approach shots. Beautiful to see. The course was also “buzzed” (at high altitude) by some sort of fighter planes and also attack helicopters of some kind, there must be an air force base close by, which made for interesting viewing against the mountaineous background of the area.

My favourite hole on this course would be the 15th, which is a par 3 of 110 yards (off the white) where the green is an island. I had to hit a 9 iron in and missed the island on two attempts from the tee. This is the hole http://www.lvpaiutegolf.com/wolf_course_15.html#1

I have played on quite a few of the Gold Coast’s courses and will find time to update this list in the future.

Over time I will put together my top 10 courses I have played list (once I’ve played some more golf)

happy thursday!

a few quick hits…

the other day I was messing around on the ‘puter and have found this site www.tripit.com. It’s pretty nifty, allowing you to send confirmation emails of travel arrangements to it and then it somehow sucks all the information out of the confirmation and places it in a neat itinerary! The itinerary can have maps, notes, lots of details and allows you to also reference sites like google maps, seat guru (for making sure you get the right seat on that long flight) and other nifty things like weather and the like. It’s v cool. Even cooler was that it has an ical feed, which lets you sync the content in your tripit itinerary with the calendar on the mac, BUT, even better is that that calender then syncs with the calender on my ipod! which means that our itinerary for our next US holiday need not be the massive document we had last time around! I’ll put a link to our itinerary in the blog soon.

our bet on the spurs and mavs got up! we’re on the improve – actually our balance has more than doubled since we started punting on doubles and if we’d been a bit more disciplined in the amounts we’d bet we could be going a lot better…. we’re still down on our starting position (JUST!) but we’re doing much better now that we’ve started punting on the doubles.

I’ve succumbed to another online trinket… twitter. silly name huh? it’s like an updater on what you are doing at any given point in time and for posting random thoughts. It’s in the right hand navigation, but I’ll probably get sick of it in a week or so and remove it in a couple of weeks. i need to try these things for my job though, huh?!

oh well – time to get ready for work. have a great day!

punting….

I’m a punting tragic, at least I know it.

coxy and I have been working on a doubles betting “scheme” – can you really call donating money to centre bet a scheme? (it’s not tax deductible)

Today’s bet is in the NBA…. We’re taking the Spurs into the Mavericks, 40% of the balance ($186), for a possible collect of 234. Go teams!

The Chambers

What we get up to….

Category Archives: hobbies