I had a wild hair up my shag bag to take in the experience of a course I haven’t played in probably several decades, Nibley Park. We often refer to it as “The Gib,” which is short for The Gibley. That comes from “Nibley Gibley.” So I affectionately said that I was “flogging the Gib.” I’m glad to clear up the confusion on that now.
This course is a 9-hole par-34 which measures a lengthy 2,895 yards from the blue tees; the tips. The only par-5 is 453 yards and I hit an 8-iron into that one on my 2nd shot. Yes I made birdie.
Play is slow. So people do cartwheels in the fairway to keep themselves entertained…
The Gib is a bit of a beginner’s course, and one which is on the low budget end. It clocks in at a whopping $11.00 to walk 9-holes. That’s a price I can live with. The crowd is, shall we say, more working class than higher end courses in town. That’s part of the experience I was looking for. Plus I’m trying to get used to new Miura irons, and new shoes.
I played with two guys who were playing their 2nd round of the year. I doubt they even have established handicaps. I had fun playing with them, and watching their match which was 25 cents per hole. I think 75 cents exchanged hands at the end. One of the guys was pitching it better than me with what appeared to be a pitching wedge hybrid. See below.
That P-Hybrid has “internal sole weighting.” I can’t imagine what external sole weighting would be.
The other guy was a lefty and bragged that he got his TaylorMade driver for $10.00 on eBay. I said, “if you only knew.” He got his entire set of clubs on eBay in fact, and said the most expensive club in the bag was his driver. Most of his clubs were $5.00 or less. As I wielded my brand new shiny Miuras I couldn’t help mumble “if you only knew (my rants about golf product release cycles).” Later in the round he told me he had seen a set of irons like mine before, when some guy was pawning them. He said he knew the guy had no business with irons like that. English translation, they were stolen. That’s my guess.
I enjoyed playing a more casual round on an easier course, especially one where my rusty spring game didn’t cost me more than my green fees. Low pressure. I tested some new shoes, a new ball, and got another round in with the new irons.
Post-round I practiced low running chips and short game. I practiced so long my back was tweaked the next morning. It took half a day to get myself straightened out.
Game Still MIA
I’m hoping my missing golf game will reappear soon. I’m thinking the more spring rounds I get in, the closer I’ll get to my game’s return. Until then my handicap is blowing up and my confidence is like a house of cards.
This year’s goal is to enjoy the walk. Regardless of the score, that’s what I’m trying to do. Most of the time I’ve gotten it done.
Just waiting for the green to clear…
I’ll rake that. Carry on.
Along with the MTB golf balls (My Tour Ball) I’ll be testing out, courtesy of Snell Golf, I’ll also be trying out the “Get Sum” model. The Get Sum golf ball by Snell Golf is more of a regular golfer’s ball.
The Get Sum is a “high-performance, two-piece golf ball geared toward golfers who desire more control and require help getting the ball airborne. A large core keeps the driver spin rates low and creates fast ball speeds for all swing types.”
The Get Sum probably isn’t the best fit for my game, as a low single digit handicap, but you never know. I’ll give it a shot, so to speak. Stay tuned.
Yesterday I put some new golf balls into play for testing, the Snell Golf “My Tour Ball” or MTB. Who is Snell? Snell is the name of the company’s founder, Dean Snell. Dean is a former TaylorMade Vice President of R&D for golf balls, and co-inventor of the Titelist ProV1.
The MTB is a “tour” caliber ball. This means it has a qualities a professional tour golfer would want, such as high spin, soft cover and so on. The cover is urethane, just like 99% of the other tour balls, like the ProV1.
I have to log many more rounds before I’m ready for my full review, but here’s a short commentary after one full 18 hole round. I loved the feel of the ball and found it to respond well when I put a good swing on it. Unfortunately in yesterday’s round the good swings were not that often. I found the ball to feel great around the greens and with the putter. I especially loved the feel hitting bump and run shots with anything between a 7-9 iron.
Below is a photo of two Snell MTB balls. One is the ball I played 18 holes with and one is brand new, never played. Can you tell which is which?
One ball is new, one has been played 18 holes. Can you tell which is which?
Based on yesterday’s round and the photo above, these are very durable for “tour” balls. Tour balls aren’t typically durable.
I have a real problem. Tomorrow I have one of my leagues and I have a set of new Miura irons that is so beautiful I don’t even want to him them for fear of possibly getting one spec of dirt on them. I just want to sit in my office and gaze at these. Say hello to the Miura Series 1957 Limited Edition Small Blade Irons.
Miura Series 1957 Small Blade Irons
The Miura 1957 Small Blade Irons are the highest performing irons made by Miura, according to the man himself, Katsuhiro Miura.
If you don’t know who Miura is, I’m glad to open your eyes to one of the most well respected and sought after irons on this planet. Many tour pros who are endorsed by the major, big-name brands, actually play these clubs.
These blades are 15% smaller than Miura’s regular tour blades. Think you could hit them? I’m going to find out if I can, even if I have to cover all of them in swing tape.
Blade-a-licious! Could you hit this?
Stay tuned for my full review. Once I’ve had sufficient rounds and time with these I’ll post all of my thoughts. And if Miura wants these returned after my review, look for the review to appear around November of 2023.
« Previous
1
…
128
129
130
131
132
…
1,163
Next »
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
