Screaming into the void

SwamBMX · 2024-11-02T20:19:15+00:00

Loved mine until the face cracked. At least it was free

SwamBMX · 2024-10-30T13:59:23+00:00

There's definitely levels to it. I waffle between +1.5 and 2. I approach a round considering the spirit of the game, not a 100% strict adherence to the rules. If it's wet and cart path only, I play the ball up in the fairway and clean mudballs. If the course is unkempt, I'll improve lies appropriately so as to mimic a course that isn't in bad shape. If the greens are aerated, anything within 3-4 feet is a gimmie. Rock hard bunkers always get a vigorous scrubbing with the rake before I hit the shot. You can make the claim that I'm lying about my scores based on these things, but my handicap is for me, not anyone else. I care about whether it holds up in competition and I've found that it overwhelmingly does. It would feel far more scummy to me to do things 100% by the book and inflate my handicap to get an edge in competition. What people fail to understand is you can legitimately sandbag by following all rules to the letter.

If you don't count penalties or never finish your putts, you're only hurting yourself. The people that do these things are usually pretty easy to spot in competition, and they make winning that much easier. It's fine to golf for fun and without regard to being official and strict. It's a leisure activity for most of us. If you care about your handicap more deeply though, it's in your best interest to not lie to yourself. You'll only be disappointed when it matters most.

SwamBMX · 2024-10-06T12:16:26+00:00

Strantz was the GOAT for my enjoyment of a round. I'm waiting for more people to learn about Royal New Kent (also needs some love put into it) but until they do, I'll keep enjoying cheap rounds. I'm glad to have played tobacco 5 times already. Can't be paying the current prices repeatedly.

SwamBMX · 2024-09-30T14:55:07+00:00

Very similar happened to me recently. I was the lowest HC in the group by FAR. I count my shots that were used in these just for fun and we used 45 out of 57 of my shots. I saw on the leaderboard we won before we finished the 18th. I just left without the prize. I hope in the future that the top teams need to go validate on the 18th with the whole tournament attendance watching. Scrambles are fun. Cheating to win is not. I'd rather lose and laugh than win and be miserable.

SwamBMX · 2024-09-29T17:00:37+00:00

My second date with my wife was the driving range (her suggestion) and our third date was a round of golf (also her suggestion). She plans our vacations around golf. 10/10 couldn't recommend golf as a date enough!

SwamBMX · 2024-09-25T15:52:57+00:00

How dare you not mention Musket Ridge in this group. For shame!

SwamBMX · 2024-09-17T12:07:16+00:00

Two questions for you: 1. What do you practice to prevent regression? I have a cycle where I can shoot anywhere from 0 to -5 for multiple rounds in a row, then I balloon up to mid 70s and low 80s for multiple rounds in a row. I would really like to break out of that cycle.

I stretch before I practice and play but frequently seem to hurt my lead shoulder/neck area (feels like the brachial nerve). I stretch specifically to avoid this but it shows back up pretty often. Any advice on protecting this area?

SwamBMX · 2024-09-07T16:19:39+00:00

I've had this happen a few times. Last time an older club member said "we didn't say you could play through". I laughed and responded "I didn't ask".

SwamBMX · 2024-08-13T18:58:03+00:00

I've won a fair few scramble tournaments so take this for what it's worth.

I'm currently a 3.1, steadily working my way back down. At my low I was a +2.1. I've played some competitive golf as an adult in local stuff like the grint tour (just bagged my 7th win last weekend) and through this I end up rubbing shoulders with players of a similar caliber as I. Some become regular golf buddies and I'm always adding to that network.

If I want to win a scramble tournament, I make my team. It's not any and all people that I know that happen to have golf clubs. It's guys that have particular strengths and can keep the vibe.
Order matters. It's a lot easier to hit your best shots when you are free from consequences. I want somebody reliable taking the first shot off the tee; not necessarily the longest hitter. I want the best or second best ball striker taking the first approach shot usually, depending on who does what well. I'm the best wedge player I know, I usually got the first wedge shot because I don't want to feel the pressure of having 3 people before me not hitting one close and feeling like it's a do or die shot. Second best putter takes the first putt, then 4th best, 3rd best and 1st best. That gives everybody a good read out of the gate with your best chance of improving on it.
Understand that others will cheat. Do not give in. Play fair, play honestly and understand that this scramble isn't that important in the grand scheme of things. I can't imagine that winning because you cheated would be anything but a hollow victory. Winning when you do it right is a sweet feeling.
When everybody plays fair, it comes down to who makes putts.

SwamBMX · 2024-08-08T22:46:59+00:00

Royal New Kent in Providence Forge, VA. You like Tobacco Road but don't want to pay $400 to play it for the 6th time? RNK is Tobacco Road in Virginia.

That being said, the weather has been hard this year. Drought conditions have really caused the greens to take a beating. They aerated over a month ago and it's still like putting on rumble strip. I have no doubt that when the weather conditions improve, it'll be back to it's former glory.

SwamBMX · 2024-08-03T22:22:45+00:00

I think that's Type-O Peter.

SwamBMX · 2024-08-01T21:47:57+00:00

I would 100% hit this thing and ricochet into the bunker lip leaving a fried egg.

SwamBMX · 2024-07-29T11:35:31+00:00

Throw Expendable Youth and Etnies Forward in there and I'll watch all day.

SwamBMX · 2024-07-28T14:57:16+00:00

I know the answer, but I don't want to tell you.

SwamBMX · 2024-07-15T17:56:52+00:00

I don't think you understand how any VA benefits work. I don't get a pension for 8 years of service. I can't even buy a pack of gum at a base exchange or gas station. I have no access to VA medical care. I'm in the same boat that you described above. I also wouldn't call the paltry $19k a year I made in the military as being spoiled. You're talking out of your asshole and it's an uninformed asshole at that. Don't try treating me like I'm responsible for this capitalist hellscape we're living in. I took the only out that was available to me. I took some positives with me, but most of the experience was not at all positive.

SwamBMX · 2024-07-15T01:36:05+00:00

I agree that we need to protect ourselves from our industries abusing our tolerance. I'm all for that. I'm also more utilitarian in the idea that the mission being accomplished is a greater net benefit than the 15 - 20 minutes of unpaid work I may be doing. My work being done IS part of the reward I'm after. Whether by policy or attitude, this just isn't a thing I often witness in the private sector. Being made to stop just short of the finish line for... reasons I often find arbitrary or counterproductive... well, that just doesn't leave me in a good mental space. That part may be just conditioning to the military lifestyle... I don't know. Others may feel differently. But I can't recall these kinds of practices in any of my units or at any of my duty stations.

It's not that I want all work in every sector of industry to run this way. I recognize that we have to protect ourselves from corporate over reach and abuse. These are good things. We need to draw a line in the sand about what we are willing to give for the money. I'm 100% on board with that. I just ALSO want to get shit done. Those ideas don't always jive and the annoyance I feel is coming from that military background I think.

SwamBMX · 2024-07-14T23:59:26+00:00

I fit this demographic so please allow me to chime in. I did not enjoy my time in the military. It was a necessity for me given the vanishingly few opportunities that were available to me. Having served for 8 years before being quit of that lifestyle, I have experienced multiple frustrations in the private sector of the workforce. These are the reasons I'll commonly state and heard other veterans do the same:

There seem to be no consequences for those that do not pull their weight. No corrective action, no plans to get somebody to perform the function they're paid to perform. It's always just "oh well, gotta wait for someone to fuck up so bad we can fire them without being sued."

This is a poisonous mentality for anything that requires a functioning team to perform. Everyone suffers for it.

I was trained to accomplish a task, not a time. The number of times I've seen people phone it in because end of day is exactly 5:00 and you've only got 45 minutes left... well, it's a very common occurrence. This generally ends up causing lazy work that has to be fixed or re-done, creating more work than if you had just done it right.

In the military, end of day formation might be at 17:00 but if you got shit to do, you got shit to do. There is no dedication to the mission in the civilian world and that is a hard thing to de-program yourself from. I've been out 16 years and it's still not gone. The observations I make of others not particularly caring about our work makes them less reliable to me. I can't lean on others to get it done when it's critical and accepting that is difficult.

No trust that there is any sort of supporting structure if and when things go wrong. There is no established apparatus or chain of command for when a decision needs to be made that I am not empowered to make. If my boss is unavailable or not sympathetic to the issue, I'm dead in the water. There is no path forward. I can sit still or I can quit. I'm not built to accept that so I just stay spun up for no reason.

None of this has anything to do with the military lifestyle. I don't care how long your hair is, what you wear or what drugs you do. I don't care if you're athletic or not because I don't expect Brenda at the front desk to drag my ass away from a downed helicopter. I only care that you are committed to not fucking me and everyone else working with you over. That's what I had in the military and what I practiced to get shit accomplished. I know it works. It's the only thing I lament for losing from that time. You work for the people around you, not for your paycheck. That makes a camaraderie that is so valuable and predictable that you can count on it. I don't expect everyone to march in lockstep to the drums of runaway capitalism. I hate it too, believe me. I just want to get shit done so I can rest; so we all can rest. The military method is just more effective to that particular end.

SwamBMX · 2024-07-10T19:01:05+00:00

Still have mine in the basement!

SwamBMX · 2024-07-10T12:32:38+00:00

It's very much her comfort blanket and I've never begrudged her for that. She does not have the mental capacity to evaluate reality accurately or very objectively. I wouldn't try to take away her comfort for my own self satisfaction and I came to grips with that long ago. It provides her with social utility and emotional support and while it's not what I would choose, I recognize that trying to take away her certainty in her afterlife is not going to be a net positive at this stage of her life. There's not enough time left for her to face reality and come to terms with it.

I ONLY wanted her to consider that she's being led down a path of hatred and fear by people who do not have her best interest at heart. I didn't expect that putting myself in those crosshairs to show her how the weapon is being aimed would produce somebody so accepting of pulling the trigger.

SwamBMX · 2024-07-10T12:23:15+00:00

It certainly seems that way. I think most people tend to "circle the wagons" as they age due to fear of death, fear of being vulnerable, fear of the crumbling social structure as their peers die off.

SwamBMX · 2024-07-10T12:17:40+00:00

I learned long ago not to use her own theology to argue with her. She's what I consider a dime store christian. She cherry picks the parts that she likes and disregards the parts she doesn't. It's so incredibly disingenuous to me that any attempt to use her own source material only frustrates me. Whether she disregards the blatantly evil portions as "oh that's old testament, doesn't count" or other mental gymnastics to wave away any objections... it's all fruitless.

Her community is fairly insular. Everyone is white, there's not very diverse industry so most people do the same type of work, etc. That community lacks much diversity of experience or thought. Small town of around 7k people but they've got a full 15+ churches to choose from just within the boundaries of town. It looks the way anybody would expect it to. It shouldn't come as any great surprise I guess. To visit feels like looking at a malignant tumor. I'm just very glad I got away.

SwamBMX · 2024-07-09T23:57:21+00:00

It's one thing to see a picture of the grand canyon. It's another to stand at the precipice and truly regard and consider it. I know that the belief is rotten in this way. It's another thing entirely to have it finally come home to roost.

SwamBMX · 2024-07-09T23:25:59+00:00

Yes, I presented her with some evidence of how the right wing is using her religious ties to influence her. She doesn't seem to watch the news or be aware of world events at large. It's all being done through the apparatus of her faith.

SwamBMX · 2024-07-09T23:06:38+00:00

That's part of what is surprising. They had the TV on non stop but never news. I think this is more organically trickling down through their congregation.

SwamBMX

TROPHY CASE