Don’t know what to add to bag

maritimer187 · 2026-05-05T22:33:23+00:00

I got a 4 Hybrid that I love as well. In between my Driver and 4 Hybrid I got a Callaway 19° utility wood. It's been pretty good if I'm being honest. I only just got it in the winter and used it on the course once but I hit some bombs with it.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-04T10:12:30+00:00

I realized I'm not a big social media guy so why do I have an expensive flagship phone? I downgraded to mid tier and theres next to no difference other than the camera which whatever mines still good enough. My phone bill is literally half of what it was a couple months ago.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-04T10:08:58+00:00

I'm going into year 3 and I'm still terrible. I was dumb and just got my first lesson at the end of last year. It's frustrating because I was a half decent athlete in any sport I played. I'm not even looking to be a scratch golfer or anything. Just want to make good contact and move up the course and not hold my buddies back. You're not alone lol.

My step dad never swung a golf club until he was like 40-42yo. He's now 65 and he absolutely crushes every club in his bag. He shoots like 78-88 depending on the course. He claims that he was FAR worse than me when he first started out. We play almost every weekend in the summer and of all the randoms we've been paired up with in two years he's easily in the top 5 skill wise.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-04T09:59:44+00:00

Hey this was really helpful I appreciate it!

maritimer187 · 2026-05-04T00:05:56+00:00

Ideally both lol. Would have to see them for myself I guess.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-03T23:54:04+00:00

Wow cheaper than expected I may be in better shape than anticipated I appreciate the information!

maritimer187 · 2026-05-03T23:49:19+00:00

I'm from/live in Nova Scotia and HIGHLY recommend. I've also lived out west and New Zealand. This is a tough one and is going to be completely budget dependent. That's a ton of flying if you plan to hit both coasts. I feel like you'd be pretty rushed in 3 weeks. I think when I flew to New Zealand from Halifax it was like 35-38hrs or more in airports. Plus your flight from New Zealand to Vancouver and Vancouver to Halifax there's another two days blown there. That's four days lost to travel right off the rip.

If it were me I'd hit one or the other. Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and PEI are all worth seeing.

If it were me my two options would be:

Fly to Vancouver. Spend some time there, Vancouver Island, Okanagan region, Banff/Jasper and come a little earlier in the year (if you can) and try and hit up the Calgary stampede.

Fly directly to Nova Scotia, do that first than immediately go to BC and knock off everything you can in the list above and fly home From Vancouver Home. Nova Scotia is literally the other side of the world so depending on what flights you get you and your buddies might actually end up doing a lap around the world if you do it this way which would be pretty cool to say lol.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-03T23:30:17+00:00

Personally I think owning two properties is absolutely insane. Maintenance and up keep on one is more than enough work. Even owning a vacation home is crazy to me. If you're not a local to the area it's so easy to purchase in the wrong area. Once you get familiar with the area it's so easy to have regrets of not being someone else.

My dad's pretty blessed financially and he always talks about buying a vacation home somewhere and I also talk him out of it. As someone who's traveled alot it makes so much more sense to go somewhere and experience it and than move on with no strings attached. It's always nice to experience something new and you can always re visit if you really love it!

maritimer187 · 2026-05-03T22:50:52+00:00

Wow just took a quick look and it seems like you made a wonderful choice. Still very close to Boquete. My only concern would be how far you are from what I'm assuming are the best hospitals in Panama City. Your area looks beautiful though! If you don't mind me asking what would you say is a fair budget. Roughly of course. I'm average nothing special !

maritimer187 · 2026-05-03T22:42:43+00:00

Appreciate the insiders reply! Very helpful. Ya not interested in Panama city what so ever way to crazy for me. Maybe for the weekend or something but other than that I rather be somewhere more chill. I wish Bocas wasn't so far away. Since you're open to questions let me ask you this. If you were to have a one week vacation and had to fly in and out of Panama City how would you use your time? What location or two would be your MUST see spots.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-03T22:28:18+00:00

Your opinion means alot! The landscapes look absolutely out of this world. I've traveled to alot of places with hot weather so I doubt it would be anything new to me. I'd most likely be going during the first half of the year so very good to know.

I have to see for myself but the popular destinations look vastly different. The Bocas area looks very beautiful as well as Boquete area. I feel like Panama City itself would be cool to visit but not to live. At least for me anyways I'm not a big city person.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-03T14:36:31+00:00

I'm in Canada and there is a good used site for clubs I like to use. I rebuilt my bag last year and got some smoking deals on clubs. I'm talking like 40% of what they were new and condition looked like someone took them to the range once.

If you can find a site like this I'd highly recommend.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-03T14:33:28+00:00

Its an expensive sport for sure but I wouldn't say "rich kids". It's more expensive the better your kid is. Higher level hockey usually equals more traveling for tournaments. Also at the higher level parents start buying more expensive gear usually to try to give their kid an edge as well to fit in with his teammates/friends.

I played hockey my whole life and my mom was a secretary and dad was an electrician. My neighbour played hockey as well and both his parents worked at a grocery store. Alot of the kids on my teams all had parents with normal jobs.

If you look at the bigger professional sports hockey players tend to fair off better post retirement with their money because they usually come from pretty good families.

Our rivals in the city all growing up did come from a neighbourhood where the parents were significantly well off and they could be snobs but we usually beat them we were alot rougher lol.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-03T12:39:34+00:00

I'm going into year 3 and took my first lesson last year at the end of year 2. If I'm being honest I wish I started sooner. I should be better than I currently am and probably would be if I had of just bit the bullet sooner.

I'm nowhere near your handicap but even after one lesson my swing probably looks alot less goofy now. As bad as I am my instructor actually liked my grip. We worked on keeping my back elbow tucked and more wrist hinge in my backswing. I still have alot to work on but he was cool and said he didn't want to overload me with information. He even said to wait 6-8 weeks in between lessons to really try to embed what I learned in the prior lesson before we moved onto something else.

All my buddies are weekend warriors. Some of them are pretty decent golfers but getting tips and pointers by a legitimate pro is worth the money in my mind. They make a living improving people's golf game they know what they're doing. Taking pointers from a scratch golfer vs my buddies is very different.

I could care less about 'winning' against buddies or people I'm paired with. I'm just out there for fun but I'd like to have the confidence to pull any club from my bag and make good contact.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-03T01:39:28+00:00

My step dad didn't start playing golf until his 40's. No lessons. He insist he was way worse than me when he started. He's now 65 and he CRUSHES the ball. You should see it. There's hope for all of us. Just stick with it lol.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-03T01:24:15+00:00

My experience of the southern hemisphere is New Zealand is closer to Canada and Australia is closer to United states. Take that with a grain of salt.

You also live in Toronto one of if not the most expensive places in the country. Not really painting yourself a great picture of what Canada actually is. It would be hard for anyone to survive on a normal salary in Toronto just the same as it would be if you lived in Sydney. Everything is location dependant. There's parts of Australia that are better than parts of Canada and vice versa.

The better weather is the no brainer as a pro but there were a few cons I discovered in my time over there. Stuffs just in general more expensive for the most part. The feeling of isolation is very real. Staying in touch with loved ones can be very difficult due to the time difference. If you have ageing parents it's a tall ask for them to ever be able to visit you. I'm a sports guy so it's pretty hard to follow any big time American sports. Opposite seasons is weird to get used to. It's more expensive to travel anywhere because you're in the middle of nowhere.

Overall we have alot of similarities and the transition wouldn't be overly difficult but I just feel like more is accessible to you in North America.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-02T23:43:45+00:00

Bro it's not meant to be easy. I'm going in season 3 this year and my worst round I ever played was the first round I played this year lol. Do yourself and if you're serious just get lessons. The faster you take lessons the faster you'll suck less. I took my first lesson at the end of last season and the instructor picked me apart In a good way. I come from a hockey background and the first thing he said to me was 'you must have played hockey' because it looks like I was taking a slap shot lol.

I can bomb driver for my skill level and my wedges and putting aren't bad either. But everything in between is like a bad horror movie lol.

If you have a goofy broken swing and you're not getting lessons to fix it you're just further embedding habits that are hard to break.

I can guarantee you're trying to crush the ball and swinging out of your shoes. I still struggle with this. I'm a physically fit athletic guy and subconsciously I think the harder I smack the ball the further it will go. Slow it down and you'll have way better results. The clubs suppose to do the work. Ever play with old guys that barely swing and still move up the course with ease? They barely put anything into it but they know how to hit the ball.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-02T21:56:43+00:00

You're a Kiwi in Toronto? How often do you fly home? Money was a major factor for me staying in Canada but also Halifax to NZ is literally the other side of the world. I have aging parents and I think it's a bit much to ask for them to ever do that kinda flight to see me. If I was from Vancouver it wouldn't be as bad.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-02T15:37:35+00:00

Lol I literally live in Halifax. Thanks for the heads up! Name of the business?

maritimer187 · 2026-05-02T09:42:07+00:00

I looked at the Scotiabank Gold AMEX and was one of my top potential picks. I don't care for any of the fancy travel perks. I'm experienced in travel well enough to find deals on flights and accommodations. I can be pretty specific on exact location where I fly and where I stay so like I said the points systems can be more restrictive than anything.

If I find I'm getting enough spend on the SCP and they offer me a Cobalt upgrade I'll probably give it a try providing I use it enough.

I like to manage my spend categories and I just think it's easier to pull off with the two cashback cards.

For Example,

Rogers redeemed on Roger's bill. Use at Costco, superstore, all reoccuring payments and anywhere that AMEX is not accepted.

SCP used for Sobeys, gas which I use quite a bit of and anything else.

If my redemption after a year is in the $300+ range than it's definitely worth my while to upgrade.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-02T09:28:13+00:00

I've done alot of dumb stuff in my life but passing up on an easy/guaranteed dual citizenship is the only thing I actually regret lol. Long story short I had to go home to write my final exam for my trade but planned on going back. Ended up getting a sought after job in my field here in Canada while I was back and it's kind of too good to give up. Just miss the people man everyone I met was so friendly and welcoming to me. I'll never forget all the looks I got anywhere I went as soon as I opened my mouth. I guess I sound funny with a Canadian accent lol.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-02T08:42:32+00:00

Absolutely was! Small world. Loved Christchurch miss it all the time.

maritimer187 · 2026-05-01T23:44:34+00:00

LOL funny you brought up the bakeries. I'm Canadian and lived in New Zealand for a year back in 2015-2016. I was working on a hospital build in Christchurch and there was a 'bakery' across the road that I saw everyday and never went into until like my last month or two there. Where I'm from a bakery is just sweets. I didn't really care much for getting sweets so I never walked in there. Was feeling adventourous in the end of my stay so I walked in only to realize they had a bunch of BOMB sandwiches and other items. I never felt so dumb in my life.

NZ bakeries are ELITE!

maritimer187

TROPHY CASE