Columbia- League Week 13

The second to last week of regular season league was today at Columbia Golf Course.  Michael and I dropped to 5th place after only earning 1 point last week. 

This week was the front 9. After last week I was hoping to bounce back to the form I had in week 11 when I shot a 36 on the front.  Today had pretty windy conditions though that made scoring difficult.

We played against Paul and Jay.  Here, Paul is preparing to tee of on the par 4 second hole.

After a par start I tried a difficult shot on 2 that eventually led to a triple.  Ick!  The rest of the day this is the only birdie I saw.  This guy was perched on a tree to the right of the 4th fairway.

I did have one high point of the day.  After a 300 yard drive down the middle on the par 5 7th, I hit a 6 iron just left of the pin.  Unfortunately it flew long and I ended up 10 yards over the green in 2.  Unfortunately I failed to get up and down for bird but had an easy par.

On a good note, my putter continues to be hot.  I feel so confident over mid to short putts.  I hit a lot of putts right on line but too short.  So my aim is great, I just need to get the speed down on Columbia's uphill putts.

We ended up splitting the points this week at 2.5.  I am sure that is not enough to move up.  next week I will be in Canada and Michael is playing another course so we will for sure be falling in the standings.  I would guess we should be one of the first 3 or 4 tee times for the playoffs.

Totally Driven- A kid in a candy store

On Friday, I had one of the coolest golfing experiences this year, when I had a chance to get a complete club fitting through Totally Driven, in Edina, MN. 

Totally Driven has been in business since 2006.  They used to be located in Woodbury but this year moved to Edina, which is a lot closer for me.  This Christmas my parent-in-laws got me a gift certificate for here.  I finally felt like my swing was getting into a groove so a full fitting was scheduled.  I was really pumped as they have been ranked as one of the top 100 club fitters in America, and their facility is top notch.

My appointment was at 1:30PM so I went to the range to be warmed up before heading over.  For those who know the area, Totally driven is just north of 494 and just west of Bush Lake Rd.

When you first walk into the office, there is a receptionist to greet you.  I was greeted by Andy, one of the founders.  He introduced my to my fitter for the day, Jesse VanRiper.

Next to the reception area is the putting area, complete with a wide variety of putters and the Edel putter fitting station.

Next to the putting area is a short game chipping room.  An automated SST PUREing device is also located here.

Walking past these areas, you enter the heart of the facility with the weight training facility to the left and the main hitting area to the right.  Totally Driven offers a full fitness program for all levels of golfers.  It is headed by Lynn Anderson and Jason Jaynes, both TPI certified.

The fitness area is well stocked with very nice LifeFitness equipment and golf specific training aids.

The majority of my day was spent in the full swing hitting area.  They have 7 stations, each equipped with FlightScope and Trackman monitors.  Here you can see Jesse entering in some of my status into the FlightScope system.

Jesse initially recorded my clubs and took measurements and recorded the specs on my current equipment.  During this time I began warming up by hitting shots into the nets.

We began our fitting using a Mizuno swing analysis device.  This is basically an iron with a computer attached.  It measures swing speed, tempo, lag, kick, and face position.  This device is used to essentially give a ball park idea to the fitters on appropriate shafts to try during the fitting.

Next we decided to jump into the driver fitting.  This is typically the most tiring fitting so they recommend doing this first.  We got the FlightScope warmed up and I began by hitting 8 shots with my driver to get an average analysis of its performance.  I hit a couple of stinkers that Jesse excluded from the analysis.

We then started trying different clubs, and switching out shafts and adjusting the lie and other settings on the drivers to dial in the specs to be as optimal as possible.  I hit several clubs, including the Nike Coverts, Cobra Amp Cells, Ping G25 and Anser, Taylor Made R1, Rocketballz, and Titleist 912 D2. 

During this time I was also hitting a couple of balls.  Jesse had asked me before we began what ball I played, and told him I really did not use a standard- but played what I found.  We started with the Srixon Z-Stars, as that was the last ball I had bought.  After seeing the stats of the clubs with that ball we switched balls until we found one that was performing the best- the Bridgestone B330 S.

Of the drivers the best match for me was the Titleist 913 D2 at 12 degrees of loft.  I tend to have a negative AOA with my driver and this loft was giving me an average real loft of 9.6 degrees.  Once we got the club dialled in, we continued to try more specific club settings and shafts. 

After the driver we moved on to the fairway wood.  I currently have a Nike 3 wood that I have a love hate, relationship.  I can absolutely stripe the thing nearly as far as my driver, but I also frequently hit it very poorly.  Again, we started out hitting my club.  Several screaming dogs and a few OK shots gave us a baseline.  Again we went through hitting various models.  This test had some really interesting numbers.  You can see below a chart showing some of the clubs and the numbers I was getting.

Most interesting is with my club, I was hitting with an average swing speed of 102mph and was only getting an average 170 yard carry.  With the eventual winner, the Titleist 913F, my swing speed dropped up to 6mph but my carry went up to 230 yards!  That is just crazy to see a 60 yard increase with a slower swing!  Also with the club tweaked the spin axis was going from 1.39 degrees left to almost zero (0.3 degree left).  Those numbers are just sick.  The one club I wanted to hit here, that they did not have for lefties, was the Ping Answer.  I looked at one of those in a store and just loved the way it felt at address.  But with the kind of just numbers from the 913F who can complain?

After the woods fittings, I was a bit winded.  I think these 2 fittings took about 2 1/2 hours to complete.  To allow me to rest a bit we went to the putting area to do a putter fitting. 

For the putter we began by Jesse watching me make several putts around their putting surface.  We talked a little bit about my putting game and how I approach a putt (setup, lining the ball up, etc.)  I feel like I am a pretty good putter but feel I tend to get a bit handsy. 

Next we tried a distance control test- putting to a string laid across the green, with the objective of stopping it right on the string.  I was none to consistent, rolling them all by several feet.

After watching this Jesse picked out a putter for me to try but first we set up the Edel laser sight.  This is basically a circular device the size of a golf hole with a laser embedded in it.  The laser shines out to your putter, and a mirror attached to your putter then reflects the laser back onto a backstop.  This allows you to attempt to align a ball up to the "hole" and then the ball is removed, allowing the laser to reflect back and show your actual alignment and also loft. 

I normally line up my put using a line on my ball and then square my putter to the ball's line.  After attempting to line myself with the laser I quickly realized that I was not at all consistently aiming the putter.  Jesse had me try to aim the put without using a line on the ball and I got a little bit better but was still not close.

Next Jesse handed me a different putter- The Taylormade Ghost Tour DA12.  This putter is all white with a single black sight line.  Immediately my aim proved much more accurate using the laser sight.  The loft was also much better, not nearly as high as my Odyssey.  Next Jesse added a counter weight to the top of the putter and we tried the distance control putting.  With a 50 gram weight I immediately rolled 3 balls right onto the string.  That was just crazy!.  He then tried a heavier weight, and a lighter one but neither allowed as consistent distance control as the 50 gram weight.

Finally we talked about the putter grip itself.  the Talyormade comes with a crappy plastic feeling grip.  Jesse recommended a Super Stroke grip, as he said he has used them and help to quiet the hands.  We looked at several options they had and I picked out a grip. 

After the surprising putter fitting we went back to the fitting area to work on Iron fitting.  Jesse measured my clubs swing weight and then we worked with a Mizuno MP-59 club and started dialling in optimal swing weights using contact tape.  This was another shocking experience, to see how changing the swing weight changed the consistency and location of my ball striking.  For me, switching to a D4 made a crazy improvement where all of my strikes were centred on the face.

Next we went back to the FlightScope monitor and started out by hitting my clubs.  We started with both a 6 and 7 iron. as all of the manufacturers had at least one of these clubs to compare against.  After another exhaustive comparison I found the best combination of launch, spin, rotation, and carry was the Taylormade Rocketballz Tour irons.  I loved the feel of the Mizuno Mp-59 but they had too low of spin.  The Ping i20 were another really great feeling club- but they spun too much.  Finally the Titleist AP2's had great feel but the spin axis on those got to be a little too out of control.

One club they did not have left handed was the Callaway X-Hot Pros.  I was really keen on hitting these, but similar to the fairway woods, with the numbers the Rocketballz gave me, I really wasn't too upset.

After the wedges we did a comparison with hybrids.  Currently I carry 2 hybrids- a 3 and 4 iron equivalent.  This was the one test where it showed I really didn't gain a lot by any different club.  So the current Adams hybrids stay in the bag.  This is the only club that will remain.  That is another great thing about Totally Driven.  They are not there to push you into new equipment.  If something you have is shown to work  for you, then they tell you so.

The final club fitting were the wedges.  I have always used Cleveland wedges, and never tried anything else.  We started out with Titleist Vokey wedges on a contact board.  I have a tendency to go underneath the ball with my wedges and the contact board showed why.  The Vokey's have some of the highest bounce of any wedge offering, but I needed even more.  Jesse consulted with Andy and it was decided I try out a new Edel wedge that just came in called the Driver.  This wedge has even more bounce, and the very first time I hit with it, the contact tape was spot on the sole grind! 

After all of the fittings, the last thing to do was work on grip sizing, which was determined should be + 1/32. 

The total experience of a full bag fitting took 5 1/2 hours.  It was a bit of a marathon session.  They do offer to split the full bag fitting into 2 sessions if you are not inclined to bash balls as long as I did.  I did notice that my swing speeds dropped through the day and I had a tendency to leak shots left the more the day went on.

I cannot recommend a fitting like this more highly.  Specifically, everyone at Totally Driven was very helpful, and very patient.  Jesse never made me feel rushed and was totally open to me hitting as many clubs as I wanted, and for me to keep switching back and forth.  The numbers that the monitors bore out for my essentially off the rack clubs, compared to dialled in components is truly mind blowing. 

One funny thing I did find out about my clubs:  I supposedly had them custom made for me when I ordered them through one of the big-box retailers.  I was supposed to have +.25 inches on my clubs.  When Jesse measured them they were all over the map.  One club (my 6 iron) is actually 1 inch longer! 

Grrr, check out the un-awesome goodness that is my 3W

The other surprising thing to see is how different a change in ball can have on the exact same equipment.  I never really bought into how different balls can make an impact but the numbers certainly tell a different story.

I went ahead and placed an order based on the finding during my fitting.  In only 2 to 3 weeks I should have my clubs!

Totally Driven

www.TotallyDriven.com

6529 Cecilia Circle Edina, MN 55439
952-681-2728

Monday - Thursday 9am to 6pm
Friday - 9am to 5pm
Saturday - 9am to 4pm


Playing Update
The only club that I was able to take home immediately after my fitting was the putter.  I played the next day with it for the very first time with no practice.  It was absolutely sick.  I could not believe how true I was rolling my putts.  I think I missed one putt inside of 5 feet all day.  Any putts that I did miss were just a tap in second putt.  A never even sniffed a three putt.   With a mediocre day away from the greens, I still would have broke 80 if not for a stupid penalty shot on a hole.  With my new putter it was just lights out once on the dance floor.  If my other new clubs make as much difference as my new putter, breaking 72 is seriously within sight.

Golfing Island View Golf Club

On a beautiful late July summer day with low humidity and temps in the mid 70s, I headed west to Waconia, MN to play Island View Golf Club.  Located about 35 miles west of Minneapolis, the course is situated on the east side of lake Waconia.

Island View is a semi-private course with 375 members.  They do offer limited public tee times but only 3 days in advance, and only for select times of the week.  The current rate is $55 on the weekend, $50 during the week.  A cart will run you an extra $17 per person.  Comparing those rates to my benchmark western suburban course (Chaska Town Course) at $67 and cart for $17.  The course is certainly well maintained and a very fun layout.  There is only one hole with a problem I would say has a bad design.

Today I was treated to my round by my brother-in-law Dave, as a late birthday gift.  I also teed it up with Mr. Vigen and Dave's dad Larry.

The course is a fairly short layout at 6578 from the tips with a respective rating and slope of 71.4 and 133.  There are 4 sets of tees (blue-6578 yards, white-6252 yards, gold-5691 yards, red-5335 yards) that are generally fairly close together, and the course prides itself on pace of play stating that rounds should be completed in 4 hours.

Built in 1959, and officially opening in 1960 the course has alternated between exclusively private and semi-private.  It was designed by Bill Kidd Sr. and George Oftelie.  Bilk Kidd Sr. was the head pro at Interlachen from 1920  until his son took over in 1956.  Bill Jr. finally retired in 1993 and their combined 74 years is the state's longest father son tenure.

The layout is a traditional park-land style course with mature trees lining the rolling fairways.  While the course is not on the shores of Lake Waconia, water does come into play (dramatically on a couple holes) on 4 holes.  I would say most holes are well bunkered with around 50 total bunkers in play.  The biggest challenge comes from the trees which demand precision on nearly every shot.

On to the course.


Hole 1- Par 5 (486/465/465/448 yards)
A par 5 to start off the round, this hole plays straight away, rising to an elevated green.

 There are 2 fairway bunkers down the right side of the hole.  Trees line either side, which is a constant on pretty much every hole out here.

The green is protected in front by two bunkers and an additional one on  the right side.  This is the shortest of the par 5s on the course.


Hole 2- Par 4 (398/364/364/335 yards)
A long uphill par 4 that doglegs right around the trees.  On the left side of the dogleg is a large fairway trap.  The better angle into the green is the left side of this hole as the right side can be blocked by the trees.

An accurate second shot is needed to another elevated green that is well guarded by 3 greenside bunkers.


Hole 3- Par 5 (520/509/490/436 yards)
This par 5 plays fairly straight for the first 2 shots before turning slightly right at the end.  This is the second longest hole on the course.  Off the tee there are a pair of bunkers down the right side.  The tee shot is elevate from the fairway.  You can see water down the right off the tee but it will not be in play until the second shot.

Down the left side of the hole runs a grove of trees, so if you want to avoid the fairway bunkers right you run the risk of tree trouble down the left. A grass gully runs across the fairway 270 yards off the tee.

 On your second shot, the best play is to the left side of the fairway to set up the best angle into the green and to keep the water out of play.

 The green is deep and guarded down the right by the water and down the left by three bunkers.

 As with most of the greens here, they look relatively flat but have a lot of subtle breaks that can fool you the first time you try them.

A view back up the hole.


Hole 4- Par 3 (161/147/147/131 yards)
The first par 3 on the course, it is the shortest out here.  A large green can affect club selection of the tee.  It is important to hit the green as a bevy of four greenside bunkers will catch most wayward shots.  The green slopes back to front so hitting short of the pin is a better options than a downhill come back putt.

Hole 5- Par 4 (394/378/365/357 yards)
A straight away par 4 that has OB right and trees down the left.  The fairway tends to run off to the left so hitting to the right center side of the fairway is preferred.  However the right side miss is definitely more penal with the OB and trees down that side.

 The hole descends dramatically towards the green at around 150 yards.

The green is flanked by a pair of bunkers, with water on the extreme left.  Another deep green can demand an extra club or two based on the pin position.

Another view back down the hole as seen from the 6th tee.


Hole 6- Par 3 (189/176/167/133 yards)
One of the signature holes on the course, a demanding par 3 requires a long carry all over water on this par 3. 

 There is room to bail out right but a bunker protects the front of the green between the water and the green.

Hole 7- Par 4 (400/357/290/290 yards)
A long uphill par 4 requires a tee shot from the hill that carries the valley and passed the fairway bunkers on either side of the landing area.

Once in the fairway, a second shot must miss the bunker running the length of the left side of the green.

Hole 8- Par 4 (384/355/315/292 yards)
Similar to the last hole, another elevated tee shot, requires a carry over a valley.  Two fairway bunkers guard the landing zone.  Playing just short of the left bunker is ideal as it gives the best angle into the green on this slight dogleg right hole.

 The second shot is slightly uphill, making the approach blind.

The green has a single large bunker on the left side and is slightly domed on all sides.

 A view looking back down the hill to the fairway.

Hole 9- Par 4 (401/384/312/310 yards)
This is the one hole that I disliked.  Off the tee on this long par 4 is a large tree on the right.  It makes a driver a risky proposition.

Off the tee unless you can get the ball up very quickly, you have a very small target area, shown here.

Playing into this window brings the far side of the fairway into play, and its trees, on this sharp right dogleg.

Hitting a safe high shot over the tree, results in a long uphill second shot to a tree lined green.  No bunkers are around the green but the trees do come into play.

Hole 10- Par 4 (364/355/355/338 yards)
This hole has a wide landing area off the tee.  A bunker down the right side guards the bend on this dogleg right but is only 215 yards from the tee.

This hole is the longest par 4 on the back nine.  With the elevated, domed green protected with a bunker short left and surrounded by trees it is a stern test to begin the second half of your round.

Hole 11- Par 3 (206/174/174/157 yards)
 A longer par 3, the hole is visually pinched by trees but is otherwise unprotected by hazards.

Hole 12- Par 4 (322/310/310/285 yards)
A complex of bunkers protects the left side of this straight-ahead par 4.  The fairway narrows down at 230 yards.  The safe play is to play just short of the bunkers, where the fairway is widest. 

I preferred to take driver down the right side, using the cart path to find the flower bed near the 18th tee.

The green has another pair of bunkers protecting the front side, and falls off on the back.


Hole 13- Par 4 (345/329/300/263 yards)
A daunting tee shot waits on this par 4.  A peninsula fairway must by located off the tee.

 Hitting right is obvious doom but aiming left can bring well placed bunkers into play.

 If you do miss badly off the tee you can be left with a more daunting third shot that must carry the water again.

 A wide green accepts balls esily but there are some contours so accuracy is key.

A pair of bunkers protect the short right side of the green.  A view back up the hole can be a bitter moment if you don't play well here.

Hole 14- Par 5 (571/558/445/445 yards)
The longest hole on the course, you will find OB down the left and water down the right off the tee.  From the back tees it is 200 yards passed the water.

 If you've found the fairway off the tee, your second shot may be slightly blind, as the fairway descend on the way to the hole. 

 There is danger reachable in two down the left side with another pond in play.

 The pond protects the left while a pair of bunkers protects the right of the green.

Hole 15- Par 4 (336/325/325/302 yards)
A short par 4 it makes up for its distance with a severely narrow tee shot.  Hit an iron here and keep it in play.

Vigen was surprised to find his ball in the fairway.

 The approach from the fairway must negotiate 4 bunkers surrounding the green.

 Even if not in the bunker, the sunken borders can lead to awkward lies.  Missing right on this hole can find your ball rolling all the way down near the 17th tee box.

Hole 16- Par 3 (145/131/131/129 yards)
Another pretty par 3 requires you to carry the two bunkers short of the green.

Trees also mess with your head as you take aim at the hole.  The green is large and just hitting the surface doesn't guarantee a par.

Hole 17- Par 5 (Par 4 for Gold/Red) (554/543/334/334 yards)
 The penultimate hole is a long par 5.  A slightly blind tee shot off the tee, the hole id straight-away.  Hit it as long as you can down the middle to avoid the trees- the only trouble on your first shot.

It is hard to hit a bad shot with balance like Dave has.  He played really steady and carded an easy 81.  The hole falls downhill towards a green the has two large bunkers right and short of the green.

Hole 18- Par 4 (Par 5 for Gold/Red) (402/392/402/350 yards)
The final hole is an uphill par 4 back toward the clubhouse.  Along the way you must avoid the large bunker down the left side.

 The green is elevated on the second shot and is unguarded but is domed.

A view of the large green.  Don't make a mess on the green as a crowd is likely watching you from in the clubhouse.

I ended up with an 85.  I played fairly well but had a real problem with distance control on my wedges.  I think I came up short 6 times with a wedge.  The greens were deceptive too.  While most putts looked straight, they had some tough breaks.  Some downhill putts were really slick too.  All in all it was a fun test.

As for the course, I really enjoyed it.  The rates are reasonable, actually very reasonable given the conditions the course is kept in.  A great layout (except the 9th) and impressive elevation changes make this course a very fun round of golf.

Playing with the group I did was a great time.  It was the first time Michael and Dave had seen each other in a long time so that was great.

I will have to try to get out here a bit more.  It is a hike for me and with very limited tee time windows it might not be a frequent course in my rotation but I will look forwarded to coming out here again.