The Golf Shop

Eagleye

Tinkerer
I fully understand this thread may be limited to me as many people find golf to be pointless, boring, etc.

With that out of the way, I wanted to create a thread for anyone else that is interested in talking about golf. I got into about 10 years ago and wish I had started earlier. I love most aspects of it: watching, playing, club design and building, fitting, etc. I'm into it enough to have a net in the basement with simulator software so I can play anytime. With my latest investment I now have access to software that allows me to design my own courses and play courses that others have designed. This lets me enjoy golf and design together which is great. Some people smarter than me even created a tool to allow you to download elevation LIDAR data from national databases to map the terrain on your course. It is pretty impressive how accurate it replicates. I've been working on a local course that I know well and it is an excellent representation.

Anyway, I'll probably just post now and again with updates on my setup (with pictures) and what next projects could include. Anyone can feel free to ask questions, talk about their golf interest, or point and laugh if that's your thing haha. I'll give more details as I think of what all to share or if anyone asks questions.
 

Batmobile_Engage

Squirrel Meat Aficionado.
Staff member
Dude that sounds awesome! I'm sure things are starting to come down in price, but last time I looked, that kind of equipment for a good quality golf simulator was incredibly expensive. For example, I've seen nice setups people have in their basements (that don't LOOK to be super expensive) that have been about $35,000.

Anyways, I have played golf since I was probably 6-7 years old. Was the #2 golfer on my High School team in my sophomore year and our #1 as a junior and senior. At that time, I could pretty reliably shoot an 80. If I went out there right now I'd probably shoot a 95, because I am waaaaay out of practice. My personal best was a 78 and that was while I was playing as often as 4 times per week. Since moving to Michigan in 2012, I've probably played 7-8 times. Sad, I know... I just don't have very many friends that play and most of the ones that do are not even close to serious. I don't need to be a super serious stiff out there, but these guys are drunken clowns and I'm actually trying to shoot a decent score.

Thus, I hardly play these days... :unsure:
 

Eagleye

Tinkerer
Yeah I find it hard to find good golfing buddies. Either they are messing with the carts or drinking too much. I mainly go with the ?old guys? because they take it more serious yet still have fun.

my setup was roughly $2500 for launch monitor, sim software, and net. I already had the mat and computer to run the program.

i wish my ceilings were higher though. I?m fine but my dad and anyone taller than me or with a very upright swing will have trouble.
 

Grinder34

Track Monkey

Eagleye

Tinkerer
Man, you're slowly digitizing your life. First cycling, now golf. You'll never see sunlight again!! :lol:


I don't play golf, but my grandparents did quite a bit. My grandfather even got a patent on a putter design. I have one and the original literature laying around somewhere, I'll see if I can dig it up. But a single google search resulted in one on ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tonny-Putter-MRH-34-5-True-Temper-Meteor-Steel-Shaft-RR0565-/352626972750

Haha yeah, it is more about convenience and saving time than anything. I can play a round of sim golf in an hour in the basement vs. 3-4 hrs depending on how busy a course is. And I save drive time.

I designed a putter a few years back and sent in 2 copies to the USGA for approval. They approved the prototype which was pretty cool. I never really went anywhere with it, it was a good learning experience in design and milling since I milled it up myself on one of our manual Bridgeport mills. I made 3 of them total. 1 is actually shafted for my son to use.
 

Grinder34

Track Monkey
Haha yeah, it is more about convenience and saving time than anything. I can play a round of sim golf in an hour in the basement vs. 3-4 hrs depending on how busy a course is. And I save drive time.

I designed a putter a few years back and sent in 2 copies to the USGA for approval. They approved the prototype which was pretty cool. I never really went anywhere with it, it was a good learning experience in design and milling since I milled it up myself on one of our manual Bridgeport mills. I made 3 of them total. 1 is actually shafted for my son to use.

Was there any cool science behind your design? If so, I'd love to hear it!

My grandfather's design incorporated some curvature to account for push/pull on the swing. Seems cool to me, but I'm not a golfer. Also, it didn't make him rich so clearly it wasn't considered that cool by everyone else either!
 

Eagleye

Tinkerer
Was there any cool science behind your design? If so, I'd love to hear it!

My grandfather's design incorporated some curvature to account for push/pull on the swing. Seems cool to me, but I'm not a golfer. Also, it didn't make him rich so clearly it wasn't considered that cool by everyone else either!

I took into account turf interaction with a sloping design, tried to keep the MOI high with more weight at the heel and toe, and modeled it with influence from the stealth bomber design. I learned a lot through the process and would defintly do some things differently the next time. I am looking at creating a multi-piece/multi-material design for the next one. The first one was milled from a single block of QC-10 aircraft grade aluminum.
 

Eagleye

Tinkerer
Figured I would post these pictures here as well along with some others from the process of designing, milling, oil canning, and assembling my own putter.

FC694B03-2FF1-486B-865B-C8D933255620.jpg
0390DC34-FA0E-4208-9EF1-52E4E18C7DAD.jpg
E1A8EB5F-1702-4E02-BC8D-6A2FF9F42F6A.jpg
944D34A6-642F-4813-959A-AEA50C0E466A.jpg
86BE9207-F7D1-4652-A9F6-3AE933D074E8.jpg
4AF7EE14-D528-4375-A8DA-D7C77E7D3121.jpg
FAE3364B-E17C-4E58-BD25-7DA870132525.jpg
A41F4A4A-C0B5-43BD-91D2-8E3596DAE4CD.jpg
 

Eagleye

Tinkerer
I ended up turning the passion into a side business www.tailoredswinggolf.com

I also took a side gig as a High School golf coach at my old HS last fall. It’s been interesting so far. I’m surprised at how little effort some kids put toward a sport/hobby. They seem to think improvement will come from playing a few rounds and hitting some balls at the range during the season. I’d be interested to know how many of the private and larger public schools have players that practice year round or if their pool of athletes is just that much deeper. At a small school the kids that go out for golf seem to do so because they either aren’t good at other fall sports, don’t like running, or just want something to do.

You guys are always welcome to send me questions about anything golf related!
 

Batmobile_Engage

Squirrel Meat Aficionado.
Staff member
Here's one, though it may be a little vague. I've been playing since I was probably 6-7 years old. My current set is a 1989 Wilson 1200 Gear Effect. I've been playing them for at least 20 years. They are in great shape and I hit them extremely well. That said, I know I'm way behind the times when it comes to club technology and eventually my son will need a set to start playing with. So I think I'm going to pack them away for him a few years from now and get myself something new (to me).

The last time I was consider a new set, I really liked the 2015 Adams Idea Tech. The woods are hybrid-ish and the hybrid trend follows through the irons, becoming a traditional shaped iron by the time you get to the short end of the (V3) set. It seems like that's the last year they were produced and I have a hard time finding a set that isn't beat to shit. It looks like the finish wasn't too high quality on them. But I digress... I've been looking around online everywhere from places like Carl's Golfland to private eBay sellers and I'm just not finding a complete set that is in good shape.

Would you happen to have any ideas of places to look, or an idea on a similar set that you think I would like? Golf gear isn't cheap of course, but based on my current point in life, I would prefer to find something for ~$500. Definitely no more than $600 at most. I just don't have the opportunity to play enough to warrant anything more expensive at this time.
 

Batmobile_Engage

Squirrel Meat Aficionado.
Staff member
This one looks like it must be new, based on the price. :cautious:
 

Eagleye

Tinkerer
Golfwrx classifieds is where I buy most things that aren’t from Sub70 golf.

Full disclosure, I am associated with Sub70 (assisting in making their fitting cart clubs). I came across them a while back. Small business out of Sycamore, Illinois with a good owner that will talk directly with customers. I’ve hit almost every club they make and was their first outside fitter to my knowledge.

They have a used section on their site that is full of good deals and their equipment is really nice in terms of quality and performance at a much cheaper price than the big guys. They are direct to consumer so you won’t see their stuff on the shelves, but having had and tested as many companies as I have, I can assure you they are worth every penny at their price point.

I’ll go more in depth in another post so anyone who happens to look has this info but for you specifically, give me a call sometime and I’ll give you some options that I think you will like within budget.
 
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