My Utes go to the sweet 16!

Under the non golf related category I'd like to congratulate MY University of Utah Utes for making it to the sweet 16. Unfortunately we are meeting Kentucky next. Kentucky is the team we were leading by 15 at halftime in the national championship game in 1998, only to lose the game. Kentucky has knocked us out two other times since then.

I hate Kentucky. I hope my Utes can be victorious this time. Go UTES!

90

No I didn't shoot a 90 today.

90 is the number of consecutive holes I've played with the prototype Maxfli BlackMax golf ball. Though I've almost worn all the lettering off the ball, the cover is still in great shape. The ball is still very playable. This ball is SO durable.

This is now turning into a challenge to see how many holes I can go. I'm going to keep playing this same ball until I either lose it or deem in unfit for play.

I play in a tournament tomorrow so I'm hopefully going to get my total up to 108.

Watch your mouth Freddy!

You gotta love TIVO. I hardly ever watch anything live anymore.

I'm watching Freddy Couples off to the right of the 16th green at Bay Hill. He took a free drop away from the cart path. When he dropped his ball, it nestled way down into the rough. A fan must have laughed about it and ticked old Freddy off. Freddy said "yeah, that's pretty f'ing funny isn't it?" The announcers had to apologize for his comments.

Freddy then proceeded to hit his bad lie over the green and into the lake. He ended up getting a 7 on that par 5.

That reminds me of another F bomb he dropped a few years ago. I can't remember the tournament but it was on a 2nd or 3rd playoff hole. He knocked his shot into the lake and said "God damn it I hate this f'ing game." The announcer then said "Mr. Couples has expressed his displeasure with the previous shot." Yeah, displeasure.

Arnie's Umbrella! and Adios Jan

Isn't it ironic that Arnie's logo is the umbrella and his tournament at Bay Hill was rained out today?

Oh, and the Big Break III (crotch shots only) I mean Ladies Only: My favorite player Jan has "gone home." Someone is going home. Someone is going home. They can't hit a green with about 20 attempts. Ok, I may be exaggerating a little. Blame the wind... Someone's going home.

Sun Mountain Speed Cart

"It's better to push a cart than to pull it." Sounds like a Volkswagen commercial. Gone are the days of the old Bag Boy two wheel pull carts. The hip golfers are now pushing their clubs around with fancy 3 wheeled carts. CLICK HERE for the full product review of the Sun Mountain Speed Cart.

Maxfli BlackMax Prototype Final Conclusion

72 holes with my first BlackMax ball and still going! Somehow I've managed to play 4 straight 18 hole rounds with ONE ball. Two of the rounds were 73 (one good enough for 3rd in a local tournament).

The most amazing thing about this ball is the durability. I'm going to get a digital photo of the ball I've used. Aside from some wearing of the decoration, the ball is quite undamaged and still playable. I'm going to just keep playing holes with this ball until I either lose it or wear it out.

I've said in all of my reviews that the iron play with this ball is amazing. The feel off the irons and the accuracy I seem to have is great. My distance control is right on. This may be due to the fact that my iron game is solid right now or that the ball is just that good... Perhaps it's a little of both.

All 4 of the rounds I've played with this ball have been in moderate to heavily windy conditions. I've used the Callaway HX Tour in windy conditions and the BlackMax is every bit as good, if not better in the wind.

Until my last round played I wasn't sure about the supposed distance of this ball because my driver just wasn't working well. This last round I finally resolved that question with some very solid drives. One of my pals that I play with is a BIG hitter. He plays either the HX tour or V1X. If I am "on" with my driver I can usually hit it as long as him or at least within 5-10 yards. On this day he was hitting the "new" V1X. We both have the 983K drivers with the same YS6 firm shaft. Two occasions he crushed his driver and was a good 20 yards in front of me. One occasion we both crushed our drives into the wind and I was 10 yards in front of him. The final occasion we both hit pure drives straight downwind on a par 4 (410 yards). The two balls were exactly 40 yards from the green. (Yes that's 370 but the wind was strong and the ground very hard).

I don't play the V1X as it feels way too hard for me. When I play the V1 my buddy is MUCH longer than I am. When I played the BlackMax we were neck and neck. So I can conclude that this ball is a long ball. I would say it is much longer than a V1, and about even with a V1X or HX Tour. I would also say that this ball is better into the wind than the V1X.

Chipping for me has been terrible as of late (shaking off the winter rust), but my putter has been strong. I've always liked the feel of a V1 off the putter better than an HX Tour and the BlackMax feels just as nice. I would say for me, there is just a little less spin around the greens than a V1 more than an HX Tour.

This ball definitely beats the HX or V1 in it's value. I can barely play 9 holes without rendering an HX tour unplayable with some full wedges or short irons. The V1 is more durable than the HX for me. I can play around or two but if I hit a ton of full lob wedges I can scrape the cover right off. The BlackMax does not wear like that. For a premium ball I can get much more play per dollar out of the Maxfli, provided I don't lose it.

Lose it? I can't lose it. I've knocked it OB 3 times. I've knocked it in the "forest" 2 times. I've bounced it off of fences and skipped it over lakes. I've hit it left handed twice and nailed several trees.

72 holes and going strong....How many holes will I go before I lose it or deem it unplayable? My next round with it is this Thursday...

The $496,000 putt

Vijay Singh had a 2 foot putt to continue the playoff with Padraig Harrington on the 2nd playoff hole at the Honda Classic. I almost fell out of my chair when he missed that two foot putt. Vijay is as close as it gets to a golf machine and very seldom does he miss a putt like that.
So Harrington (63) defeats Vijay (64) and Joe Ogilvie (who lasted one playoff hole) to win the Honda Classic and $990,000. Rather than winning the $990,000, Vijay has to settle for a mere $494,000.