In this episode we talk about Anthony Kim’s return to professional golf, but where will he play? Does Tyrell Hatton’s move to LIV mean that it now has the stronger field? We recap the Farmer’s Insurance Open but was this the first PGA tournament that truly let us down? Plus we give you our top ten Los Angeles golf experiences.
Hosts
Todd Howe: @ncnogolflab – Club builder / owner of NCNO GOLF LAB
Shaun Fagan: @skfgolf – Master Fitter at TrueSpec Beverly Hills
Follow us on instagram: @ImposterGolfPod
Watch the episode on YouTube
Expect anything different welcome welcome welcome it’s episode four of impostor syndrome a golf podcast we’re talking all things golf here on the show I’m your host Todd how and as always it’s a pleasure to welcome my co-host the one the only Mr Jo Fagan how are you brother man other than Chipotle pissing
Me off and going to a gas station where I was refused 3 PSI of free air I’m great you’ve had quite the day quite the day Mondays can be a little hit or miss this one was a big hit long day today and hot off the back of my ners taking
Down your Lions the Lions lost yeah it was it was looking good for a minute I will say it doesn’t feel like the same old Lions team you know which is nice to have a professional football team uh you know that Barry Sanders can proudly represent so I’m happy for that yeah and
The Chiefs would you call that an upset over the Ravens I mean I thought the Ravens were going all the way this year yeah I I thought Lamar was going to take it it looked like he was Unstoppable at the end of the day you know you get to
These moments and I think these guys get really tight and you see that at every level of sport where there’s something Legacy defining on the line it’s very rare you’ll see a player not get tense in those moments you know I had the privilege of watching Tom Brady and
Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan for all these years you know kind of as a kid and even like when LeBron was starting to become you know oh is he G to be the next Jordan we saw him fail multiple times prior to finally making it uh janas satena quo failed a couple times
Before he won his first title um you know momes just had the Poise and I feel like the older I get the more and more important especially in today’s NFL where the quarterback has to do two things better than than his opponent he needs to be super confident and poised
And he needs to be smart and if you can drag your men to Victory you’re going to be one of the greats that’s what I’ve always been saying about Brock pie I feel like he has that leadership quality that everyone kind of says oh he’s not
That good I mean you know he put down some huge plays at the end of that game kept them in it they were getting smoked he stayed calm wred the ship the team rallied around him and it really is incredible what momentum does it was a Monumental comeback by the 49ers yeah
Once they smelled blood in the water yeah um look I I will say this watching your own team in the playoffs is probably the most stressful thing that you could do try being a red socks fan in the late ’90s and early 2000s I’m going to be a
Mess in two weeks when it comes Super Bowl time I’m rooting for the ners I want to see Taylor Swift cry I’ll be happy if she cries um what’s that hat you’ve got a bob you’ve got a uh a bob Voki design hat going on what’s the
Story one I think it actually fits me unlike most of the hats I wear right and everyone will probably start noticing this as it goes forward some of the hats just do not fit my head is what it is this one actually does but fun story about this so vogi created
A um a tour van option like this blank uh flanged wedge back I don’t know 15 20 years ago it might have been I was a kid at that point and they were for lefties you had no bounce options at a lefty no grind options it was just basically
Blank tour uh wedges and I had my initials on them so I ordered them they were like 180 bucks each you know which is way too much money for me at that time and I just wrote in the comments thanks so much for doing this this is so
Exciting I got um my wedges in the mail a couple weeks later with a handwritten um Sharpie letter from Bob vogi himself saying sea thank you for the kind words believe that anything you do is possible and signed BV and he sent me this hat he sent me some Prov ons and
I got the wedges as well I just thought that was a really cool touch that’s a good score it was I wish I had the letter still yeah I mean I don’t use vogi anymore but uh man they make some damn good wedges uh we got a little PSA
If you’re loving the show so far we need your help to continue to grow uh how does that happen well it’s as simple as rating us on the podcast app you use to listen whether it’s Apple Spotify Google or even iHeart or if you’re watching us
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Follow they just keep coming man they just keep they sure do in more ways than one coming up on this week’s episode the week has come feel like Roy for a day round is upon us uh we’re filming it this week uh we’re actually filming it
In 2 days time looking forward to that more later on that um big news just announced this morning T hadn’t going to live for 50 million bucks might be 60 might be 60 uh what’s 10 million between friends ehy what does this mean for the PGA T and the state of
Professional golf we’ll see we’ll talk about it latest PGA T info including the farmers including the LPGA including Lev we’ve got a great mailbag today dude really good mailbag excited folks have been leaving their questions we’ve got new equipment updates hot off last week’s PGA show and we’ve got a special
Segment today where we are sharing what we think are our top 10 golfing experiences in Los Angeles the feel like Rory mroy for a day round is here we got one more sleep until the feel like Rory day at Los R Blaze greens AKA The Goblin we have a
Second group joining us they won’t be on camera but we thought it’d be nice to have another group out and and uh see how they perform as well uh at 5600 we get a call today from Henry pine cone member and really good friend and
He says uh we got a fourth joining us and his name is Rory mroy get out of here MC l r o y just join pine cone amazing so we have a Rory maoy in the club and we have a Rory mooy on the feel
Like Rory m for a day round this is just this just keeps on getting better how serendipitous is that I’m excited to see what Rory mroy shoots that day don’t worry we’ll be getting how Rory feels like Rory or if Rory feels like Rory we’ll see we’ll see with how I’m hitting
The ball um this could be a pretty tough look for me um I’m playing so terrible but hopefully the shorter course and a couple days off to uh you lick my wounds from rustic over the weekend uh will help me out a little bit I’ve done a bit
Of research here right the average Greens in regulation for the PGA tour for last season from 175 to 200 the average is 54.9% from 150 to 175 the average it goes up to 63.9 6 125 to 150 it’s 69.3 4 from 100 to 125 yards 75.3 five from can you hear that dog
Barking I can this is we’re live okay that dog’s going to be an X dog if it doesn’t shut up uh 75 to 100 it goes up to 78.7 for and uh inside 75 is 87.8 n% how about that tour players miss the green inside 75 yards 133% of the time
I’ve looked at the course for me there’s probably nine truly advantageous holes that I think will will really help us they’re averaging 38 yards shorter which is around about three to four clubs right three clubs yeah so that’s nine holes plus five par 3es that we’ve got
The par 3es on average are 27 yards shorter than they are from the tips sful um that’s two to three uh and then four holes which are probably going to be or require a little bit more strategy you know those holes uh being holes four 5 9
And 18 yeah nine and 18 are interesting yeah so the big question is are we going to risk reward it I think we’re we’re going to be aggressive though right we’re gonna be very aggressive yeah what are you hitting on nine on nine I’m G to
Be trying to drive the green of course I mean there’s nowhere else to land it yeah and if I end up short then uh I’ll be in I’ll be in the bunker and I’ll deal with it do we take any Mulligans that aren’t on camera uh TB
Okay all right let’s get into the weekly recap dude big big news Anthony Kim is making a comeback he’s in talks with PGA and live um he hasn’t played on tour for 12 years I mean the AK story has becoming one of golf’s great Mysteries and myths um he was only the fifth
Player at the time to win three times on the PGA tour before the age of 25 most people would remember his lights out final round of 65 at the 2010 uh Masters tournament 11 birdies tournament record in that round I believe it was just one hell of a performance from
Anthony km weirdly enough my swing coach Kevin sheller I believe was on the bag for Anthony Kim that day no way yes way yes way he only played four years on tour the last two plagued by injur injuries he had two top 10 finishes in
26 starts in 2011 he only made two cuts in 10 starts in 2012 and then you know like that he’s gone um walking away from the sport having taken a $20 million insurance payout supposedly with a clause in there that if he played professional golf
Again he’d have to pay it back and now he’s back look is the myth of Anthony Kim greater than the man himself I mean it’s a lot of pressure if he comes back just straight up right like I’ve had some conversations with two people that had a little bit of Anthony Kim
Connection one of them from the Korean media my friend Q who has followed him since he was a kid and I mean they still very strongly believe in the Korean media that Anthony Kim is the monster ready to come out um also you know Tom
Kim is kind of who they’ve looked at but they’re still waiting and hoping for Anthony Kim and I recently played with Q about a month ago and he was still very bullish he’s like I know his family I know the legions of fans all rooting for
Him and excited for him I’ve worked with a lot of Korean younger players who all idolize Anthony Kim and I know of a personal friend of his who I’ve not ever asked directly any information about it but all I know is before this all came
Out I was starting to hear his name and saying like hey his swing looks like money and only recently it’s popped up on Instagram uh one person posted it and then everybody posted it I think it was posted on Monday Q info uh Monday qualifier info page and it went like
Wildfire it’s still looks great he still looks like he’s got speed his hair is a little longer I don’t want to comment on anything that has been going on in his life it just seems like he had something going on that he wasn’t able to to
Really focus and get back into and if whatever challenges he’s gone through at 38 now you know same age as me like I’m sure he’s got a clear mind especially if he’s coming back into the fry and then you know the insurance payment is going
To be covered by either Liv or the PGA tour because they both understand that hey we need this guy back the challenge is the fact that if he goes to the PGA Tour which I don’t expect him to go to the PGA Tour it’s either going to have
To have you know a bunch of exemptions right and then give a chance in appearance fees to like make it back because if he doesn’t gain enough points he won’t retain his card you can only give out so many exemptions so that’s why Liv is obvious right like Liv gives
60 million bucks to Terell Hatton if they go from John ROM to tiell Hatton to Anthony Kim right and you already have DJ you got Bryson you got Patrick Reed you have Louis e ha and like all of a sudden you Cam Smith like all of a
Sudden they have a very compelling watch and Kim is kind of like Rah was the one who flipped the balance of power in golf in my opinion he’s the great great player of his generation now that Liv is Rel relevant because they have the best player of the generation and then you
Throw Anthony Kim as a chaser like people are going to watch that absolutely look I want to talk a little bit more about Liv in a minute yeah um look live Liv’s the obvious choice for Anthony Kim 100% it’s easier golf it’s an easier schedule hell of a lot more
Money in it for him up front um if he does choose a deal and look wherever he ends up golf needs it right now because uh it’s it’s just deteriorating if he goes to let’s say the PGA Tour and he doesn’t earn points then he’s gone because it’s a
Meritocracy however you want to you know take that it’s a meritocracy and you have to play well to maintain your status with Liv I mean if he’s not playing well who cares it’s a sideshow he attracts eyeballs he becomes a cultural icon in golf again brings in
You know another crowd hopefully like a more you know exciting youthful energy to it um but like if he plays badly he’ll wash out in a couple years and everyone be like oh well the Anthony Kim that was so much fun to make a comeback
Who knows what it ends up I think it’s good you want all of the best players to play at the end of the day that’s what it should all be focused on absolutely on to the PGA Tour Matthew pavon wins the Farmers Insurance open at Tory Pines it wasn’t without its last minute
Excitement he’s leading Nikolai hoard by Two Shots heading down the final hole leaves his Drive in the left bunker has to lay up from the lip of the bunker uh and pulls his his layup left into the rough uh meanwhile hoard’s on in two pavan’s got 155 yards to a tucked front
Left pin over water from 3in rough and he’s going for it and all I’m thinking was oh my God this is going to be Jean Val at khy all over again but he hits it to 7 and 1/2 ft and then makes the clutch birdie to win but with the
Exception of that final hole it was pretty boring golf uh it was lacking all the big names it was just phoned in PGA Tour Tournament it it really goes to show you that watching golf on TV for the vast majority of people is like watching uh paint dry or flies
Fornicating right uh to use something my dad said for a long time um it’s it can be very slow moving and without a real compelling environment because since it’s on the ocean you’re like oh wow it’s so beautiful and the light is beautiful down in La Hoya and all that
But you know the course doesn’t it just doesn’t speak to you on TV um I’m not a huge fan of Tori like I said last week on the Pod for a couple different reasons uh but they are really dependent on Star players you know and what’s
What’s tough like I love the idea of the farmers Invitational that’s played on Sunday you know shout out to Billy horel and my friend Doug Smith who are on the broadcast and you know uh for the apga and like they’re inviting all these players what’s so crazy is like all the
Players that played in the farmers Invitational are way better than pretty much anyone you know playing golf and these guys can’t shoot par at that golf course and the tour players from 7800 yards are just making birdies every single ho and it just shows you how much
Of an advantage you have when you’re in and out on the tour right like I mean these guys go from one city to another all they do is play golf and work on their golf swing and they are so unique uh athletically in order to pull this
Stuff off week after week compared to anyone else who doesn’t have the funding to play week in week out all over the world but at the same time like it’s hard to televise when a bunch of people are shooting badly and it’s also difficult to televize when you don’t
Have anyone that most you know fans are are not necessarily rooting for or no you know Matthew pavon finally wins on the PJ tour he’s been around forever like France needs a winner on the PJ tour they get it they finally have a winner on the PJ tour like that’s a big
Moment but watching the broadcast it didn’t feel like anyone was like even Jim Nance was kind of just like and oh he hit the green oh my gosh a shot it’s like come on man like you’re better than this I know you’re like focused on the Masters and focus on you know calling
The the the Chiefs game the next day but like it does lack some of the pump in circumstance that CBS is usually really good at and they just didn’t really have it this week it kind of felt like a byee for them yeah it really did feel like a
Byee I mean look unlike this week coming up at the AT&T Pebble Beach proam you know Rory’s back JT Scotty Sheffer Victor hin day tons of others are back at the AT&T Pebble Beach pram it feels like that will be a tournament to actually watch you know proof will be in
The pudding but uh pavon Farmers win overshadow overshadowed a little bit by teral hatton’s moved to Liv but there’s obviously a bigger discussion here right rah’s gone [ __ ] went last week now hatton’s gone Liv is not only continuing to sign more players but they’re signing for and this is my opinion they’re
Signing or have signed the majority of what I would consider to be the more charismatic players uh and dynamic players that were on the tour capka Bryson DJ Ram cam Smith babba with his Wild Cuts even the next rung of players who have left left for live like um
Walkin Neeman AB aner Carlos Ortiz Taylor G I mean the PGA Tour was way more exciting when all of these players were Under One Roof and I think it’s safe to say that now the best players in the world would live I would say that they
Have the upper hand and but I don’t think either tour can successfully exist uh separately from each other and you know no one’s watching Liv no one’s watching the PGA Tour well more people are watching the PGA Tour than Liv but you know what I mean it’s just one big
[ __ ] mess and you know I think that even the players have lost sight or are unaware of kind of how close Pro Golf is to losing a lot more fans um and I think if the players don’t get it um that’s a problem yeah I mean I think one of the
Reasons why most of the Liv’s players are more charismatic than some of the PGA tour players is most of them have won on the PGA tour and when you win on the PGA tour you become more charismatic because your voice matters and people listen and if you can win on the PGA
Tour you already have a certain amount of confidence and Swagger and ego that makes you more interesting right so I do think that’s a little bit of a part of it um I think this week at the Pebble Beach proam um the the ratings are going
To be high and I think it’s going to be awesome to watch because Pebble unlike Tori despite also being on the same ocean one there’s a pump in circumstance around it two I think because it’s a signature event they’re going to advertise the crap out of this Jim N is
Going to be on his aame right he’s in his backyard he’s going to be going nuts and uh you know you’re going to have a great winner again I would think I mean Pebble separates Fields pretty good sometimes and you’ll have a random winner once in a while uh shout out Von
Taylor right but I do think that this is an event that’s gonna they have to put their eggs in this basket right and I think it’s going to play really well it’s going to be a compelling tournament but I mean look at the end of the day
The tour players don’t have any idea what the common fans thinking they’re all out for themselves and yeah I don’t blame them but it sucks for the viewer it really does uh I mean who’s who would have to go for you to think well the PGA
Tour is like really on the back foot now oh well I mean if Rory goes to live which I wouldn’t be shocked honestly um it’s over right John ROM basically took the PJ tours you know cookies almost immediately and you know they still are holding pretty good but when the best
Player of his generation goes to live like the cameras have no choice but to follow live and the PGA Tour needs to do something and you have all this private Equity money $3 billion dollar maybe more that’s going to invest in the PGA tour in this you know unified um you
Know company or whatever the hell they want to call it this merger or whatever they have no choice because at the end of the day all of the TV money that is waiting for them is is waiting for a compelling product where the best players all play against each other and
That’s going to happen like there’s no way around it anymore everyone’s hands have been forced and you know I think it’s still going to be a good year on the PGA tour but you’re going to see more TL Hatton esque players leave because terl Hatton I mean I don’t know what his career
Earnings are I bet it’s a little less than 50 million so he just doubled his career earnings plus some guaranteed literally and he’s you know not the not a new player right so it’s a no-brainer for him and all of the guys who decided not to take the live money are going to
Be kicking themselves Hideki matama like must be so upset because I don’t know what they offered him but it was hundreds of millions of dollars and he’s going to end up playing against all these guys two years from now he got totally duped um LPGA Tour world number two
Nelly cter defeated lyia Co and a sudden death playoff Nell’s is leading she’s dropping a couple of shots to fall three behind Lydia Co with a few holes to play then Nelly Eagle 17 uh and then a tap in Birdie on 18 to force a playoff um Lydia Co three puton
To lose it that’s golf but that was just pretty damn hard to watch uh you got to feel for her because uh she was Rock Solid all day nearly was up and down but you know it’s the way the cookie crumbles in this sport she’ll be fine
The great players are always okay the great players have the most second place finishes of anyone else well if Lydia did win this weekend it would have been uh into the Hall of Fame uh the LPGA Hall of Fame for her she would have been joining anaka sstone Kyrie web MB Park
And a a load of other uh hugely talented Champions LPGA Hall of Fame does not include Dame Laura Davies um because apparently she doesn’t qualify look she’s in the world Golf Hall of Fame I guess that’s all that matters right I think that’s better yeah um yeah look up
Dame Laura Davy’s stats I mean she won 20 times on the PGA tour 45 wins in uh on the European ladies tour she’s had 87 professional wins and she’s won four majors but she doesn’t qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame I you know go figure
Go figure yeah I think she’s okay I think she’ll she’ll handle it you know what I mean yeah she’ll still be uh te it up on the grass yeah no doubt something far more exciting now we’re moving to a different segment this is a this is a special segment we’re
Doing uh it’s our top 10 Los Angeles golfing experiences or things in our beloved City of Angels that are golf related and that are hugely fun um look I’m going to start first up I’m going to go with Roosevelt golf course it’s a short nine-hole mun uh located in Griffith Park
Um couple of miles from downtown it’s fun it’s undulated um it has some of the best fistas of uh the Los Angeles downtown Skyline that you could uh possibly imagine and it just makes for great Twilight golf in the summer and uh late spring and early fall it’s always
Fun so that’s number one where what you got Sean um the first one I’m going to say is it’s mini golf there’s a place called Castle Park in Sherman Oaks it’s been around for a long time from what I understand there’s an arcade there lighted mini golf great first date spot
Great Skins game you know great mini golf in La there’s not much of it to be honest with you this is pretty fun and it’s an old staple of LA and it’s worth everyone going at least once you might not want to go a second time but it’s
Absolutely worth going and um just have a blast there’s some pretty cool holes some cool hole design there’s some bridges and things like that the greens roll really quick too so grab your Scotty Cameron and head over to uh to Castle Park in Sherman Oaks my number
Two well let’s go this is number three the LA City championships I enter this tournament every year uh it’s held at Wilson and Harding golf courses two munis uh designed by George C Thomas it’s a 4-day tournament two days with a cut and uh every year I I love heading
Out there to uh see if I can actually put two rounds together and and qualify for the weekend I haven’t done it yet and I’m back this year it’s cool too because like yeah those courses so much can go wrong that like anyone’s in it
Yeah it’s just a lot of fun like it’s the only experience every year where you feel like you’re actually you know you’re playing a 4- day tournament yeah uh and as a as a 3B I would say the Pasadena City Championship also highly competitive also a lot of variance in
That to to tie off on the LA City championship um number four is going to be going to the Genesis Invitational at Riviera now Riviera uh and this is coming up actually in a couple weeks now but Riviera might be one of the if not the most spectator friendly golf courses for
All ages kids senior citizens who really can’t walk up hills and stairs and things like that once you get into Riviera it is laid out perfectly you’re super close to every tea box and every Green there’s no obstructed views unlike what we had at the US Open here at La North
Last summer amazing food definitely get the lobster roll at the back of uh 13 and 14 uh in the food court area a little expensive totally worth it and uh all in all it’s just a wonderful event to be a part of hosted by the tgr foundation um and obviously Genesis uh
It’s one of the best my favorite is always to try and go during either a practice round or on Thursday and I’ll just sit at the range and watch some of these guys hit the highest apexes you’ll see and you get pretty close to them and it’s amazing uh how small that driving
Range is where they literally can’t hit like actual golf balls Beyond a certain point because there’s just not enough room but amazing viewer experience altogether all right look number five is Weddington par three Weddington is located on non Venture Boulevard and witset here in the San Fernando Valley
It was the course that I actually jumped back on when I picked up a golf club again after 18 years of not playing golf unfortunately it’s closing on the 4th of April this year it’s been bought by uh one of the local welltoo high schools
That are going to demolish it and put up a sporting complex hopefully we’ll be able to work out some kind of farewell to Winnington day we’ve been talking about a little bit but let’s see let’s see what we can do all right over to here so Westchester Golf Course is a
Golf course that I would say has seen some improvements over the last few years it’s right next to the airport in the landing Zone at LAX so when you’re out there planes are landing planes are taking off uh you hear a lot of noise the weather is tremendous but the key of
This course is you have to play it under the lights every uh you know at least once every month every two months or so me and a group of like 12 players uh mostly golf pros will go out and just play Under the lights and um there is no
Better experience than you know having a a beer and just playing golf at night with all your friends and you the last three or four holes are a truly great test of golf and uh the lights go out at 10: so you better finish putting on 18
Right at 10:00 cuz they’ll shut the lights off on you but that is easily a top 10 golf experience in LA and more people should do it because it it blows my mind how many people leave when the Sun goes down like the action heats up
At night I haven’t done it yet yeah again you’re missing out my next one I’m gonna go with middlewood Studios um it’s located on uh boy where is it Lea I really love what metalwood is doing in golf with its community and how it’s introduced new people to the sport um
They have a little shop on the bra and just pop into the shop it’s one of the things to do in Los Angeles yep Cole uh best of luck with everything coming up for him Cole Young does an amazing job with scratch golf he makes some of
The most incredible videos where he goes to all these random mom and pop golf shops and buys a bunch of vintage golf clubs awesome golf clubs because this guy is a connoisseur of that type and then goes out and plays with some of them and it is as good TV in the golf
World is anything and I’m like shocked Golf Channel hasn’t paid him to actually make a show for them because the scratch golf episode with nation golf that he goes out to the Palm Desert and plays with this illegal faced wedge is one of the funniest things I’ve ever witnessed
On YouTube golf and it’s 100% worth diving into give Cole some some love he’s does uh he does great work over there and Darren as well Cole and Darren are doing some great stuff I love those guys great there is awesome yeah all right next one for you okay so this will
Be my last one for the night I’m going to say if you ever get the privilege of playing B Air Country Club bowling your golf ball down the tunnel after 16 and up to the 17th T is uh one of the coolest golf experiences you’ll ever have I know it sounds really strange
There’s this long Stone tunnel and you have to bowl your golf ball and whoever makes it down the tunnel all the way wins mostly bragging rights it is one of those golf experiences that you know you’ve kind of you know reached the Pinnacle of golf experiences in La so if
You ever get the chance to play it you know you take this that ball that you just hold out for on uh on 16 you throw it down that tunnel it goes about 150 yards you get some weird bounces you can’t throw it too hard can’t throw it
Too soft you hope it doesn’t get stuck in between the other tunnel at the end of the uh the bottom of the hill there and that’s just one of those moments where you’re like yeah I’m doing pretty well if you’re throwing the ball down the tunnel I’m still waiting for my
Invite from you dude I again you know it’s going to be tough lastly I’ve gone with golf courses that you can play for well under $100 we have so many amazing golf courses here that you can play for well under 100 bucks Rustic Canyon Goose Creek lost
Road blades Alis links Soul Park Simi Hills lost veres you know in the long Beach courses too Eldorado Navy destroyer we have nearly 10 municipal golf courses here including Rancho Park Country Club don’t forget Rancho Park Country Club Park Country Club yeah run by the city and almost all of these golf
Courses have been designed by the George C Thomas or William Bell but the mun system is just magnificent here in Los Angeles no question more courses than you can eat for under 100 bucks all right moving along to equipment 2024 equipment releases a little quieter this week um cobra have a
New line of poters announced um so they’re worth checking out Odyssey released the AI jailbird which I thought was quite interesting might as well anything else coming through true spec last week so we received um a bunch of uh more left-handed heads which is
Always uh good for me and uh we even got the new paradigm AI smoke iron and the HL iron the high launch iron these clubs are really interesting and I can go on an entire separate podcast about the uh why I don’t really love game improvement golf clubs for a lot of
Different reasons but there’s always a need for someone to play something that’s a little bit unorthodox and you know a big old shovel and I would say these two fit the bill I actually didn’t dislike the Paradigm iron last year I’m waiting for the new Apex at some point
The Apex the the bigger one at least the the players distance iron um the AI uh irons are interesting uh the HL one very interesting it kind of looks like the old stealth HL and now the qi1 HL iron almost looks like a mini hybrid you know
Look there’s a place for these clubs but for a newer golfer I actually think you do yourself a disservice putting a club like this in your hand because it just basically gives you positive feedback on the wrong type of golf swing and you know if you’re hitting up on a club and
Adding a bunch of L the the shot shouldn’t fly at the proper trajectory um it’s a big old band-aid and if I’m a newer player I’m not going to necessarily put myself in blades but I’m definitely going to start with a player distance iron because it does reinforce
Some of the proper patterns to good golf and we I can call it good golf because there’s no coincidence that at P6 every single Tour player is pretty much in the same exact position like if you’re not in that position you’re going to really limit the effectiveness of your ball
Striking and if you want to put a tennis racket down there go for it but you’re it’s not going to teach you how to play better and how to get better and I think some of these bigger irons are a little they’re a little strange again there’s
Always going to be a need for something like that depending on the player and the player could have any sort of issue that not that doesn’t allow them to get into that proper position but it’s not really a player a club for a newer player if anything it’s a player that’s
Ingrained bad habits for so long that you just say you know what here throw this in your hand it’s going to help you get the ball in the air a little bit maybe go a little farther um you know that those clubs make up a very small percentage of what I
Sell yeah understandable all right it’s time for the weekly mailbag uh where we answer your golf related questions we’ve got uh a number of people that have left some voicemails for us we’re just going to go right into it first up is TK hey TK here longtime listener firsttime commenter on the Pod
My question is how do you see the rise of the virtual golf round for example at home simulators and the tgl affecting the traditional round um I think they’re two entirely different things altogether golf is analog simulator golf is digital it’s a completely different animal altogether um Every Lie is perfectly flat there
Just is no comparison but it is golf adjacent okay and if you kind of like golf but you don’t want to be outside for four and a half hours go play simulator it’s different the only thing that is similar is the fact that you swing a golf club and you hit a golf
Ball that’s it and if it allows for more people to understand what golf is then great all right moving right along we have Paca hey Todd and Sean uh this is Parker longtime listener first time caller hey my question is what properties make a driver or fairway wood
Shaft good or better than other driver or fairway wood shafts are there certain shafts that dependent on flex and weight are just designed or have better properties than other driver shafts or what should the amateur golfer look for when purchasing a shaft thanks guys okay so let’s assume all companies make good
Shafts it’s hard to get away with making bad ones okay number one if you’re getting a free shaft from a manufacturer it’s been bought for like you know basically it’s been reverse bided okay like hey who can make me this type of shaft for as low money as possible cool
You know missii we’re going to get 30,000 of these shafts for $3 a piece and we’re going to bake them into the price of our product when you’re buying a small batch shaft it just has much higher quality material it’s a much more consistent material and it will bend
More consistently at the end of the day that’s what you end up paying for but there is no shaft Zar okay what I mean by that is whether it’s as stiff regular xflex that has no relevance to any other shaft from a different brand okay they
Get to call it whatever they want and at the end of the day a good shaft is one that actually fits your swing um and if you don’t get fitted for a shaft and you just buy one off the rack it’s going to be really hard for you to understand if
It’s going to fit your swing or not and you need someone who watches people hit golf balls all day to tell you if it’s going to be something you can work with or not you know they can only shafts been so many different ways they’re stiffer in the handle because of the the
Diameter they’re softer in the tip because of the diameter and you can dial in how it moves and bends and breathes throughout the swing but at the end of the day the one that fits you best is going to regardless of the properties because I think that’s a really nebul
Nebulous word like you have to get one that fits you properly and times up the club face into the ball the moment your brain is expecting it to yeah I agree with that and look you know I’ve I’ve bought enough shafts and ab enough shafts to know that um you know I
Got to go and get fit I mean I’m just you’re really just wasting your money at the end of the day uh by not by not getting fit properly for a driver shaft it is without doubt one of the two most important clubs in the bag can can I
Elaborate on this one more more thing so you know I had a client today who was like oh I went on this manufacturer’s website and I think this shaft is awesome and then I paid for their shaft selection tool and they told me to play this shaft if you are doing that like
Blind on a two-dimensional screen on your computer and even worse you’re paying for someone to like tell you what shaft you should be playing I mean I don’t know how to beat you over the head hard enough to be like don’t do that like you have to hit them
Like it’s that simple you can have the cheapest least high quality shaft that’s sitting there in a used bin and if it works for you it’s the best shaft for you it just is what it is if you come to a specialized shop like truspec where I
Work I’m going to have you know a 100 shafts on the wall and at least two or three of them are going to make sense and then we’re going to figure out which one gives you the best numbers but like the idea that you can go online or go on
The YouTube and look up hey what shaft is best and read something that suggests this shaft is the best one is crazy it’s absolutely crazy so just don’t do that like save yourself all of the time and effort and money that you’re going to spend thinking that shaft’s going to
Work for you when the likelihood is due to how they advertise them inspect them you have absolutely no idea what the EI curve is trying to explain to you and like the advantage I have is just I’ve seen thousands of players swing different shafts and I know how each one
Moves where they move why they move how fast they need to be swung to actually move correctly and ultimately optimize the strike so just don’t read anything online seriously I think Tiger Wood said that recently didn’t he yeah he said he said don’t watch YouTube videos I mean
He’s right although you can get good information you just have to know where to look yeah well look moving along we got Johnny here hey Sean and aan my question is about wedges how often do I need to replace them and is it worth buying used thanks guys keep the good
Work I mean Titleist says 75 rounds and you have to replace it I mean of course they’re going to say that they want to sell you a new set of wedges every year I don’t think it’s a bad idea right if you can afford it um realistically I
Think you can get 125 rounds out of a wedge pretty easily um yeah and buying used wedges with unique bounce and grind options that you aren’t super familiar with probably isn’t a bad idea just to get a feel for how the turf interact acts with so yeah experiment with some
Used wedges and get a feel for how they interact get a feel for some of the shots you like to hit and then when you really figure out which brownson grind profile you like buy it new yeah I mean look there’s I think there’s a little bit more to it than
That I mean we’re obviously talking about a serious golfer who might be looking at an oem wedge you know I don’t I don’t see any problem if you want to buy a set of mirror wedges and there’s a pretty decent looking you know not not hugely used set of mirrors out on eBay
And you want to go and buy them just go and buy them you can also buy some vintage wedges off eBay if that’s what floats your boat but you just got to be aware that you know what comes with uh with wedges that have been used more is
You’re going to get less spin a wedge is still going to spin pretty good as long as the plating on the face hasn’t fallen off I don’t care how old it is I don’t care beat up the grooves are they still spin okay you’d be surprised loft is
What Loft and speed create the spin more than just the grooves are you going to lose 10 15% yeah but you know maybe that’s how you play like it might not be the worst thing in the world sometimes spin can hurt you if you’re expecting the ball to release and it doesn’t that
Might not actually help you so just experiment experiment with as many you know wedges as you can because you can pick up three or four of them for probably pretty short money at at a used you know uh shop so I would experiment with them I would have no trouble myself
Just buying a set of used wedges off eBay if I wanted to try him out no doubt and have low expectations but you might get surprised all right we got one more here we go hey Todd and Sean awesome podcast guys keep it coming
This Is My Jam when I drive to work back to work and uh back home love it my question to you guys is is what is your if you have any what is your swing thought when hitting a driver it’s really the only Club I personally
Have issues with and I’m just trying to see you know while sticking to the swing that I have without changing anything too drastic uh as far as it’s all mental like what’s what’s in your head before you hit the ball as you’re standing on the tck yeah look I don’t have any
Thoughts when I’m standing on the T box I’m jealous you have to just eliminate all mechanical thought look at where you want to land the ball visualize and execute the shot and that’s all you need to do if you’re having trouble spraying something left and right then you’ve
Obviously got you need to sort that out at the range uh and figure out where your shot shape is but when you’re on course you should have a shot shape that is reliable enough that allows you to eliminate any thought whatsoever um any mechanical thought at least and you
Should be able to pick your Target and go for it and forget about the outcome yeah I mean I just think with a driver you might as well swing really hard and you know hopefully you’ve done enough practice to get a general sense of like where the ball’s probably going to go
Like for me it’s just make sure the club face doesn’t get shut because if the club face is shut for me I’m I’m gonna have all kinds of trouble all day also try and keep your balance I think that’s a really important factor too and my last tip would be
For me at least because you’re asking us like I want to feel a pause at the top of my swing so I can sequence correctly when I get really quick at the top the club face basically drops inside and delivers closed and that is a low screaming duck hook that goes Oscar
Bravo so I like a little pause just to make sure my hips start the downswing if you’re a single handicap golfer you should at least understand your sequence enough that you can repeat that on course and if you can’t get your ass to the range and get yourself to a point where you
Can repeat it I mean it’s that black and white I got some rapid fire questions for you okay question number one would you rather play around in the pouring rain or 30 miles an hour of wind the rain can be very relaxing wind is not relaxing wow God the rain can take a
Hike dude I mean give me 35 30 to 35 miles hour any day of the week as long as I’m dry it’s just I mean keep your expectations in you know in check at 30 to 35 miles an hour I love playing shots and when trying stuff you know I have no
Expectation to score well I guess it’s tough I went into that round on Sunday excited for the opportunity to play in the wind and when you don’t hit the center of the club face ever for 5 hours it it’s it’s really uh a difficult emotional
Experience yeah I heard you had a bit of a doozy oh my god I didn’t even see you I didn’t see you either I didn’t even know you went out yeah I was first group out number two favorite movie of all time Happy Gilmore are you kidding me not the best
Golf movie of all time here here’s a hot take Tin Cup is the best golf movie of all time followed by cat Shack followed by Happy Gilmore but Happy Gilmore is my favorite movie of all time you’ve heard it all folks Happy Gilmore Fagan’s favorites I’ve I’ve got more questions
Here we go if you could play clubs and balls from pre-2000 only what do you think your handicap would be relative to now well pre-2000 it was pretty close to the same and I would guess that if you made the clubs harder to hit we would
Figure out a way to score about the same I mean it’s it’s very telling when you look at the average handicap over the last 20 years it’s gone up like obviously new players have come in and but the G like every we’re so much smarter on how to play the game right
You think that like bad players would figure out that all it takes is to break 90 is 17 Bogies in one par um I think I if gave me clubs from like 1997 okay like my 975d and like you know some old ass Cleveland TA fivs or whatever I was
Playing at that point I bet I shoot about the same feel like I’m a way better player but I bet I’d score about the same I am going to take you up on that alha okay you got some lefties no I don’t have any lefties but we’ll we’ll figure something out okay
We’re going to do maybe we’ll do a pre 1995 yeah we’ll do pre-1995 round okay we’ll see if Cole can hook it up we could use metal woods help question number four if you were given an opportunity to Cy on the PGA tour would you take it obviously it depends on what player
You’re talking what level player kly yeah 100% kidding me all right all right yeah yeah I mean why wouldn’t you I mean it’s not an easy job but it would be it would be a hell of a two or threee run yeah God man those guys walk some miles um question
Number five what’s a golf course you expected to be great but was totally underwhelmed by you can get me in trouble here no come on man I mean go there go there I’m always pushing you I’m trying to think um played I’ll be I’ll be straight up with mine um PGA
West H so overrated yeah I mean like the desert courses are interesting because you can’t hide the fact that you’re in this wide openen desert right and like every place off the golf course looks the same you get the the hills the mountains you get the the you know the
Tan colored background in the in the in the and things like that it’s not even that for me with PGA West and admittedly like I’m talking about the Nicholas course specifically yeah um I am just not a fan of residential courses for one and uh it was just the most
Underwhelming residential experience I can’t remember a single hole um because to me they just all blend into one and I think not being a fan of Jack Nicholas’s designs is probably another thing uh I just think he’s way too over the top and trying a little bit too hard with his golf
Courses and he’s just just not one of my one of the course Architects that I really admire yeah I mean anything by Pete dy I just do not enjoy at any moment I think that’s a that’s an architect that does not get along with me it’s almost like he knows exactly how
To get me and I’m just kind of over it you know uh but honestly again I’ve teased it a couple times like T Pines doesn’t do it for me like I’d much rather play Sandpiper or well no again I have to be careful because I have like relationships at places that I don’t
Want to screw up by you know talking badly about a golf course I’ll just say Tory Pines yeah yeah well tor’s a Beatdown it’s just a Relentless Beatdown s Piper is a lot more fun way more fun fun golf courses are way more fun yeah and on that note we’ve come to
The end of the show thank God we have one more sleep until uh we feel like Rory mroy for a day but that was episode four of impostor syndrome as always thank you to my co-host Mr sha Fagan thank you sir thank you Todd Please Subscribe leave a review wherever you
Can it’s worth more than you know to help us grow and get the show out there to reach more people you can follow us on Instagram at imposter golf pod you can follow us on YouTube at imposter golf pod uh you can follow me on
Instagram at NC golf lab ncn golf La you can follow Sean Fagan uh on Instagram SKF golf if you have any questions regarding fitting and building send us a DM on Instagram at impost golf pod but uh this is the month of January that’s the first four episodes down and dirty
Until next time folks Stay classy out there in the golf course we love you please come back for more peace [Applause]
