capnamerca

You say this with such authority, that I want to believe you. Casita Jorge's was religion in my family growing up. Dad would play softball on Fridays at Pleasant Valley Sportsplex, and we'd go eat Jorge's after the early games and before the late games. I can still walk thru that place in my head, with the "smoking section" in the back, and the four-game arcade in front on your left as you entered. Even driving by the building these days kicks up the nostalgia dust into my eyes.

Well, I had my concerns.

That doesn't seem sporting ...

Kids and I headed to Choke Canyon third week in July - renting a 25' rig to get us away for a few days. Fishing, hiking, fires, and late bedtimes. Wife is staying home (work) but the in laws are joining us. Whole family is going to Red River in August to get out of the heat. Renting about a 34' rig (and borrowing a buddy's F-250 to pull it), really looking forward to small mountain town stuff.

Go get one of the Napas ... go old school.

Love the idea of playing w/o a glove. Calluses and blisters will show you right quick if you're gripping too tight. I've gone back and forth my whole life on gloves, and still prefer to chip and pitch without one. Glad to see your grinding paying off ... keep it up!

Gracias.

Last pic - moc? jagged pattern, and heavier brow ridge? (I;m trying to learn to ID).

Massive +1 to this. I'm still comfortable buying from individuals and not just companies, but there's one golden rule - if the deal seems too good to be true, it is. That's it. Don't expect to "steal" something off of ebay, just pay fair market value for used clubs and you'll be fine. The goal on ebay is to let someone else handle the "new clubs" depreciation, and not you. Last years clubs at ~70ish pct of retail is what I normally shoot for.

This is the shit I straight up rebel against. The guy at CC fit me into an iron shaft that was definitely better than the DGs I'm playing now, but it wasn't $90 per shaft, extra, better. Combine that with them recommending a house iron that they were clearly getting kickbacks on at ~$200/head, and it's loony tunes. I'm a recreational golfer, and a damn good one, and there's no value equation in the world where I need ~$1000 in SHAFTS ALONE, just for my irons, and topping $300 a club. If you aren't trying to win money playing this game, find a head and stock shaft combination that you like, and just go play. You aren't handicapping yourself because you don't have tour-issue KBS Tour 130s, or whatever. Spend that money on lessons. Get fit for driver and fairway woods, and then buy the damn shafts on eBay. PgaTour superstore can change the shaft adapters for you for ~$40. Oh, PUREing shafts is absolute bunk as well. Edit - this sounds a little more angry than I'd intended. I thoroughly enjoyed the fitting process. But I looked at it as making sure I wasn't missing some major technological leap, not trying to eke out 5 more yards on the 7i. What I learned is that the irons I had fit me really well, and I could get new irons with similar loft/lie specs on ebay for ~$750, which is what I did. The guy was super nice, and didn't pressure me to buy, but you have to know they're going to try and make it VERY easy for you to drop $2k with them before you leave your fitting. Just know that going in - they don't make much money fitting clubs for $250 / 3hours. They make money selling clubs, especially premium shafts; that's the motivation. FWIW, I have confirmation direct from a club engineer at a top-5 club mfr that the "Tour Issue" DGS400 shafts that I play aren't special. They literally roll Dynamic Gold steel shafts off the manufacturing line, and the heavier ones get slapped with the S400 shaft label. Because they're at the high end of the weight spectrum, they tend to cluster closer together in weight; thus, they're advertised as "tighter quality control." But that's a result of the physics, not some special mfg process. Other shafts are the same, I have to assume.

And?

all up on ebay now ... love you all.

Getting a Band of Heathen vibe. Will give the album a listen. Also John Baumann is really fucking good. "Here I come" is a personal anthem.

TM Monte Carlo sold.

I can arrange pickup in Houston, if you want.

No, very much not a jerk - appreciate the insight. I fully agree, and we don't go hunting venomous snakes. Even the coral snakes we've found in the wilder parts of the neighborhood get left alone. However, in neighborhoods, when found around my house, means that if I leave them alone, they'll be back around my house at some point. Those snakes have to die, because I cannot guarantee that my 5yo is capable of watching where she steps, or not sticking her hand into a shrub, or even just playing in a shady spot where a baby rattler might be coiled up away from the heat (happened yesterday to the neighbors across the street, their dog found one).

thanks - just submitted my join request. It's been a VERY active season around our neighborhood (SW austin, off of SW Parkway). 3-4 baby rattlers, 3-4 adult corals, and more rat and garter snakes than I can ever remember. We've got a good group of parents (dads and moms) that look out for the good snakes, and this can only help.

Is there one you can recommend for Austin / the hill country?

One of my wife's old lieutenants called them all "copperwaterrattlers" ...

That reddish hognose wouldn't have caused me confusion. But that's not at all what the hognose posted by Austinvines looks like. The one Austinvines posted is tan and brown, and the pattern resembles the hourglass markings of a copperhead (resembles being the key word). You can be a jerk about it, or you can support folks like me who logically understand the need for good snakes, and understand their place in the ecosystem, but who also have kids and want to keep them safe.

I'm thankful for this thread. I'm all about letting good sneks live, but that hognose looks for all the world like a copperhead to me. As I see more pictures of both, the differences in pattern are getting more clear, and I'm trying to be mindful and learn. But I can say that I might have killed it, too (hopefully I won't now).

I think we might have settled on Red River - https://www.4kredriver.com/. 75degrees average high in August, and easy trips to Taos, Alb/SF, or even up to CO if we wanted. `~950 miles from Austin, so an easy two days pulling each way.

Hi team .. looks like the wife and I are going to rent an RV for about 10 days in August, to try and get away from the Texas heat. We've got some experience with the technical side of things, as we've borrowed my in-laws bigfoot several times for smaller trips. What I really need are specific destination recs, coming from Austin. Thinking of Taos/Angel Fire area, or possibly pushing on farther north to either southern CSprings (like Manitou Springs maybe), or going SW Colorado Pagosa Springs or Wolf Creek. Would love specific recs for nice/fun/adventurous RV parks, or other fun towns that we maybe haven't thought of in that general distance away from Austin. We're pretty flexible on time, but the goal is to make the drive in two days, stay for 5 or 6, and make the drive home in two days. KOA outside of Lubbock is the current thinking for the mid-way(ish) point. We want hookups wherever we stay - don't wanna mess with generators if we don't have to. thanks!

Hush, you.

You aren't far off. If I could putt, I could be a REALLY good player. (incoming humblebrag) I hit 14 greens last week at Star Ranch, and had 31 putts to shoot 68. That's a damn good round, and I"m not doing any complaining. But I also missed putts between 15-25' on 2, 3, 4, 8, 11, 13, 15, 16, and 18. I'm not saying I expect to make ALL, or even most, of those, but it could have been a lifetime round if even a few of those go in. I don't miss many 3 footers, but I don't make any bombs either. The putter I"m holding doesn't seem to make much difference; it's not the tool, it's the mechanic.