WRX Forum Buzzz
Forum Thread of the Day: “Suggestions for the next Ryder Cup”
Today’s Forum Thread of the Day comes from member jimb6golf, who opens the forum for potential strategies going forward for the U.S. side after their dismal performance at Le Golf National. Amongst his proposed plans, jimb6golf suggests that the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain should “Pick players that really want to be there. Sure seemed like a lot of players were unenthusiastic or just tired from the FedEx Cup playoffs.”
With the wounds still fresh from the heavy defeat suffered at the hands of Europe last week, plenty of our members have offered their thoughts on where it all went wrong for the U.S. side and the potential for new approaches moving forward. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion at the link below:
- BlueIslander80: “The USA needs to learn that whilst the PGA Tour is the daddy, golf is a sport played around the world in all its glorious forms, and until they learn to adapt, adjust and develop, they’ll only succeed in Ryder Cups played on their specific courses. Europe have the ability to turn up in the USA and win, because of a willingness to learn and adapt.“
- joeylough: “Maybe more of the USA team should have played at the French Open and took spring break over in France. Nothing like preparing for an event.“
- bullsfan: “I believe that in order to change the outcomes of these formats is to pick the best players based on location of the event, not by who is top of the money list and qualified with points.“
- Rweaves6: “Most of the Europeans have always seen the RC as their 5th major. Never once heard an American say the same thing. For me that says it all.“
Equipment
I’m a 31 year-old male and I turned my apartment living room into a driving range stall – GolfWRXers react
In our forums, our members have been reacting to a post from ‘GolferTodd’ who has turned their apartment living room into a driving range stall. ‘GolferTodd’ produced the following photo in our forums with the caption:
“To the exclusion of furniture. Bachelor life.”
And our members have been reacting to the post in our forums.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- MtlJeff: “This is amazing……When i was 28 i lived in an apartment that had my winter tires in the kitchen, i only had one plate and 1 set of knives and forks, and i cooked pasta in a witches cauldron from 1835. And i still convinced a woman to marry me. So i am all for this. In fact this is way better than what i had to offer.”
- TiScape: “Love it Todd. Go Dodgers!!”
- imkirby34: “Based on the view out the window, it looks like you’re on the first floor, which is probably a good thing because I’d hate to live below you, even if you have an extremely shallow AoA. Haha.”
In our forums, our members have been discussing classic irons. WRXer ‘DonaldDunes’ has caught the vintage club bug, and wants to know other members’ favorite iron models that “have stood the test of time or were the top performers for their day.”
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- Maine Golfer: “I love a lot of clubs but ’69 Wilson Staff’s are an all time favorite. Easy to hit in relative terms and they look amazing.”
- Wilsonian: “No surprise from me, but the Wilson K-28 irons, specifically blades with the glide thru sole. I grew up playing Ram clubs, but got away from them as I got older. My return to vintage was with the Wilsons, and my first set of hickories were the Wilson Plus Success irons. You’ll try a lot of sets, but I think it’s a matter of what feels best in your hands, specifically your 7 iron which is the best indicator imo.”
- Hawkeye777: “Hogan Redlines. Macgregor Nicklaus Muirfield 20th. Wilson Staff Tour Blade. Those are mine, don’t play any of them these days (no real reason to) and didn’t really “collect” them. The Wilsons I played with for years.”
In our forums, our members have been discussing how much wear is too much wear when purchasing used irons. WRXer ‘con_mon2’ is interested in a used set of iron and kicks off the thread, asking:
“Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this! How much wear are you comfortable with?
I found a set of irons on eBay that I am very interested in buying, but they have a bit more wear than I’m comfortable with. I have attached a few pictures showing especially the wear on the sweet spot on the PW and 9 iron. Maybe you can convince me that I’m being too picky and I should just buy them? Or maybe I should be concerned about the wear? I’m not really sure. They are Ping i230s which came out in 2022 so they aren’t that old. And the seller had this to say about the condition: ‘Good: Normal wear for their age. Excellent playing condition but they have cosmetic wear on faces and soles. Sweetspot wear is visible.’
Beyond the cosmetic, I’d really like to know this: At what point do you start to worry about the grooves being so worn that they have a substantial effect on the shots you’re hitting?”
And our members have been sharing their thoughts in response.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- rsballer10: “The term you are looking for is “browning” and these irons have some of that going on. They are completely playable, but I’d say they’ve reached their half-life.”
- Nessism: “Those heads are stainless steel. The “browning” that some people reference, is really the yellow shade of the nickel layer under the chrome. When forged carbon steel heads wear through the chrome, the “brown” is RUST. These heads will never rust. People applaud the old Ping irons as being “indestructible”. Those heads had no chrome. These heads, even if the chrome is beginning to wear through, on one head, are miles more durable than the older unplated “indestructible” Ping’s. And even further ahead of any forged club.”
- phizzy30: “Hard pass for me. I would rather get a new set of DTC irons and would be glad to spend the extra couple to few hundred.”
Entire Thread: “When buying used irons: How much wear is too much? – GolfWRXers discuss”
‘Why would anybody want to change that swing?’ – Brandel Chamblee says PGA Tour star was wrong to change his swing
‘The stupidest freaking thing I’ve ever heard’ – Billy Horschel slams Open idea suggested by Padraig Harrington
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Golfer proudly posts photo of ball mark on iron, receives immediate roasting
WITB Time Machine: Matthew Wolff’s winning WITB, 2019 3M Open
Oakmont Country Club bans Wyndham Clark over locker incident; Reveals specific conditions to earn reinstatement
Adam Scott puts Callaway blades in the bag at Wyndham Championship
Report: LIV star fires caddie and coach in shock shake up
Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’
The championship formula: How 3 key stats separate winners from the field
Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)
Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)
Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...
Bruce
Oct 6, 2018 at 11:26 am
Two suggestions.
1. The captain breeds to be a golf coach not a former player. Coaching and team building skills differ from playing experience. Let’s try a successful college coach for the next captain.
2. Automatic team qualifiers should be based only on recent play: who in the PGA is playing well during the 2 months preceding the Ryder Cup. This criterion alone would have changed the team members significantly.
Coaach747
Oct 5, 2018 at 3:27 pm
Since the results are dismal, and complaints abundant regarding the Captaincy, let’s offer the post to a European.
William Davis
Oct 5, 2018 at 1:33 pm
Writing at a true Brit I think you should just carry on as before. I fully expect and hope you do win next time otherwise you may not want to play this nasty game any more.
ChipNRun
Oct 3, 2018 at 8:03 pm
Scheiss offers an interesting vector.
It reminds me of the backstory of Miracle on Ice, when the USA team beat the Soviet Army team and won the 1980 Olympics gold. As the USA team shaped up, the USOC was concerned at the mix of players coach Herb Brooks selected. Herb’s uptight elders were SHOCKED that top players were being omitted.
Coach Brooks replied: “I need the right players (teamable), not the ‘best’ players.”
And, I’ve heard only one mention of the learning curve advantage the Europeans had: Many of the Europeans had played Le Golf Nationale in the French Open or at other times.
In the amateur Walker Cup (men) and Curtis Cup (women), both teams travel to the host course a few weeks ahead of time. They then play it to gain a military-style reconnaissance.
* Did any of the American pros play in the French Open? Yes. Justin Thomas who went 4-1-0 for the top USA performance.
* Or even take a week off and fly to France for a practice round? Furyk said some of the US team members did so.
Another point on learning curve: No learning during the round. Hole No. 3 on Sat PM Foursomes: Molinari pushes the team driver shot into the right water hazard. DeChambeau, rather than playing safe, also puts a driver shot into the hazard.
One statistic that stands out. The Europeans hit quite a few more fairways that the Americans.
RGL
Oct 4, 2018 at 2:33 pm
Your last statement is complete nonsense. 56% of fairways hit compared to 51%. In a sample with relatively few data points that does not stand out one bit.
Tom
Oct 3, 2018 at 7:42 pm
Ryder Cup is an over-hyped meaningless exhibition…..yawn. Just a source of money for the PGA and networks….snake oil salesmen.
William Davis
Oct 5, 2018 at 1:37 pm
Oh dear, there is always one.
Scheiss
Oct 3, 2018 at 6:28 pm
The whole thing should be Captain’s pick like he would pick a national football/soccer team. No need for the players to try and get points to qualify. Then it would squarely be on the Captain and the team organisation and then the players to perform since they were picked. It would also then free the players to not have to worry about having to play because they got the points even though they don’t want to play. Right now some of them just win tournaments and moneys and are automatically picked yet have no say if they want to refuse to play. It puts unnecessary pressure on them that way.
Leave it to the Captain to pick the entire team
Stewart Franks
Oct 3, 2018 at 4:42 pm
They need to pick young hungry rookies. Xander Schaufele types, no ego just wants to play great golf. Nothing against the big names but they’re just too individual. And yes, US courses are too one dimensional. As soon as a course is tricked up they’re stuck.
Tom
Oct 3, 2018 at 8:42 pm
No big names, lower viewers…ain’t gonna happen, its ALLLLL about $$$$