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Dude, Where’s My Driver? – Part One
After more years service that I care to remember, I decided that my venerable old Cleveland driver should be retired. It’s so many generations behind the current crop of drivers that I almost expect to see it telling other clubs to get off its lawn before taking its teeth out and having a nice nap.
The trouble is, buying golf equipment can be a minefield. Your options are either to pony up a big wad of cash at your local shop, scour BST boards on reliable websites or use everybody’s favourite auction site and run the risk of being royally ripped off trying to get a bargain.
My local shop is pretty good but the prices are enough to take your breath away. Ebay is, unfortunately, a wretched hive of scum and villainy and buying from there means running an unacceptable chance of being ripped off. Golfers are easier prey than people who play other sports for various reasons but mainly because of the high turnover of new and used equipment and the generally higher than average discretionary income of a golfer. We are all looking for the next great thing that will cure our swing ills or give us that extra distance – and we are prepared to pay for it. We are, in the scammers parlance, easy marks for fakes and knockoffs.
Because of this when I decided to buy a new driver I knew what I wanted to do: I would dealt with someone I knew (or rather thought I knew) through online forums, avoiding eBay, I would make sure he wasn’t overseas and do all my research so that I knew exactly what I wanted.
A few months ago, in an idle PM with another golfwrx user, I casually mentioned that I was looking for a new Driver and would value some advice on how to go about buying one on BST. This person was one of the most active posters on this website. He said he was an ex-touring pro having played on tours just below the European Tour. He said he nearly made it once at Q-school, but that the number just slipped away from him at the end so he called it a day, gave it up and got his amateur status back. He offered advice to beginners and the sort of insights that only someone that has been on the other side of the ropes would know.
No need to go on BST he said, as luck would have it he could get me a great deal on a driver as one of his friends from his tour days ran a golf shop. He could offer me ‘mates rates’ and save me a packet and at the same time get me a top quality product that would be built to my specs. ‘Result!’, I thought. The only problem was that because I had specified a custom shaft, it would take 5 weeks to order and get built. Not a problem for me as while my current driver was not all I wanted it to be, it was still more than serviceable, and anyway I knew that the standard order time for this club was about a month. So I arranged a bank transfer into his account so he wouldn’t be out of pocket and waited for my new driver.
Five weeks later, having arranged to meet up for drinks at the end of the week so that he could give me the club I got a phone call from him telling me that the driver had arrived but there was a problem; it had the wrong custom shaft! Apologies and offers of money back while it was sorted out assuaged any suspicions I had. While it is uncommon to get a mis-specified club, I could imagine that happening easily enough, especially to a club in notoriously high demand where turn-around times are bound to be a concern, so the sense that something was not quite right could be easily dismissed as the paranoia that I would be scammed.
A couple of phone calls and PM conversations later, he got back to me saying that they would rush this one through and that it would take no longer than 4 weeks. Again not a problem I thought, I’m dealing with a good guy not some scam artist so I was happy to wait. This time, rather than meeting up for a drink so that I could get the club, we would play golf instead. This was going to be exciting for 2 reasons: firstly I would finally get my new club that I had waited 10 weeks for and secondly, he was a member of one of the most prestigious courses in the UK – one that had been the host of a Ryder cup – so I was as excited as a kid before Christmas for the chance to play at a venue that that.
Because the previous order had turned up with the wrong shaft, I thought that it would only make sense to check up when it was supposed to arrive. On the Monday five days before we were supposed to meet up and the day the driver was supposed to be delivered, I emailed him to find out about tee times and also whether he would mind checking that the driver had turned up with the correct shaft this time. As I would be travelling about 300 miles there and back, I wanted to sort out my travel arrangements and to make sure that there wasn’t going to be a repeat of last time.
Silence.
What the………This was when I began to doubt that all was well. This was a guy who normally posted online at least twice a day, why was he suddenly silent? He had logged on a couple of hours after I had sent my message so I knew that he had received it.
In the week previous, he had told me that he had been a bit tied up at work so it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that he was so busy at work that he literally couldn’t get back to me. And not everybody has a computer at home so maybe he was unable to reply there.
Still the days dragged on, and after multiple emails, PM’s, messages both SMS and left on his mobile phone answerphone he had still not got back to me. By Friday it was obvious that our golf was going to be a bust (which in itself was pretty rude and fairly disappointing but nothing to get my knickers in a twist about), so that just left the club. What was happening with that?
More silence.
He wasn’t answering his mobile phone but we had exchanged emails before, and he had emailed from his work account. This meant that I had could phone up his work. If he was still working there that would have been a great opportunity to ask him what was happening but unfortunately when I rang up I was politely informed that he was no longer employed there. When I say ‘politely informed’ I mean of course that they said he was fired and weren’t surprised that he wasn’t in contact with me for various reasons that they felt unable to go into.
Just great.
As the only contact details I had were his work email address and what could well be a work mobile phone number, this meant as far as getting in contact with him I was stuffed, and he appeared to have no inclination to contact me.
This left me with 4 options: go through the hassle of phoning everyone in the phonebook with his surname that lives in the same area, phone the club where we were supposed to be playing and where he was supposed to be a member, phone the police or just walk away. None of the options were palatable as all would involve a fair amount of hassle and/or embarrassment but there was no way I was going to stop now.
Read "Dude, Where’s my Driver? – Part Two" next week.
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News
Morning 9: Tiger confirms playing schedule | Player: This caused Tiger’s downfall
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
GolfWRX is on site this week in McKinney, Texas, at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson (FKA the AT&T Byron Nelson).
Last year at TPC Craig Ranch, Jason Day ended a five-year winless streak. J-Day is in the field again, as are Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris.
We have our usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums for your perusal. As always, we’ll continue to add links to additional albums as they make their way to us from the Lone Star State.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Pierceson Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kris Kim – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- David Nyfjall – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Jarred Jetter – North Texas PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Richy Werenski – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Wesley Bryan – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Parker Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Peter Kuest – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Blaine Hale, Jr. – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kelly Kraft – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Rico Hoey – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- Adam Scott’s 2 new custom L.A.B. Golf putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Scotty Cameron putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Ben Griffin playing Maxfli golf ball
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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News
Vincenzi’s 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson betting preview: International talent to shine
As anticipation mounts for the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla in a few weeks, the PGA Tour makes a pit stop in McKinney, Texas to play The CJ CUP Byron Nelson.
Last year was the third time TPC Craig Ranch hosted the Byron Nelson. Prior to 2021, the event was held at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.
TPC Craig Ranch is a 7,414-yard par-71 that features Bentgrass greens. The event historically plays relatively easy, and that has remained the case in the three editions at TPC Craig Ranch.
The course structure may provide some additional intrigue with the par-3 17th featuring a stadium setup called “Ranch 17” which is reminiscent of the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale. The course also has both long and difficult par-4s mixed with drivable par-4s, which should create some exciting moments.
There are 156 golfers in the field this week, and many stars will be taking the week off to prepare for 2023’s second major championship in a few weeks and a “signature event” at Quail Hollow next week. Notable players in the field include Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Sungjae Im, Stephan Jaeger, Tom Kim, Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee, Alex Noren, Adam Scott and Will Zalatoris.
Past Winners of the AT&T Byron Nelson
- 2023: Jason Day (-23 at TPC Craig Ranch)
- 2022: K.H. Lee (-26 at TPC Craig Ranch)
- 2021: K.H. Lee (-25 at TPC Craig Ranch)
- 2019: Sung Kang (-23)
- 2018: Aaron Wise (-23)
- 2017: Billy Horschel (-12)
- 2016: Sergio Garcia (-15)
- 2015: Steven Bowditch (-18)
Key Stats at TPC Craig Ranch
Let’s take a look at five key metrics for TPC Craig Ranch to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their last 24 rounds.
Strokes Gained: Approach
Strokes Gained: Approach remains the best measure of current form.
Hot iron play will be at a premium this week. Last year, Jason Day gained 6.4 strokes on approach, which was fourth in the field. In 2022, K.H. Lee was ninth in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach, gaining 5.2 strokes. In his 2021 victory, he was second in the field and gained 8.3 strokes on the field in the category.
Strokes Gaines: Approach Over Past 24 Rounds
- Tom Hoge (+1.12)
- Keith Mitchell (+1.02)
- Henrik Norlander (+0.99)
- Ryan Moore (+0.98)
- Ben Martin (0.80)
Strokes Gained: Off the Tee
Fairways are wide at TPC Craig Ranch.
Distance will certainly be helpful, and there aren’t too many difficult holes on the course. Golfers who put themselves in position off of the tee this week should have a sizable advantage.
Strokes Gained: Off the Tee Over Past 24 Rounds
- Peter Kuest (+0.93)
- Kevin Daugherty (+0.91)
- Alejandro Tosti (+0.83)
- Keith Mitchell (+0.82)
- Kevin Tway (+0.74)
Birdie or Better %
There aren’t many hazards on the course, and all of the par-5s should be reachable in two for the majority of the players in the field. I am anticipating a birdie fest, and this statistic should be helpful in finding the birdie-makers.
Birdie or Better % Over Past 24 Rounds:
- Wesley Bryan (31%)
- Kelly Kraft (26.2%)
- Peter Kuest (25.9%)
- Matti Schmid (25.7%
- Jimmy Stanger (25.2%)
Strokes Gained: Putting (Bentgrass)
Many golfers on TOUR have some major putting surface variance in their statistics and prefer Bentgrass to other surfaces.
Bentgrass is common in Texas, and we often see golfers who play well in Texas continue to do so, finding a great feel around the greens.
Strokes Gained: Putting (Bentgrass) Over Past 24 Rounds:
- Maverick McNealy (+0.92)
- Aaron Baddeley (+0.87)
- Callum Tarren (+0.86)
- Harry Hall (+0.81)
- Nick Hardy (+0.69)
Course History
This statistic will tell us which players have performed the best at TPC Craig Ranch over the past three seasons.
Course History Over Past 12 Rounds:
- Jordan Spieth (+2.69)
- K.H. Lee (+2.59)
- Seamus Power (+1.84)
- Ryan Palmer (+1.76)
- Adam Scott (+1.72)
CJ CUP Byron Nelson Model Rankings
Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (27%), SG: OTT (24%), Birdie or Better % (18%), Course History (17%) and SG: Putting Bentgrass (16%).
- Alex Noren
- Adam Scott
- Keith Mitchell
- Si Woo Kim
- Stephen Jaeger
- Jordan Spieth
- Jhonnatan Vegas
- Nate Lashley
- Brice Garnett
- Tom Hoge
2024 CJ CUP Byron Nelson Picks
Byeong Hun An +3000 (DraftKings)
Byeong Hun put together an excellent performance at The Masters, finishing T16, which ties his best ever finish at a major championship (also T16 at 2019 U.S. Open). The South Korean gained 9.16 strokes from tee to green, which ranked 2nd in the field behind only the champion, Scottie Scheffler.
An’s next start at Harbour Town didn’t go as well (67th), but he still had a fantastic ball striking week. The 32-year-old bled strokes both around and on the greens, which was his eventual undoing. In his past three starts, An has gained significant strokes on the field both off the tee and on approach.
Benny had a strong start at last year’s Byron Nelson, finishing in a tie for 14th. With limited challenges on the course, he shouldn’t have to do much scrambling. In his past 24 rounds, he ranks 17th in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and 17th in the field in birdie or better percentage. The putter is up and down per usual, but his ceiling putting weeks with his LAB Golf putter in 2024 are higher than they’ve been in past seasons.
An is starting to become my “white whale” of the PGA Tour, but I believe in his talent and TPC Craig Ranch is a course that should suit his excellent tee to green play.
Mackenzie Hughes +5500 (FanDuel)
Mackenzie Hughes is quietly putting together a very good season. He finished in a tie for 3rd at the Valspar Championship and followed that up with a T14 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
In his past 36 rounds in Texas, the Canadian ranks 5th in the field in Strokes Gained: Total. Last year, he finished in a tie for 14th at this event and gained strokes putting and off the tee. Mackenzie played well that week despite being in extremely poor form. He missed two cuts in a row prior to the event, and four consecutive cuts immediately after. His irons were off that week, but in 2024, we’ve seen an improvement in Hughes’ approach game. He now comes to the event playing some steady golf. He’s gained strokes on approach in four of his past five events and is hitting the ball very well from tee to green.
Hughes has two victories on the PGA Tour, both coming in relatively low-scoring affairs (-17 in each). He will need to go a bit deeper to win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson but has the type of putter that can keep pace in a birdie barrage.
Seamus Power +7000 (FanDuel)
After struggling over the past few seasons with injuries, Seamus Power seems as if he is rounding back into the form that made him a really consistent player on the PGA Tour.
Power finished T12 in his most recent start at the RBC Heritage, which is encouraging considering it was a “signature event” with a very strong field. For the week, the Irishman gained 4.4 strokes on approach and 2.8 strokes putting, which is the combination he’s used in the past to contend on Tour.
In his three trips to TPC Craig Ranch, Power is yet to finish outside of the top-20, with his best finish being a T9 in 2019. He ranks 4th in Strokes Gained: Total at the course. The 37-year-old thrives on easy tracks and has won in 2021 (Barbasol Championship) and 2022 (Butterfield Bermuda) on easier layouts with weaker fields.
Power has the game to go extremely low and I believe he can get back in the winner’s circle for the third time in four years.
Chan Kim +10000 (FanDuel)
Chan Kim has been striking the ball beautifully this season and is a proven winner with two wins on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023 as well as eight career Japan Tour wins.
At last week’s Zurich Classic, Kim and his partner Doug Ghim finished in a tie for 28th. Prior to that, the South Korean T14 at the Valero Texas Open and T6 at the Corales Puntacana Championship. His success this season in Texas as well as he propensity to play his best golf on the PGA Tour’s easier courses make him and ideal fit for TPC Craig Ranch.
2024 has given plenty of longshot winners on the PGA Tour, and with a birdie fest like this, I believe there’s a strong chance we get another this week in McKinney, Texas.
Alejandro Tosti +10000 (FanDuel)
Alejandro Tosti is one of the most polarizing players on the PGA Tour thus far in the 2024 season. His antics can rub many the wrong way, but he’s shown on a few occasions that he has what it takes to compete in Tour events.
This season, Tosti has been elite off the tee. In his past 24 rounds, he ranks 2nd in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. The Argentine hits it long and straight, which works at any course on earth. He got a taste of contention a few starts ago at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, finishing in a tie for 2nd place.
Tosti had a fantastic year in 2023 on the Korn Ferry Tour, where going low is a prerequisite to success. If this turns to a shootout, which it likely will, the 27-year-old has the ability to set the pace. Tosti will look to become the second Argentine to win in Texas in the past two seasons after Emiliano Grillo emerged victorious at last year’s Charles Schwab Challenge.
C.T. Pan +15000 (FanDuel)
Outside of a T3 at the Mexico Open, C.T. Pan doesn’t have strong results this season in terms of finishes. However, over his past two starts, Pan’s iron play has come alive. At The Players, he gained 6.6 strokes on approach. At the Valero Texas Open, he gained 3.7. At last week’s Zurich Classic, Pan and his partner Kevin Yu finished T28. For a player who can get extremely hot with his scoring clubs, I believe he’s playing better than the results have shown over the past month or so.
Last season, Pan finished 4th at TPC Craig Ranch and was spectacular across all the major stat categories. In his past 36 qualifying rounds, he ranks 16th in Strokes Gained: Total in Texas.
Pan has won on the PGA Tour at the RBC Heritage and is always a player that I believe has what it takes to win on a Sunday if he finds himself in contention.
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Mike K.
Oct 15, 2007 at 9:05 pm
…Really, That sucks! I hope part two at least gets your money back.
I loathe doing any business on-line with private parties. Paranoia – maybe, but with all the scams out there it is more and more likely that you could become a mark.
I look forward to a decent resolution to your problem!