Play Vintage!

Here at CDB, we like to have fun in all sorts of different ways. It seems we're always having some competition (CDBbucks), an ongoing inside joke (CDB, for one), and all kinds of different activities or events. Last summer we did the "Pink Shirt" thing (which was really a competition, an inside joke, and an activity combined) and the "Ugliest Golf Shirt" competition. It seems that one of this summer's activity is "Vintage Day." A few weeks ago, Travis had the brilliant idea that we should both buy an older (vintage) set of clubs and play a round or two with them. Of course, there are some people who want every technological advantage available when it comes to golf equipment, but CDB has a great love for the history of golf and an affinity for not only golf equipment throughout history but the culture, etiquette, and fashion. So this idea was something we definitely had to do. We both immediately started looking around for some older irons. Trav naturally lusted after some PING Eye2 irons and the first thing I searched for on eBay was "vintage Titleist irons." (This is not surprising because Trav currently plays some PING S57 irons and I play some Titleist AP1s.) Trav was able to find a good set of Eye2s on Craigslist and even talk the guy down, who had no idea what the clubs were worth. I bid on one of the first sets I saw on eBay, not really knowing what the hell I was bidding on; only that they were an old set of Titleist Tour Model irons. I soon found out that Titleist produced the "Tour Model" irons from 1979-1997, with different models coming out every one or two years. The set I won ($37.50 with shipping) were produced from 1982-1983. It is also important to note that PING introduced the Eye2 irons in 1982.

Because CDB likes to go all out, we'll both probably eventually have vintage everything (well, all that is somewhat practical that is). Additionally, Trav was able to find the PERFECT vintage PING bag and because his putter, Honey, is a PING BeCu Anser 4 he doesn't have to worry about finding a putter! I still haven't decided what vintag putter I would like, but I'm sure I'll find something pretty soon. I created the "Play Vintage!" postcard for a couple reasons; one, I just like creating graphics (especially CDB graphics!) and two, I was hoping to actually "mail" it to a few people. It's probably fairly safe to say that if you're reading this you can expect to receive something of that nature in the mail in the near future from CDB-East.

CDB Logo

Once Travis and I decided to start this blog, one of the first things I realized was that we needed a logo, team colors, and maybe even a tag line or slogan; even if it was just something that we used on the blog. However, if you know anything about CDB, you know we would never settle for some simple graphics that we created with blogger. Oh no, that simply won't do. So, shortly after creating the blog I started trying to come up with a logo suitable for all that is CDB; you know, one that would make the CDB-Gods proud. So, where to start? First I started with the colors. Trav's favorite color is green and one of mine is orange so those two colors were an easy choice. Additionally, I have a golf shirt that is a dark slate-blue that we both like, which I was able to match. (and there's a funny story with that shirt; Trav was there when I bought it and he was jealous that they didn't have his size, I actually bought the last one. Because of this, we always referred to this shirt as the one-of-a-kind blue golf shirt until we were going to lunch one day and saw someone wearing the same shirt. Naturally it then became the two-of-a-kind shirt. Since then I've seen it about five other times, so it's actually quite common. But still a funny story...or at least a story anyway.) However, since creating the first logo this slate-blue has more or less been dropped. Mainly because four colors seems like one too many and if you read my previous post about TBC, you know that pink is now an official CDB color that we have integrated into our branding scheme. Why pink you ask? Well, not surprisingly there is a story with that too. At some point last spring when Travis and I were discussing golf attire (fashion?) when we both agreed that we would like to have a pink golf shirt. However, we felt that in order to wear a pink golf shirt, one had to have a decent golf game, which at the time we were not even close to having. This of course led to a competition; whoever was the first to break 90 would win the pink shirt of his choice. We were both hoping to break 90 on the mandate last year and we both came SO close with each of us shooting 90 once. The next real opportunity for both of us came in June on the Windmill Course at Indian Springs. I believe that I shot a 41 and Trav shot a 40 on the front nine. At the turn we were both so excited that we were almost assuredly going to break 90 on the same round. I don't think either one of us had shot over 50 on nine holes in a long time. Trav went on to shoot an 85 or something and I ended up with a 92 I think. Horrible. So Trav won the pink shirt and I would have to wait a few weeks until I broke 90 at Broadmoore with an 83 on Schafer's birthday. Which turned out to be a pretty amazing round for both of us because Trav also shot his lowest score to date, 77. Anyway, back to the pink. It was only natural when we found the pink TBC ball that we had to adopt pink as a CDB accent color, thus dropping slate-blue as a color.

So here's a few images showing the evolution of the CDB logo.

The first "finished" logo. A few things to notice here: I incorporated both mine and Trav's ball marks (the way we mark our golf ball). I mark mine with a red (which doesn't look good with our other colors) circle just above and to the left of "Titleist." At the time I made this version, Travis was playing a Callaway ball and colored in the three "As" with green; illustrated here by coloring in the "g" and "o" with green. However, he has since switched to a Titleist which only has the "E" to color in and is not nearly as noticeable. So, he now just marks through Titleist with a green line. Thus rendering this logo obsolete. Also, the slate-blue/gray box along with the green line is meant to resemble a golf flag.

I don't really remember why I decided to try something different or where the idea came from, but the second "generation" of the CDB logo is very different and has many variations. These are not all the variations I have, just a nice sampling.

As of now, the last one is the "official" CDB logo. One interesting thing with this logo is the diamond behind the "db" is one of the diamonds from the TBC logo. You may also notice that the first logo with the diamond actually still has the top of the TBC crown as well as the diamond. At one point during the process, I extended the lines/edge of the diamond to change the color and immediately thought it looked like might look like argyle. Well, CDB loves argyle, so Travis and I agreed to keep the argyle. A few changes later, the CDB logo was done. For now.

You may have noticed that most sports teams have multiple logos. Well, CDB is no different. Plus, I just wanted to keep trying different logos for different uses. In this case, I wanted to create something for the title/header of the blog. You can see the finished product at the top of the page/blog. This logo is similar to the first logo, sans ball marks. It also has the CDB tag line, It's the Good Life, which is taken from the Frank Sinatra song and is just pretty appropriate for CDB. We tried a few different slogans but this was by far the best. Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Love this poster and thought it was perfect for CDBgolf!

TBC

Here at CDB we have many inside jokes, CDB-isms, acronyms, and nicknames for a lot of different things (check out the glossary for a few). One of the newest and perhaps the most brilliant and fortuitous inside jokes/acronyms we've had in a long time is TBC. The Birdie Club. How did we come up with this AMAZINGLY perfect acronym for CDB you ask? Well, it was a Fairfaxian Sunday like we hadn't seen in a while AND it was one of two perfect Fall golf experiences we had. It was a drizzly 54 degrees when we teed off on number one at Early Wine North. It was our first time playing the North course and looking down that first, narrow tree-lined fairway we really liked what we saw. Even more so after I watched my first drive carve narrowly along the trees on the right side and draw back into the middle of the fairway. Trav's didn't draw back. But he got things going with a Bad Tiger on his next shot. On the very next hole, a long par 5, CDB2 was on in regulation and made an unbelievable 40+ foot putt for birdie and what was probably the best shot of the day. I don't remember when it happened, but at some point Trav was lucky enough to find a Titleist ProV1x. Not only is that the best ball one can find on a golf course (or buy, for that matter), but this particular ProV1x had a very special marking on its side. A pink crown with "TBC" inside it. Upon our initial inspection, we both agreed that it was probably the most unique ball logo/stamp we'd ever seen and we loved it. Of course, Travis says "I wonder what TBC stands for?" to which I promptly ansered "The Birdie Club." It's no surprise that we both loved this too, maybe Trav more than me only because he was actually IN the club and he found the ball.

Since then, TBC has become almost as ubiquitous in CDB-speak as baffy, mandate, or fairfaxian. Because membership in TBC , which stipulates that one must record at least one birdie (one stroke below par) on any hole, isn't transferable from round to round, one is always trying to gain membership into the very exclusive club.

We liked the TBC idea and logo so much, that we decided to incorporate TBC into CDB-speak and adopt the crown/TBC logo into our own line of CDB logos. It was also at this point we formally began using the color pink in our branding. Previously, pink was an unofficial CDB color but has been a team favorite since our pink-shirt competition. Here is the official CDB/TBC logo. Thanks to April for getting such a great photo of the ball which allowed me to clean up the logo in Gimp. It should be noted that I added CDB to the diamonds on the top of the crown. Also, in Trav's post about his new putter, if you look closely at the last picture you will notice that he's rolling the TBC Ball! Another great shot April!

CDB 4ever

(To the AMAZING music of Cowboys 4ever)

The fairway wind touches our skin
Another golfing morning begins
On number one with the rise of the sun
We are golfers having fun
Hang’em high, Pro V1s to the sky
We draw, we fade, and follow the line
It’s in our soul
The feel of the roll
putter, irons, baffy and driver
We are CDB forever
we play today, again tomorrow
The open tee box is our home
All that we know, get the ball in the hole
We are golfers to the bone
Hang’em high, Pro V1s to the sky
We draw, we fade, and follow the line
it’s in our soul
The feel of the roll
putter, irons, baffy and driver
We are CDB forever
Riding a cart across the plains
But we don't mind to walk, in the rain
We try not to get in the sand
But if we do we get back to green land
Hang’em high, Pro V1s to the sky
We draw, we fade, and follow the line
it’s in our soul
The feel of the roll
putter, irons, baffy and driver
We are CDB forever
We are, we are
CDB forever

CDB2's "new to me" flat stick

For the past few weeks I have noticed that my YES Callie putter has not felt solid. When I tap the head of the putter on the green it's been making a clunky sound that has progressively gotten worse and worse. My putts sound a little off too, and with CBD1 getting better and better I can't afford to lose strokes because of a bum putter (at least that's what I am blaming it on).

I have been look for a few weeks for a PING putter. Everything from the new redwood line to the older anser and zing styles. I haven't really looked at any other brands, mostly because I love the PING history and their reputation for making high quality equipment. Plus, after getting my i10s and my G10 driver, I am staying consistent with my brands (it's like wearing puma socks with Nike shoes....it's just faux pas).

My search for a putter came to end earlier this week when I found a practically mint condition PING anser 4. This putter is not any anser 4. It's a BeCu (Beryllium Copper) putter, that they don't make anymore, and I think they are very cool. I purchased the putter on Ebay from a seller in Phoenix, and it showed up on my doorstep today! This is perfect timing for my round with CDB1 and Nate tomorrow at Lincoln West. I've been putting around all afternoon on my rug in the living room and have loved every minute of it. I had my wife take some pics, enjoy.

This just added (which makes me very happy). While doing some research, I found this:

The overwhelming majority of old, non-stainless steel Ping putters are made of a Manganese Bronze alloy (like battleship propellers). They are not Beryllium Copper. Ping did make a few BeCu and BeNi putters but far fewer than what you see for sale. Don't pay for premium metal that isn't. Unless it says BeCu on it, as the original Ping BeCu putters did, the only way to know for sure is to retumble the head and check the raw metal color. Assume that the putter is not really BeCu.

My putter came with the original grip that stated the head was made from BeCu :).

Bizarro World

I never thought it would happen, but it did yesterday in norman (maybe that's why!). On the back nine at the Jimmie Austin Golf Club, Travis and I somehow managed to exchange golf games. Personally, I think that when Travis blew out the candles on his very delicious pumpkin cake that his fabulous wife baked the day before, he made a "Freaky Friday" birthday wish; which, consequently, just happened to be on a Friday! But, before I get to the back-nine, you have to know what happened on the front-nine.

For about the past three weeks, I've been pretty inconsistent with my driver. What started as a few hooks or pulls off the tee in a round slowly turned into a consistent duck-hook. To remedy this, I made some modifications to my grip and swing; that's all I did to correct my slice months ago. Suffice it to say that I got to the point where I could (can) hit the ball any direction but straight. I had one good drive on the front, which was on the first hole. After that, it seemed like I was taking a drop on every hole. What started out as problems off the tee turned into problems everywhere. I think I even had a couple 'episodes.' I finished with a 57. A 57! I can't remember the last time I played nine holes that badly, probably well before the Mandate. Travis, as usual, played very consistent and didn't make any big mistakes. He shot a respectable 45. Bogey golf isn't bad, especially when playing a Perry Maxwell-designed course for the first time. The biggest surprise was that Travis used his driver. The big dipper! I haven't seen him use the BD consistently in months. Sure he had a couple drives that could have been better, but I don't remember him having any terrible drives.

After the 57, I knew I had to do something drastic. So, at the turn I did a couple of drastic things. First, Travis was nice enough to buy us both a couple beers. I know CDB-Law is very strict on drinking beer while trying to play a serious round, but as I may have mentioned, this was an extraordinarily desperate situation. Besides, it was CDB2's idea; and he always knows what is best for CDB. The second drastic thing I did was put away the driver. First time ever. But hell, I had been watching Travis beat me (usually) for the past two months using his Little Dipper off the tee. So, I tried using my 3-wood off the tee. First hole on the back-nine? My first par of the day. I would go on to par four MORE holes en route to a 42. That's right, fifteen strokes less than the front-nine for a total of 99. Best 99 of my life. Mr. Consistent shot another 45 for a solid 90, bogey golf.