Losing an Excuse

I recently broke a piece on the face of my putter, and while I enjoyed having an excuse for my horrible play on the green, push finally came to shove and I broke down and headed into Dick's Sporting Goods for a new wand of misery. 

 

As Mrs. YDP had a girls' night out, I had time on my hands and could give Dick's entire inventory a run.  I quickly settled on one that worked pretty well, and made my way to the check out.  I happened to notice the time, told myself there was no rush, and headed back to the drivers just to look at a few. 

 

Looking turned into desire to test-hit, and I started out testing the Taylor Made Burner 3.0. I instantly fell in love.  And since Taylor Made had a offer of 50% off any fairway wood with purchase of a new driver, it was a deal too good to pass up. 

 

One club needed, three purchased.  My wife needs to learn not to leave me alone. 

 

So, how'd they work?  The first two drives with the new driver went into the swamp 20 yards ahead of me.  20 yards.  It appears that the real world is quite different than the virtual driving range at Dick's.  However, despite a tough start I was able to get my groove, and ended up consistently shooting 15 yards further than I did with my previous driver.  Yee haw! 

 

I only had one shot with the 3 wood, but absolutely crushed it, so that one appears just fine. 

 

As for the putter, I struggled early but ended up sinking an 8 footer for birdie on a very tough par 4 and sunk a 12 footer on 18 to close out the round.  Overall, I'm happy with the entire purchase.  However, given the shiny new clubs riding around in the cart with me, I think I lost one area of excuse.  Hence, I'm keeping that broken putter. 

 

Just in case.