- Wild Golf
- Posts
- John Daly's One-Handed Drill + The Best Bang for Your Buck in the Pacific Northwest
John Daly's One-Handed Drill + The Best Bang for Your Buck in the Pacific Northwest
Plus, Scratch vs. Tour Pros: Proximity to Hole By Approach Shot Distance
Wild Golf
September 24, 2024
Happy Tuesday all- in any given PGA tournament, there might be 30,000-32,000 shots played. Naturally, not every shot can be covered by the TV Broadcast crew, so the Tour is reportedly testing generative A.I. to provide additional color commentary around shots that may not have been caught on camera. The goal is to provide narrative-level commentary that goes a step beyond “Shot one was 320 yards and shot two was 150 yards.” The initial rollout is planned for March 2025 at the The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Who knows- maybe one day the entire TV Broadcast will be handled by generative A.I…. no Azingers needed. What a time to be alive.
In today’s newsletter…
✅ TIPS & DRILLS: If you want to become a better ball striker and better chipper around the greens, try John Daly’s Simple One-Handed Drill.
✅ COURSES: Take the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton, WA and you’ll find the Best Bang for Your Buck in the Pacific Northwest.
✅ STATISTICS: Tour Pros naturally win the battle vs. Scratch golfers in terms of average proximity to the hole on approach. But you’ll be surprised by the disparity. See for yourself below.
✅ TRIVIA: Who had the best 4-round tournament in terms of average proximity to the hole on approach? Answer for a chance to win a HackMotion Core Wrist Sensor Training Aid!
Let’s do it!
TIPS & DRILLS
John Daly’s One-Handed Practice Drill
More than just a short-game drill
To Recap…
Love him or hate him, John Daly has a way with words. And his simple approach to golf is one that more golfers should absolutely adopt. Before every round, Daly takes his 52* wedge and hits 10-20 balls with only his lead / left hand. Here’s why:
-REASON #1: Inside 160 yards, Daly states that he always wants to hit a 3/4 shot, aiming to finish his swing with his hands just below his shoulders. By hitting one-handed shots, it helps him maintain club face control at impact. So many amateur golfers really go after each and every iron shot, swinging 100%. This leads to higher ball flights (which are more prone to go offline) and creates more variables to contend with at impact. By hitting a 3/4 shot, your low point at impact will be more consistent, and your ball flight will be lower, leading to more accurate shots.
-REASON #2: Sometimes when people put two hands on the club and the results are inconsistent, they don’t know which hand is the key culprit, as Daly states. By maintaining control over your lead hand, you can really dial in your accuracy. This is why so many great golfers actually play golf opposite of their dominant hand. Phil Mickelson actually throws a baseball right-handed, and Ben Hogan, Sergio Garcia and Nick Price are natural lefties off the course.
-REASON #3: Finding that perfectly clean, crisp contact can feel impossible to some, but if you practice this one-handed drill consistently, there’s no doubt that both your chipping contact and iron ball striking will improve over time. So the next time you find yourself on the chipping green, try Daly’s approach.
COURSES
The Best Bang for Your Buck in the Pacific Northwest
Make a day trip of it- you won’t be disappointed!
Golf Mountain Golf Club (Olympic Course)
Bremerton, WA
Bremerton, WA is a small island just across the Puget Sound from Seattle. To get there from the big city, you can either take the 1+ hour drive around the water or you can take a scenic 45 minute ferry across. And about 15 minutes from the ferry terminal lies Gold Mountain Golf Club, an exceptional municipal venue that may just be the best value in all of the Pacific Northwest. You might recall the course name as this is where Jordan Spieth won the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2011.
Gold Mountain operates two courses on-site, the older Cascade Course opened in 1971 and the newer Olympic Course opened in 1996. One of the best things about the Olympic Course is that it is a fair, fun and challenging layout that will appeal to all handicaps. Because of it’s incredible setting and exceptional conditioning, you’ll often find collegiate players and professionals practicing there among the higher handicap amateurs that frequent the course. Towering pines frame nearly every hole, and there are incredible views of snow-capped mountains across the property.
The Olympic Course itself is a bit hilly and flat lies aren’t frequently found. Both the fairways and greens often appear small, but as you progress through the course, you quickly realize there’s much more room to miss than your eyes led you to believe. The final 4 holes are especially noteworthy, perhaps the best closing set in the PNW. The 18th hole is a risk-reward drivable par 4, which makes for a fun and especially memorable way to finish out a matchplay game. As one reviewer put it, “If I had to choose one course as the paragon of Northwest golf, Gold Mountain would be the choice.”
Rates: Dynamic rate system, but Weekdays top out at ~$45 to walk and Weekends at ~$60 to walk (additional fees for cart and range balls)
Fun Fact: The course also operates an 18-hole Foot Golf course (i.e. golf played with a soccer ball + oversized holes) concurrently while traditional golf is in operation (cost to play = $12).
Check out this overview from @golf_culture
@golf_culture The Olympic Course at Gold Mountain >>> such good value! . . . . . #golf #golfcourse #budgetgolf #twighlightgolf #golftrip #golftravel #se... See more
STATISTICS
Stat of the Day: Pros vs. Scratch Golfers - Proximity to Hole by Approach Shot Distance
presented by…
The Stat: From 50-74 yards, Scratch golfers leave approach shots 50% further from the hole than Tour Pros. And from 200+ yards, it’s 2.33x further!
The Takeaway: This chart is one of many that shows just how much better Tour Pros are than even the best amateurs. Less than 1% of all golfers can call themselves a Scratch golfer, and yet Tour Pros are on a whole different level when it comes to approach shot proximity. Of course, most Scratch golfers have other day jobs, and Tour Pros literally play golf for a living. Still, Tour Pros are in a category unto themselves.
So cut yourself some slack the next time you hit your 100 yard wedge shot to 30 feet!
TODAY’S TRIVIA
Answer to Win a HackMotion Core Wrist Sensor Training Aid
(1 winner chosen on 9/30/24 across all September trivia entries, 1,000 correct respondents minimum)
 |  |
With an average distance of 24'9", which player had the best 4-round tournament of the 2024 season in terms of average proximity to the hole on approach? |
LIKE THIS EDITION?
Forward it to a friend! —> —>
How did you like today's newsletter? |