British Open Hot Takes + Is it Better to Lay Up or Go For It on Par 5s?

TIPS & DRILLS
Don’t Try To Be Perfect With Your Wedges
As instructed by Billy Horschel

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To Recap…

As amateurs, we tend to think that PGA pros are literally perfect (or pretty dang close to perfect) with all of their shots. But as Billy Horschel explains, you actually don’t want to aim for perfect contact around the greens (where you hit the ball first and then the ground). If this is your goal, you’ll end up with a lot of disappointing shots, even as a low handicap. Instead, there’s a better way. Here’s how:

-STEP 1: Grab your favorite wedge, ideally something between 52* and 56* according to Horschel.
-STEP 2: Open up the club face to engage more of the bounce - i.e. the “sole angle.” Don’t try to be perfect- let the club work for you instead of against you by aiming to make contact just behind where the ball lies.
-STEP 3: Let the club head slide past your hands after impact. If you try to keep your hands ahead of impact and use the leading edge, you’ll need to be a lot more perfect with your contact. But if you let the club head pass your hands, the club won’t dig into the ground and result in a “chunk.” Instead, the club head will glide along the ground until ball contact.

PRO TIP: It may help to record yourself on camera (or use a visual tool like a strip of painters tape) so that you can see where contact with the ground is being made. By knowing your tendencies, you can adjust the ball placement in your stance to give yourself the best chances of success.

COURSES
Saved By PGA Pro Todd Barranger During The Pandemic, Now Thriving
A former nationally-rated municipal course

Butterfield Trail Golf Club
El Paso, TX

El Paso is known as the golfing capital of Texas, right? High winds, flat hardpan terrain and warm temps year-round make for an ideal golf course, correct? Well to many locals, Butterfield Trail Golf Club is just that- an ideal golf course. It opened in 2007 as one of the best public munis in America, designed by Tom Fazio and subsidized by the neighboring El Paso International Airport. From 2017-2019, it was named a Golf Advisor Top Course in Texas from 2017-2019, an incredibly rare feat for a course that costs < $40 (with a cart!) during peak season.

But the pandemic was especially hard on government-funded munis; no one was playing golf in April of 2020, and the country naturally had bigger issues that needed funding. So the course was slated to close for good in May… until one hero jumped in. Former PGA Pro Todd Barranger, who runs Spirit Golf Management Southwest group, knew the course was a hidden gem, and his team negotiated a deal with the city to take it over.

The course is now alive and well. “A gem in the desert. It almost feels like a secret with how cool a course it is,” as one reviewer put it. If you like incredible mountain views, wide fairways and lightning fast greens, Butterfield Trail is right up your alley. Another reviewer wrote, “The greens were the quickest I have played in many years. For a while, I thought I was at Oakmont.” If you’re ever in the area, don’t miss it. Sure the West Texas wind can be a 3-clubber at times. But it’s more than worth the price of admission.

Rates: $39 during peak season (cart included)

Check out these awesome photos…

STATISTICS
Stat of the Day: Is It Better to Lay Up or Go For It on Par 5s?
presented by…

The Stat: For the average golfer, the closer they are to the hole on their approach shot, the closer they’ll get it to the pin. By laying up to an ideal 3rd shot distance into the hole, it actually costs the average golfer ~0.6 strokes per par 5.

The Takeaway: Let’s say you’re money from 110 yards with your gap wedge but you’re a bit more questionable from 50-80 yards. You might be tempted on a par 5 to try and lay up to your perfect gap wedge distance. But the Shotscope data says otherwise. Unless there’s some other circumstance like water in front of the green, it’s typically in your best interest on par 5s to get as close as you can to the hole with your 2nd shot. Pull out those long irons and fairway woods!

TODAY’S TRIVIA
Answer to Win a TaylorMade Summer Commemorative Staff Bag 
(1 winner chosen on 7/31/24 across all May trivia entries, 1,000 respondents minimum)

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