The Longest Course in the U.S. + How to Get More Distance with Less Effort

TIPS & DRILLS
More Distance with Less Effort - Who Wouldn’t Want That?
Eric Cogorno’s 3 Keys to Longer Drives

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To Recap…

Everyone wants to hit the ball longer of the tee. But it’s so easy to lose sight of the fundamentals needed to maximize your own individual distance relative to your swing speed. In other words, it’s not always about just swinging harder. As outlined by Eric Cogorno, you need to check the following boxes if you want to truly send it off the tee:

-STEP 1: Start with your upper body titled away from the target to start the swing. This will promote an upward strike at impact designed to launch your drives.
-STEP 2: Just before you take the club back, press into your trail foot and then feel like you toss the club back away from the target. This will promote good width with your trail arm without a ton of wrist hinge.
-STEP 3: Feel like your head stays back behind the ball until after impact. Not only will this allow you to release the club properly, it will also help you to hit up on the ball and get the optimal launch angle to maximize your distance.

PRO TIP: Of course, none of this matters if you can’t keep the ball in play. Too many amateurs think the only key to distance is swinging hard, but your fundamentals need to be solid as well. To ensure you’re consistently hitting your target lines, start your practice sessions at ~70% speed. Slowly work your way up closer to 100%, and as soon as your accuracy starts to suffer, go back to basics- focus on your club face angle at impact, keep your head still and center the ball in the middle of the face.

COURSES
RainDance Has So Much More to Offer than Just Length
You’ll certainly get your money’s worth on this one

RainDance National Golf Club
Windsor, CO

Nestled along the Front Range of Colorado, RainDance National Golf Course is about an hour north of Denver near Fort Collins. Opened in 2022, it was designed by Fred Funk and has quickly become one of the most talked-about golf destinations in the region. It’s a young course that is part of an ongoing resort expansion and will mature over time, but it still delivers an incredible experience even at its young age.

Topping at out 8,463 yards from the back tees and with 250 feet of elevation change, the course is a beast, especially given the number of forced carries. The irony here is that Funk was notoriously one of the shortest hitters on Tour during his playing days, albeit one of the straightest). Not to worry though- there are plenty of shorter tee options to choose from, and the nearly mile-high elevation certainly makes the ball carry a bit further. As a rule of thumb, a ball will travel about ~1% further for every 1,000 feet above sea level. So at RainDance, the ball will go about 5% further than normal.

And despite the course’s difficulty, virtually everyone that plays it says they want to come back. As one online reviewer wrote, “Wow...incredible experience at Windsor's new Raindance Golf Club. Too much to describe but it was worth every penny of the steep $150 residence fees… I have played all over the State of Colorado for more than 30 years and RainDance ranks right up at the top of my list.”

RainDance National has quickly climbed the ranks since opening, voted a Top 10 New Global Course of 2022 by Kingdom Magazine, the 2nd best new public by Golf Digest in 2023 and recognized as the #4 course in Colorado by GolfPass.com. It also boasts one of the coolest logos you’ll come across, and it has some pretty unique features on the property- a silo serves as the clubhouse and houses an amazing restaurant, the bathrooms are retrofitted hay stacking machines, the “Funk Yard” driving range is full of antique vehicles and farm equipment, and the 61,000 foot “G.O.A.T. Ranch” putting green lights up at night (10x a normal practice green size).

Rates: Peak rates of $150-$170 between May - October

Check out this video from @raindancenational

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STATISTICS
Stat of the Day: The Longest Golf Balls You Can Buy
presented by…

The Stat: No huge surprises here- the Titleist ProV1x and the Callaway Chrome Soft X LS are the longest balls off the tee. But don’t count out lesser played models like the Maxfli Tour X, the Srixon Z-Star Diamond and the Wilson Staff.

The Takeaway: Perhaps there were bigger gaps between brands 30 years ago. But in 2024, pretty much all golf balls are pretty darn long and equally playable. The key for each individual is to find a ball that matches their swing speed and overall ball flight as well as their comfort level. If you’ve never been a huge fan of the way a ProV1 performs for you, don’t worry about charts like the one above- give something else a try!

Also, one small eyebrow raise - note the absence of any TaylorMade models… Just be sure to do your research and your own model testing!

TODAY’S TRIVIA
Answer to Win a Club Glove College Traveler Protective Travel Bag
(1 winner chosen on 10/31/24 across all October trivia entries, 1,000 correct respondents minimum)

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