The "Hell Drill" is Miserable... and totally worth it + the Longest Golf Hole in America

TIPS & DRILLS
The “Hell Drill” Is Miserable… and Totally Worth It
If You Want to Become a Great Ball Striker, This Is Your Drill

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To Recap…

The “Hell Drill is one of the most difficult drills to put into your weekly practice routine, and for good reason. The purpose of this drill is to eliminate flipping your hands at impact and ingrain the feeling of keeping your club face square with forward shaft lean through the impact zone as long as possible. If you can master it, there’s no way you haven’t transformed yourself into a top tier ball striker. Here’s the drill:

-STEP 1: Grab a wedge to make it easier to get the ball in the air. Grip the club with your lead hand and take the trail hand and place it flat on the back of the club with an open palm.
-STEP 2: Take the club back about halfway, and on your downswing, try to get your rear hand as flat as possible (which naturally promotes shallowing the club). Obviously, the goal here is to make crisp, clean contact. It will likely take a LOT of reps before you’re consistently making decent contact.
-STEP 3: After you feel like you’ve mastered the wedge with a half swing, gradually work your way up to a 3/4 swing and ultimately a full swing. If you want to try a less lofted club, have at it! You can then try to take the same feeling and replicate it with a traditional two-hand grip.

COURSES
This Virginia Course Will Be Burned Into Your Memory
Truly a One-of-a-Kind Experience

Meadows Farms Golf Course
Locust Grove, VA

Locust Grove, VA sits between Richmond and Washington, DC, about 70 miles from each. It’s in the rolling countryside and offers one of the most unique course experiences you’ll ever come across. Meadows Farms Golf Course (a mouthful, we know) is the brainchild of Bill “Farmer” Meadows, a former teacher who turned to farming and made an absolute boatload of money. Instead of taking that money and hiring a fancy course architect, Meadows decided to do his own design work, as he had some very specific ideas for course features he wanted to incorporate. Meadows Farms has 3 distinct 9-hole courses, the Island Green Nine, the Waterfall Nine and the Longest Hole Nine. And you guessed it, the latter is home to the longest golf hole in America, measuring 841 yards and playing as a par 6, which honestly feels a bit cheap considering it starts with a dogleg tee shot and will likely take you 5 solid shots just to reach the green.

But veiled behind the Guinness Book of World Records title are several incredibly unique course features. Naturally, there’s a fantastic island green par 3 as well as a stunning par 3 situated on top of a waterfall (right next to the historic Willis home which served as a hospital during the Civil War). And there’s even a hole that has a baseball field carved into it, complete with a fence and scoreboard. But in our opinion, perhaps the best feature of the course is the Warm-up Hole. Yes, you can get rid of those first tee jitters by playing their par 4 hole #0. So that rare first hole birdie may not count towards your score, but neither will a snowman you were all set to blame on a lack of warm-up time.

Let’s be clear, Meadows Farms isn’t going to win any major architectural awards, nor is it going to command $150+ greens fees. This is a blue collar course designed for the casual golfer, and Bill Meadows vowed from day 1 to keep fees to minimum. A peak weekend round will only set you back ~$73. But if you want an unforgettable round you can tell your buddies about for years to come, Meadows Farms is one of the best options around. And to any course architects out there, don’t be so reliant on the breakfast ball. Jump on the Warm-up Hole bandwagon.

Rates: $44-$60 during the week, $55-$73 on the weekend

Check out this overview from @coursesyouneedtoplay

coursesyouneedtoplay

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STATISTICS
Stat of the Day: Distance at Which There’s an Equal Shot of Needing 2 or 4 Shots to Hole Out
presented by…

The Stat: A Scratch golfer is equally likely to need 2 shots to hole out as they are to need 4 shots at a distance of 81 yards from the hole. For a 10 Handicap, this distance is just 35 yards. For a 20 Handicap, this distance is 28 yards.

The Takeaway: A Scratch golfer is of course a better player from just about any distance, but the disparity between a 0 HCP and a 10 or 20 HCP is really apparent inside 100 yards. Scratch golfers may not be anywhere near perfect, but they are significantly more likely to get up and down further away from the hole. And inside 50 yards, they don’t make nearly as many big mistakes as less skilled players.

Translation: Don’t waste your range sessions trying to bomb drives. Follow the model of Scratch golfers, who know the majority of their practice time is best spent inside 100 yards, with even more of a focus inside 50 yards.

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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