Pinehurst's 1st Original Course in 30 Years + What is Driver Dispersion?

TIPS & DRILLS
Stop the Big Slice Cold In Its Tracks with Just a Sleeve of Balls (or a Few Tees)
@clubfaceuk offers a quick range station setup to improve swing path and club delivery

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To Recap…

The typical golfer tends to fight the big miss that starts straight, puts the blinker on and takes a 90-degree right turn. So today we have a tip from @clubfaceuk that will straighten that ball flight out and get you hitting those high, towering draws in no time!

STEP 1: Grab an empty box of balls and put it roughly one grip length in front of the ball. Hitting balls while missing the box will promote an upward angle of attack, which is necessary for consistent driver contact and launch.
STEP 2: Place a ball, tee or a bottle cap diagonal of your target line, one in front of the ball on the inside and the other behind the ball on the outside. This helps promote an in-to-out swing path, which is one of the best ways to fix a slice. Leave enough room for the club head to pass through the impact zone cleanly.
STEP 3: Hit balls within this station while missing the objects. Hitting up on the driver with a shallow in-to-out path is the recipe for those big draws that will wow your buddies.

PRO TIP: Imagine that the ball is divided in half - trying to make contact with the inside half of the ball helps groove this feeling of hitting it from the inside as well, and is a great feel to take onto the course! If you’re feeling extra dialed in, you can pick out a specific dimple on the golf ball where you want to make impact.

COURSES
Pinehurst No. 10 - From Unplayed to Top 100 in Just 7 Months
Tom Doak does it again 

Pinehurst No. 10
Aberdeen, North Carolina

When the name Pinehurst is mentioned, any true golfer tunes in to listen. From Donald Ross’s famed No. 2, which has hosted multiple U.S. Opens, to The Cradle, one of the best Par 3s in the nation, Pinehurst has a multitude of golf courses which extend a very modern nod to the history of golf. So when No. 10 was announced as the first original course expansion for the brand in nearly 30 years, golf critics began lining up immediately for the opportunity to play it. Despite having been open less than a year, No. 10 has already catapulted to #88 on Golf.com’s Top 100 Courses in the U.S.

Beginning in the 1920s, the sandy soil on which the course sits served as the home to numerous mining operations, namely Pleasants Sand and Supply. Founded after World War II, Pleasants shipped sand to construction projects across the United States, most notably to the herculean Blue Ridge Parkway project across the state. But after Pleasants closed in the mid 1970s, the Sandhills sat dormant, and nature reclaimed the land.

When Tom Doak was tasked with creating Pinehurst No. 10, he made sure to pay tribute to the land and its history, using the rolling hills and native wire grasses as well as the mining operation remnants to develop a “creative, eye-popping and thought-provoking” design, as Golf.com’s James Colgan wrote in his initial review. On hole number 8, for example, there is a massive 30 foot dune that obstructs your view from the tee, left behind by early 1900s miners and dubbed “Doak’s Matterhorn.”

Naturally, when one thinks of Pinehurst another adjective comes to mind - difficult. No. 10 doesn’t miss that mark either. Sure, there are some gettable holes like the drivable par four 4th, but then there’s the stretch of holes 9-14, widely recognized as the toughest stretch of Doak’s design. The course just barely scratches the 7,000 yard mark from the pro tees, but this 5 hole stretch includes a steep uphill climb, 634-yard par 5, a 508 yard par 4, and finishes you off with a 264 yard par 3 (from the tips). Just brutal.

Despite the fact that it has been open for less than a year, No. 10 fits right in alongside the other fine courses of the Sandhills. As mentioned by a reviewer who has played multiple courses in the Pinehurst lineup, “It’s amazing how No. 10 feels like it’s always been here - it’s that good.”

Rates: Accessible to resort guests only. Like No. 2, it is not included in all stay-and-play packages. In cases where it is not included, a $125 surcharge applies.

Check out this overview from @golfdigest

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STATISTICS
Stat of the Day: Shot Dispersion With The Driver
presented by…

The Stat: While it does fluctuate by handicap, the average golfer has a dispersion variation with the driver of ~60 yards. What is dispersion, you ask? It is the distance that a shot misses left or right off of the intended line - i.e. how crooked you hit it. If any golfer lines up and hits 20 balls, for example, the majority of these balls will be expected to land within the 60 yard window, give or take a few outliers.

The Takeaway: Two main points to note here- First, if you are inconsistent off the tee and have a typical 60 yard dispersion pattern, you need to be very careful where you’re aiming with your tee shots. Trying to cut the corner on a dogleg, for example, could leave you in a world of trouble if you don’t hit your line. In other words, understand your “safe zone.”

And second, no matter how good you are, you can always work on tightening up your dispersion pattern! It’s not always about distance off the tee; your accuracy often matters far more on certain holes. So use drills like the one above to really dial your driver in.

TODAY’S TRIVIA
Answer to Win BOTH of our Wild Golf Holiday Gift Boxes
(1 winner chosen on 12/31/24 across all December trivia entries, 1,000 correct respondents minimum)

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