At What Distance Should You Hit The Green 50% Of The Time? + The Exact Opposite of Bethpage Black

TIPS & DRILLS
Rick Shiels’ Top Tip for All Golfers: How to Become a Better Ball Striker
Renowned online instructor offers up a tip for more consistent strikes

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To Recap…

Rick Shiels became the most popular online golf coach on the planet during the pandemic, and for good reason. He has a way of simplifying things that few coaches can match. If you want to become a better striker of the ball, here’s his top tip:

-STEP 1: Set up to the ball as you normally would with a mid-iron, with the ball placed in the middle of your stance. Once you’re in a comfortable position, move the ball ~6 inches forward in your stance.
-STEP 2: With the ball still ~6 inches toward your lead foot but your club in the middle of your stance, take a controlled golf swing and notice how you must shift your weight significantly forward and rotate around your lead foot in order to make solid ball contact.
-STEP 3: Once you’ve mastered the feeling of shifting your weight forward, move the ball back to middle of your stance and place a tee ~6 inches in front of the ball. Your new goal is to strike the ball solidly and still knock the tee out of place. In doing so, you have now solidified in your brain what it feels like to pure your irons consistently. Go take it to the course!

BONUS: Unless you’re purposefully trying to shape the ball, divots pointing left or right of the target are of course not ideal. By striking the tee~6 inches in front of the ball in step 3, you can also become a much straighter hitter of the ball, leaving a perfectly straight divot each and every time.

COURSES
This Course Is Pretty Much the Exact Opposite of Bethpage Black
A C.B. Macdonald & Seth Raynor Special, Limited to the Elite

The Creek Club
Locust Valley, NY

We don’t like to frequently highlight courses that you’re unlikely to ever have a chance to play, but the beauty of this course is just too much to ignore. When The Creek Club opened on the north shore of Long Island in 1923, it was nicknamed “The Million Dollar Club” due to its exclusive membership, limited to just 100 men. From what we can gather, the initiation fee today will run you ~$200,000 plus annual dues of ~$10,000. Being located so close to New York City naturally brings with it an elite clientele. JP Morgan was once a member, as was Lawrence Rockefeller (John D.’s grandson), not to mention the former chairman of CBS, the former president of the Coca-Cola Company, and the list goes on. You get the idea- it’s pretty much the exact opposite of Bethpage Black, which is affectionately known as “the People’s Country Club.” Bethpage is the other well-known course on Long Island, and as a highly accessible public muni, it’s a stark contrast to The Creek.

For you course design nerds, The Creek features two big brand name architects, C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, who showcased many of their signature template holes- namely, the Reverse Redan, Eden and Biarritz templates. Holes 1-5 may be rather forgettable, but “the course comes alive on hole 6” as one reviewer put it and the remainder of the course is a sight to behold. The views of the Long Island Sound are unmatched, as the course actually sits on the highest elevation on the entire island. The most memorable hole is likely the 11th, a 200-yard par 3 with an 80 yard long Biarritz-style green with a swale running through the middle. But don’t let the size of the green fool you. If the wind is blowing, it can feel like a postage stamp green. In fact, this course will make any golfer feel like a fool if the wind is blowing. Sitting at #79 in the U.S. according to Top100GolfCourses, The Creek may not attainable for many, but it doesn’t hurt to dream.

Rates: Private- hoping for that invitation to come in the mail any day now.

Check out these photos from @linksgems

STATISTICS
Stat of the Day: At What Distance Should You Hit The Green ~50% Of The Time (By Handicap)?
presented by…

The Stat: Hitting the green 1 out of every 2 tries is a feat unto itself for the vast majority of golfers, regardless of distance. In fact, a 0 HCP only hits the Green in Regulation 56% of the time overall. But there’s a major difference in terms of the distance each handicap will hit the green 50% of the time, with a 20 HCP and a 0 HCP being separated by 73 yards!

The Takeaway: We always hear how the short game is the major statistical differentiator between the best and worst golfers. However, the 50% GIR distance stat is rather illuminating. Even a 10 HCP is separated from a 0 HCP by 36 yards. Given that a 10 HCP is hitting into the green from a longer distance more frequently than a 0 HCP (due to shorter average distance off the tee), this stat is doubly telling. So yes, you should be spending more time on your short game practice. But a close 2nd on the priority scale would be to focus your practice sessions on your irons from < 165 yards.

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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