You Can Play Barefoot in Hawaii for Just $60 + Brad Faxon's Putting Keys

TIPS & DRILLS
Brad Faxon’s Best Putting Feels
8 Time Tour winner, Brad Faxon shares putting secrets with Chris Como

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To Recap…

Brad Faxon is widely regarded as one of the best putters of all time. In fact, during his prime between 1993 - 2003, he finished 1st in season-long putting average three times and finished 2nd once. If you want to learn from one of the greats, follow his advice and copy the keys he describes below:

-KEY #1: You want to feel like your rear wrist, rear elbow and rear shoulder are all working together in unison. As Faxon states, he always felt like it was “piston-like” working downward, as if the force was traveling down from his shoulder all the way through his wrist.
-KEY #2: The sensation he was striving for was that the rear shoulder was going forward and down and the front shoulder was going up and around his torso. This is the ‘shoulder rocking’ sensation instructors typically preach.
KEY #3: In addition to the sensations described above, Faxon always wanted to feel like his arms were swinging in tandem with his rocking shoulders.

PRO TIP: As Faxon describes, a fantastic drill to ingrain these sensations is to place your lead hand on your thigh and simply hit one-handed putts by rocking the shoulders. Doing so from a variety of distances and across a variety of breaks will really help you sync up your brain with the appropriate upper body movements.

COURSES
Play Barefoot for Just $60 in Hawaii? Sign Us Up.
This Hawaiian muni is sure to leave an impression

Wailua Municipal Golf Course
Kauai, HI

We don’t know about you, but when we think of the holidays, Hawaii always comes to mind. Maybe it’s that Mele Kalikimaka song, but we digress… Unfortunately, great golf in the islands isn’t typically easy on the wallet. Lucky for you, we found an incredible muni that tops out at just $60 on the weekends and $48 during the week. And if you want to get the true local experience, you can even play it barefoot.

Situated along the eastern shoreline of Kauai in the town of Lihue, Wailua Municipal Golf Course originally opened in the 1930s as a 9-hole course that took over the Lihue Plantation dairy pasture, expanding to a full 18 holes in 1961. Since then, Wailua has gained significant recognition, hosting three USGA Amateur Public Links Championships, and it has been ranked as high as #3 on the Golf Channel’s Best of Hawaii list. In 2021, Golf Magazine rated it the 26th best municipal course in the country, putting it in the top 1% of all publicly funded courses.

In terms of the course itself, reviewers do comment that the tee boxes can often need work at times throughout the year, but the greens generally roll quite well at above average speeds. And though it’s just 6,961 yards from the back tees, many say the course can play long, especially when the wind is blowing. The layout is also highly walkable, and it’s not uncommon to see the locals playing barefoot, so why not join them. You only live once.

Finding an accessible Hawaiian course for < $65 that plays right along the ocean is unheard of, putting Wailua in a category of its own. As one patron wrote, "I've played courses all over the world, but Wailua's combination of affordability, challenge, and scenery is unmatched. The first hole alone is worth the green fee!" Tee times can be made via phone up to 7 days in advance and it can get crowded in the afternoon, so be sure to snag an early morning time ahead of your next trip.

Rates: $48 - $60 for non-residents 😱

Check out this video from @coursesyouneedtoplay

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STATISTICS
Stat of the Day: Uphill vs. Downhill Putting Probabilities on the PGA Tour
presented by…

The Stat: As great as Tour Players are at putting, they certainly don’t make everything, and they demonstrate a noticeable performance drop on downhill putts (when compared to uphill putts).

The Takeaway: The next time you slap your knee in frustration after missing a 5 footer, remember this chart. Even the pros don’t make everything. Take special note of the decrease in 1-putt probability going from 5 feet to 8 feet to 12 feet.

And if you have a downhill putt, cut yourself even more slack. Not only are the pros less likely to make a downhill putt, they’re also quite a bit more likely to 3-putt.

Tour Pros are exceptional in a lot of ways, but especially at 3-putt avoidance. Spend more time working on distance control to get the first putt close AND on holing everything inside 3-4 feet (to avoid the costly 3-putt).

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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