Is this par 3 "the World's Most Beautiful Golf Hole"? + Practice Wedges Like a D1 Golfer

TIPS & DRILLS
Practice Your Wedges Like a Division 1 Golfer
NC State golfer Ellie Hildreth breaks down her go-to wedge drills

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To Recap…

Obviously everybody wants to hit their driver 300+ yards, but it doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t hit a good wedge approach shot. Ellie Hildreth walks us through a practice session with her wedges, focusing on a blend of mechanics, feel, and distance control:

-DRILL 1: In the first few minutes of her range work, Ellie focuses on mechanics, emphasizing staying “connected” with her arms and torso moving in sync. She starts with 20 one-handed wedges with her trail arm, then 20 with just her lead arm.
-DRILL 2: Next, she moves to 25 “towel drill” shots, with a towel kept in place under both her arms. This really forces you to rotate your body instead of relying on your arms/hands to square the club.
-DRILL 3: She moves on to 3/4 wedges, aiming to keep 60% of her weight on her lead side so that she can ensure she’s compressing the ball with each shot.
-DRILL 4: Ellie finishes with a distance control drill, aiming to hit each of 10 shots from 85 / 95 / 105 yards inside 10 feet. Then she moves on to 115 / 125 yards with a goal of getting each shot inside 15-20 feet.

PRO TIP: Notice that her range session is divided into two sections - a mechanical section and a feel section. Separating the mechanics from the performance is an important element for long-term improvement. After all, when you’re out on the course, you want to play “golf” and not play “golf swing”!

COURSES
 Carved from Lava Rock with the Help of a Rockefeller
Another Top 100 Course from the Legendary Designer Robert Trent Jones, Sr.

Mauna Kea Golf Course
Waimea, Hawaii

If you haven’t heard the story of how Mauna Kea Golf Course on the Big Island in Hawaii came to be, your bucket list is about to get longer. The course was carved out of volcanic black lava rock fields, with the help of a famous architect and the deep pockets of a Rockefeller. Laurance Rockefeller had a vision to build one of the preeminent vacation resorts in Hawaii in the 1960s, so he went all in, hiring Robert Trent Jones, Sr. to lead the design. RTJ took a virtually unplayable, barren lava field and transformed it into a golf course that ranks 49th on Golf.com’s Top 100 Courses You Can Play in the U.S.

When Mauna Kea opened on December 8, 1964, the grand opening exhibition match included Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. The match aired on TV in March of the following year, and one thing stuck out to the TV audience that watched it - the par 3 third hole. This 272 yard par 3 sits on the edge of a cliff, demanding players to block out the fact that it is almost all carry before you reach land again. But while players toil in fear as they stand on the tee box, they can’t help but marvel in the hole’s sheer beauty - the hole was so striking even in 1965 that TV viewers of the match (many of whom were watching in black and white) quickly dubbed it as “the world’s most beautiful golf hole.” In fact, RTJ is on record as having said, ““Mr. Rockefeller, if you allow me to build a golf course here, this’ll be the most beautiful hole in the world.” Talk about calling your shot.

To say that this course is scenic would be like saying Jeff Bezos is “upper-middle class.” It truly sits in a class by itself should you be fortunate enough to experience it. Swaying palm trees and beautiful ocean views coupled with 750 feet of elevation change and world-class conditions make this a can’t miss venue if you’re ever on the Big Island. And surprisingly, you can play the course as a resort guest for less than $200 in the afternoon, a rarely-seen price for Hawaiian resort golf of this caliber. But don’t let these jaw-dropping views distract you from the challenge at hand - the course rating is 76.6, which means that a scratch golfer would shoot ~77 during a typical round. So bring your “A” game!

Rates: Rates fluctuate for guests based on the time of day - $230 for morning tee times, $180 for mid-afternoon times, and $160 for any tee times after 1:30 PM.

Check out this experience video from @michaelmcgruther

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STATISTICS
Stat of the Day: What’s a “Good Shot?” - Handicap x Average Proximity to Hole on Approach
presented by…

The Stat: Between 75-125 yards, a Scratch golfer will hit it to 39 feet from the pin, on average, whereas a 15 HCP will hit it to 60 feet. However, from 175-225 yards out, a Scratch golfer will hit it to 82 feet from the pin, whereas a 15 HCP will hit it to 166 feet.

The Takeaway: Just about any time a sub-10 Handicap is able to pull out a wedge for their approach shot, they expect the next shot to be a tap-in for birdie. Well, the data says otherwise. It should be re-assuring for all higher Handicap golfers to know that the typical Scratch golfer hits their approach shots to roughly ~39 feet from 75-125 yards.

That said, there’s a noticeable difference as approach shot distances move further away from the hole. Lower handicap golfers are decidedly better when hitting approach shots outside of 175 from the hole, in some cases getting their approach shots 2-3x closer to the hole.

So 1. don’t bemoan the shots described above that would qualify as “average,” 2. work on that long iron accuracy, and 3. when you do get those elusive tap-in birdies, don’t let your buddies forget them!

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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