Macdonald, Raynor and a $25 Million Reno @ Yale + Master the Low Draw / Fade to Wow Your Friends

TIPS & DRILLS
The Low Draw / Fade Can Get You Out of a Jam, and It Looks Really Freakin’ Cool
PGA Top 50 Coach, Alex Elliott simplifies things

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To Recap…

If you find yourself behind a tree and need to curve the ball while keeping it low to advance it down the fairway, the smart play might be to take your medicine and hit a lateral punch out. But where’s the fun in that? And what if you’re down 1 in matchplay on the final hole and need to hit the hero shot?!! Not to worry. Alex Elliott has you covered if you need to hit the low draw or low fade:

How to Hit the Low Draw:
STEP 1: Close the face of the club and choke down toward the bottom of the grip
STEP 2: Set-up with the ball toward the back of your stance
STEP 3: Put 70% of your weight on your lead leg and drop your rear foot back a bit (which will close your stance)
STEP 4: Swing along your foot line and roll your hands through impact. Swing a little slower to limit spin and keep the ball down.

How to Hit the Low Fade: Very similar set-up!
STEP 1: Choke down toward the bottom of the grip again but keep your club face more open this time
STEP 2: Set-up with the ball toward the back of your stance again
STEP 3: Put 70% of your weight on your lead leg and drop your front foot back a bit (which will open your stance)
STEP 4: This time, swing along your foot line and do NOT roll your hands. Again swing a bit slower to limit spin and keep the ball down.

COURSES
Yale Golf Course - The #1 College Course in America
The Prestigious Ivy School’s Most Valuable Asset?

Yale Golf Course
New Haven, CT

Yale University is known for its secret societies, its football rivalry with Harvard, its $42 billion dollar endowment… and its golf course? Yes, Yale’s Golf Course might be its most valuable asset next to its endowment. Originally constructed in 1926, it’s one of the only publicly accessible CB Macdonald & Seth Raynor tracks in the nation. At the time, the two legendary architects were given $400,000 the bring the course to life, then the largest ever golf course budget. And boy did they deliver, creating one of the most interesting and fun layouts you’ll ever come across, even today. Template holes like the Cape, the Redan, the Eden and the Biarritz are a staple at Yale, and every hole feels like its own page-turning chapter in a dramatic novel you’ll be dreaming about weeks after completion.

The course was designed to be a physical test for the students of Yale, not just because the course itself is difficult, but because the terrain makes for a challenging walk. Everything about the course is grand, which occupies 720 acres (i.e. about 3-4x the land of a typical course) - the bunkers are deeper (see photo above), the greens are larger, and the fairway undulations are, um, hilly-er. Over the last 50+ years though, the surrounding forests have encroached on the course, and the scale seems to have diminished along with some more questionable architectural decisions that were made. So Gil Hanse was commissioned last year to restore Yale’s home track to the original intent of Macdonald & Raynor, armed with $25 million for tree removal, expansion of the greens, re-construction of bunkers and tee boxes, as well as drainage improvements.

Yale is the #1 college course in the country, and it currently sits at #38 in Golf Digest’s list of Top Public Courses in America. As one reviewer put it, “My expectations of Yale were high. I had watched all the Fried Egg footage. I had read endless stories/articles and nearly all the reviews here before my pilgrimage to the land that Seth Raynor built. And…I was still blown away.” When the course re-opens in late 2025, everything points to an even better ranking, if that’s possible.

Rates: $125, with additional discounts for those associated with alumni, faculty or staff

Check out this review from @coursemaps

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STATISTICS
Stat of the Day: How Often Should You Shoot Your Handicap?

The Stat: According to the Golf Handicap Information Network, you can expect to play to your handicap once every 4-5 rounds, or 20-25% of the time.

The Takeaway: Even experienced golfers often get confused about this- your average expected score is NOT the same as your handicap. The USGA calculates your handicap such that you are generally going to shoot above your handicap during the majority of your rounds. There’s more to the formula than this, but here’s a quote directly from the GHIN website:

“To calculate your Handicap Index, your 8 best Score Differentials from your most recent 20 scores are averaged, and additional safeguards are included that:

• Prevent excessive upward movement within one year), and…

• Further reduce a Handicap Index after an exceptional score is posted.”

So don’t get discouraged the next time you’re 16 over when your handicap is technically a 12!

TODAY’S TRIVIA
Answer to Win a Rapsodo Mobile Launch Monitor
(1 winner chosen on 8/31/24 across all August trivia entries, 1,000 respondents minimum)

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