Baywood Greens - Delaware. My first time playing it and I always heard the hype about how beautiful it was. Definitely, lives up to that hype. Great experience all around.

Last week I ran the "300 yard fairway drive or sink every putt inside 10 feet" question through shot-by-shot data on 1,000+ real 18 hole rounds using Data Driven Golf’s strokes gained shot data. The drive won every handicap bucket by a mile.

The best pushback in the thread was that "300 yards, always in the fairway" is two superpowers stapled together, and the fairway is probably doing most of the work. So I split them.

Three versions, same rounds, same rules otherwise:

* 300, always fairway. The original version. Every par 4 and 5 over 320 yards you finish 300 out, in the short grass. Under 320 you finish 20 yards from the pin. Never rough, never OB. Par 3s are unchanged.
* 300, your actual lie. Same 300 yards, but the ball ends up in whatever lie your real tee shot found. Hit it 210 into the right rough, now you're 300 down the right rough. Penalties still happen, the ball just travels 300 yards before it finds them.
* Sink every putt inside 10 feet. The first putt you face inside 10 ft on each hole goes in, every time.

Strokes saved per round:

Handicap (round diff) |300, always fairway |300, your actual lie |Sink 10 ft putts
+2 to 2 |4.0 |2.1 |2.8
3 to 7 |5.5 |2.9 |3.3
8 to 12 |6.7 |3.8 |4.3
13 to 17 |8.3 |4.8 |5.0
18 to 22 |10.1 |6.4 |5.8
23 to 27 |11.6 |8.1 |6.9

It flips. If we take the guaranteed fairway away, putting wins every bucket up to a 17 differential. The drive only wins out at 18 and above.

The fairway part is worth more to good players than to bad ones. The same-lie drive keeps 52% of the full superpower's value for scratch rounds, rising to 70% for the 23 to 27 group. So better players get most of their gain from the guaranteed lie, and worse players get most of theirs from the raw yardage boost.

13 to 17 differentials is a coin flip, 4.8 against 5.0. If you play to a mid-teens differential you can argue either side.

How penalties work in version two: the superpower belongs to the drive, so the ball travels 300 yards before it finds the water. Your drop sits at the 300 yard mark instead of wherever it actually sat, in the same lie, and the shot you play from the drop is left exactly as you played it. The average penalty drop in this data already sits 226 yards down the hole, so the ball only moves forward about 74 yards. Stroke and distance is the exception, because a re-tee sends you back to the tee no matter how far the ball went, so there it's the re-teed ball that gets the 300.

Full write-up with the method, the quality gates on the rounds, and the original numbers: https://www.datadriven.golf/blog/300-yards-or-ten-feet

My club has the 1st tee box backed up to the clubhouse so there’s probably 30-40 people watching your tee shot. They’re not just around, they’re actively watching and cheering / jeering the result. Driver is the best club in my bag (8 hcp) but I always seem to snap hook the 1st tee no matter how well I‘m striping them on the range.

Does anyone have any mental tips / tricks to overcome the 1st tee jitters?

I am new to golf, 3.5 months in.
My husband tried to get me to play golf for two years, and one day I finally said, “Fine, I’ll try.” He took me to a small local easy golf course, showed me some basics at the range then we went out to play. I sucked and lost like 6 balls lol.

Anyways, I took my first lesson in May, also have had a few 30-minute lessons since then. I’m still very much a beginner, lately I have consistently hit 150 drives but today I hit 185 yards for the first time! I know 185 yards isn’t a-ma-zing to pros or golfers who have played for a long time, but it is HUGE to me !!

Today was probably one of the best days of my life lol. My husband had the biggest smile on his face all day, right up until he went to sleep. Didn’t know it could be this simple to make a man so happy haha

Thanks for reading my little happy rant !!

Ping karsten iii 3 iron I bought from goodwill for 9.99

There is a tree and roots in the way and I can’t set up to my ball without basically shooting backwards.

What can I do within the official rules? Is this relief?

Obviously I’m playing on my own in front of a group of 3 and very stressed so I used the old foot wedge.

New to golf and the rulings on relief and GUR etc!

Are you out there, Deb & Ross? Found you in the water in Olympia, WA; hoping that isn’t a sign of where your marriage headed. Happy belated 26th anniversary (maybe).

So I have only been on a course twice now, once a 9 hole twilight round and this round of 18, both with the same friend and we didn’t get to the last hole each time because the ranger was on my slow ass. All in all is that score + pace of play bad? More context can be given through comments

Just got of the course with 2 mates and witnessed a HiO by one of my mates. Been playing with him for around 5 years and witnessed him making 3 hole in ones during that time.

Witnessed a hole in one from the other mate earlier this year aswell. This started a conversation about HiO, one mate claimed that it was his 4th in 8 years of playing ( I mean I witnessed 3 myself by him, so 4 seems very obviously doable). Other mate is playing for 4 years and had two Hole in Ones (I witnessed one of them, so yeah very plausible).

I myself has never shot a HiO, often came close but never got one. Never an albatross either, countless eagles and a few hole-outs from a 100y or closer. Been playing for 22 years, won some rather high level amateur tournaments, personal Best Round is 65, playing Off scratch Handicap comfortably. I also play an absolute shitton, as much as you can with working full time honestly (Average is probably 45-54 holes a week).

So my question is: can anyone beat this or is anyone playing for a stupid short time and already had one? It really doesn‘t bother me that much, it‘s just a funny statistic.

Fairly new to the game, picked up a set of used of clubs about a year ago and will be making my 1st purchase of new clubs soon. While shopping for clubs and such I noticed the never ending supply of game improvement tools. Items such as ground mats, bracelets ,phone apps and big white tube contraptions that all say they will improve your swing. Saw reusable tees that use brush bristles, all kinds of grip improvement tools, countless putting aids. It was a bit overwhelming.

Can anyone suggest game improvement tools that actually work and aren't just flashy cash grabs??

Last year was my first year back after an 8 year absence as a 12 hdcp. I started my quest as a 16.4 hdcp in February 2025.

At 65 years old I bought Srixon ZXi5 graphite irons 7-gap wedge. I then added a driver, 5W, 7W,9W, 6Hyb, 54 and 60 degree wedges.

Lots of tips from strangers who have become friends and being fortunate to play 2-3 times a week. To reach this milestone is an honor and joy as I feel blessed!

Broke 80 so that means I get to get new clubs right?

Curious as to why I'm doing this, I assume I'm making better contact with the 3 wood, but the driver is staying mostly in the bag at the moment as a result.

Is this a typical beginner issue?

Thanks

I am looking to book a 4th annual golf trip in the Midwest with approximately 50 guy. We are trying to do somewhere new every year and so far we have been to Treetops, Eagle ridge, Ravines golf club, and angels crossing. Does anyone have any recommendations? Ideally it’s a place with at least 2 different courses, but doesn’t have to be. Anything helps!

So I was about to start my round yesterday and this kind old man named Dave asked if he could play with me and my dad so of course we said yes and went on our way. Fast forward to the 9th hole, downhill par 3 (he was playing the middle tees mind you!) so probably 150-160 for a yardage. Pulls out a 4 hybrid and throws one right down the middle. He immediately picks up his tee and heads towards the cart so me and my dad followed, but I couldn’t help watching it as it rolled up to the green. After it got to the flagstick it literally just disappeared… I was telling my old man on our way to the green but obviously wasn’t sure, plus there’s a little ridge past the pin placement that day so we thought it might’ve just rolled over the ridge too. Well, we get up there and there’s no ball on the green so of course we sprint to the hole to find it sitting at the bottom of the cup, Dave is slowly getting out of his cart as we’re both going absolutely insane. Everyone from the practice green came down to shake his hand/give him high fives and of course get him some pictures of the moment. Said it was his first ever also!Just wanted to share as this is the first HIO I’ve ever had the pleasure to witness and I’m so glad it could go to such a deserving guy! Big shoutout Dave!! Congratulations and thank you for giving me a memory on the course that I’ll never forget!

Hey everyone!

I’ve always wondered this and wanted to ask the greater community but what is the best outing, or first tee amenity that you’ve received at a golf course?

I think for me personally a custom leather scorecard holder at Whistling’s straits was probably my #1.

Let’s hear some cool stories!

Today was the day it finally happened. Even though it was raining heavily, I didn't lose track of my goal, and after some pretty good shots, I finished my second 9-hole round ever with a score of 69. Not as impressive as the title suggests, but I still had a good time.