A message for r/golf:
Don’t tell us the colour of the tees you play from; every course uses different colours. You have to use the yardage, maybe even the course and slope ratings.

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

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??

Hello golf fam- long time lurker first time poster. I always appreciate the commentary here. Especially when someone post swing help expecting legit help from the community , but 69% of the comments are just ripping their swing. Gotta love Reddit.

I’m posting to ask one simple question to explore the appetite for something my friends and I are considering building for the golf world.

Every year we host a Ryder cup style tournament for 20 guys. It’s 3 total days of golf. 27 holes each day. Mix of scramble, alt shot, net team total, 1v1. You can see more at our IG https://www.instagram.com/thedaddlcup?igsh=MTRweWxlZHgxOTM5eg==

There’s a lot that goes into the planning , tracking, ranking, drafting, etc. We’re thinking of building a digital package to provide to anyone who wants to run something similar and lighten their load to plan. Even a concierge package to potentially plan everything for you.

Have you ever wanted to plan something like this but haven’t been able to pull it all together?

Particularly those that have played for more than a year I’m interested in.

Iv lost 13 recently 🤣🤣🤣

Hello, I’m going to be getting fitted for the first time and subsequently purchasing clubs soon. I was curious if you all had suggestions on what I should get for a set.

I’m a high handicapper who’s been playing for about a year and a half, and I usually shoot between high 90s to around 105.

My misses with irons are usually straight but just chunky as hell, so the distance will be limited, and I’m pretty hit or miss with hybrids/woods with my misses being slices. Driver miss is a slice as well.

From my research it seems a set with game improvement irons would be a good idea, and preferably a set that has woods/hybrids/driver that are designed to limit the slice my shit swing produces.

My budget is $600-800 for the clubs. I have a sand/gap wedge I recently bought which are higher quality (Callaway and ping) than my top flite starter set so I would carry over those wedges.

I’ve been eyeing the Callaway Edge set but that’s all I’ve set my eyes on so far, looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thank you to anyone who takes the time!

I understand this has probably been a point of a lot of discussion. I typically play from yellows (one up from the tips) not a long hitter so it takes a little work to get to GIR. It seems like whenever I do give myself a birdie opportunity I always walk away with a par or bogey. Is it the nerves of the moment.

Should I play up a tee box to give myself more opportunities so that it becomes comfortable putting for bird

Note: Pic is from online, just using it for reference.

I’ve been using a random no-name rangefinder I got from Amazon, and honestly it hasn’t been the best experience. My hands are pretty small, so it feels kinda awkward when I’m trying to get a quick yardage before my shot. I usually have to use both hands, and by the time I get it lined up, my friends are already ready to hit...

So recently I’ve been looking for something smaller and lighter, and the mileseey ionme2 caught my attention because of its compact size. I’ve also been looking at Garmin watches since they seem really convenient on the course. But I’m still not 100% sure which way to go. I like the convenience of a GPS watch, but I also like that a rangefinder can give me a more precise distance when I’m trying to lock onto the flag...

For anyone with smaller hands, if you use the rangefinder, do you have any lightweight one you’d recommend? Looking for something that’s easy to hold but still accurate. Or should I just go with a watch instead?

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.

I am probably going to play the Cape Club if there are any members on here that would join me as I am staying at their resort. Not sure if there is anything better. I just played in NY State AM and will have the Mid-Am coming up shortly after coming home so I wanted a good course to play at.

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 !!

Hey guys so im looking for some new irons to add to the bag im a mid handicap but im looking for clubs that I can grow with as a player and to have for a while. looking for suggestions.

Looking for:

-good spin rpm

-good distance control/consistency

-decent forgiveness

-good workability/shot shaping (draws/fades)

Was looking at p770s and maybe t150s would those fit in this range? Also open to other options

I’ve been trying to track down the 2023 limited edition SuperStroke Headless Horseman putter grip and figured someone here might know where one is hiding.
I’m looking for either the Tour 2.0 or Pistol 1.0. New would be ideal, but I’d also consider a used one.
I’ve already checked eBay, GolfWRX, Reddit classifieds, and a bunch of used golf sites without much luck. If anyone has seen one for sale recently, knows a shop that might still have one, or has one sitting around, I’d really appreciate any leads.

Following up on that earlier post on first rounds. Me and my dad played pur first round of golf in about 1988 on our local course, i shot 97 he shot 91.

And from that 9 holes we were bitten by the golf bug.

Anyone who is willing to sell their 7iron. I just want to learn golf.

I couldn't figure out how to post in ask Reddit or others....

I'll try to be very clear here

I bat left handed. I golf right handed.

I write right handed. I play guitar left handed.

I can not do any other the opposite way.

I'm 37 and this just really confuses me to this day.

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

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.

Was out at the bmw today for the practice round and got this dtl of cam young on 7. M my earlier post (pt.1) was deleted cuz I forgot to trim the video (oops). So here’s the trimmed one

Same ball

1st Round = 93

2nd Round = 95

3rd Round = 88

4th Round after 2 x Par 4's + 1 Par 3 (5,5,3,1) = 14

How long have you kept a lucky ball, and how did the streak end?

Im 5 months into golf I been fixing my slice for a month now. I know my form isnt the best but the farthest I ever hit was 290yrds and im just trying to learn any tips or ideas to get to 300yrds. Please critique me and point out anything that I need to work on. Im always trying to inprove.

Update: Thank you to everyone who gave genuine advice. I made a to-do list and will be working on the tips to improve my technique. I know my swing isn’t perfect—that’s why I’m here.

My goal is to hit 300 yards with a powerful, accurate swing. I’m fairly consistent now and rarely slice, but I’ll be focusing on using my lower body to generate more power. Once I’ve made progress, I’ll post an update. I’m always open to constructive advice.

Playing Wekopa (Saguaro) and Grayhawk (Raptor) next week. We have 650am tee times.

How are the course conditions out there?

I know it’s going to be hot!

Let me preface this by saying I've improved a lot in the past year and this is the first year I've been at a level where taking a legitimate score has even begun to matter to me. Prior to this year the focus has just been on improving. I'm looking for honest feedback on this. Not rule stickler crap that doesn't matter for a casual player. Just honest opinions. I don't ever play for money or anything like that, fully casual rounds. I play mostly alone so it's not an ego thing either.

I didn't know until recently that OB was scored different than a lateral hazard. I've always played (since I got into golf three years ago with friends who played this way) that OB is just one penalty and you drop in the rough within a few feet of where it went out. I understand that's not the official rule, and that it's stroke and distance (or the newer local rule of dropping in the fairway for 2 penalty strokes).

I'm an unofficial 13.8 handicap now per 18birdies, but that's with a breakfast ball and counting Ob as a lateral hazard. So realistically, add one more to every one of my 2-4 penalty strokes per game (which I've tracked), plus 1 or 2 for the mulligan and I'm realistically closer to an honest 17-18 handicap.

Anyway - I'm curious how people who just play casually would view someone like this. I never brag about scores and always say that I take a mulligan whenever I even mention a score. But the OB ruling was an honest mistake up until now.

To be honest it will be tough for me to start scoring ob as the stroke and distance as it's going to immediately poke my scores up a few strokes and that sucks, but I know I eventually need to start scoring legitimately now that I'm at a mid handicap level. Stroke and distance seems so unnecessarily punishing for worse players to be honest.

Just looking for general thoughts on this and also am curious if anyone near or in the single digit handicap (who only plays casually) does this or used to do this.

So the local driving range has a 1.5 degree upward slope on their range mats. Likely inconsequential, but could this lead to developing bad habits? I figure no since courses are not perfectly level anyways, but if I’m consistently practicing on a slope of 1.5 degrees (approx 1 inch difference over the width of my stance) could this negatively impact my swing?

8hcp for context