MD/VA/DC Golfers - Ten Seconds or Less

[SullGolf]

Golf Talk Tuesday : If you could only hit one or the other for the rest of your life, would you pick a draw or a fade?

 

Fade. May as well stick to what I know. At this point I've played for long enough that, even if I hit every shot with a draw from now until eternity, I'd still be setting up left and thinking the fade was about to come.

[GooseHook]

Fades all day. Predictable and if you have it grooved you can swing as hard as you want.

 

High fade with the driver is my dream ballflight.

[FAbb]

I've gone back and forth quite a bit. Often, I don't know whether I'm going to draw or fade the ball more on a given day until I play the first couple holes. In the end though, I'd go with a draw. I don't swing real hard, so the extra distance the draw provides off the tee is valuable. I also just feel comfortable setting up for, and hitting a draw.

[dcmidnight]

Draw with the driver. Fade with everything else.

 

#eagleanswer

[FAbb]

Draw with the driver. Fade with everything else.

 

#eagleanswer

 

 

[therealsneek]

Power fade with the driver all day long. Set up down the left side of the fairway and let it rip.

 

Greens are easier to hold when coming in with a fade and misses also tend to be less severe.

[eagle1997]

Protip DT, don't play THDC at Northwest....

 

or needwood...

[therealsneek]

I've gone back and forth quite a bit. Often, I don't know whether I'm going to draw or fade the ball more on a given day until I play the first couple holes. In the end though, I'd go with a draw. I don't swing real hard, so the extra distance the draw provides off the tee is valuable. I also just feel comfortable setting up for, and hitting a draw.

 

Also this.

 

If the ball is fading today then roll with the fade. If it's drawing then roll with the draw.

[eagle1997]

Draw with the driver. Fade with everything else.

 

#eagleanswer

 

this is the correct response.

 

funny that fabby is asking this, as i've just "rediscovered" my draw over the past 5 or so rounds. driver total is definitively longer (appears that driver carry is down). irons are going farther, but iron accuracy is down. i lack indisputable evidence, but i'd say there's a strong correlation (for me) between attempting to hit a draw with the irons and my GIR. i know i haven't been knocking down flags for tap ins.

 

i need that distance off the tee, so i'm sticking with the draw driver, even tho the occasional snapper is now back in play. still undecided about the irons. if i can dial them in, it's so worth it. at least one club longer, maybe more.

[davechen]

Golf Talk Tuesday : If you could only hit one or the other for the rest of your life, would you pick a draw or a fade?

 

Fade. That's my natural shot. When I try and hit a draw, it hardly ever works out for me.

 

Protip DT, don't play THDC at Northwest....

 

or needwood...

 

Hey. I did manage a draw with you at Hampshire Greens, a course I'd only played once before.

 

For whatever reason I shoot my best scores at Northwest, even though it's supposed to be harder than the other courses in my regular rotation.

[eagle1997]

Golf Talk Tuesday : If you could only hit one or the other for the rest of your life, would you pick a draw or a fade?

 

Fade. That's my natural shot. When I try and hit a draw, it hardly ever works out for me.

 

Protip DT, don't play THDC at Northwest....

 

or needwood...

 

Hey. I did manage a draw with you at Hampshire Greens, a course I'd only played once before.

 

For whatever reason I shoot my best scores at Northwest, even though it's supposed to be harder than the other courses in my regular rotation.

 

wasn't a dig. i was saying not needwood b/c you play/practice there all the time and you had that epic comeback against c.free there as well. HG was a legit result as well, not in my typical rota either, thus a good neutral site for us.

 

 

all things considered, DT should probably just forfeit and save himself the greens fee.

[dcmidnight]

i need that distance off the tee, so i'm sticking with the draw driver, even tho the occasional snapper is now back in play. still undecided about the irons. if i can dial them in, it's so worth it. at least one club longer, maybe more.

 

Completely agree off the tee. I think for me the difference is that I just want my iron distances to be consistent. Maryland National was a good experiment for me. I hit some draws with my irons that were at least a club longer than I thought and ran out too much. But the fade is - again just for me - a much more consistent (albeit shorter) option. For the most part I'd love to be in a place where I could hit a fade with the irons that carried/stopped a consistent distance.

[baddomes]

I don't swing real hard, so the extra distance the draw provides off the tee is valuable.

 

Why don't you just move up to the senior tees?

[jhbangas]

Golf Talk Tuesday : If you could only hit one or the other for the rest of your life, would you pick a draw or a fade?

 

Draw. When I mishit a draw, I find that it snaps into the ether with speed and efficiency. My fade, on the other hand, is a slow descent into madness. I do get to drop from farther up though.

[thechief16]

Here's you morning drool. Henrik hitting 3 woods. Many with protracers.

https://www.facebook...09063705989973/

 

The forward press/hitch in his takeaway still gets me every time. I physically cringe, because I think he caught the club in the grass starting his back swing.

[FAbb]

I think DT is starting to hit his stride, so that will be a good showdown against THDC.

 

City and I are playing tomorrow, which I'm guessing will be the first round played in the knockout.

 

Domes versus Hal should be a slugfest.

 

The siegel-eagle alliteration nation elimination match should be a good one as well. Siegel has played some good matches lately, and eagle is the ultimate match-play competitor.

[thechief16]

Golf Talk Tuesday : If you could only hit one or the other for the rest of your life, would you pick a draw or a fade?

 

What Goose said.

 

Fade. x100.

 

If I never hit another hook in my entire life, I will die happy.

[baddomes]

Halcyan and I are playing Saturday. I've got a lot of work to do between now and then to avoid getting run over. Maybe the 106 heat index will be the great equalizer.

[dcmidnight]

Speaking of Stenson, I wonder if any of the long hitters on here have ever tried a 13* 3 wood?

 

Not in any way downplaying how much he kills the ball, dont get me wrong. I just marvel at how many times the announcers fall all over themselves talk about hitting "280 yard drives" with his "3 wood". I bet some of the faster swing speed guys like PQ/Eagle/Fabb/City could mash a 13* pretty good and get some serious run out of it.

[GooseHook]

http://blog.trackmangolf.com/draw-or-fade-to-maximize-distance/

 

 

Good read. Some other articles I'd read about it were considering heel shots as fades. My contention is that if you can hit either shot shape with center contact, your distance will not suffer.

[TheCityGame]

Protip DT, don't play THDC at Northwest....

 

or needwood...

Or Gunpowder.

 

-Sully.

[Puppetmaster]

That's awesome. I assume you have some other pics you can share? Say tomorrow at ~10am when I need a little work break? :)

 

What'd you think about how tough it is? Going 80/80 is pretty impressive even if it was the easiest course in the country. I've heard mixed things on the course though. Some say it's really tough, and some say it's not that bad but just visually intimidating off the tee.

 

The course is dare I say, easy? It is. It's a visual MF, but you can hit the ball pretty much anywhere. Like 100+ yd wide fairways. Then decently protected green complexes, but no islands, extreme hazards, etc.

 

Use the app, see where to hit the ball, repeat. #1 looks like it's about 10yds wide, the big mounds are only 180 to clear, then the fairway open to 80+ yds wide over it.

 

Agree somewhat. It wasn't hard, but I don't think it was that easy either. Fairways are huge once you get the lines/yardages, but all the greens are small, sloped, and guarded. You still need decent distance control and height with the irons to score. There are plenty of birdie holes, but also holes where you take your medicine and move on. For example, lots of pins were cut behind those high bunker faces where it was all downhill, so you either play out sideways or just chunk it out and try to make a long par putt. But again, from the tees we played, all the par 5s were reachable and all but one par 3 were under 150 yards, so scoring opportunities were there. I'm particularly comfortable with a full swing in the 110-140 range, and those shots gave me lots of good looks. More later.

[Puppetmaster]

One pic for now, par 3 14th.

 

[baddomes]

such a tease

[dagoose383]

Mainly for Bangas, but Sully and Domes might like too

 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/sarahw164/nicolas-cage-reimagined-as-your-favorite-pokamon-mr3a?utm_term=.ctEOEj7mg#.qvQKAaqO7

[vtnerf]

Fade. Baby cut fade. 5 yards please. Ah, those were the days.

 

The 13* 3 wood is money. Had a Cleveland Launcher for several years and it was a beast. 240+ was no issue for it off the tee. I've looked for another one but haven't been able to locate one in decent shape.

[TheCityGame]

Speaking of Stenson, I wonder if any of the long hitters on here have ever tried a 13* 3 wood?

 

Not in any way downplaying how much he kills the ball, dont get me wrong. I just marvel at how many times the announcers fall all over themselves talk about hitting "280 yard drives" with his "3 wood". I bet some of the faster swing speed guys like PQ/Eagle/Fabb/City could mash a 13* pretty good and get some serious run out of it.

The last couple times I've gone out solo, when I've hit a good drive, I've tried to follow it up with a 4W just to see.

 

Also, I've hit plenty of 4W's at Pine Ridge on driver holes.

 

That's my "data set".

 

Conclusion:

 

It's very hard to judge. My best drives are better than my best 4w's. But "good/normal drives" and "good/normal 4w's" really aren't that different than each other.

 

And, that's a 17º.

 

There's so much that goes into distance. . .center face, launch angle, ball flight FOR THE GIVEN CONDITIONS (humidity, turf firmness, wind, etc), launch angle depends so much on swing speed and spin (which depends on AoA and other things).

 

I actually FEEL like I swing my 4W faster than my driver. I don't know if this is true, or if it's just a function of swing weight, total weight.

 

If I could really test shaft lengths, face lofts, swing weights, I'm sure I could find some 3W that gets close to a good driver.

 

Still, I read an article last year (I think by Rich Hunt) about how Stenson actually does perform better with his driver and that he should hit it more often. But, he likes that 3W.

[SullGolf]

Protip DT, don't play THDC at Northwest....

 

or needwood...

Or Gunpowder.

 

-Sully.

 

Or Clustered Spires.

 

I want to say the key to beating davechen is playing at tougher courses with forced carry off the tee, but he would have blown anyone out of the water at Laurel Hill too. And did blow Golfer827 up there. He just steps it up when there's a match. If he always played the way he plays matches, his handicap would be a few strokes lower.

[TheCityGame]

GTT:

 

 

[FAbb]

Golf Confessionals : I don't hit my 4w off the tee, because I'm afraid I'm going to top it. I don't know why. I don't top it off the fairway. I topped a couple tee shots like 3 years ago, and for some reason it struck fear into my soul.