The 2nd Cut Newsletter: Edition #2
Round Recaps, Chipping vs Putting, T2C Giveaways, Shorter Drivers, Product Reviews, Top Tweets and more
“The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing.” - Stephen Covey
Welcome Back!
Welcome back to Edition #2 of The 2nd Cut Newsletter! Thank you for reading and hopefully you’ve found the daily quotes helpful.
In today’s Newsletter, we’ll hit on: Post Round Reviews, Chipping vs Putting, A Golf Glove Giveaway, Top Tweets, Shorter Drivers, and Interesting Articles.
If you’re new here, this newsletter is designed to provide you with valuable insights, tips, and ideas to improve your golf game from around the internet. My goal is to curate this newsletter to highlight the best golf information around with some of my own experience added for context.
What you get:
1 - newsletter per week
1 - daily golf quote
Best of all it’s free! Sign up below to receive the daily quote and a weekly newsletter in your email inbox.
Round Recap
A written post-round summary is a good way to unemotionally evaluate your round. Shout out to Mike Carroll of @Fit_For_Golf for the idea. I’ve always played back rounds in my head, but there’s something about writing it down that is so much more effective.
I’m often guilty of glossing over the positives, so noting what you did right helps balance out the reality of a round. I’m also better equipped to identify what my issues were and make a plan on how to improve them.
Here’s my latest post-round summary below:
Round #15 of 2023:
Score: 82 (+10)
Positives:
-Driver distance was on point and the swing felt great
-Really solid ball striking and approach shots with multiple birdie looks within 15 feet
-Committed to aiming at the center of the green and ignored flags
-Avoided bunkers and trouble around the greens
Negatives:
-Faded halfway thru and hit two shots in the hazard
-Averaged 6.3 strokes on Par 5’s
-0 birdies and 2 double bogey’s
-Putting from inside 10 feet was not great
Takeaways:
My swing change is moving in the right direction. I was hitting great drives and approach shots. Stayed away from trouble and tight pins on approaches. Off the tee, I started taking lines that were too aggressive and also started over-swinging. This led to two penalties, two double bogeys, and a 6.3 avg on Par 5’s (which is usually my bread and butter).
The Plan:
Continue working on my swing change and lessons. Trust the process. Practice putting from 5 to 10 feet. Remind myself during rounds that no matter how good I’m hitting it I need to take intelligent lines off the tee and keep swinging at my normal tempo. Avoid doubles at all costs!
T2C Subscriber Giveaway!
As a thank you for subscribing, I’m giving two subscribers a personalized 2nd Cut Premium Cabretta leather golf glove.
Here’s what you have to do:
Subscribe
Share this newsletter with 3 golfers
Email me a question for the newsletter at the2ndcut.t2c@substack.com
Most of you have already subscribed. As for sharing, it’s honor system. I’ll select the two best questions for the Q&A section in the next edition.
If you are selected I’ll be in touch for glove sizes and shipping addresses. Good luck!
T2C Approved Golf Products
The first product is the Grooveit Brush. If you’re not cleaning your grooves during the round, get on that ASAP! If you already are (good job), use the Grooveit on the course, and save your old brush for at-home deep cleans between rounds (You should be cleaning your clubs occasionally between rounds. Don’t forget the grips!).
The Grooveit has a fully detachable magnet that allows you to clean your club freely without the need for a lanyard. It has a pump action button that sprays water on the club face. The only downside is it’s easier to lose. Don’t forget to reattach it! It’s $25 on Amazon. If you want to buy it you can click the picture or here.
FYI: I get an affiliate fee from Amazon, but anything I recommend in this newsletter is based on products I like and personally use myself.
Chipping vs. Putting
There is not a round that goes by where I don’t see a fellow golfer that’s just off the green, walking up to the ball with a wedge in their hand. I cover my eyes in horror at what’s about to happen.
Just putt it! Fringe, fairway, light rough. If you are just off the green putting is almost always the best option for mid to higher handicap players.
Yes, there are exceptions to this and yes I’ve made this same mistake many times. Here are the stats from Lou Stagner himself:
In this example, a 10 handicap player averages the same amount of strokes to get it in the hole for a 5-yard chip as a 58-foot putt. As I said there are exceptions: bad lies, sprinkler heads, no path to the hole for a putt, etc., but by and large putting is going to win out on average.
The other exception is if you are close to a scratch golfer the calculus of chipping vs putting begins to narrow.
I think we make this mistake for a couple of reasons. One, hitting a good chip is just more satisfying. It’s impressive, it feels damn good when it works. Two, we overestimate the quality of our shots vs. the result of the shot.
Meaning a so-called bad putt might FEEL bad, but very rarely does it leave you in much trouble. But a lousy chip could end up 2 inches in front of the original spot or skulled across the green into a bunker (or in the woods). Even a “good chip” we overestimate. It feels good and looks good, but we might be 10 feet short of the hole still being worse off than an average putt.
Watch Lou’s explanation below (4 min):
T2C Tweets of the Week
Jonathan Yardwood (@JonathanYarwood) explains in this video the advantages of hitting a shorter-length driver.
TLDR version: a shorter shaft can add distance by making it easier to find the sweet spot.
I can confirm this works. I cut my driver down by 1.5 inches and actually GAINED yardage.
Also quick side note: that spot you see on the driver above is the sweet spot. Many people think it should be the center of the driver's face, but it is actually a bit above center.
Tip: bring athlete’s foot spray to the range, spray the face of your driver, and hit a few balls. This will give you feedback on where you're hitting it off the face.
In Edition #1 of the newsletter, I linked a tweet from Michael Kim saying something similar to Ross’s tweet here. I tend to miss my putts on the low side and have made a concerted effort to play more break, with a confident less tentative stroke.
T2C Media Corner
For you parents out there with younger kids, this is a good article by Sam Wienman (@samweinman) on Raising a Junior Golfer. My favorite lesson from Sam is less is more. It’s so hard to do when you see your kid struggling, but our kids can handle only so much information (especially from us). Link
“Every time you hear someone chant ‘Rickie!’ think of your goals and get cocky and show them who you are.”
Baltimore’s own Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) formerly of ESPN and now with No Laying Up wrote a great wrap-up piece for the US Open at LACC. KVV’s piece has some great behind-the-scenes stuff on Rickie Fowler, Wyndham Clark, and Rory coming up short that you won’t find anywhere else. Link
Subscriber Q&A:
Have any questions about your golf game or the newsletter? Subscribe and send your questions to the2ndcut@substack.com. I’ll post my answers in a future edition.
Parting Words
The Post Round Wrap Up:
If you play this week try out a quick 1 min post-round summary. What did you do well? What went wrong? What are you going to do going forward?
Try putting when just off the green. Chipping is fun, but putting will reduce strokes
Play more break when lining up your putt
Consider getting fitted for a shorter driver. It’s a rare win-win of improved distance and accuracy
Thank you for reading The 2nd Cut Newsletter! I hope you enjoyed it and found something helpful for your golf game.
Please subscribe below. Don’t forget to enter the golf glove giveaway!
Til next time.
