Play Ready Golf | Strokes Gained for the 9 to 5 Golfer

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Your handicap isn't your average. It's built from your best 8 rounds out of your last 20, so a 15 handicap who shoots 94 is having a normal day, not a crisis. Isaak and Hayden walk through what a normal round and a bad round look like from a 20 handicap to scratch, why Scottie Scheffler still had a 12 shot range last season, the 3 kinds of holes most likely to turn into a double in 453 rounds of Play Ready Golf app data, and a 10 minute review that tells you what to practice next week.

Chapters

0:00 Your handicap isn't your average

2:34 How your handicap actually works

3:17 How often golfers shoot their handicap

5:47 A 10 and a 20 make the same bogeys

6:54 A normal round at every level, 20 to scratch

11:27 Scheffler and Rory have bad rounds too

13:21 The 3 holes that turn into doubles

16:18 Hayden's worst round

20:31 The 10 minute bad round review

23:51 What to practice at your level

24:57 Why realistic expectations help you score

29:02 When a bad round is a real signal

30:43 What to do after your next round

Coaches: PRG Teams is at https://playready.golf/teams

Questions: isaak@playready.golf

Sources

World Handicap System (USGA and R&A): your Handicap Index is the average of your best 8 score differentials from your last 20 rounds; net double bogey is the most you post on a hole.

USGA handicap research, old system (best 10 of 20): golfers shot their course handicap or better about 25% of the time, about 3 strokes worse on average.

Lou Stagner, Arccos data: a 17 shot median gap between a golfer's best and worst round in a season (30+ rounds, steady handicap), plus the tour expectation numbers.

Shot Scope user data: fairways, greens, bogeys, doubles, three putts and penalty strokes by handicap.

PGA Tour: Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, 2025 season.

Play Ready Golf app: 453 rounds from 127 golfers, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026.

Go look at the bottom of your pitching wedge. It probably says 42 or 43. In the 1980s it said 49, and your sand wedge barely moved.

Get the free Wedge Matrix (one page, every wedge, every swing): https://playready.golf/wedge-matrix

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That's a hole in your bag the industry made, and most golfers never check it. So they end up with two wedges that go the same distance and one gap they guess at every round. Hayden and I break down how the bottom of your bag got broken, how to find the hole in yours in about 2 minutes, and a winter plan that gives you a number for every wedge and every swing.

This isn't a gear episode. Most of the fix is checking the lofts you already have, and the rest is one bucket of balls this winter.

Chapters

0:00 Your pitching wedge used to say 49

1:56 How much loft your pitching wedge lost

4:00 How close tour pros really hit it from 100 yards

5:21 How the bottom of your bag got broken

9:17 What tour players actually carry

9:58 Should you carry 4 wedges?

12:38 The club you carry because everyone else does

13:56 The problem with the 60 degree

17:46 Dave Pelz, Tom Kite and the first 60

19:16 Fix 1: check your gaps (4 to 6 degrees)

21:29 Fix 2: bounce and grind, made simple

25:21 Fix 3: when your grooves are worn out

27:52 Fix 4: the Wedge Matrix (Pelz's 3x4)

28:53 Why your 9 o'clock number matters

31:16 How to fill in your matrix this winter

33:08 When 4 wedges is the right call

34:08 How much wedges really matter

35:13 What to do tonight

36:02 What we're changing in our own bags

Two fixes from the episode, also on screen: Ping's G440 went from 5 set wedges to 4 (fewer, not more). And a 15 handicap's double rate from 200 yards is about twice what it is from 150 (29% vs 15.6%), not 3 times.

Sources

Pitching wedge loft by decade: http://loftchart.com

2025 lofts: Callaway Elyte and Ping G440 spec sheets; Today's Golfer on the G440 wedge change

Tour proximity from 100 yards: PGA Tour stats

Finishing 75+ feet away, and double rates by distance: Lou Stagner, Arccos data

What tour players carry: Golfing Focus, top 100 PGA Tour players

Wedge gapping (4 to 6 degrees, 10 to 15 yards): Titleist Vokey

Tom Kite and the 60 degree: Golf Channel, World Golf Hall of Fame

Groove wear: Titleist's own robot testing; MyGolfSpy

The 3x4 system: Dave Pelz, GOLF Magazine, 1990

Pitches that find the green vs miss it: Play Ready Golf app, 453 rounds from 127 golfers

Long game share of the scoring gap: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts

15 handicap 4 iron distance: Shot Scope

Kris Marshall didn't touch a golf club until he was 16. He sent his resume to 500 colleges and got zero responses, walked on at Kansas anyway, and left a two-time All-American. Today he's a +5 with a full-time career, three kids, and barely any practice time.

We get into how he walked on at KU, six trips to Q School (four of them lost by a single shot), why he walked away from pro golf to start a family, and what he thinks about the reinstatement debate. Then he shares the forward tees drill that teaches you to go low, and why a 10 handicap should stop aiming at pins.

HOPEKIDS: the charity Kris founded a golf tournament for, serving families of children with life-threatening illnesses

https://hopekids.org/

FREE: 18 Golfers, 1 Question. What 18 elite mid-ams with day jobs say busy golfers get wrong about practice, plus their go-to drills

https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/secretsofthemidam

PLAY READY GOLF APP: practice plans built from your strokes gained and the time you actually have. 30 days free, and code PRGPOD takes $20 off the year.

https://app.playready.golf/

Feedback or a topic idea? isaak@playready.golf

CHAPTERS

0:00 What a 46-year-old knows that college kids don't

1:56 He didn't start golf until 16

3:10 500 colleges, zero responses

4:14 Sitting in the rain outside the KU coach's office

5:15 The walk-on trial: the only one under par

6:46 From walk-on to two-time All-American

11:43 Turning pro: "You don't have to, you get to"

17:05 Six trips to Q School

19:17 Why he walked away from pro golf

21:44 Reinstatement and the "true amateur" argument

24:13 Kris's fix for reinstatement

27:50 What makes a great mid-am event

35:29 How golf built his career

37:52 The 14 handicap who was nervous to play with a +5

41:48 How to go low: play the forward tees

43:37 Late to the tee, then four eagles at the Kansas Open

45:44 Set a scoring goal and don't move it

46:22 Chess, not checkers, off the tee

47:44 Data vs feel

51:28 What a 10 handicap should fix this week

53:12 22-year-old Kris vs 46-year-old Kris

56:50 HopeKids

Free 3x15 Week card (the 3 dials, every session scored): https://playready.golf/3x15

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Ep. 27, why the range is the most expensive habit in your bag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R9mVHabK0c

If you went 10 for 10 at the range last night, you didn't practice. You performed.

Adam Young, one of the best practice coaches in golf, wants his players making somewhere between 3 and 7 out of every 10. Most of us build every range session around never missing. That's why the good nights never show up on Saturday.

In this episode, Isaak and Hayden get into how much you should actually be missing, what Rory McIlroy did after blowing the 2011 Masters, and the 3 dials (distance, target size and randomness) that make any drill show up on the course.

Hayden also tells the full story of his 2024 Canadian Q School week in Dothan, Alabama. He was 7 under after two rounds. Then came a double on a 200 yard par 3, a misread tee time and a DQ before the final round. He shares what he does differently now.

Tell us in the comments: what's your next drill, and how many out of 10 do you make?

Studies and people we mention:

Adam Young, The Practice Manual

Guadagnoli and Lee (2004), the challenge point framework

Robert Bjork, desirable difficulties

Wilson et al. (2019), Nature Communications, the 85% rule

Human Movement Science (2025), when a task gets too hard

Jared Porter, LSU, moving from blocked to random practice

Low and colleagues, 14 studies on pressure training

Annie Duke, Thinking in Bets

Sisk et al. (2018), the growth mindset meta-analysis

Chapters:

0:00 Why 10 for 10 at the range is a bad sign

1:59 How much should you be missing?

3:08 Adam Young's 3 to 7 out of 10 rule

4:00 The 3 dials that change any drill

4:31 There's no such thing as a good drill

5:26 Why easy practice feels so good

6:46 The 85% rule for faster learning

7:34 When hard practice backfires

7:49 Signs your practice is too easy

10:26 What Rory did after the 2011 Masters

10:48 Rory's 496 for 496 inside 3 feet

14:54 Hayden's Q School blowup

17:23 The tee time mistake

19:42 How Hayden bounced back

22:04 Handling emotions after a miss

24:20 The 3 part plan

24:29 Part A: turn one dial

26:57 Add a consequence: Colby's match

28:56 Part B: stop judging by results

30:41 The 3 buckets for every miss

31:37 Part C: is growth mindset enough?

32:37 Playing to your personality

35:50 Ask: how many did I actually miss?

36:31 Isaak's GC3 ladder drill

37:37 Hayden's takeaway

40:15 New Friday schedule

New schedule: episodes with just Isaak and Hayden now drop every Friday. Guest episodes are bonus episodes early in the week.

Isaak is a competitive mid-am who helps busy golfers improve with the time they already have. Hayden is a professional golfer. Play Ready Golf helps you practice with purpose, so you show up to the first tee ready to score.

Secrets of the elite mid am 👉 https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/secretsofthemidam

Want a practice plan built for your game and your schedule? Try Play Ready Golf free for 7 days. Code ISAAK takes $20 off the year 👉 https://playready.golf/the-app

Sam Jackson sells windows for a living. He has a 7 month old at home and practices once or twice a week. He's also been South Carolina Golf Association Player of the Year 4 years in a row, made the semifinals of the 2023 U.S. Mid-Amateur, and won the 2025 South Carolina Amateur with a wedge to 3 inches on the final hole.

His edge isn't his swing. It's caring less. Golf used to be his #1 priority. Now it's 4th or 5th, and he plays better for it. In this episode he explains how to stop living and dying with every shot, the 3 checks he runs every time he practices, and why his best week in golf came after his worst prep.

You'll learn:

Why a 4x Player of the Year calls himself a mediocre college player

How to take the pressure off every single shot

Why he's hit it great and finished 7th, then hit it average and contended

The 3 fundamentals he checks every session

How he got into contention on 4 rounds in 4 months with a newborn

Where to start when you have an hour at the range and no plan

Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samuelnotljackson

Need windows or doors in the Columbia, SC area? Sam's with Pella Windows and Doors of the Carolinas.

0:00 Not that Samuel Jackson

1:08 Starting golf at 12

2:30 What sped up his development

4:23 The U.S. Junior at 15

5:09 A 74.8 college scoring average

6:53 Treating every shot like the one

7:58 How to stop living and dying on every shot

8:22 The mental game beats the physical by a mile

9:01 Golf went from #1 to #5

10:35 Make golf as meaningless as possible

10:56 Less pressure at a D2 school

11:33 Staying sharp with a newborn

13:12 The 17 Golfers cheat sheet

13:41 4 rounds in 4 months, then the final group

15:07 How he picks what to practice

16:11 Where to start with an hour and no plan

17:44 The Play Ready Golf app

18:19 His 3 checks: grip, ball position, alignment

20:12 A $70 indoor winter setup

21:44 Getting away from the golf course

23:40 What golf can teach his daughter

26:00 Why he doesn't set goals

27:40 The 2023 U.S. Mid-Am and Stewart Hagestad

29:06 Bad prep, best week

30:58 The walk off at the 2025 South Carolina Am

33:38 Merion with his wife on the bag

36:43 The one thing to steal from Sam

38:01 It won't be on your tombstone

38:22 Where to find Sam

FREE: Secrets of the Mid-Am 👉 https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/secretsofthemidam

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Roughly 800 former pros apply to regain their amateur status every year, and virtually all are approved. This week at the U.S. Mid-Amateur, 7 of the 8 quarterfinalists were reinstated amateurs, and so are both finalists.

Career amateur TJ Shuart, a veteran of 12 USGA championships, joins Isaak to ask whether a reinstated pro is ever really an amateur again. They walk through why the USGA built the Mid-Am in 1981, the news that brought this to a head, and the toughest counterarguments. Then TJ lays out a simple fix: a waiting period based on how long you played as a pro and how high you got.

Every player discussed followed the rules as written. This conversation is about the rules.

Feedback or a topic idea? isaak@playready.golf

CHAPTERS

0:00 Preview

0:27 The fork in the road: pro or lifelong amateur

2:31 Why the USGA built the Mid-Am in 1981

4:30 TJ Shuart's career as an amateur

7:22 The Mid-Am 20 years ago

12:09 The numbers: 800 reinstatements a year

17:22 How we got here: Knost, the USGA pause, and Sposa

28:11 "Those guys stopped playing years ago"

34:20 Is a reinstated pro the same player?

38:21 The Stewart Hagestad question

42:21 Challenge 1: college players

43:44 Challenge 2: NIL money

46:51 Challenge 3: should pros ever come back?

49:19 TJ's fix: a tiered waiting period

54:43 The reinstated players, by the numbers

1:04:26 What John Peterson said

1:11:09 Where the USGA review stands

1:16:23 Mid-Am update: 7 of 8 and both finalists

SOURCES

USGA Mid-Am fact sheet: https://filecache.mediaroom.com/mr5mr_usga2/190647/download/2025%20Mid-Am%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

http://GOLF.com on reinstatement: https://golf.com/instruction/rules/how-pro-golfers-regain-amateur-status/

Golf Channel on the USGA pause: https://www.golfchannel.com/ncaa/news/usga-temporarily-pauses-review-of-amateur-status-reinstatement-guidelines

NBC Sports on the 2025 quarterfinals: https://www.nbcsports.com/golf/news/u-s-mid-amateur-quarters-filled-with-reinstated-ams-including-kft-vet-who-just-regained-status

SI, the other side: https://www.si.com/golf/us-mid-amateur-does-not-have-professional-problem

Most golfers work on the wrong thing. They stretch when the problem is fear. They lift when the problem is transfer. They take a lesson when the problem is speed.

Mike Carroll trains PGA Tour players through Fit For Golf, and he gave four at-home checks that tell you which one is actually holding you back. Then he laid out the exact 20 minute, three days a week template for a guy with a job, kids, and no gym.

FREE: The 15 Minute Test (one page, four checks, your one thing this month)

https://playready.golf/20-yards

Play Ready Golf app, 7 days free. Code PRGPOD saves $20 a year for life.

https://playready.golf

Mike Carroll, Fit For Golf

https://fitforgolf.blog

Instagram and X: @fit_for_golf

CHAPTERS

0:00 Mobility problem or technique problem? The three swing test

2:29 Four ways to find your real limiter

3:41 The 2 to 3 year strength rule

6:30 Technique vs skill: judge your best shots, not your average

7:38 The 15 minute test (free, first link)

8:11 The busy golfer: gym time or range time?

9:11 The calendar rule: tournament inside 3 months, skip the gym

14:07 Structure your year: winter builds capacity, spring transfers it

17:00 Strength benchmarks by age: pull up, push ups, jumps, split squats

26:34 Training 50,000 golfers from one app

27:46 Speed training: where a normal golfer starts

31:27 Your range speed vs your course speed

32:41 Transfer problem or capacity problem

35:22 When overload and underload tools earn their place

38:08 Four months out vs four weeks out

39:29 When speed stops being the lever

44:50 Play Ready Golf app

45:41 Isaak had 130 mph in college. It did not help.

49:40 The 20 minute template: Mon, Wed, Fri

52:20 Why power leaves first and almost nobody trains it

57:23 Speed work at the end of practice, not a separate session

59:48 Wrap up

Every number in this episode comes from Mike on the recording. Strokes gained references are from Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts.

#golf #golffitness #golfpractice

FREE SIMPLE STAT TRACKER: https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/simplestatstracker

PLAY READY GOLF APP

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Fairways hit is the golf stat every app shows you first, and it barely separates a scratch golfer from a 20 handicap. In this episode Isaak and Hayden go through the four golf stats on every scorecard app (fairways hit, greens in regulation, up and down percentage, putts per round), show what each one hides, and swap each one for a number you can track with a pencil that actually predicts your score.

WHAT YOU WILL HEAR

Why a scratch golfer hits only about 4% more fairways than a 20 handicap (Shot Scope)

The stat that actually separates handicaps off the tee: 12% vs 45% of drives in penalty or recovery (Arccos, 2025 driving report)

What the rough, trees, and a fairway bunker really cost you

Bryson at Winged Foot: 23 of 56 fairways and a U.S. Open trophy

Broadie's breakdown of where the scoring gap comes from: approach 40%, tee 28%, short game 17%, putting 15%

Why greens in regulation cannot tell 6 feet from 60

Why up and down percentage grades your chip on your putt

Hayden's 65 with 35 putts, and why putts per round rewards bad golf

The two putts that separate handicaps: lags from 30 feet and makes inside 8

Strokes gained vs simple stats: which one you should keep

Chapters:

0:00 Fairways hit barely separates golfers

1:10 Scratch vs 20 handicap: a 13 point stat

1:45 The disaster stat: 12% vs 45% of drives

3:08 What the rough, trees, and bunkers actually cost

4:54 Distance is worth more than accuracy

5:23 Stat 1: Tee shots in play

6:41 Bryson at Winged Foot: 23 of 56 fairways

7:31 Should a 56 year old chase distance?

8:41 Where the scoring gap really comes from

10:00 Why greens in regulation lies

12:50 Hayden's fringe confession

15:11 Short game is 17% of the gap

16:23 Up and down blends two shots

18:43 Stat 3: 11 feet vs 20 feet after a chip

19:33 Hayden pushes back on the 17%

21:31 Track five rounds and be honest

22:21 Why you should not copy how mid ams practice

25:57 You cannot know your tendencies without tracking them

26:56 The dumbest stat: putts per round

27:58 Hayden shot 65 with 35 putts

29:49 The two putts that separate handicaps

30:53 Strokes gained vs simple stats

31:05 Recap: the four simple stats

34:55 Bobby Rippey and 1,000 subscribers

36:57 Next: the driver episode

Get the free cheat sheet: ⁠https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/secretsofthemidam⁠

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Follow Austin: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_alangdale⁠⁠_

Austin Langdale's job is deciding which college golfers get equipment deals. He scouts for Srixon/Cleveland Golf, which means he watches perfect golf swings every single week. Most of those players never make it. In this episode he explains what actually separates scorers from range heroes, and how he used it to win the 2026 South Carolina Amateur while playing twice a month with 2 kids and a full time job. 9 years after an MS diagnosis ended his shot at pro golf.

You'll learn:

Why players with 190 ball speed still shoot 76

The tell scouts look for when everyone on the range looks perfect

How to win a state am on 40 minutes of practice a week

What to buy with $1,000 and 2 hours a week, and what to skip

Why most golfers carry 14 clubs but only need 8 or 9

The 1 club drill that builds feel faster than new gear

Chapters

00:00 A state champion's practice month

01:29 Closing out Quixote with the lead

03:31 Watching good golf instead of practicing

04:28 What a Srixon rep actually does

06:29 Who gets signed and who gets passed

08:34 What a 15 handicap can steal

10:07 The lowest hanging fruit

11:28 The 16 Golfers cheat sheet

11:55 NIL and the new college golf

14:58 Everyone looks the part on the range

16:09 Feel is a lost art

17:10 The Play Ready Golf app

17:58 Beating NeSmith and Champ

20:36 The injuries start at Clemson

25:02 Turning pro and the MS diagnosis

26:49 What MS took and what it gave

29:50 What the dream means now

31:39 A trophy and a 4 year old

33:32 What he wants his boys to learn

37:08 2 hours and 1,000 dollars

41:17 Merion and the U.S. Amateur

45:45 Clemson football check in

48:31 The fall schedule

50:58 Where to find Austin

Try the app free for 7 days. Code PRGPOD gets you 20 dollars off the annual plan for life: https://onelink.to/93ggkv

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Two weeks ago we quoted a stat saying driver and 3 wood hit almost the same percentage of fairways, and the comments came apart. One commenter was right, and we went and checked. The stat has a hole in it, and nobody in golf has fixed it. Not Arccos. Not Shot Scope. Not Lou Stagner or Mark Broadie.

In this one: how far you actually hit driver, the one simulation that gets around the broken stat, the physics of why a 3 wood mishit curves less, exactly how many golfers should be hitting 3 wood off the tee, and 3 rules for the tee box that cost nothing.

Isaak has been in and around club fitting since 2017. Hayden plays professionally.

CHAPTERS 00:00 How many times did you actually pull driver

01:00 The comment that started this episode

01:50 The Arccos driving distance report

02:12 The amateur distance boom that never happened

03:33 What you hit it by handicap and by age

04:00 Everybody is 10 to 20 yards off

04:40 Where the strokes actually go

04:57 12% versus 45.1%

05:37 What counts as a big miss

06:23 Your miss is the same. Your aim is not.

06:59 The free stats guide

07:40 The stat we quoted has a hole in it

09:06 Nobody in golf has ever fixed it

10:35 The one study that gets around the problem

11:22 The shortest club won

12:02 The safety club is not safe, it is just shorter

12:44 Is a driver harder to square than a 3 wood

14:06 Gear effect, bulge and roll

15:31 What the robot test showed on toe hits

16:19 Why your own tendencies beat any stat we quote

17:02 How many golfers are straighter with 3 wood

18:20 The 1 in 10 number

18:36 If your 3 wood is as long as your driver

20:03 The 5% out of bounds rule

21:20 Nobody walked in asking me to fix their driver

22:00 Cutting down the driver shaft

23:07 The 2 reasons to shorten a shaft

25:26 Is driver marketing a scam

26:22 What a manufacturer told me about their own numbers

28:10 The fitting thing nobody thinks about

30:00 Tools, not jewels

33:20 Rule 1: driver is the default

34:00 Jason Day's pattern was 74 yards wide

34:40 Rule 2: aim off the trouble by half your pattern

35:50 Tee up on the same side as the trouble

36:10 Rule 3: the only 3 reasons to club down

37:19 The forced carry mistake I made for years

38:30 If you club down on 3 holes a round

38:49 How to think about lessons

41:36 Hayden argues against the whole episode

42:46 What actually fixes a 45% penalty rate

44:16 The guy who does not trust it right now

45:34 Findable and hittable

46:17 Tiger hit driver once at Hoylake

47:37 You do not have a driver problem

SOURCES NAMED IN THIS EPISODE Arccos annual driving distance report, 25,000 golfers and 6.5 million tee shots Lou Stagner, analysis of the Arccos database Shot Scope, driver versus 3 wood fairway data Golf Digest and Golf Laboratories robot testing Mark Broadie, strokes gained Scott Fawcett, DECADE

Secrets of the elite Mid-AM: ⁠https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/secretsofthemidam⁠

Practice smarter with the Play Ready Golf app. 7 days free, code ISAAK takes $20 off the year: https://onelink.to/93ggkv

Follow Payne: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/paynerr/⁠

He plays 3 to 4 rounds before a tournament and hits balls maybe twice a week. He has a day job in logistics and just won his 3rd straight Tennessee State Amateur, something only 2 other golfers have done in 100 plus years.

Payne Denman has played 5 U.S. Amateurs, coached college golf at MTSU, Tennessee, and South Florida, and played pro golf on PGA Tour Latinoamerica before walking away. In this episode he breaks down exactly how he practices now: the 60 minute range hour he splits into 3 blocks, why he stopped hitting drivers and got better, the mirror work he does at home, and how he talks to himself like a coach talks to a player.

Timestamps

0:00 What he knows that college golfers don't

0:43 How many hours he actually practices

1:04 Mirror work, slow reps, and the 90 minute cap

2:10 Week 2: money games instead of range balls

2:33 The 45 minute session: where all the time goes

3:14 Why he quit hitting drivers (and got better)

4:41 Where college players waste unlimited hours

6:33 A lack of intent repeats what's easiest

7:10 How a coach fixes wasted practice

9:22 Talking to yourself like a coach

10:59 No coach? Write it down, 1 goal, max time

12:53 Separate mechanics from target practice

13:54 The 60 minute range hour: 3 blocks of 20

15:31 Why range games die on the course

16:22 Serial ball beating and why failure is the point

17:44 Playing scared: fear and embarrassment off the tee

19:14 Merion: the hardest course he's ever played

21:39 How he preps for championship setups

23:45 Adjusting to new grass, climates, and fog

26:45 The day job advantage

27:45 Down with 5 to play: birdies on 4 of the last 5

30:52 Fighting off the three-peat thoughts

32:22 What pro golf taught him about failure

33:35 The day he knew pro golf was over

36:32 What he tells players who want to turn pro

38:51 Reinstatement: the 4 year wait

41:31 PGA Tour Latinoamerica and the $4,000 career

44:32 What recreational golfers get wrong

46:45 What's next for Payne

Try the app free for 7 days. Code PRGPOD gets you 20 dollars off the annual plan for life : https://onelink.to/93ggkv

Free stats guide. Every benchmark from 3 feet to 300 yards, 20 handicap through tour pro : https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/comprehensivestats

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Coaches. PRG Teams is built for high school and college programs at about half what our competitors charge. First month free : https://playready.golf/teams

CHAPTERS

00:00 How many of your 14 clubs did you actually hit

01:19 The hybrid Isaak loved and had to take out

02:15 The Arccos study nobody talks about

03:37 This happens at every handicap level

04:04 The 5 most abandoned clubs in golf

05:18 Why the 3 wood is a security blanket

06:30 You carry it so you are not the guy without one

08:18 The free stats guide

09:28 You did not pick 14 clubs, you inherited a slot

10:47 The 1935 US Open and the guy with 32 clubs

12:00 Lawson Little and his 7 wedges

13:03 Why the USGA actually made the rule

14:20 The man who invented 14 said 14 was too many

16:56 Francis Ouimet won a US Open with 7 clubs

17:27 A limit is not a quota

18:20 Your 7 iron has the loft of a 1990s 5 iron

19:21 Isaak on 8 years in club fitting

20:24 The gap wedge exists to patch a hole

20:57 The case for owning more than 14 clubs

22:22 Hayden's qualifier, 14 holes, zero drivers

25:20 Why leaving a gap on purpose works

26:22 Rule 1: every club needs a job you can say out loud

28:01 Rule 2: two clubs cannot share a job

29:30 Rule 3: the receipt rule

30:46 Hybrid versus long iron, the Shot Scope numbers

31:58 Why long irons fail, and it is not your swing

33:05 What being the outlier actually costs you

36:00 Rule 4: replace it, do not just remove it

37:03 Driver versus 3 wood

39:09 Humility with a receipt

39:39 Arguing against our own episode

40:49 The USGA study on what golfers do not know

42:37 Where this data comes from and its limits

42:50 What to take with you

44:59 Hayden on discipline and the Ohio Open

SOURCES NAMED IN THIS EPISODE

Lou Stagner, analysis of the Arccos database, March 2023

Shot Scope, long iron versus hybrid greens in regulation

Arccos, driver versus 3 wood accuracy and distance

USGA TrackMan study, December 2023, 627 recreational golfers

Robert Harris, Sixty Years of Golf, 1953

Rand Jerris, USGA, on the origin of the 14 club rule

World Golf Hall of Fame on Lawson Little

Golf Digest and Ralph Maltby on iron loft changes

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Andrew Chapman shot 90 in the first round of a U.S. Am qualifier and wondered if the USGA would send him a letter. 4 years later he won the Michigan Amateur as the 32 seed, and today he builds custom furniture, raises 2 boys, and still chases USGA qualifiers. We get into the line between supporting a kid and pushing one, the multi-sport locker room at Michigan, the rebuild that started with grip and stance, the wedge ladder that carries his whole bag, AimPoint with a carpenter's level, and what a craftsman knows about the difference between good and right.

Timestamps

0:00 Harder to watch than to compete

2:07 The temptation a champion dad resists

3:27 Family golf: 9 holes, 2 hours, 2 boys

5:33 Quick to the ball, then take your time

6:52 The line between helping and pushing

7:45 Playing golf swing instead of golf

9:43 What his parents got right

11:04 Too serious, and the try less lesson

13:19 The 12-second pre-shot fix

15:17 The golf bug at 13

17:49 Every Michigan player was multi-sport

22:29 Rock bottom: the 2009 qualifier

25:42 The 32 seed run, and where belief comes from

28:50 His practice: the 40 to 110 wedge ladder

30:13 AimPoint with a carpenter's level

32:12 The 9 shots drill

34:18 Good vs. right: lessons from the shop

37:40 Build this first: the beginner slab table

39:19 The 20 foot table at a golf course

40:36 What he wants his boys to take at 18

42:59 The reinstatement debate

47:24 Bring back the 36-hole qualifier

47:47 Staying with Scottie Scheffler at the U.S. Am 4

9:05 Where to find Andrew, and what's next

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Tour pros make about half their putts from 8 feet. From 100 yards in the fairway they hit it inside 3 feet 1 time in 25. The standard you grade your golf against does not exist. Not for you. Not for them.

This week we tear up the fake report card most golfers carry in their heads. Where it came from (the broadcast, the Ben Hogan legend, and your own inflated numbers), what breaking 90 actually looks like for a 15 handicap, what a real 68 and a real 63 look like in strokes gained, and a 4 rule grading system that costs nothing and starts working your next round.

Sources named in this episode: Mark Broadie (Columbia, PGA Tour ShotLink), Shot Scope, Arccos and Lou Stagner, Jon Sherman (Practical Golf), Adam Young, Bob Rotella, and the Ben Hogan story as told by Dan Jenkins.

Chapters

0:00 The number that ends the argument

1:35 Mad about a birdie

3:11 Tour averages, 3 feet to 300 yards

6:52 Tiger missed 4 putts in 4 years

10:01 Where the fake report card came from

11:37 Hogan graded himself on 3 shots

15:51 The 24 yards you don't have

17:57 Your handicap is not your average

18:59 The break 90 data dump

21:35 Playing US Open qualifying with tour pros

28:53 A 68 and a 63 in strokes gained

33:04 Shooting a gajillion and smiling

39:49 The new report card

42:27 Grade putts by the second putt

45:03 Steal Hogan's scorecard

48:39 Ambition vs unrealistic expectations

50:48 Why golfers actually quit

51:20 Hayden is coming to Instagram

57:07 Give the scorecard back

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Support the new home of the Ole Miss Patterson School of Accountancy: https://accountancy.olemiss.edu/new-building/

Brett's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bpatterson03/

Brett Patterson is the 5th ranked mid-am in America. He teaches 300 accounting students at Ole Miss, has 2 girls at home, and touches a club 3 or 4 times a week at best. In college he hit 300 balls a day and got worse. Then he left tournament golf for 5 years, came back, and started winning everything. We get into the 4 weeks off before he opened 7 under, the wedge and putter plan that replaced the bucket, the mental spiral that almost ended his golf, and the piece of advice he says actively hurts amateurs.

Timestamps

0:00 The #5 mid-am barely touches a club

0:53 4 weeks off, then 7 under in round 1

2:18 A Tuesday with 300 students and 2 kids

3:52 College: 300 balls a day, sun up to dark

7:19 Less practice, better golf. The flip.

8:39 5 years away and the 2022 U.S. Amateur

14:22 What he'd tell every college golfer

16:54 His practice now: wedges and lag putts

19:59 An accountant's take on tracking stats

22:35 Bring back Golfstat

26:09 The biggest mistakes amateurs make

28:58 Never the most talented. What separates him.

31:08 What scratch golfers miss about scoring

34:16 Championship golf vs weekend golf

35:42 The advice that actively hurts amateurs

37:05 Pressure putts and choosing confidence

38:36 How to stay sharp after time off

40:43 The reinstatement debate

50:49 What he wants his daughters to know

53:48 A shoutout to the mid-am wives

54:02 Prepping for the U.S. Mid-Am at Sand Valley

56:26 Support the new Ole Miss accountancy building

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Your short game problem is not your hands. It is the order you pick shots in. In this episode of the Play Ready Golf Podcast (Ep. 31) we use Shot Scope and Arccos data to show why golfers at every handicap level fail from 50 yards, why the flop shot became everyone's default, and the 4 question menu that fixes it without a single lesson.

Timestamps:

0:00 Nobody has hands

1:42 The data: up and down by handicap

2:56 The app in 30 seconds

3:22 The highlight reel raised you

5:57 Extreme sells: the wedge industry

7:00 Jason Day: one motion, many clubs

8:53 Option 1: the putter

10:17 One email a day for 30 days

10:33 Option 2: the low chip

11:11 Option 3: the pitch

12:34 Option 4: the flop

13:40 The cost of ignoring the menu

14:17 Judge every shot by its miss

15:27 What Hayden sees caddying

19:19 Rule 1: can I putt it?

20:18 Rule 2: lowest loft that clears the trouble

21:59 Rule 3: pitch only when something is in the way

22:45 Rule 4: the flop is the fire escape

23:37 The menu in order

25:20 What about bad lies?

26:33 2 honest notes about the data

27:29 The takeaway

Missed the double bogey episode we reference? Watch it here: https://youtu.be/D1ZK1E_06Xs

Data in this episode comes from Shot Scope, Arccos data via Lou Stagner, PGA Tour scrambling stats, and Edoardo Molinari via Golf Digest.

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Follow Scott: https://www.instagram.com/cachill21

Scott Cahill had full status on PGA Tour Latinoamerica. He gave it back, took a full-time job, and barely touched a club for 5 years. Then he fell back in love with the game and won the Arizona Mid-Amateur at Grayhawk, on a course where the field made 1,158 bogeys in 3 days. He did it with a newborn at home and a practice routine he calls a cram session. This episode is the blueprint for playing your best golf with the least time you've ever had.

Timestamps:

0:00 Walking away from the Tour

2:17 The pro golf grind nobody sees

5:37 Five years without touching a club

8:11 When golf stopped feeling like work

11:35 What he'd change about his pro practice

14:02 Golf with a newborn and a full-time job

18:24 Inside his boring practice routine

21:30 The stat that surprised him

25:21 Winning the Arizona Mid-Am at Grayhawk

32:00 The 59 at Tobacco Road

35:55 Signing with the Grass League

38:04 The reinstated pro debate

48:42 What winning actually gets you

51:17 Lessons for his son

Sick of 1 hole wrecking your whole round? Grab the free Disaster Card. It has the 4 rules on the front and a 3 round leak tracker on the back that shows you exactly where your strokes are going: https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/disaster

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Your golf handicap is not decided by your swing. It is decided by 3 or 4 blow-up holes a round. In this episode of the Play Ready Golf Podcast (Ep. 29) we use Shot Scope and Arccos data to prove that double bogeys, not birdies, separate every handicap level. Then we walk through the 5 leaks that cause blow-up holes and the 4 rules that stop them. None of it requires practice time.

Timestamps:0:00 The number that breaks your brain1:14 Hayden's triple at US Am qualifying4:45 The data: doubles by handicap5:58 The free Disaster Card6:18 Why golfers blame the swing10:54 Birdies happen by accident12:30 The 5 leaks behind every blow-up hole13:00 Leak 1: tee shots into trouble14:20 Leak 2: the hero recovery15:43 Leak 3: the short-side miss17:47 Leak 4: the double chip19:01 Leak 5: three-putts21:15 Hayden's worst blow-up holes27:04 The Disaster Card: 4 rules27:59 Rule 1: count your doubles (the Train Game)29:52 Rule 2: the one-job shot30:56 Rule 3: get long putts inside 3 feet32:39 Rule 4: short-sided means middle of the green34:57 Is this just playing scared?37:26 2 honest notes about the data38:14 The takeaway40:15 What to watch next

Data in this episode comes from the Shot Scope Annual Report (74M+ shots), Arccos data via Lou Stagner, Mark Broadie's Every Shot Counts, and Edoardo Molinari via Golf Digest.

Play Ready Golf app: ⁠https://onelink.to/93ggkv⁠

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FIND NATE

Mountain Creative Construction, licensed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Teton Valley, Idaho

Nate on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/ndizzle4shizzle/⁠

Nate Smith made it to pro golf, then walked away at 30 because he did not like who the game was turning him into. He got an MBA, moved to Idaho, built a construction business, and barely touched a club for eight years. Then he came back as an amateur and started winning, beating players half his age who practice every day.

If you love golf but cannot give it your whole life, this one is for you. Nate plays a few weeks a year and still competes at the top of the amateur game. He breaks down how he practices with intent, why not being obsessed with results is his biggest edge, and what he would tell anyone trying to get better with limited time.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Walking away from a Tour card at 30

01:48 What eight years away taught him

04:23 The hardest lesson, he was not always first

05:53 What pulled him back in 2022

07:36 Coming back after eight years off

09:56 Winning right away, and why it did not surprise him

10:41 Competing while running a construction business

13:26 How much you should actually practice

15:04 Practice with intent, hit 20 balls and leave

18:04 Taking your practice to the course

20:12 North and South week, identity over outcome

22:10 Playing at elevation versus sea level

24:36 Grass League and the Hollywood Hitters

28:06 The truth about amateur reinstatement

33:48 What he would tell his 25 year old self

35:14 What is next on his schedule

38:03 Where to find Nate

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30-Hacks for Busy Golfers: ⁠https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/30hacksin30⁠

Chapters:

0:00 A $12 bucket vs a $40 round

1:48 Why leaving the range happy is a bad sign

2:59 What practice costs, and what actually lowers scores

4:20 Quality over quantity: making 30 minutes count

5:58 Where the "beat balls" myth came from

8:48 The 1992 study: why your range swing doesn't show up

9:54 Bubba Watson barely touched the range

13:39 Hayden's confession: practicing just to say he did

14:58 How to actually practice: fewer balls, real pressure

20:02 Tournament golf exposes your tendencies

24:45 Why "just hit more balls" fails

27:38 Rule 1: Play more, and play cheaper

29:45 Rule 2: Give the range rules

32:15 Rule 3: Practice on the course for free

34:27 Rule 4: Aim where you leak

35:49 Tendencies vs dispersion

43:32 When the range is actually the right call

46:16 Good intentions vs being intentional