Golf teacher Jake Hutt explains why it is time to improve your club choice to a Cleveland Hy-wood when staring down a long par-3.
GOLF.com
Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a GOLF.com sequence by which we’re sharing enhancements, learnings and takeaways from beginner golfers similar to you — together with among the pace bumps and challenges they confronted alongside the way in which.
Ed. Note: This article was revealed in partnership with Cleveland/Srixon.
Did you understand that the PGA Tour scoring average on par-3 holes is 3.06? Considering most beginner golfers assume par-3s ought to be a lot simpler than that, it’d come as a shock.
Now right here’s some actual discuss: Most amateurs don’t come shut to sniffing that rating on a par-3 — particularly when it’s a longer one which provides one other stage of problem to the equation. But simply since you’re standing on the tee field of a long par-3 doesn’t imply you simply want to settle for bogey (or worse) as the end result. In truth, all you will have to do is rethink your club choice.
Cleveland Launcher Halo XL Custom Hy-Wood
$239.99
Want hybrid control and fairway wood distance? Try a Hy-Wood. It’s the best elements of a hybrid design combined with the best aspects of a fairway wood.
Ditch your 4- or 5-iron for a Hy-wood as an alternative
In a current lesson with golf teacher Jake Hutt, the 2 of us visited Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes — a beautiful par-3 course with unbelievable views of the Pacific Ocean. But it additionally occurs to be one of many trickiest quick programs I’ve ever performed, with windy circumstances typically making any shot a troublesome one.
While Terranea has a few holes that enable you to actually “go for it,” No. 8 requires you to hit a wonderful tee shot — however you want to truly get it there.
As Hutt describes within the video above, “this is about a 200-yard, par-3 hole. It’s terrifying!”
So what can a mid-handicapper like myself do to give myself a actual probability at birdie? Use the suitable club!
In circumstances like this, I typically select a 4- or 5-iron, hoping I can hit that good shot that leads to my ball sitting inside 10 ft of the pin. But that’s a lot to ask for, so Hutt suggests switching to a Cleveland Launcher Halo XL Hy-Wood on longer par-3 holes like this.
“So we’re going to take this 4-iron and we’re going to throw it in the trash,” Hutt says. “Instead, I’m going to give you this Cleveland Hy-Wood.”
Prior to hitting my shot, I ask Hutt if there’s something in my setup or swing movement that I would like to rethink now that I’m utilizing a stronger club as an alternative of an iron.
“You can put this a little further forward in your stance than you would an iron, which will help get the ball up in the air, spin it a little bit more, and make everything a little bit easier,” he says.
As I deal with the ball, I really feel extra assured about my club choice — primarily as a result of I now know I’ve the space to at the very least hit the inexperienced, so I don’t want to overswing to get it there. The results of the shot? A excessive draw that hits the suitable facet of the inexperienced and makes use of the slope to funnel towards the pin.
I challenged a Tour professional on a tough par-3. Here’s the way it went
Nick Dimengo
In different phrases: Chefs kiss.
While I hit my ball a tiny bit skinny, through the use of a Hy-Wood as an alternative of a low-iron, I had extra forgiveness when it got here to my ball-striking thanks to the larger face.
“You’re going to get extra ball speed [with the Hy-Wood], a little more pop off the face, and will get the ball up in the air and spinning it a little bit more to hold the green,” Hutt says.
So as an alternative of being in-between golf equipment and hoping you hit the proper shot, strive utilizing a Hy-Wood to make issues simpler on your self.
“No one needs a 4-iron, no one needs a 5-iron, what they do need is a Cleveland Hy-Wood,” Hutt says.
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