Today’s issue is brought to you by Hack Motion Golf:

How your wrists work in the swing is critical. The Hack Motion wrist sensor is an amazing training aid. My coach (Mark Crossfield) did a great review of the Hack Motion. Watch that review video here.

For the best price use code GOLFSALE

Get your Hack Motion here.

And also brought to you by SkyTrak Golf:

Improve your skills with a SkyTrak Launch Monitor.

For the best price, use code GOLFSALE

Get a SkyTrak launch monitor here.

Weekly Quiz!

To see the correct answer, click the “CONTINUE” button at the bottom of the next page.

Good luck! 😀 

How Often Do Scratch (& 5-Indexes) Shoot Under Par?

There's constant confusion around the USGA handicap system, and one of the biggest misconceptions is that scratch players should routinely shoot under par. Today we're putting real numbers on it… looking at how often scratch (and 5-index) players actually go gross under par (not net) in 18-hole rounds. I limited this to courses that have a par of 70 or higher.

Course Difficulty: Rating vs. Par

The table below shows under-par percentages broken down by course difficulty. But instead of sorting courses by rating alone, I compared Course Rating versus Par. Why? Because shooting under par on a par-70 course rated 74.5 is much harder than shooting under par on a par-72 rated 74.5.

“Hardest” courses: This is where the Course Rating is 2.0 shots or more over the par of the course (e.g., par 72 rated 74.0+; par 70 rated 72.0+)
“Easiest” courses: This is where the Course Rating is 2.1 shots or more under the par of the course (e.g., par 72 rated 69.9 or lower; par 70 rated 67.9 or lower)

The Numbers Tell the Story

For scratch players (0 index):

• Hardest courses: 3.4% of rounds are under par (roughly 1 in 30 rounds)

• Easiest courses: 31.6% of rounds are under par (roughly 1 in 3 rounds)

• Across all course they are under par 11.9% of the time

Course difficulty dominates… a scratch player is about 10x more likely to shoot under par on easy courses versus hard ones.

For 5-index players:

• Even on the easiest courses, only 2.6% of rounds break par (about 1 in 39)

• On hard courses? Hardly ever.

The Takeaway

As you can see, shooting under par on challenging courses does not happen very often even for scratch players. Make sure your expectations are reasonable!

Also, I know you've heard elite players say it: play forward tees or easier courses occasionally to practice going low. This isn't just ego management… it's learning the feel and decision-making of low rounds. You can build on those reps and take that to tougher setups.

Understanding the odds here doesn't diminish your game, it right-sizes your expectations so you can enjoy the round.

 Finally...

• Advertise your business to 35,000+ readers of this newsletter.

• Shop Arccos Golf here. (Use code DATALOU15 to save 15%)

• Join Team Titleist here.

• Shop StrackaLine Green Books here. (Use code DATALOU15 to save 15%)

• Listen to the “Hack it Out Golf” podcast on Apple or Spotify.

• Submit ideas or feedback here.
  
  Have a great week!