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January 23, 2025
by Golf Digest

The Clever Strategy Pros Actually Use To Calculate Yardages l The Game Plan l Golf Digest

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By: Golf Digest | Duration: 00:14:53


Video Description

Calculating yardage numbers and proper club selection are some of the most underrated skills in the world of golf. Most of us simply ask a friend: What’s the number? They zap the pin with a rangefinder and then we pull the club we think is best and swing away. In this episode of The Game Plan, Golf Digest Senior Editor Luke Kerr-Dineen dives into the often underutilized strategy of calculating yardages like a Tour Pro to discover why there’s a bit more to it than just zapping the pin with a rangefinder. These five pro-level strategies will help you get the right number, pull the right club, hit the right shot and lower your scores.

Have you tried this strategy? Let us know!
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Host: Luke Kerr-Dineen
Producer & Video Editor: Ben Walton
Executive Producer: Christian Iooss

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:37 The Basics
2:30 Temperature
4:30 Altitude
6:45 Lie & Spin
9:20 Runout
11:05 Wind
12:12 Scottie Example
14:23 Outro

24 Comments

  1. @mako1134

    This is just pure content

    I could listen to anything luke has to say

    Reply
  2. @Dtownpunk77

    Incredible.job with this dude! I like all your golf stuff! Thanks!

    Reply
  3. @jamesthemagnificent3904

    There is a missing element- you as a human- some days you swing better than others- or you feel less physical, more tired-some days you need a bit more club. Some hilly courses mean you are more tired coming up 16, 17, 18. I’m always alert to this.

    Reply
  4. @Weshopwizard

    Perfect for us 18 handicappers to guarantee 6 hour rounds.

    Reply
  5. @andreysto1202

    Feels like quitting golf now))
    Too many variables for us mortals, who rarely hit the center of the clubface, which also effects ball flight a little.. ;))

    Reply
  6. @jdstan9650

    The nerd 🤓 factor of the technology ruining the sport is unbelievable. No wonder nobody watches these zero personality players anymore…

    Reply
  7. @francoisdesmoulins-lebeaul4273

    Interesting but to be brutally honest, I don't know any "good golfer" (or simply decent, say hcp below 7 or 8) that doesn't know or "intuit" that. Hard to play decent golf if you don't hit the right distance, given that conditions change, you need to understand how they affect your shots, and every one does it, more or less consciously.

    Reply
  8. @colinwallace5520

    The breakdown of Scottie schefflers par 3 shot was terrific

    Reply
  9. @luuivee

    Great video 💯💯

    Reply
  10. @enkilugal3282

    Luke, you did a great job explaining these five elements of hitting a perfect distance.

    Reply
  11. @stevecassidy9019

    Really fun video but some things don’t add up. You said a 5 iron at 60deg that carries 185 would go 195 on a hot summer day.

    Thats only true based on your own formula if it was 110deg which is a pretty absurd thing to say. Thats using the 2 yards for your driver so it would have to be even hotter for that to be true. Temperature has a negligible affect on carry distance and will most often only differ by less than 5 yards.

    Reply
  12. @stephenkaake7016

    with the wind I was on in one on a 330 yard hole, against the wind I had a 150 yard shot in

    Reply
  13. @mjk-th2tm

    Most amateurs don’t hit it consistently enough for any of this to matter.

    Reply
  14. @bazturd1

    Can’t wait to calculate my next approach shot, and then hit a hosel rocket 50 feet right

    Reply
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