Hack It Out Golf

We've been doing Saturday Stats for 3 years now: it's time for a best of! In today's episode, we pull up two classics. The Saturday Stat episodes have become a standard because they might have the best banter and bits, but also because our regular listeners have built up a storehouse of reasonable expectations. Let's see if you can recall these answers from episodes on putting and driving, while e...

Mark has been aiming to play at a serious level—and his chipping is holding him back. In this episode, Mark makes a plea for help: do Greg and Lou have any practice tips to improve his game within 30 yards? Mark isn't alone here: many amateur golfers cost themselves strokes in this range. Lou and Greg offer practice games and (even contrasting) ways to think about these delicate shots to get the b...

Golf is a maddening game—sometimes even at the highest levels. In the recent US Open, penalties were issued to a player who melted down on a hole, and they were costly. In this episode, Greg and Mark talk about the new code of conduct penalties. Is it odd that there was no video of the incident? Are strokes or fines a better way to handle these situations? And what are Greg and Mark's worst tourna...

How far is far enough? In this episode, Lou asks Mark and Greg about a standard drive on a typical hole. How far do you need to hit it—in the fairway—to break even on a strokes gained against your handicap peers? The answer might surprise you. But the takeaway for your own game might also surprise you. Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes long) about an interesting golf stat. We wil...

Recently, the governing bodies scuttled the plan for the incremental rollout of the rollback. Why? And what's next? In the episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg continue discussing the ongoing saga. Key the whole debate: what actually is the problem? If you have a question you want covered on the pod, please submit here: https://www.hackitoutgolf.com/contact/ Listeners can also leave us a voicemail! https:...

The PGA Tour has recently released its new Championship Series/Challenger Series two track tournament format, and Rory(!) seems unimpressed. In this episode, Mark, Greg, and Lou take Rory's comments as a jumping off point to discuss how the new format might play out—and how it could have been more creative. Is it just the same thing the Tour had before LIV showed up? Are the Challenger Series even...

We often talk about managing expectations for particular shots. What are reasonable expectations for a full round? In this episode, Lou asks Mark and Greg about a 10-index golfer: in a typical 18-hole round, how many birdies, bogeys, and doubles will he make? When the dust settles, the guys give advice for reducing the number of big numbers—the key for most golfers to make the biggest improvement...

With the third major of the year completed, Greg and Mark offer their takeaways from Wyndham Clark's impressive victory at Shinnecock Hills. They discuss the quality of his play, the reputation that has followed him since the last US Open, the crowd behavior as he closed in on his victory, and the way he handled the pressure and the crowd as he claimed his second US Open title. If you have a quest...

Most beginning golfers slice, and the draw becomes an early aspiration. But should more amateurs just love their fade? In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg talk shot shapes. Is there an advantage hitting one shape over the other—or shaping it both ways? Should most golfers try to change their shape, or instead play smart, strategic golf with the shape they have? And what do you do when either shap...

Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes long) about an interesting golf stat. We will discuss what you can learn, and most importantly, how you can apply this on the golf course to lower your scores and lower your handicap. Listen on your drive to the golf course or over your Saturday morning coffee! Data is sourced from Arccos Golf. They have over 1 BILLION shots in their database. Ch...

We're in a major week—there's only one more in 2026, and it seems like the season just started? Are the majors too compressed in the schedule? In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg talk golf from the fan's perspective. Should the majors be spaced out a little more during the season? And with the World Cup happening right now, the biggest spectacle in sports, what could professional golf learn to br...

The first editions of next year's PGA Tour schedule are releasing, and changes are afoot. In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg break down the latest attempt to create tiers of events, a lower one for elite golfers and a higher one for elite-r golfers. Does this have any more promise than previous iterations? Will the Tour ever do better than Monday Q Info at promoting ascending golfers? And should...

Not every par 72 is the same. In this episode, Lou sends out the good golfers—scratch and 5 index—to "hard" and "easy" courses (distinguished by their course rating). Are these difficulty ratings accurate? How often will these good players break part on courses of different difficulty? And has Mark turned in Lou's DM guy, who doubts the numbers because it isn't what he sees? Each of these will be...

During the week of the Memorial, Jack Nicklaus made a new set of comments at a press conference in support of a rolled back golf ball. In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg consider his opinion. Does winning 18 majors convey expertise on this topic? Are opponents of the rollback just parroting the talking points of their OEM sponsors? If you have a question you want covered on the pod, please submi...

A listener question sends Lou on a deep, deep dive into the Arccos database. We know that "never up, never in" is poor advice, especially on longer putts. But if a putt rolls past the hole, how much more likely is a golfer to make the comebacker than a similar-length putt where he hasn't seen the break? Lou, Greg, and Mark talk about the way that gathering information from balls rolling on the gre...

Among the most prominent themes of this podcast is the need to manage expectations. That's not just a "each shot" idea; it's a "whole round" idea. How often will golfers of differing handicaps have one of those rounds , scoring at least 5 shots higher than his typical scoring average? Lou puts this question to Mark and Greg, and after the scoring is settled, they give advice for keeping in the rou...

The 2026 PGA Championship was won by an incredible performance by Aaron Rai. So shouldn't that—and maybe not how he chooses to cover his hands and his irons—be the lead story? In this episode, Tour Slayer, Lou, and Greg talk about the way Rai's victory was covered, and how it tended to overshadow just how spectacular his play was. They also discuss the future of LIV players and take a few stabs at...

A great, broadly applicable listener question today. In the past couple of decades, drivers have not only experienced increases in head size, but also in shaft length. In today's episode, Mark and Lou ask whether many amateurs might not be better off the tee with a shorter driver shaft. What are the trade-offs in shaft lengths? Is it possible that a shorter shaft might produce tighter dispersion a...

By this point, we know that we want to avoid short-siding ourselves. But should we think about uphill vs downhill chips? In this episode, Lou offers Mark and Greg a handful of scenarios with Tour players around the green. They have different amounts of green to work with, but some chips are uphill and others are downhill. What effect does that have on scoring? And stay turned for Lou's bonus quest...

It's just bomb and gouge, right? In this episode, Mark and Lou look at the numbers to see if reality matches the common perception that Tour players almost never have long approach shots anymore. Are there still any 3-shot holes on the PGA Tour? How often does a Tour pro have a short iron left on a par 5? If there is a discussion to be had about distance, it starts with knowing what is *actually*...

In this episode of Hack It Out Golf, Mark, Greg, and Lou welcome Champions Tour star Steven Alker. They explore his journey from New Zealand amateur golf through the Canada, European, Korn Ferry, and PGA Tours, to his remarkable Champions Tour career: 11 wins, a perfect 104/104 cuts made, and 76 top-10s in just 104 events. Steven shares the key shifts in his game: smarter (not harder) preparation,...

Is it a trick question? In this episode, Lou asks about the green light scenario: 100 yards in the fairway on a par 4. How often will a scratch, a 10, and a 20-index golfer make double bogey or worse in that scenario? You'd think it wouldn't be that often—but you might be overlooking something. And if you can fix that thing, your scoring might get better here too. Each of these will be a mini-epis...

If you have a course you play regularly, you almost certainly have one hole that gives you fits. In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg give advice for troublesome holes. If a hole makes you choose between tee shot lengths, do you know which one creates a better average score for you? Do you have a 'get it in play' shot that you can rely on when there's trouble everywhere? And how do you get past th...

If you're listening to this podcast, there's a good chance you have a swing thought—and there's a pretty high chance that you're thinking about how some part of your body should be moving (or not) during the swing. In this episode, Mark and Greg talk about one of the most important ideas in golf improvement: you can think about something other than your body position during the swing. They discuss...

Scratch is a aspiration for most amateur golfers, and it's a very good standard of play. How good? In this episode, Lou brings three different stats about scratch golfers, and Mark and Greg attempt to guess how a scratch player would perform in each. The answers might be surprising—and will absolutely contribute to all of us managing our expectations. Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 mi...