It's the first major of the year! In this episode, Mark, Greg, and Lou talk about the 2024 Masters, offering their projections for winners, notable missed cuts, and what Tiger Woods might do this year. Along the way, they talk about their own experiences at Augusta. Settle in for a great intro to one of the best week's in the golf year. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/subscribe Mark Crossfield on Twitter: https://twitter.com/4golfonline Mark ...
Apr 08, 2024•30 min
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. In this episode, we're sitting on the tee of a 400 yard par 4 with a scratch golfer and a 20 handicap. On average, how many shots will it take each of them to finish the hole? Lou poses this question to Mark and Greg, and after sorting through the answers, they consider how these averages should shape our expectations as we head to the course. Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes long) about an interest...
Apr 06, 2024•12 min
Last week, Hack It Out co-host Greg Chalmers continued his first season on the Champions Tour by qualifying for the Galleri Classic. Once again, he needed to play very well to continue to earn spots in upcoming Champions Tour events. In this episode, he's joined by Lou Stagner and Mark Crossfield as he recaps the week, from the Tuesday Qualifier, to playing the pro-am with a Hack It Out listener, to regaining a round after a disastrous hole. Come along on Greg's Champions Tour journey! Where to ...
Apr 04, 2024•34 min
Most years, the new driver releases boast about their new higher ball speeds and being the longest ever. This year, a major talking point for a few of the driver releases is their higher forgiveness, boasting 10K MOI specifications. In this episode, Mark leads Lou and Greg in a discussion of MOI, marketing, and whether these new drivers are likely to help your game in a way that you'll notice. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/subscribe Mark Cr...
Apr 01, 2024•17 min
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. 150 yards in the fairway is considered by many golfers to be a really ideal spot. Expectations are high; is a birdie in play? In this episode, Lou asks Greg and Mark what a scratch golfer and 15-index golfer should think of as being a good shot: one that, relatively to their handicap, loses no strokes. These answers are absolutely key for managing your own expectations on the course, giving yourself credit when you've...
Mar 30, 2024•11 min
Serious question: are the clubs in your bag the very best clubs to help you shoot your lowest scores? Or are you (perhaps) refusing to use (totally legal!) gear that might help you play better? In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg talk about three clubs that you really need to consider owning and using if you want to play your best golf. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/subscribe Mark Crossfield on Twitter: https://twitter.com/4golfonline Mark...
Mar 28, 2024•19 min
Does your ball matter? Do you have a particular model ball that you play? Or if we opened your bag right now, would we discover two dozen random balls that you've found in the woods and water? In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg talk about the difference a good ball can make for your game, and what you should consider the next time you purchase a sleeve or a dozen. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/subscribe Mark Crossfield on Twitter: https:/...
Mar 25, 2024•19 min
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. In today's episode, we begin by refreshing the difference between average and median , and then the question is about median proximity to the hole for highly skilled and higher handicap golfers from 40 yards in the rough. Lou's numbers alongside Mark and Greg's guesses set the table for an important discussion for how best to shave off strokes in your short game. Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes lon...
Mar 23, 2024•11 min
Last week's Players Championship was a great event, ending with a dramatic, heartbreaking lip out. Historically, this tournament has tended to have one of the strongest—if not the strongest—fields in professional golf. Obviously, that was slightly less true this year, with yet another major competitor having decided to play on the LIV Tour. In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg discuss some of the history of the fields at the Players and what its current state is. Where to find us: Mark Crossfiel...
Mar 21, 2024•25 min
It's weird when we stop to think about it: almost none of us have to play golf. And yet very often, we allow aspects of our leisure activity to fill us with fear: terror about certains kinds of shots, pressure situations, or outcomes. In this episode, Lou, Mark, and Greg talk about their greatest golf fears and the steps they've taken to address them. Their advice here will help us all to enjoy our recreation a whole lot more. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.cr...
Mar 18, 2024•34 min
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. In this episode, Lou has chosen a stat that highlights the enormous importance of hitting greens. Suppose a scratch golfer is in the fairway, 125 from the pin. What's the expected difference in his scoring when he hits the green versus missing the green? Mark and Greg register their guesses, and then talk about ways to pursue a strategy on the course that maximizes greens hit. Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-...
Mar 16, 2024•14 min
Gregulators: Mount Up! In this episode, Greg leads Mark and Lou through his very first Champions Tour event, the Cologuard Classic. Greg talks about the different "feel" around a Champions Tour event, the process of qualifying, some work he did to prepare for this event, and the challenges of trying to gain and retain starts on the Tour. Listen in as Greg recaps his very solid debut event! Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/subscribe Mark Crossf...
Mar 14, 2024•28 min
When you're at the top of your backswing, where is your clubface pointing? And what does that mean for how the rest of your swing needs to work? In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg discuss not just clubface control, but clubface awareness : knowing and feeling what the clubface is doing all through the swing. They suggest drills that will help you develop the feel of the clubface—a major key to helping you become a better golfer. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://ww...
Mar 11, 2024•31 min
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Many of us have spent the winter months working on indoor putting mats. When we return to the course, it's a bit shocking to remember that real greens don't have alignment lines. Making 15 straight ten-footers no longer seems quite so easy. In today's episode, Lou serves up a classic—and helpful—dose of expectation management, as he asks Greg and Mark about the make and 3-putt percentages of a 10-index golfer from 18 ...
Mar 09, 2024•15 min
What does changing your grip do for your golf game? Turns out, it isn't quite so simple as "stronger goes left." In this episode, Mark leads Lou and Greg in a discussion on how golfers hold the club. Do you release a re-grip the club during your swing? Are you sure ? In what ways does grip interact with path? And did an episode of Project Lou break out in a non-Project Lou episode? (Answer: pretty much yes.) Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/su...
Mar 07, 2024•42 min
Over the past couple of years, Mark Crossfield has gained serious distance. For a long time, it was a joke on Mark's YouTube reviews that, whatever driver, whatever ball, he always carried every tee shot 262 yards. Then he began to put real work into the science of how speed in generated in the swing. In this episode, he and Lou and Greg talk about what he's learned, to what degree he is limited by his current physical capabilities, and how all of this can translate to your own driving distance ...
Mar 04, 2024•36 min
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Not all shots from 10-index players in the fairway from 150 yards are the same. At some courses, the greens are enormous. At others, the targets are tiny. How much difference is there for our 10-index golfer when he's attempting to hit these two greens? In this episode, Greg and Mark try to tackle that question from Lou, and then they offer some insights that will help you hit more greens in regulation. Each of these ...
Mar 02, 2024•14 min
For years, the consensus advice for golfers was to swing smoothly. We've all admired the superb players who seem to exert no effort at all. But in more recent years, we've learned the value of distance, and increasingly we've seen swings (even at the highest levels of golf) in which golfers swing so hard that they finish off-balance, recoiling the club back around. So what are we supposed to be doing? In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg give their advice for how hard we should be swinging if we...
Feb 29, 2024•32 min
The PGA Tour continues to rebuild its membership structure on the fly, changing up who qualifies for a card and what events different players can get in. In this season, that has created a crunch for those who earned their cards through Q School, many of whom are struggling to get any starts on Tour so far. In this episode, Greg and Mark and Lou talk about these changes, what they mean for players on Tour, and how the Tour is challenged to both reward its stars while providing avenues for up and...
Feb 26, 2024•28 min
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. There are fewer attributes more requested by amateur golfers than consistency . What does that mean? In this episode, Lou quizzes Mark and Greg about the range of scores typical of a 10–15 index golfer, along with their "outlier" rounds, in which they score 5 shots better or worse than average. In addition to useful facts that help you have better expectations about your own game, you'll likely feel better about your ...
Feb 24, 2024•15 min
With the benefit of a few days past the event to cool down, Greg, Mark, and Lou take up the topic of the increasingly unruly fan behavior at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Was a line crossed? What is it like to be in the field when the gallery starts feeling free to engage in acts that might disrupt play? Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/subscribe Mark Crossfield on Twitter: https://twitter.com/4golfonline Mark Crossfield on YouTube: https...
Feb 22, 2024•31 min
Hack It Out 's Greg Chalmers is making the transition from the PGA Tour to the Champions Tour. In this episode, Greg joins Lou and Mark to take us through his first Champions Tour Monday Qualifier. We'll learn about the different pressure of starting a round knowing that you have to go low, the knife-edge of being derailed by one swing, and Lou's plans to get Greg the tournament reps he needs to prepare for future qualifiers. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.cro...
Feb 19, 2024•30 min
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. When comparing golfers of different skill levels, the Saturday Morning Stat often asks about their differing performance from the same yardage. But in general , golfers with lower handicaps also hit the ball further which each club than higher handicap golfers, and physics dictates that it is easier to hit a PW straighter than a 7i. So in this episode, Lou asks Greg and Mark to guess the percent of greens hit by scrat...
Feb 17, 2024•11 min
"That's good." Ah, but is it? In this episode, Greg, Lou, and Mark discuss what turns out to be a vast chasm of golf culture: whether gimmes and mulligans are a part of golf. The guys talk about the ways in which gimmes were treated in their early years in golf and how they work in social games—and when people take them for their handicap rounds. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/subscribe Mark Crossfield on Twitter: https://twitter.com/4golfon...
Feb 15, 2024•20 min
During the PGA Show, Greg took the opportunity to have a lesson with Dr. Scott Lynn using the Catalyst Force Plates. Mark was there for the lesson as well. In this episode, they review what Greg learned about how he uses pressure in the golf swing, and speculate how the lesson would have gone if Lou had been on the plates. For all of us, learning how we interact with the ground can help us make better, more efficient swings and play better golf. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newslet...
Feb 12, 2024•26 min
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. In this episode, Lou pulls up the all-time Top 40 money list and asks Greg and Mark what those legends average on par 3s, par 4s, and par 5s. The answers are probably the ultimate "manage your expectations." 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 an...
Feb 10, 2024•15 min
Men's professional golf continues to rebuild itself on the fly. Recently, the PGA Tour announced a major partnership with SSG, bringing billions of dollars of investment into the Tour. Our Greg Chalmers was on the call with the PGA Tour commissioner, and in this episode, he talks with Mark Crossfield and Lou Stagner about the recent news and the future moves the PGA Tour might make. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/subscribe Mark Crossfield on...
Feb 08, 2024•26 min
Last month in Orlando, Greg and Mark and Lou met in person for the first time. In this episode of the Hack It Out golf podcast, the guys recount their visit together to the PGA Show. They'll hit both highlights and lowlights, and give you sound advice about what to do if Mark ever asks you, "Would you like my honest opinion?" Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/subscribe Mark Crossfield on Twitter: https://twitter.com/4golfonline Mark Crossfield ...
Feb 05, 2024•46 min
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. In this week's episode, Greg and Mark try to guess how many double bogeys or worse 20-index golfers and scratch players average per round. Lou comes with the bonus stats this week, as they also take a look at birdies or better. Listen in for one of the most important pieces of advice for learning how to drop your handicap! Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes long) about an interesting golf stat. We wil...
Feb 03, 2024•16 min
Project Lou continues! In this episode, Mark and Lou update us on the work they are doing to make Lou a better golfer, while Greg sits comfortably on the sidelines and enjoys the show with the rest of us. Here, the guys discuss working through injuries, changing club delivery with wrist positions, bringing changes to the iron swing to the driver, and the difficulties of making changes in the winter when there isn't a way to get the feedback of real on-course rounds. For the best price on HackMot...
Feb 01, 2024•33 min
