Hello birdie chasers.
Special edition this week — Thomas Smith's tournament for Bridging the G-A-P is tomorrow, and it's too good a cause to wait until Sunday to tell you about. Regular issue still comes this weekend as usual.
Also got a golf ball that surprised me and a course management tip worth trying. Let's get into it.
The Grind
Stop aiming at the pin. Aim at the center of the green instead.
Most of us pick a number off the rangefinder, then aim right at the flag no matter where it's tucked. That's how a slightly pulled 8-iron turns into a bunker shot instead of a two-putt. Center of the green gives you way more margin for error — miss it left, miss it right, you're still putting.
From there, adjust off center based on your shot shape for the day. Fade guy? Favor the left-center. Draw guy? Favor the right-center. You're not aiming at the number anymore, you're aiming at the shot you actually hit.
One more trick worth trying: range the pin like normal, then pull up your golf app and drag the pin overlay to that exact yardage. Now you've got a real aerial view of the green — how much room you actually have to work with, not just a number on a screen. Give it a shot next time you're deciding between "go at it" and "play it safe."
In the Bag
Put the Maxfli Tour X in play this week — cold, no range balls first, straight into a friendly skins match. Bold move, but here's the short version: wow.
If you want the long version — it's long. I picked up somewhere in the 5-10 yard range off the driver, which doesn't sound like much until you realize that's the difference between a wedge and a short iron into the green. Fewer lag putts, more makeable ones. Iron distance barely moved, which I actually like — I don't need my scoring clubs flying further, that just adds strain to feel shots.
Around the green, this ball was excellent. Maxfli calls the Tour X the firmest of their three premium balls (Tour, Tour S, Tour X), but it felt soft on pitches and chips, with spin and check that reminded me of a Pro V1x. Eighteen holes in and it held up fine — minimal cuts, still looked new.
The one place I actually noticed the firmness was on the putter. Took me a solid 11 holes to recalibrate pace — a few putts ran 3-4 feet past before I adjusted. Once I found it, though, it rolled beautifully.
I might have found my new ball.
Around the Green
Rory McIlroy hit a shot into a fence this week and somehow walked away with a par. Let that sink in for a second.
Here's what happened: his tee shot on the par-3 14th at Wentworth found a razor-thin strip of grass, wedged between a temporary fence and a cart path — the kind of spot that ends most of our rounds with a penalty stroke and a bad attitude. Instead, officials ruled the fence was temporary, which meant the relief area stretched wide enough to include that grass. Free drop. McIlroy chipped it to five feet. Par, like nothing happened.
Technically legal. Nobody's arguing that. But Sky Sports commentators were visibly scrambling for the actual rulebook on live TV, which tells you everything about how borderline this call really was.
Here's the actual takeaway for us weekend guys: when in doubt, ask or check the rules. Most of us see a ball jammed against a cart path or a sprinkler head and just assume the worst — drop it, take the stroke, move on, never once wondering if we're entitled to relief. Rory's group had a rules official standing right there to make the call. You don't. But the same rulebook that saved his par is the one sitting in your bag or your golf app right now, and most of us have never actually opened it. A free drop you didn't know you had is still a stroke you gave away.
Next time your ball ends up somewhere ugly, take ten seconds and actually check before you assume the worst.
Reader of the Week
Thomas Smith spent decades in federal justice leadership before starting Bridging the G-A-P in 2020. What he kept seeing: kids getting pushed toward the justice system not because they were bad kids, but because they lacked guidance, structure, and a positive adult paying attention. BTG exists to interrupt that path — building emotional regulation, decision-making, accountability, and leadership before a courtroom ever enters the picture. The name comes from the organization's founding values: Gratitude, Appreciation, and Patience.
What started as a single idea in rural Kentucky and Tennessee has grown into a multi-state youth development organization. And here's the part I really like: every tournament BTG runs gives its proceeds away. Past years supported Youth Villages' residential and development services. This year, everything raised goes to the Domestic Violence Service in Columbia, TN.
Thomas is hosting the 7th Annual Bridging the G-A-P Golf Tournament tomorrow, Friday, September 18, at Henry Horton State Park Golf Course in Chapel Hill, TN — a 2-person best ball scramble with on-course contests and real prize money on the line. Keep this one on your radar for next year — a good cause worth showing up for.
You could be Reader of the Week! Reply to this email and tell me about your good round, the club you can't put down, or a shot you're still thinking about days after the round. Reply and tell me all about it.
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See you Sunday.
— Trent