The Double Fairway Conundrum

Only One SA

I absolutely love when Golf Decoded shines, obviously, but it’s so cool to think that I stumbled into something back in early 2021 that would change the course of how I, and many of my students and clientele, view the game of golf forever. Moreover, that it would simplify the data collection and search for meaning in this wild and crazy game. So what happened this week at Riviera that makes “Golf Decoded” shine? It starts on the eccentric par 4, Hole 8.

For those that aren’t familiar with Hole #8, it’s a rare design feature that has a double fairway (see image below). This double fairway is meant to give players multiple options to play the hole, a style of golf hole design that’s called “strategic.” Strategic holes are, at their core, designed to give players multiple routes and options as to how to play the hole and take on varying levels of real or perceived “risk.” The double fairway is quite rare, but is one such example.

Hole 8 Riviera Country Club

But here is where things get interesting. Here are the direct words from commentators on Sunday afternoon during the final pairing:

“Yesterday (Saturday), the scoring average was better on the right side, but the flag was on the right. Doesn’t seem to make sense. Flag on the left today, but left is the way to go.”

One of the key design features of this hole is that the angle and orientation of the green are “supposed” to make a shot from the right fairway to a back-left pin more favorable. And that would be true if the flag weren’t located the way it is relative to key slopes of the green. This should not be overlooked. So how in the world was playing from the right fairway on Saturday to a right pin better, and playing to a left pin on Sunday from the left fairway better? Well, the BPN, of course. Let’s take a look.

Round 3 BPN

Birdies are orange, light blue is par, dark blue is bogey

Round 4 BPN

Birdies are orange, light blue is par, dark blue is bogey

Now remember this about the BPN: whichever direction it points is the side you want to play in from (the SA, Side Approach). So with the SA line drawn as it is below, “parallel to the shape of the hole, through the centerline of the fairway (in this case between the fairways), as it meets the green,” a hit SA for Saturday would be right of that line, and a hit SA for Sunday would be left of that line.

Now, let's take a look at the scores from both days from the tee shot with scatter plots below.

Round 3 SA

Birdies are orange, light blue is par, dark blue is bogey

Round 4 SA

Birdies are orange, light blue is par, dark blue is bogey

So while our announcers were perplexed by this anomaly, Golf Decoded was not. One of the fundamental realities of the game that Golf Decoded espouses is that angles matter and key slopes and features of the green matter. More than that, they matter so much that they are the core fundamental reality as to why players score the way they do, how the ball gets close to the hole, and why players struggle to repeat good rounds.

So what causes scores and rounds to be low? Why do these key slopes and features cause rounds to be low? What is it about playing from those different angles for the SA and on the correct side of those lines for the BPN that causes a player to play well? Well, that’s what this Substack is all about.

Fundamentally, we have to get to a point where we understand that the way we view and play the game of golf is through a certain lens. Golf Decoded pushes heavily against all of the lenses through which people might view the game. When I first started this and stared at the data threads and the regression analysis, and looked at the strength of the fit of this model (p-value < .0001 — for those that are not mathematically inclined, that is highly statistically significant), I couldn’t help but doubt it for weeks and months on end. Then, as you teach it to others, observe it in real life, apply it to your own game and to high-level competition for five years, you begin to realize that what you once thought was true about the game of golf no longer holds up. You change your entire perspective about what makes certain shots, holes, or courses easy or hard. You manage expectations like never before, and you realize that you can actually adjust on the fly. More importantly, you should adjust on the fly.

If you’re new here or don’t believe any of this, first know this: I was in your shoes once. I tried to fight it every way I could. I would encourage you to engage more deeply, let go of your prior notions of the game of golf, and seek to understand Golf Decoded. I’ll be launching a full education portal here within the next few weeks, and I invite you to explore it further. And if you have questions and really want to learn, just ask.

I can’t wait to continue to share with each of you the wonders of Golf Decoded. It’s a beautifully simple way to play the game of golf, and it’s worth learning.

You’ll never see the game the same again.