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GM! Who says you need a 3-iron when you can 7-wood like Scheffler?

📋 Today’s Menu

1. 📰 Curated News — Top headlines since last Thursday

2. 🎯 Weekly Drill — 7-Wood Flight School: the Launch Ladder

3. 🛠️ Gear Gem — Oversize Putter Grips to crush the yips

4. 📏 Rule Explainer — Divot Dilemma: punching out of sand-filled craters

5. 🎁 Bonus — Meme Break to end on a laugh + Motivation of the Day

📰 Curated News - with Rookie-Friendly Context

🎯 Your Weekly Drill - “7-Wood Flight School”

Scottie Scheffler just ditched his 3-iron for a 7-wood and walked off with the PGA Championship trophy. Last month I borrowed a buddy’s 7-wood, and my long-par-3 anxiety vanished faster than a lost ProV1.

Here’s the drill that made it stick:

Setup

1. Tee it low: Half the ball above the clubface.

2. Ball forward: Inside your lead heel (same as driver).

3. Shoulder tilt: Feel trail shoulder a touch lower—“backpack strap” cue from Week 2.

The “Launch Ladder”

Why it works: the ladder forces you to feel launch from smooth tempo, not brute force. If a Tour winner trusts it on major Sundays, it’ll handle your Saturday scrambles.

Rookie checkpoint: Ball keeps ballooning? Your tee is too high. Ball keeps scuttling? Too far back in stance. Fix those two, graduate the ladder, and enjoy new par-3 swagger.

⛳️… Fore-get what you know about ads - this one won’t cost you strokes (or money)! Check it out below:

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…And now, back to your regularly scheduled shanks—oops, swings! Let’s get you back on the fairway before the golf gods notice we took a break for ads. 😉

🛠️ Gear Gem — Oversize Putter Grips (aka “Shake-Stop Handles”)

I used to tremble over three-footers like they were wire-walks above lava. A teaching pro slid on a 17-inch oversize grip and said, “Let the big rubber do the damping.”

Result: smoother stroke by lunch, 39 putts down to 31 by dinner.

Quick scoop: tour vans at Quail Hollow logged a 60 % jump in jumbo-grip installs last week.

Try-before-you-buy tip: most shops have demo putters with fat grips. Roll ten balls from six feet; count makes. If the number spikes, you know the drill—$29 beats the yips doctor.

📏 Rule Explainer — Ball in Divot (New Relief? Not Yet.)

Scenario: You stripe a drive down the fairway (golf slang for hitting your tee shot perfectly—long, straight, and right down the middle of the fairway)…

and it nestles into a sand-filled divot crater (the small hole left in the fairway after another player’s shot took out a chunk of turf and the grounds crew (or the player) refilled it with sand/seed mix. Your ball is now sitting in that sandy depression instead of on clean grass).

Current Rule: Play it as it lies. No free drop.

(Rumour mill says the USGA is considering free relief in 2026 - stay tuned…)

Pro Rookie Rounds workaround if you find yourself in this situation:

• Take one extra club: choose a club with less loft / more distance than normal for the yardage (e.g., use a 7-iron instead of your usual 8-iron).

• Grip lower: choke down an inch or two on the handle to gain control and shorten the swing.

• Hit a punch: make a shorter, quieter swing that keeps the follow-through low, producing a low-flying “punch” shot that pops out of the divot and runs forward.

Motivation of the Day 🙌

“Every pro was once an amateur who refused to give up.” Keep grinding, keep smiling, and watch those strokes disappear. 🏌️‍♂️💪

Gil L.

Founder, Rookie ⛳ Rounds

P.S. Want insider mental-game hacks from golf legends?

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