Did you know that Daddy-O's Pub has Golden Tee 2012?  Don't get caught out in the hot Texas sun playing a round of golf.  Come to Daddy-O's Pub with friends to play Golden Tee!  While you're playing order a handmade pizza or juicy burger from our Food Menu. Since we're on the subject of Golden Tee, Daddy-O's Pub has some tips to help you with your game!

Players that have a handicap of +22 or worse should use the Hawk Clubs and Hurdle Balls in Golden Tee. They are best for distance, control, and consistency. With certain courses, you may want to use the Flares. To get the most speed on the trackball, you must run your hand smoothly across the top of the ball. Also, you must run your hand straight across the ball, instead of down into the ball. The best way to learn this is to watch some of the more seasoned players.

Accuracy can be achieved by starting with your hand on the console. Your accuracy on the shot is determined by the pullback angle. To do this, you pull back where you want the ball to go then shoot forward. Remember, you don't have to pull back with every shot. You can just push the ball forward to your target. Always test the accuracy of the trackball before you start your play. On the first tee, pull up the Options, get into Equipment Setup, go into the Buy Balls.  Position the cursor in the center, dead gap b between the first and second panes surrounding the golf ball details. If you’re hovering over one of the panes, you’ll see it highlighted, but when you move the cursor to the line in between the panes, nothing should be highlighted.  Next, move your cursor to the top of the dead area, and slowly pull the trackball back.  If the cursor tracks off to the right or the left, you’ll know the trackball has a pull. You can do the same thing from the bottom, rolling the ball forward slowly, and you can see the pull in the opposite direction going forward.

Understand, the game only reads your initial pullback of the trackball, and not any adjustments you try to make after it. This is unless you reset your approach.  If your pullback is wrong, hit the spin button to reset to reset your approach.  You can take advantage of this for “spinny” shots also – never do a spinny too much to the side, as this can cause the club to drop before you push forward.  Since the game already knows your angle, spin your ball more towards B. A "spinny shot is where you keep the ball rolling by hitting the ball while it is still moving. Hitting one of these shots out to 1 really doesn't differ than if the trackball were still.  Because of the anatomy of the trackball, you can see a difference in distance and accuracy on shots out to 3. (Caution: Hitting non-spinny shots out to 3.)

Looking at the length of the curved shot, you must keep in mind that for any shot that is cut back and hit forward more than 50% towards the center, the distance will drop. For the shots cut back more that 50% towards A/C and 1/3 will add distance added. Straight 180 shots (B2, A3, C1) will have the best straight distance and every degree off this line will decrease distance. There are angles beyond A, C, 1, and 3 that are called "overcuts".  This will generate more distance.  Be sure to cut the ball as much to the side to maximize distance.  Always, practice a slower pullback to get more accurate shots.

Let's take a look at driving.  In Golden Tee, a high tee goes one bigger club farther and one shorter club higher.  And, a low tee goes one shorter club farther and one bigger club lower. Backspin and roll are only 5-10% with a high tee. Roll and Backspin are 20-25% amplified with a low tee. You can maximize your distance off the tee with A1 and C3 drives with roll if there’s not a tailwind.  During a tailwind, use a high tee to let the wind carry the ball for huge distance. A B2 shot with a high tee are very long with a tail winds. You can achieve 10-15% more distance by pulling back for a straight shot than if you just shoot the ball forward to 2 with the same velocity. You can skip the ball off the water with the greatest success by using a low-lofted club with an extreme cut angle. Hit it hard with backspin or roll. It also helps if you have a lot of wind, like headwinds or winds going against your angled shot can kill a skip.

Next is the approach. Use a Golden Tee to tee the ball higher for more distance or lower for less distance if you find yourself in-between clubs on a short par 3. "Schwerve" approach shots (B1 or B3 kinds of shots) take off a bit of distance if you need.  Low-lofted clubs will return past center.   Mediums will return to center. High-lofted clubs will return short of center. Whichever club you use, adjust your pullback accordingly. Try to line yourself up with a straight headwind or tailwind for the approach shot by driving the ball to the "best" location. You can the longer club and a 2/3 pullback and thumbs shot as another way to "fill the gap", if you are between clubs. You must respect elevation changes by clubbing up or down and compensating less for winds on uphill shots and more with downhill shots. Use a “chush” shot by placing your thumbs on the ball and flicking the ball forward at the slowest possible speed.  You must decide which club to use by using the “5x” rule. This rule is to your distance and multiply by 5 to determine the club to use. For example, 9-irons (a 100-yard club) work great from 20 yards as a baseline, and then drop 1 or 2 clubs below the 5x rule as distance increases further from this baseline.

Now let's talk about Backspins and rolls. Try not to overuse backspin. The only real scenario where you should use the backspin is if there is a down slope and a tailwind when the pin is in the back of the green. Don't use a roll if you have a wedge into a green that has an up slope and headwind. This will cause an adverse affect on the ball and cause it to backspin. Backspins add a bit of height to your shot and a roll will reduce the height of the shot. A backspin or a roll could be the difference between safeties and hazards in some cases.  Use backspin on A1 and C3 drives to help the ball cut back further in the direction you desire.

Just like in real golf, roughs can be somewhat frustrating in Golden Tee. One thing you've got to remember is that lies such as heavy rough and sand aren’t too tough to get out of... It's the lies such as mud and snow that really cut your height and distance.  This is quite apparent when you have a short wedge shot, don't get too cute with a short pullback.  It will take more effort to get the ball up and out of these lies.  Also, do not play cut shots to get out of rough lies. You’ll only achieve 70-80% of the distance and curve you’d see from a fairway lie.  If you are attempting to reach the green and have enough club, you can club up 2-3 times and play the cut shot with more accurate distance.

Rain and Wind play a factor in Golden Tee. Rain will not affect your distance in the air. But when the ball lands, there is not much of a roll afterwards. You will have to get the ball to carry close to the flag.  In this conditions, you can use backspin or roll to compensate for only 5-10 yards either way. With wind, remember that an 11 mph wind blows a shot from a PW one full rotation and for a LW, it's 7 mph. Cross-winds hurts distance too, so club up once for a heavy cross-winds.

Chip shots can be a useful too for Golden Tee. The best players can hole out chips at a high rate, so practice using chip shots. If you can get chip shots down, you can be more aggressive attacking tough pins. Pick just enough club to carry the green, pull back to your ankles or knees in a direction that accounts a bit for the slope of the green, push forward softly but smoothly in the same direction, and start rolling them in. Also, try rotating left once and playing a 3/4 A2-type shot with a backspin, if you are faced with a short chip shot from a rough lie with a narrow green sloping down towards the water. This skill may take some practice to get the distance. This kind of shot will help you hold the green, where a straight chip shot would dribble the ball down to the water.

Last but not least, we need to discuss putting. You can prevent rollovers by pulling back to C (or A) and hitting the ball forward smoothly. You probably want to do this on every putt of down 5 or more.  It can also reduce the change for a missed putt rolling into the water, if you miss on the high side of the hole. FYI, there is a cutoff around 65 feet where longer putts have a "turbo" boost.  Having the boost is important, you'll play less break on the longer putts that the ones in "normal" range. Let's make an example scenario, a 70-foot putt with a left 5 break should be played like a left 2 break with "turbo" boost. You can play uphill putts as if there were more break that a level putt and downhill putts like there were less break. "Lag Putts" are nothing to be afraid of when on an extreme downhill putt where missing could land your ball into the water.  It would be better to tap the ball forward and accept a 2-putt that getting too aggressive and missing (Costing you at least 2 strokes). Rotate once to the right and once to the left on longer putts. This becomes more necessary when putting uphill.  "Straight" uphill putts might have a bit of a break to it after looking at the putt from different angles.

We hope that you found these Golden Tee hints and tips helpful.  The best times to play for "Prize Play" are from 2PM - 5PM (Central) Daily and on Fridays after 5PM (CT).  The worst time to play are 11PM - 2PM (CT), since this is when the Pros are out playing in tournaments. Whether you are an Pro or Novice Golden Tee Player, Daddy-O's Pub is one of the Best Places to Play Golden Tee in Lewisville. Please let us know what you think about our blog and share it with your friends. Let's Make Daddy-O's Pub an Great Bar for Golden Tee, Drink Specials, Singles, and FUN in Dallas / Fort Worth!

Make sure to join us tonight for Thirsty Thursday for Service Industry Night (S.I.N) with DJ CLO. Regardless whether or not you are in "the industry" come out and party with your favorite wait person or bartender!