dailygolf strategy guide

Most strokes in dailygolf are lost to three things: the wrong club, a misread wind and a three-putt. This guide covers all three. The numbers come from running the game’s own ball flight on flat ground, so they match what you’ll see on the course.

Know your distances

Every club has a fixed carry: how far a full swing (100% on the meter) flies on a calm day from a clean lie. The white ring on the course shows that spot, so you rarely need to memorize anything. It still helps to know the gaps between clubs. That way you can pick one before you start nudging the ring around.

Look at the last two columns. Greens are soft and grab a spinning ball, so a driver that lands on the green runs another 34 yards and is probably over the back. A 9 iron or a wedge stops where it lands, and a full sand wedge even pulls back a step. When you’re going at a green, take the club whose ring sits on the green. With the long clubs, land the ball short and let it run on.

For distances in between, swing easier. Power scales the carry directly: a 7 iron at 90% flies about 144 yards, between a full 8 and a full 9. The flag on the power meter does this sum for you and marks the power that reaches the pin.

The lie changes the shot

The box under your club tells you what the ball is sitting on and what share of a normal shot you’ll get. Here are the full numbers:

Losing spin matters as much as losing distance. From the fairway, a 7 iron that lands on the green rolls about 2 yards. From the rough it flies 141 yards and rolls 9, because the grass between club and ball takes the spin off. Land it shorter than you would from the fairway.

Bunkers: the sand wedge is the only club that escapes sand at close to full distance. A sand wedge out of a bunker carries about 79 yards. A pitching wedge carries 76, a 7 iron 99. If you’re more than 80 yards out and need the distance, take the longer club and accept the 62%.

Playing the wind

The number in the top right is the wind at the height of the flag. It grows with height, though, and at the top of a full shot it blows about 60% harder than the number says. That’s why high, spinning shots suffer most. Most holes have less than 10 mph of wind. The strongest blow around 18.

Here’s what a steady 10 mph does to a full swing, in yards:

Three things stand out:

• A headwind costs more than a tailwind gives. Into 10 mph, a 7 iron loses 25 yards. With 10 mph behind it, it gains only 13. Into the wind, a spinning ball climbs and stalls. Downwind it flies flatter and comes down sooner than you’d expect.
• Irons suffer more than the driver. The driver loses 11% into the wind, the irons around 15%. Their extra backspin is what makes them balloon.
• Crosswind drift is about a tenth of the carry at 10 mph, and closer to a sixth at 15. Aim that far upwind of where you want to land. The ring leaves the wind out, so this adjustment is all yours.

Into a stiff breeze, try one more club and an easier swing. A 6 iron at 90% carries the same 135 yards into 10 mph as a full 7 iron. It tops out 5 yards lower, though, and drifts less in a crosswind. That makes it the steadier shot when you aren’t sure exactly how hard it’s blowing.

On the green you can forget the wind. A putt rolls along the ground, and the wind doesn’t touch it.

Uphill, downhill and sloping lies

The readout’s “Plays” figure adds the climb to the pin, or takes off the drop. A green 12 yards above you plays 12 yards longer, so pick your club for the “Plays” number, not the straight-line distance. The ▲ or ▼ under the landing ring gives the same height difference for wherever the ring sits.

The slope under your feet matters too. An upslope adds loft, so the ball launches higher and lands softer. A downslope takes loft off, so it flies lower and runs out more after landing.

The ring already handles the ground. It’s worked out on the real terrain from the lie you’re on, uphill or down. It leaves out two things: the wind, and the bounce and roll after the ball lands. It also changes color when the landing spot is trouble: pale yellow for deep rough, gold for sand, blue for water and red for out of bounds.

Keeping it straight

A ball curves when your flick drifts sideways on the way up. Each kind of club forgives a different amount of drift before the ball starts to bend. Wedges and irons allow about 3 degrees, hybrids 2½, woods and the driver only 2. Past that, the long clubs also bend harder, so a small wobble with the driver can turn into a big slice.

• Swing straight up the screen, not toward a target. Aiming is done before the swing, with the arrows or a tap.
• Don’t pull past 100%. An overswing hooks, cuts or slices at random, the long clubs worst of all, and it usually comes up short. At 112%, the carry ends up anywhere from about 13% short to 2% long. If you need more distance, take more club.
• On a narrow fairway, think about the hybrid off the tee. It gives up 45 yards to the driver but forgives more drift and bends less, and a shorter shot strays less far offline anyway. That’s usually a good trade with water or out of bounds down the side.

Putting

The putter is the one club where you set the line yourself. The dashed line is perfectly straight, and the green isn’t, so:

1. Read the arrows. They drift downhill. Fast, warm-colored arrows mean a steep slope, and slow, pale ones mean nearly flat.
2. Aim above the hole. Turn the line toward the high side, the way the arrows come from. The farther the putt and the steeper the slope, the more you need.
3. Trust the flag on the meter for pace. The putter is sized for every putt, so the flag marks the stroke that reaches the cup, uphill or down. Stopping right on the flag is the target. A downhill putt hit a little hard can run well past.

From the fringe, or from a few feet of light rough, putting is usually safer than chipping. The game sizes the putt for the thicker grass in between, and a putt can’t fly over the green.

Playing each hole

The par 3 (140 to 212 yards)

One shot to the green. Pick the club whose ring lands on the green, not the one that reaches the flag. If there’s water short, err long. If the green falls away at the back, err short. A two-putt par is a good score here.

The par 4 (350 to 455 yards)

Usually a tee shot and an iron. The tee shot only has to leave you a comfortable second, so on a dogleg don’t blast the driver through the corner when a 3 wood finishes on the fairway. Many holes offer a shorter line past trouble and a longer, safer one. Check the minimap before you choose.

The par 5 (490 to 585 yards)

A good drive rolls out to about 267 yards and a 3 wood to about 239, about 506 between them. So the shortest par 5s can be reached in two, especially downwind. On the longer ones, play the second shot to a full-wedge distance (90 to 120 yards). A full wedge off the fairway, which spins and stops, is easier than an awkward 50-yard pitch.

When to use the mulligan

You get one per course, so save it for the shot that hurts most. A ball in the water or out of bounds is the best use, because the mulligan wipes out the penalty along with the shot. You save a stroke outright and get to play from a better spot. On a shot that only finds the rough, all you gain is another try from the same place. It has to be used before your next swing. If you hit again first, it’s too late for that shot.