The shots between you and your handicap

By nature, we are leery of pounding our chest. However, in a crowded instruction world with gurus and products and quick fixes for a game that takes a lifetime to master, there’s no one better at turning complex ideas into something you can use than Golf Digest’s Luke Kerr-Dineen.  

Luke (or as we call him in the office, the guy with the funny voice who looks like Sam Altman) has the gift of translation. He spends his days talking to the world’s best players and their instructors to find out what keeps them employed, taking in all the launch data and biomechanics and vocabulary that make our eyes glaze over. Luke strips away the jargon and finds the truth, then finds out how to share that with the rest of us. The result is his “Game Plan” series, and in his latest video he shares the nine shots we all need to master.  

Speaking personally, golf instruction can feel overwhelming, because there are seemingly conflicting swing thoughts or drills and always another person who says he or she has the answer to something you didn’t even know was a question. But as most of America heads into winter, these lessons can hold the key to a better 2027.

Data shows these 9 shots are standing between you and a lower handicap

If you want to become a better golfer, you need to know how to hit these shots

By Luke Kerr-Dineen

What You Need to Know

Alex Myers

Tiger Woods was spotted wearing a different shade of college red. And you can expect to see a lot more of it from the 15-time major champ now that his son, Charlie, officially has committed to play golf at Florida State starting next year. Tiger was on hand at Charlie's high school Friday for a signing ceremony and was decked out in garnet and gold instead of his usual Stanford red. Charlie, currently No. 133 in the AJGA rankings, will graduate from the Benjamin School in the spring.

Ryan Herrington

We can all agree Thursday was a pretty busy news day for golf. LIV liquidates. Rory gets dinged with a two-stroke penalty for a rules gaffe. Colonial sounds like it’s out as a PGA Tour venue. Lost then among the headlines is the fact the PGA of America held elections for its new officers at its annual meeting in Las Vegas. While it might not feel all that important, don’t forget the last election elevated Don Rea Jr. to the office of president, and, well, that didn’t exactly turn out for the better.

Suffice to say, PGA of America officials are far more optimistic about Nathan Charnes being officially selected as the association’s 45th president. The general manager at WingHaven Country Club in O’Fallon, Mo., had been serving as acting president since May, when Rea was suspended in the wake of his comments/handling of the rowdy crowds at the 2025 Ryder Cup. Charnes will now serve a two-year term, representing the 30,000 PGA of America members.

The next people in line for the presidency also were elected, with Eric Eshleman, director of golf at C.C. of Birmingham (Ala.), picked as vice president and Jared Barnes, head professional at Cedar Ridge Golf Course in Cedar City, Utah, as secretary. Traditionally, those two posts move up the leadership chain. The PGA of America also filled vacancies on its Board of Directors.

Christopher Powers

And the filthiest shot of 2026 award goes to ... South Africa's Jayden Schaper, who quite literally shaped this one to perfection. But we're not talking about a standard punch-cut from the woods or a high-draw to a back-left pin. No, at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship on Thursday, Schaper opened up a 7-iron for a 68-yard bunker shot into the first green and hit a shot that deserves an NSFW label. "It's genius. It's absolute GENIUS." Yup, we couldn't have said it any better ourselves. The type of shot you should not try at home. Then again, Schaper clearly has tried this at home. A lot. 

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