The Summer Solstice feels like a contradiction. It shouldn’t be an inflection point, yet it somehow always is. It’s the longest day of the year, but Summer has now just begun? The days get shorter, but also warmer…

As the sunlight turns from an incandescent yellow to golden orange, the late afternoon nines are stamped by long shadows. The race against the sun becomes tighter. The leaves rustle, ever louder, in the wind.

I played in yet another member-guest this past weekend with my Dad. A father-son duo is an excellent way to experience an invitational tournament, if you ever have the chance to do so.

The format we played is, in my opinion, the best one out there:

The format is high-stakes - no team wants to go to dinner Friday night and have to make small talk about how they went 0-2, and are now searching for earlier flights Saturday morning.

Team BTG made a grave error - we played out of our minds on Thursday, qualifying into a flight which we had no chance of winning.

We lost the first match to a birdie on 18., and were sent to play in the consolation bracket…

Now, there are many traits in a golfer which you can see before they even tee it up.

You can evaluate their bag, which clubs they play, how they dress, the amount of lead tape applied… you see the point. If you play enough golf over the course of your life, you can approximate someone’s handicap index within one or two strokes either way upon first glance. It’s true.

As my Dad and I scrambled to make our afternoon tee time, I had no time for any of that. We walked to the tee box with minutes to spare and were “on top of the card”.

By the time I picked up my tee and saw our two opponents, I knew we were probably in for a tough match. The younger guy, Alex, played some old Titleist AP2s and hit the crispest three-quarter 8 iron I’ve ever seen into the second hole. It was a true feel shot. A “9 to 3” chippy shot with a tight draw. Uh oh.

He also had his name stitched onto his golf bag. It’s a practice I’m typically against, unless you can hit it like this guy did.

My favorite aspect of golf is you can’t hide. Good or bad, you can’t hide for 18 holes.

Back to the consolation match…

He continued to hit three quarter flighted irons into every green, and by the fifth hole, I had to learn his story.

After some back and forth, he confided that he had been named the Cincinnati Player of the Year four times. Pretty good.

It’s best to start with a specific observation when trying to learn something new on the golf course. I had seen this guy hit his PW 115 yards, and he hadn’t taken a full swing with an iron yet. I wanted to start there.

I asked him about his gapping philosophy, and received an interesting response.

His college coach had a drill where he’d ask all of his players to hit a 140 yard shot with a pitching wedge, followed by a 130 yard shot, etc all the way down to 100 yards.

Instead of “swinging easier” my competitor simply choked up, and used the GOLF PRIDE letters on his grip to mark down yardage gaps. He covers the “GO” to hit it 134, “GOLF” for 118, etc. It’s an interesting methodology to build a gapping system.

In his words, it allows him to make an aggressive swing without worrying too much about distance and spin control.

A lot of novice amateurs may look at the degree on the bottom of the wedge to determine gapping. It’s one way to do it, but almost all elite golfers understand how to be creative with shotmaking.

I enjoy picking the brain of talented guys on the golf course. I never regret it, and often come away from the interaction with a new “feel” or a little tidbit (see: Golf Pride trick) that I can use in my own game. Highly recommend it.

July and August are tough, no matter where you reside. The days are hot and muggy, and it’s important to keep cool. Here are some some warm warm-weather suggestions from the desk of BTG.

The more I play, the more I find that tempo, grip, posture and ball position have an outsized impact on the quality of shot I am about to hit. It’s why I love seeing Scottie work so hard on his grip.

For my money, Louis has one of the best golf swings of all time. Simple, fluid, and powerful.

It's a swing that makes you wonder how he ever mishits it.

They don’t make golf shoes with character anymore. I love a good pair of old Footjoys with a touch of soul.

If you’re in the market for new clubs, take a look at the independent club fitting directory.

I built it because many newer players get steered toward the major PE-backed players like GolfTec and Club Champion. These factories are designed to extract profit from you, not fit you into the right clubs.

It’s best to find a pure-bred club fitter. A guy who could talk to you for an hour about shaft loading and optimal swing weight. Bonus points if they were an aeronautical engineer in a past life (this is more common than you’d expect).

I’ve curated the directory from the ground up, so you can find fully-vetted shops there.

As you make your evening Summer strolls, take note of the better players you encounter. Ask them a question or two as the sun goes down. Enjoy the walk, but never forget the longing and lifelong pursuit of improvement which golf evokes.