Happy Sunday, everyone.
I have some big news! My first book The Game Within The Game is out and now available in eBook format.
You can get it on Amazon HERE.
The book brings my top Substack posts together into one neatly formatted, highly organized volume of 169 pages. My goal is for this to serve as your ultimate strategy/course-management resource that you can refer back to at any stage of your never-ending golf journey.
If you’re a premium subscriber, you can get it for free HERE.
If you’re interested in purchasing a physical copy, please enter your email below so I can get an accurate print count. If I get enough sign-ups I will produce a physical copy.
Okay that’s enough about me. Let’s get into today’s bag.
Today’s quote:
“Golf is a non-violent game played violently from within.”
— Bob Toski
Key Positions
There are dozens of positions in the golf swing, and golfers spend a lifetime chasing each of them to perfection. But what if focusing on just a few key checkpoints is all it takes to play high-level golf?
Take a look below at Eduardo Matarazzo from the Ole Miss golf team.
The first photo is at the top of his backswing. Looks pretty textbook.
Now take a look at the second photo as he is coming into impact. Textbook.
Now watch his full swing:
I share this to remind you not to obsess over every single position in your swing.
The golf swing is one motion. Not dozens of separate mini ones. There can be wild variation in that motion so long as you return to a semi-consistent impact position.
So don’t obsess over the technical imperfections of your swing. You only need to hit a few key positions consistently in order to play good golf.
Bob Toski Tips
Legendary golf coach Bob Toski turned 100 years old last Friday. Golf.com re-released a piece from their 2013 issue where Alan Bastable sat down with Toski to pick his brain about the modern game.
During their interview, Tosksi was asked a number of different questions, which you can read here.
Two of the questions/answers stood out to me as particularly insightful, so figured I’d share them with you here.
What’s the biggest fix needed in golf instruction today?
You can’t teach golf the way they’re teaching it these days. Everybody says that the body controls the swing. The body doesn’t even touch the club — how can it control the swing? The swing starts in the hands. The minute you hold a club in your hand, you feel like you have control of something.
So control and precision have taken a backseat to the power game?
Exactly. Today’s players don’t know where they’re aiming and swinging. They’re swinging so fast that they can’t square the clubface. They are one-dimensional: Bomb it, find it, hit a wedge, make the putt. Teaching players to become three-dimensional is a lost art. Players can’t curve the ball anymore. They aren’t shot makers.
It’s never a bad idea to listen to golf instruction from someone who's been teaching the game at a high level for 70 years.
Winning Putters
Putters are a deeply personal piece of equipment for every golfer. But that doesn’t mean it hurts to know what’s working for everybody else.
Golf.com released a piece last week on the winningest putters of the 2026 season thus far.
Here’s what you should know:
35 of the 38 winners used a mallet, and of those 35 mallet users, 7 of them used the Spider Tour X putter.
I don’t talk about equipment much in this newsletter, but my only goal is to help you play better golf. So if 7 of the 38 winners are using the same putter model, that’s not something to ignore.
That being said, if you’re in the market for a new putter or looking to make the switch from blade to mallet (I haven’t caved yet), it might be worth giving the Spider Tour X a look.
That’s it for today. Hope you all have a great week and get out and play!
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please don’t hesitate to email me at tourswingstommy@gmail.com. I read everything.
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If you haven’t read them yet, check out some of the most popular Scoring Letter posts below:
Any chance we could get a special on some match play strategy? Would love to hear your takes there
I imagine most pros are using the mallet so of course they’ll be more winners. Right?