December 2025 Birdie's Golf Lounge Newsletter

December's Challenge

Last month was the Long Drive challenge, and woah were there some seriously long drives. Coming in at first place with a drive of 368 yards and the winner of the FREE month membership is Jack from St. George, Utah. Congratulations Jack!

The parties not over! December is the Par 5 Challenge at the Kapalua Plantation Course. We're so sad to not see this beautiful course on the PGA Roster next year, but luckily, here we still get to play it.

Event Details

• Availability: Runs the entire month of December

• Locations: All Birdie’s Golf Lounge locations are participating

• Guests: Open to registered players only (no guest entries)

Simulator Settings

The challenge is designed to put your long clubs to the test.

• Fairway Hardness: Hard

• Green Hardness: Soft

• Elevation: 0ft

How to Win

At the end of December, the player with the lowest score takes home the prize: a FREE Birdie’s membership for one month.

In the event of a tie, winners will be decided by a scorecard playoff and if still tied, a raffle of the tied players.

Join The Event

Stop by your Lounge and take your shot. There's no fee or requirements to enter. When you arrive, choose the "Events" option and find the "December Par 5 Challenge" event and tee off.

Don't tell anyone but this challenge has a little hidden perk. YOU ARE ALLOWED ONE MULLIGAN FOR THE ROUND. So if you have a misread or you just want a shot back, go ahead, we'll give you this one.

Good Luck!

New Location Coming Soon

We're so excited to welcome to the Birdie's Golf Lounge Family one new Birdie's locations.

Logan Utah

Nestled in beautiful Cache Valley, Logan sits at the base of the Bear River Mountains and has become a beloved golf hub in northern Utah. With the highly rated Logan River Golf Course and Birch Creek just minutes away, the area has a strong year-round golf culture supported by Utah State University players, local leagues, and a passionate community. We’re excited to see the level of talent and enthusiasm that will come out of Logan.

How The Pros Hit Their Drivers

When you hit driver, the ball is always doing some mix of launching and spinning. How those two factors blend creates four distinct ball flights. Each one has a feel, a shape and a Tour player who’s famous for it.

What’s fascinating is that two players can produce the exact same ball speed and get totally different results. Launch and spin determine everything from carry distance to curvature to how the ball behaves in the wind. One player might hit a towering, floating shot that carries forever, while another with identical speed, sends out a piercing drive. Understanding these windows explains why some flights are long, some are straight, some are stable and some are versatile, even when the raw speed numbers match.

And here’s the part that surprises most golfers: one of these driver windows can consistently create eight to ten more yards of distance even when the ball speed is identical. Nothing else changes, same clubhead speed, same contact quality, same ball, yet this specific launch and spin combo unlocks noticeably more carry and total distance. We’ll get into which one that is once we break down all four.

1. High Spin, Low Launch

Name: Floaters
Player example: Scottie Scheffler

Floaters start out low, then climb because of the added spin. They hold their line, stay in the air longer than you’d expect and land softer than most players’ stock drives. Scottie Scheffler is a great example. His driver often launches modestly, rises smoothly and never really balloons.

2. Low Spin, High Launch

Name: Slow Riser
Player example: Corey Conners

The Slow Riser looks effortless. The ball launches high with very little spin, stays stable and just keeps tracking. Corey Conners is known for this flight. A high launch window with clean spin numbers that gives him consistent carry.

3. Low Spin, Low Launch

Name: The Bullet
Player examples: Joaquín Niemann and Daniel Berger

The Bullet is the piercing, wind-cheating tee shot. It flies flat, spins barely at all and runs forever when it hits the fairway. Niemann and Berger are classic Bullet guys, sending out drives that look like they’ve been laser-guided.

4. High Spin, High Launch

Name: The Knuckle Bomb
Player example: Rory McIlroy & Bryson DeChambeau

This is where the longest hitters in the world tend to live. The ball launches high, spins enough to stay floating and carries for miles. Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau are the face of the Knuckle Bomb. Their drives seem to rise keep stretching downrange long after other players’ shots have started falling. They place the ball further up in their stance and use the natural flow of the club to hit up on the ball, that causes the ball to reduce it's spin, but also since the club face is pointed up, increases the launch angle. The combination of those two creates a high launched ball that reduces spin which reduces the drag that a ball experiences through the air.

When you see these four windows side by side, it becomes obvious why the best players in the world obsess over launch and spin. Ball speed is only part of the story. The real magic comes from pairing the right strike with the right window for your swing. Some players lean on control, some on stability, some on wind-cheating precision, and a select few unlock the rare blend of height and optimized spin that produces effortless distance. Understanding which window you naturally create, and which one you can move toward is one of the simplest ways to make meaningful gains off the tee.