Course Management

[fixyurdivot]

How would you describe your playing/course management style?  Much as I try, I often let the not so good odds pull me into bad decisions.

[Kenny B]

It really depends on what course I'm playing and how I feel.  At my course I know what I can do and where the bad places are, so I tend to play a little aggressive when I'm feeling good.  If I start to lose confidence in my game, I will play a little conservative, and I usually do worse.  So why do I do that?  IDK, just poor decisions.  I find myself saying, "Be aggressive," then I forget by the next hole!!  

When I play a course that I don't know very well, I tend to play conservative.  That may be a reason that I play poorly away from home.  I just don't know when to be aggressive and when to play safe.

[DaveP043]

I feel like I try to be as aggressive as my particular talents (or lack of talent) allow me to be.  I try to be aware of my probable dispersion, and select clubs and aiming points so that I get as close as possible to the green without taking on too much risk of really bad results.  For the most part, that means I'm moderately aggressive off the tee, hitting driver unless there's a real specific reason to play shorter.  But I aim for the middle of most greens unless I'm within wedge range.  

[TR1PTIK]

More often than not it's just going to depend on how I'm playing that particular day. If ball striking is good, I'll play more aggressively, but if it's off then I'll opt for a safer bet. Certain high-risk shots I will try to avoid at all costs if possible.

[MaxEntropy]

I was tempted to put very aggressive, but I have gotten a little better about recognizing my lack of talent in certain situations. I feel like this is one of my biggest faults - I try to pull off the miracle shot that has a very low probability for success given my ability (I'm mostly thinking of recovery shots, in this case).

[PlaidJacket]

I selected very conservative but I probably lean more to somewhat. It took me a lot of years to learn to take my lumps and play for a bogie or maybe... a working man's par sometimes when faced with a "hero" shot. I'm not what some might call a shot-maker. Sure, I can move the ball around a bit when needed but it's really not that reliable most of the time. As most of you know I enjoy a friendly wager when I play. One or two lost strokes can many times mean a lost match/bet. Being fairly conservative has won many a round for me. I've also lost quite few to the Hero I'm playing with. Lucky bastard. 

[CarlH]

I had to go with 50/50 because it's based more on how I'm playing any given day.  Although, in retrospect, I'm likely to be more aggressive than that.

[MDGolfHacker]

As others have said, if I'm playing well I might lean towards the more aggressive route, but if my play has been weak, I'll tend to go more of the conservative route...  I do need to practice more course management though instead of walk up to the ball, grabbing the longest club and hitting the ball  down the fairway/green.

 

MDGolfHacker

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[THEZIPR23]

Aggressive off the tee, conservative into the greens. Which coincides with the strengths of my game. One of the biggest improvements in my course management has been being aggressive when playing conservatively. Meaning pick the conservative shot and play aggressively to that. In the past I would get lax in my approach to this. 

[revkev]

I don’t have much game to manage any more :)

I’m very accurate with driver so I’m not afraid to go for it there. I will try to get to as close to the green as possible but I make most of my birdies from 100-140 - wedge to 8 iron - my proximity to the hole with those 3 clubs is 21 feet.


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[Rchang]

Appropriate aggressive off tee as am good with driver. Too aggressive when I’m in the trees

[GregB135]

At my home course I let the flow of the round dictate how aggressive I play.
At new courses or for competitive rounds I look at a satellite map of the course and build a strategy card. I look at the distances and landing areas and decide on a tee club and aim point for each hole. That takes a lot of in-round guess work out of it and I know I won’t find trouble with a decent swing.


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[pulledabill]

Situational for me and dependent on how well Im ball striking. I like strategy which for me means leaving as specific yardage as possible. Been playing wirh a coworker as of late and he commented on how well I manage the course we had been playing. Made me feel 

[chisag]

... Here are 2 of my favorite quotes and both had an influence on my playing style. 

... Davis Love II was an excellent teacher and said  "Never follow a bad shot with a great shot. Follow a bad shot with a good shot". Rarely are any of us in a position to recover from a bad shot with a great shot. Get the ball back in play and if that means hitting backwards and bringing bogie into play, that is always better than a double or worse. 

... Annika Sorenstam "I only hit a shot if I have an 80% of hitting it successfully." I watched her in a tournament hit behind a tree in light rough and she had to play a 30 yd cut around it to get it on the green. A shot a Pro can pull off, especially a Pro of her ability. She was tied and her opponent was in the fairway with a short iron approach. But after looking at her shot Annika changed clubs and punched back into the fairway. I couldn't believe it and thought she gave away the tournament. Annika hit her wedge a few feet below the hole and her opponent hit hers about 6 feet above the hole. Very fast downhill putt and she ran it past Annika's ball and missed the comeback putt. Annika made hers and won after punching out when she had a really good chance of pulling off the fade around the tree. In her interview she said the above quote and explained that if she missed that shot and ended up in the rough she would definitely bring bogie into play but punching into the fairway she had a chance to save par. 

... So if one of the best all time ball strikers won't try a shot without an 80% chance of success, why I am trying to pull off shots I have a 20% chance of making? It changed the way I played and helped continue lowering my index on my journey to scratch, which was my goal. 

[perseveringgolfer]

"Never follow a bad shot with another bad shot" Faldo, Nicklaus Trevino Watson etc etc

Best course advice I've heard and I repeat it to any high cappers trying the hero shot around the trees.

 

If it's in my arsenal, I go for it! what is there to lose, we dont play for a living!

[DaveP043]

1 minute ago, perseveringgolfer said:

"Never follow a bad shot with another bad shot" Faldo, Nicklaus Trevino Watson etc etc

Best course advice I've heard and I repeat it to any high cappers trying the hero shot around the trees.

If it's in my arsenal, I go for it! what is there to lose, we dont play for a living!

I actually prefer the way @chisag says it when he quotes Davis Love.  It it REQUIRES a great shot to recover, that means the risk of failure, the chances of NOT hitting a great shot are pretty high.  

 

As for the "go for it" idea, I'm always playing for a buck or two with my buddies, and I HATE to lose that dollar.  Match play situations change my decisions at times, but I generally try to choose a shot with something like a 70% chance of a reasonable result.  I'm not as good as Annika, 80% is too high a standard.

[perseveringgolfer]

7 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

 It it REQUIRES a great shot to recover, that means the risk of failure, the chances of NOT hitting a great shot are pretty high.  

..I've only had a small percentage of great shots from bad shots, but they were so good I remember them in detail, but I grew up watching Seve, say no more! 

Yes, the chances of not hitting a great shot are high, very high, but fun when it works.

 

As a teen I grew up playing 'cross country golf' (anyone else do that?) brings out creativity and gallons of fun.

[chisag]

1 minute ago, perseveringgolfer said:

..I've only had a small percentage of great shots from bad shots, but they were so good I remember them in detail, but I grew up watching Seve, say no more! 

Yes, the chances of not hitting a great shot are high, very high, but fun when it works.

 

... Obviously it depends on why you are playing. If I have 255 to a green on a par 5 with the fairway sloping left, and there is thick rough left of the green, I can run the risk of hitting into the rough. But if there is water left, I am not gonna throw away 2 strokes and a ball trying to be Tin Cup. Yes, the great shot is very rewarding if I can pull it off, but derailing my round when a lay up can still result in a birdie is much more preferable. I think it always depends on the risk reward and whether you are playing a tourney, match, friendly wager, posting a score or playing a practice round. 

[perseveringgolfer]

1 minute ago, chisag said:

... Obviously it depends on why you are playing. If I have 255 to a green on a par 5 with the fairway sloping left, and there is thick rough left of the green, I can run the risk of hitting into the rough. But if there is water left, I am not gonna throw away 2 strokes and a ball trying to be Tin Cup. Yes, the great shot is very rewarding if I can pull it off, but derailing my round when a lay up can still result in a birdie is much more preferable. I think it always depends on the risk reward and whether you are playing a tourney, match, friendly wager, posting a score or playing a practice round. 

for fun and the challenge.........

Caveat is though if I am on a PB round and in a comp I will probably lay up and not tackle hero shots. Any other time wheres the fun and challenge in laying up. "Who dares wins"

[Alf. S]

Hi I'm Alf and I'm bad at course management, I hope by sharing this maybe I will realize this on the course and back off.

We have 2 par 5s at my club  that I can reach on a "good" day in 2. My destructive shot is a slicing 3 wood which is maybe 50% of the times I hit the club. I can carry my 3 wood 210 yds and I go for it every time. Absolute testosterone driven nonsense.

I find our 17th a bit tight and can end up blocked in the trees on the right for my approach and in my head I'm Seve. Instead of chipping out I will try a shot I have never practised or played. Instead of putting for par I end up with a double. This is from Tuesday

I consider myself level headed and very objective but on a golf course this seems to go out the window.