Course Management for hackers

[sparnar]

hi all

i keep reading about course management, and would like to learn more.

 

i'm currently a 29 handicap, and i feel that i should easily be much closer to a 20, or 24 at the very least.

 

i would like to hear your thoughts on how courses are designed to 'trick' players into attempting shots they perhaps shouldn't, and some other tips to help as high handicappers shave some shots.

 

i'm thinking along the lines of the following:

 

1. close to the green, putt if you can. otherwise chip. pitch is the last option.

2. maybe learn to putt with hybrid from off the green

 

little things like that, that in your opinion, might help myself, and other high-handicappers get around in a few shots less. i know there are a whole bunch of guys that play to single digits, if you could think back to that time where you were shooting some high scores, and tell us how you managed to play smarter golf.

 

thanks!

[Richie3Jack]

Stop using your fairway woods so much. I see this all of the time. High handicapper hits a poor tee shot and they are in the rough with a very tough lie and they pull out 3-wood and problems just compound for them.

 

Essentially, you want to have a steady advancement of the ball.

 

For instance, let's say you are 190 yards away and have a tough lie and water right, pull out something you can safely hit 100 yards or so and put it in the fairway. Then hit another 90 yard shot and you'll be in better position than if you tried the miracle shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3JACK

[Matt Saternus]

Stop using your fairway woods so much. I see this all of the time. High handicapper hits a poor tee shot and they are in the rough with a very tough lie and they pull out 3-wood and problems just compound for them.

 

Essentially, you want to have a steady advancement of the ball.

 

For instance, let's say you are 190 yards away and have a tough lie and water right, pull out something you can safely hit 100 yards or so and put it in the fairway. Then hit another 90 yard shot and you'll be in better position than if you tried the miracle shot.

 

3JACK

 

I teach this ALL THE TIME....and no one listens. I did it with my dad the other day. 200 yards out, which would be a MIRACLE 4I for him...he pulls 4I and shoots it out right. I said, "Look, you know you're not getting there in 1, so why not hit 2 easy shots instead of a low percentage shot and then a crazy recovery shot?" He tried it on that hole, it worked...then right back to the 4I. Can't help those that don't want to be helped.

[BK in TEXAS]

To expand on the good advice above.....I'd say to choose your best club......and use it as much as possible. "Best" meaning you hit it the straightest and most consistent and are the most confident with. Even if it's an 8 iron that "only" goes 140 yards. As your confidence in that club (and confidence in your swing) grows, it will be easier to apply it to other, longer clubs.

 

There aren't a lot of par 4's you can't reach in 3 going 140-140-140. On the green putting for par is not a bad deal for a LOT of golfers.

 

I know it's an ego thing, but not using longer clubs doesn't mean you're abandoning them....it just means you're smart enough to grow into them.....using them when you can.....with confidence. FWIW......where I'm at in my game....I won't hit longer than a 25Ëš hybrid off the deck. I carry a 4 wood but it's solely used off the tee for long par 3's or laying up to a full wedge.

[Richie3Jack]

I teach this ALL THE TIME....and no one listens. I did it with my dad the other day. 200 yards out, which would be a MIRACLE 4I for him...he pulls 4I and shoots it out right. I said, "Look, you know you're not getting there in 1, so why not hit 2 easy shots instead of a low percentage shot and then a crazy recovery shot?" He tried it on that hole, it worked...then right back to the 4I. Can't help those that don't want to be helped.

 

To me, it's not so much about getting there from that distance. Even if you don't, but are 20 yards from the pin and have a decent shot at it, it's likely going to be better than having another 90 yard shot into the green.

 

But, their odds of hitting another terrible shot and leaving themselves with another difficult shot are much higher and that's when real disaster strikes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3JACK

[RoverRick]

Take your driver, fairway woods, 3 hybrid, 5 and 6 irons, 60 and greater degree out of the bag for a round or two. This should leave you with your 4 hybrid, 7-pw, gw, sw and putter. Why? Because you will have to develop your course management on your own, and with clubs that you generally hit well. If you hit the 5 and 6 iron, go ahead and carry them but they are to be used sparingly.

 

I'll get back to your clubs in a minute but first I want to talk about swing and tempo. Go to the range and tee up 3 balls, then grab an 8 iron. Pick a target at the appropriate range and hit those three balls as close to that target as you can. That third swing is the tempo that you want to use ON ALL YOUR SWINGS. (Think of Ernie Els) {Not those thoughts of Ernie, put his clothes back on him, Damned South African. Mension Els or Oosterhuisen or Players and they go nuts.} Think of how easy he swings. That is what you want to strive for.

 

On to your clubs. These should be yourgo to clubs. The ones you have the most confidence in, and whenever you are in trouble you reach for one of these clubs. If you are in the rough with a good lie, use your 4H, with a bad lie never use more club than a 7 iron. Your 4H, I believe is an Adams A12OS. I wouldnot be surprised to learn you hit this consistently 190 to 200, maybe even farther but we do not care about how far you can hit.We are only interested in what distance you can hit it straight andaccurately all the time. We will call this your 190 yardclub but off the tee it will be a 200 yard club. These numbers may not be closeto yours but it is information I got from responses to my thread Real Distance. A typical 7i =151, 8i=139, 9i=127, PW=115,GW=100 and SW= ¾ shots and less only. Sowith these clubs we have 6 (7 if you count the 4 hybrid off the tee asdifferent) distances that are known.

 

On to course management. Right away it becomes apparent that we have some distance gaps that cannot be covered. Why did we do that? Because we took out the clubs that get us introuble and left the ones we hit well. I do not know about your course designer by the person that designed my course put a bunch of crap right by the greens. Bunkers, hills so steep it is hard to walk let alone hit the ball, and water. Hitting a 5 or 6 iron into thoseis asking for trouble. If he would have put that by the tee instead of the green it would be easier. There are also trouble spots off the tee, but because we are using the 4H off the tee we are going to find ourselves in thefairway about 200 yards off the teebox. The view from here is not bad at all. It is very rare that the green is completely surrounded by trouble. There is usually an opening where you can roll the ball on the green, this is also how they get the mowing equipment on. Even the sadistic designer who redesigned my club with two island greens and two that have water on just two sides left a place to play safe.

 

Since I do not have your course information I will use mine. But if you subtract 200 off the par 4's and 390 off the par 5's, you have all but three holes that are reachable with a 7 iron or less from the appropriate tees. Two of those are going to require hitting the 4H again off the deck, but this is a club we have a lot of confidence in and in both cases there is trouble in theway of bunkers and moguls around the green but that is it. In the third case, we are going to lay up to 110 yards and hope we can get a bogey. (This is a good score on this hole.)

 

Which brings me to the general thoughts behind this rambling post, and that is to avoid trouble. By playing a few rounds with limited clubs, we learn to play within our capabilities. We learn it is much better to develop a driver swing where we can play from the middle of the fairway rather than a few yards closer to the green. We learn that it is much better to be a full club out rather than having to use a partial wedge. We learn that it is you do not have to be on the green in two to make a par or on in 2 to make a birdie on par 5's. We also see that the key to scoring well, is not making birdies. It is avoiding double bogies and worse.

 

You are not a high handicapper because you cannot make birdies and eagles. It is because you cannot avoid the large numbers. A high capper friend of mine and I were playing the hole I said a bogey was a good score on Sunday, and he had his 4H for the tee shot. I said you know you cannot reach the corner with that club. He said, “Rick I do not care about the corner right now. It is OB that concerns me, I will worry about the corner on my next stroke.” He still made a 6 but in his words, “At least, I got to hit the ball 6 times and did not have penalties. I was on in three and three putts. Best I have played this hole since the remodel. I am happy.”

 

In closing, the purpose of your drive is to leave you with a reachable/servicable shot to the green. The purpose of your approach shot is to get on the green or someplace close to the green where you have a reasonable chance to get the ball near the hole. The purpose of your chip or first putt is to leave yourself a short makeable par putt. The purpose of this par putt is to go in the hole, but the true goal is to avoid the double bogey. No double bogies and 1 par means you break 90.

 

 

[MattF]

Take your driver, fairway woods, 3 hybrid, 5 and 6 irons, 60 and greater degree out of the bag for a round or two. This should leave you with your 4 hybrid, 7-pw, gw, sw and putter. Why? Because you will have to develop your course management on your own, and with clubs that you generally hit well. If you hit the 5 and 6 iron, go ahead and carry them but they are to be used sparingly.

 

I'll get back to your clubs in a minute but first I want to talk about swing and tempo. Go to the range and tee up 3 balls, then grab an 8 iron. Pick a target at the appropriate range and hit those three balls as close to that target as you can. That third swing is the tempo that you want to use ON ALL YOUR SWINGS. (Think of Ernie Els) {Not those thoughts of Ernie, put his clothes back on him, Damned South African. Mension Els or Oosterhuisen or Players and they go nuts.} Think of how easy he swings. That is what you want to strive for.

 

On to your clubs. These should be yourgo to clubs. The ones you have the most confidence in, and whenever you are in trouble you reach for one of these clubs. If you are in the rough with a good lie, use your 4H, with a bad lie never use more club than a 7 iron. Your 4H, I believe is an Adams A12OS. I wouldnot be surprised to learn you hit this consistently 190 to 200, maybe even farther but we do not care about how far you can hit.We are only interested in what distance you can hit it straight andaccurately all the time. We will call this your 190 yardclub but off the tee it will be a 200 yard club. These numbers may not be closeto yours but it is information I got from responses to my thread Real Distance. A typical 7i =151, 8i=139, 9i=127, PW=115,GW=100 and SW= ¾ shots and less only. Sowith these clubs we have 6 (7 if you count the 4 hybrid off the tee asdifferent) distances that are known.

 

On to course management. Right away it becomes apparent that we have some distance gaps that cannot be covered. Why did we do that? Because we took out the clubs that get us introuble and left the ones we hit well. I do not know about your course designer by the person that designed my course put a bunch of crap right by the greens. Bunkers, hills so steep it is hard to walk let alone hit the ball, and water. Hitting a 5 or 6 iron into thoseis asking for trouble. If he would have put that by the tee instead of the green it would be easier. There are also trouble spots off the tee, but because we are using the 4H off the tee we are going to find ourselves in thefairway about 200 yards off the teebox. The view from here is not bad at all. It is very rare that the green is completely surrounded by trouble. There is usually an opening where you can roll the ball on the green, this is also how they get the mowing equipment on. Even the sadistic designer who redesigned my club with two island greens and two that have water on just two sides left a place to play safe.

 

Since I do not have your course information I will use mine. But if you subtract 200 off the par 4's and 390 off the par 5's, you have all but three holes that are reachable with a 7 iron or less from the appropriate tees. Two of those are going to require hitting the 4H again off the deck, but this is a club we have a lot of confidence in and in both cases there is trouble in theway of bunkers and moguls around the green but that is it. In the third case, we are going to lay up to 110 yards and hope we can get a bogey. (This is a good score on this hole.)

 

Which brings me to the general thoughts behind this rambling post, and that is to avoid trouble. By playing a few rounds with limited clubs, we learn to play within our capabilities. We learn it is much better to develop a driver swing where we can play from the middle of the fairway rather than a few yards closer to the green. We learn that it is much better to be a full club out rather than having to use a partial wedge. We learn that it is you do not have to be on the green in two to make a par or on in 2 to make a birdie on par 5's. We also see that the key to scoring well, is not making birdies. It is avoiding double bogies and worse.

 

You are not a high handicapper because you cannot make birdies and eagles. It is because you cannot avoid the large numbers. A high capper friend of mine and I were playing the hole I said a bogey was a good score on Sunday, and he had his 4H for the tee shot. I said you know you cannot reach the corner with that club. He said, “Rick I do not care about the corner right now. It is OB that concerns me, I will worry about the corner on my next stroke.” He still made a 6 but in his words, “At least, I got to hit the ball 6 times and did not have penalties. I was on in three and three putts. Best I have played this hole since the remodel. I am happy.”

 

In closing, the purpose of your drive is to leave you with a reachable/servicable shot to the green. The purpose of your approach shot is to get on the green or someplace close to the green where you have a reasonable chance to get the ball near the hole. The purpose of your chip or first putt is to leave yourself a short makeable par putt. The purpose of this par putt is to go in the hole, but the true goal is to avoid the double bogey. No double bogies and 1 par means you break 90.

 

I know this was intended for the OP, but thank you for this advice Rick. I'm going to give this a go on Sunday.

 

Matt

[RoverRick]

I know this was intended for the OP, but thank you for this advice Rick. I'm going to give this a go on Sunday.

 

Matt

 

 

This is intended for everybody. And thank you. I spent a lot of time on that post.

 

This is another thread but I played a round with a high hdcpr friend where we used just 6 irons. He was amazed because he shot like 7 strokes better using just one club. But to me one of the hardest things to learn was that the object of the game was not to get the ball as close to the hole as possible with every shot. It is to get the ball in the hole in the fewest shots and sometimes it is best to hit a shorter club than a longer club.

 

I will promiss you this, I have screwed up more great drives on par 5's going for it with a 3 wood than I ever hit the green with.

[sparnar]

Take your driver, fairway woods, 3 hybrid, 5 and 6 irons, 60 and greater degree out of the bag for a round or two. This should leave you with your 4 hybrid, 7-pw, gw, sw and putter. Why? Because you will have to develop your course management on your own, and with clubs that you generally hit well. If you hit the 5 and 6 iron, go ahead and carry them but they are to be used sparingly.

 

I'll get back to your clubs in a minute but first I want to talk about swing and tempo. Go to the range and tee up 3 balls, then grab an 8 iron. Pick a target at the appropriate range and hit those three balls as close to that target as you can. That third swing is the tempo that you want to use ON ALL YOUR SWINGS. (Think of Ernie Els) {Not those thoughts of Ernie, put his clothes back on him, Damned South African. Mension Els or Oosterhuisen or Players and they go nuts.} Think of how easy he swings. That is what you want to strive for.

 

On to your clubs. These should be yourgo to clubs. The ones you have the most confidence in, and whenever you are in trouble you reach for one of these clubs. If you are in the rough with a good lie, use your 4H, with a bad lie never use more club than a 7 iron. Your 4H, I believe is an Adams A12OS. I wouldnot be surprised to learn you hit this consistently 190 to 200, maybe even farther but we do not care about how far you can hit.We are only interested in what distance you can hit it straight andaccurately all the time. We will call this your 190 yardclub but off the tee it will be a 200 yard club. These numbers may not be closeto yours but it is information I got from responses to my thread Real Distance. A typical 7i =151, 8i=139, 9i=127, PW=115,GW=100 and SW= ¾ shots and less only. Sowith these clubs we have 6 (7 if you count the 4 hybrid off the tee asdifferent) distances that are known.

 

On to course management. Right away it becomes apparent that we have some distance gaps that cannot be covered. Why did we do that? Because we took out the clubs that get us introuble and left the ones we hit well. I do not know about your course designer by the person that designed my course put a bunch of crap right by the greens. Bunkers, hills so steep it is hard to walk let alone hit the ball, and water. Hitting a 5 or 6 iron into thoseis asking for trouble. If he would have put that by the tee instead of the green it would be easier. There are also trouble spots off the tee, but because we are using the 4H off the tee we are going to find ourselves in thefairway about 200 yards off the teebox. The view from here is not bad at all. It is very rare that the green is completely surrounded by trouble. There is usually an opening where you can roll the ball on the green, this is also how they get the mowing equipment on. Even the sadistic designer who redesigned my club with two island greens and two that have water on just two sides left a place to play safe.

 

Since I do not have your course information I will use mine. But if you subtract 200 off the par 4's and 390 off the par 5's, you have all but three holes that are reachable with a 7 iron or less from the appropriate tees. Two of those are going to require hitting the 4H again off the deck, but this is a club we have a lot of confidence in and in both cases there is trouble in theway of bunkers and moguls around the green but that is it. In the third case, we are going to lay up to 110 yards and hope we can get a bogey. (This is a good score on this hole.)

 

Which brings me to the general thoughts behind this rambling post, and that is to avoid trouble. By playing a few rounds with limited clubs, we learn to play within our capabilities. We learn it is much better to develop a driver swing where we can play from the middle of the fairway rather than a few yards closer to the green. We learn that it is much better to be a full club out rather than having to use a partial wedge. We learn that it is you do not have to be on the green in two to make a par or on in 2 to make a birdie on par 5's. We also see that the key to scoring well, is not making birdies. It is avoiding double bogies and worse.

 

You are not a high handicapper because you cannot make birdies and eagles. It is because you cannot avoid the large numbers. A high capper friend of mine and I were playing the hole I said a bogey was a good score on Sunday, and he had his 4H for the tee shot. I said you know you cannot reach the corner with that club. He said, “Rick I do not care about the corner right now. It is OB that concerns me, I will worry about the corner on my next stroke.” He still made a 6 but in his words, “At least, I got to hit the ball 6 times and did not have penalties. I was on in three and three putts. Best I have played this hole since the remodel. I am happy.”

 

In closing, the purpose of your drive is to leave you with a reachable/servicable shot to the green. The purpose of your approach shot is to get on the green or someplace close to the green where you have a reasonable chance to get the ball near the hole. The purpose of your chip or first putt is to leave yourself a short makeable par putt. The purpose of this par putt is to go in the hole, but the true goal is to avoid the double bogey. No double bogies and 1 par means you break 90.

thanks for the tips, R3J, Matt, BK and RR!

 

RR, i think i should tattoo your post on my left forearm!

 

i'm playing on saturday morning, and i'm going to try and implement this.

 

i'm going to take my 4wood and 3H out of the bag for the round. i'm fairly good with the 3H off the tee, but i do slice it every now and again, i reckon the 4h is much safer and probably not that much shorter in any case. i'm gonna do my best and fight against my ego, and try to leave the driver as well. i know the course i'm playing isn't too penalizing on wayward tee shots. as i said, i'm gonna try my hardest to leave the big dog at home. i think you guys know how hard that is...

 

i actually watched a video of mitchell spearman this morning (apparently he is the highest paid golf coach in the world). but anyway, i have seen him on the tv quite a few times, and i like him.

 

in this video he recommended playing a round with only 5i, 7i, 9i and putter. mostly as a way to learn some different shots with the irons, but i reckon this would also be a way of playing smarter and safer. in my case, i should perhaps consider playing 4h, 7i, 9i and putter.

 

next time i am able to squeeze in 9 holes after work, i think it should try this.

 

spearman also mentioned that seve ballesteros used to play a full round with only a 3i! that is most definitely a "do not try this at home"...

 

thanks again for the great post, RR.

[RoverRick]

We have played 3 club matches about 4 times this year and not only are they fun they are educational. I used 4H, GW & putter. I found I could hit the GW 150 yards if I wanted.

My scores pretty much stayed the same because I make lots of pars but the hi cappers actually improved their scores.

[sparnar]

RR, at this time i don't get too play often enough to experiment with those kinds of scenarios. but i'm sure something like that could only help my game.

 

next time i can squeeze in a weekday afternoon 9 holes, i'll try something with fewer clubs. hopefully the course is a bit quieter then, and it gives me a bit more time for experimenting.

[RoverRick]

I am not really advocating playing with fewer than 14 clubs. Except those four times, and they were 9 holes after work, I always have at least 14 clubs. I had 15 yesterday, two drivers. And the day before two putters.

 

 

I am advocating to do whatever it takes to play to the concept of distance control is more important than distance itself. And it not always good to have a shorter shot.

[Bobtrumpet]

The above information is great advice.

 

My (small) contribution - play from the correct (for your ability) tees.

[Tyk]

Good advice Rick, we could all take something away from that, no matter our handicap!

 

One other thing I will mention, because it helped me start to save quite a few strokes when I implemented it.

 

Aim at the center or the safest, fattest part of the green, always. Everyone wants to go pin hunting. We all want to stick it to 2 feet on every shot and tap in for birdie. Sometimes it even happens! But it doesn't happen often enough to offset the times where we go at a right pin, push it a bit and end up 15 feet off the green short sided in some thick stuff. Now its a tough up and down for par, likely a bogey. A thin runner or a chili dip here and there's our double bogey staring us in the face all because we decided to go for birdie instead of protecting par.

 

Take that same shot at a right pin aimed dead center. You pushed it a bit and landed 10 feet from the pin (don't tell anyone you were aiming at the center, dust off your knuckles and act like you meant to do that!). You've got a good chance at birdie and an easy par, move on to the next hole! If you pulled it a bit, its a long putt across the green, but you've still got a birdie putt, and if you 3-jack it, its only bogey.

 

By doing this you will learn that getting on the green is the goal, you will also start to notice just how big a penalty it is when you miss. Keep track each round in your head of where your big numbers come from, especially on the holes where you were fine off the tee. When you hit the greens, you're usually in the cup in 2, and you will rarely take worse than bogey.

 

As you get better you will start controlling your distances better and will start to learn your miss tendencies, which will allow you to become a little more aggressive coming into the greens. But even now, for me, the aiming point is predicated around the center of the green, not the pin. Even if I'm trying to shape a shot into a pin, I'm playing for my miss to land center and if I have to give up the green to hit the perfect shot, I'm going for safely on and letting the pin go on that one.

 

Bottom line, the more greens you hit, the better you are going to score, there's a reason that stat is important!

 

PS: Hey sparnar! Your topic made the newsletter! Nice!

[Super Tuna]

One other thing that I'd like to add that a lot of people seem to miss: PLAY A BALL THAT HELPS YOU!

 

If you struggle with a slice, don't give me the "but I need the spin for the green" while using a ProV1 or a Nike One Tour. Worry about that after you can actually get to the green. Despite what the OEM's tell you, not everyone should be using their Tour ball model. "Better" does not mean better for you.

 

Have issues with a slice or fade off the tee and your approach shots? Seriously give the Bridgestone E6 a try and see how much more fun the game is when you're not OB or in the deep rough all the time.

 

Other then the three things in terms of technique that dropped my handicap like a rock

A: Choose a tee club that gets you in the fairway. You see guys talking all the itme they'd rather be 250 in the fairway then 270 in the rought with the driver. Same concept applies even when it's 200 in the fairway with a hybrid vs 230 in the rough with a driver.

 

B: Putting. If you can chop those three putts down to 2 putts that's a big drop right there. Cutting a 3rd off the two putts into one putts will also be HUGE.

 

C: Chipping/pitching. Practice, practice, practice this. If you know you can get on the green and 2 putt everytime after missing that'll cut blow up wholes way down. Spending more time on this was a 6 stroke swing on my handicap right there and there's still lots of room for improvement.

[RoverRick]

hi all

i keep reading about course management, and would like to learn more.

 

i'm currently a 29 handicap, and i feel that i should easily be much closer to a 20, or 24 at the very least.

 

i would like to hear your thoughts on how courses are designed to 'trick' players into attempting shots they perhaps shouldn't, and some other tips to help as high handicappers shave some shots.

 

i'm thinking along the lines of the following:

 

1. close to the green, putt if you can. otherwise chip. pitch is the last option.

2. maybe learn to putt with hybrid from off the green

 

little things like that, that in your opinion, might help myself, and other high-handicappers get around in a few shots less. i know there are a whole bunch of guys that play to single digits, if you could think back to that time where you were shooting some high scores, and tell us how you managed to play smarter golf.

 

thanks!

 

I got on my soapbox yesterday and started preaching and may have covered some of this but did not address you specific questions.

 

How do course designers trick you into doing stupid things? I have played several courses that do this and my home course does it a lot. But the easiest way to screw a higher handicaper (hhcpr) is to point the teebox at the green and the hazard not the fairway. I think it is funny that the hhcpr I play with all the time make the same mistakes on the same holes. Holes 6, 7, 8, 10, &13, all have teeboxes that point directly at the danger areas. They get up there everytime and line up with the teebox and hit the ball dead straight into the hazard or trees or whatever. Then ****** because they hit another bad drive and they did everything fight. My personal policy is to not say anything unless asked a specific question.

 

These are certainly good points.

1. close to the green, putt if you can. otherwise chip. pitch is the last option.

2. maybe learn to putt with hybrid from off the green

 

I might also add, in chipping and pitching it is best to get the ball on the ground sooner rather than later. I used to fly the ball to the hole and have it land like a bean bag. This is great if you hit it right. But if you do not and blade it, you will have the same shot from the other side of the green, if you are lucky.

 

In the short game, you can hit a shot the same distance with three different clubs. The 100 yards shot for instance. I can hit this with a waist high 8 iron, a 3/4 pw or a full sand wedge. All these shots travel the same distance, but different trajectories. Practice this with each club and see how far they go. I mean every club.

 

I know that a waist high 3 wood, the exact same swing I had with the 8 iron that goes 100, goes 165 with a low running trajectory. I can do the same with a driver, yes a driver, and get about 175. I have practiced this with every club. And can call on these when I am in trouble.

 

Now there will probably be one of these that you are more comfortable with so pick that one as your go too shot.

 

As I touched on in the other thread there is usually an opening between the designers defenses of the green for equipment and golfers to access the green. If you need to lay up, this is the area where you should aim. So that you have the widest margin of error on your next shot. On our sixth hole, we will say that the 12 o'clock position is directly north and the line to the tee box is at the 6 o'clock position. There is a pond that stretches from about 7 to 4 o'clock. A steep mogul from 4 to 11 and pot bunker in the middle at 2 o'clock and then another bunker from 11 to 9 o'clock. So from the 7 to 9 o'clock position you can roll the ball up with a putter. That is the lay up area.

 

Remember, this is one of the holes where the teebox points at the green, but the fairway actually runs from the tee box to the area directly beside the green. If you go directly off the front of the tee box 220 yards you find yourself in an open area 40 yards behind a line of trees and a pond 40 yards beyond that and then the green 40 yards behind the start of the water but the water is up against the green. It leaves you about a 140 yard shot, with trees to clear, and water beyond that. Or you can aim directly left of the green and be hole high 30 or 40 yards from the hole with an opening.

 

This is an easy hole if played properly. However, if you fall into the designers two tricks on this hole, the scewed teebox and the forced carry over water with a high lofted club than you struggle to make 6. I often birdie this hole but birdie does not enter my mind until I am on the green. On the tee, I am thinking 120 out in the center of the fairway. From there I am thinking, center of the green. From there I am thinking, speed of the putt, approximate line of the putt, and speed of the putt again. You have more three putts not because you missed the line but because you were 5 feet long or short.

 

Never go for the birdie at the expense of par. Same for eagle. Make sure you can get the birdie before you go balls out to for the eagle.

 

(It is a good think that I can type as fast as most people write.)

[revkev]

There's plenty of good advice here so I'll try hard not to duplicate except to say here, here about the fairway woods particularly the standard 3 wood - it is a very difficult club to hit - you might be best keeping it out of the bag altogether and opting for a more lofted fairway wood -

 

I would give advice that piggy backs off of Matt's - spend your practice time inside of 100 yards and learn what shots you hit best in that range - if it's 80 yards you clearly don't want to be going for it from 200 because much of the time you're going to miss and leave 30 or 40 - a very dangerous distance.

 

Build your game from the hole out and plan your strategy from the hole out - learn to pick shots that you can safely execute 80 percent of the time - You'll be amazed at how your scores decrease, how you gain confidence and how you increase the number of shots that you can execute that percentage of the time as you move forward.

 

Your idea of learning to chip with a hybrid is an outstanding one - actually I'd recommend you spend time from the same spot using a hybrid, putter, 9 iron, wedge, 6 iron and watch how each shot reacts on the green - you'll learn a lot from that sort of practice.

 

I don't necessarily agree with Super Tuna on the ball - a slice is a slice - since pro line balls are smart they don't spin a heck of a lot more off the driver than a two piecer. But I'd agree with his assesment that something like an E5 is the right choice anyway - why bother with a Pro VI if you're at a stage where you are loosing a lot of balls? It's expensive. A nice mid-level ball makes sense - but play and practice with the same one or at least the same type of one all the time.

 

Learn to score - that's the name of the game.

 

Good luck

[GolfSpy WD]

While we're on the subject of balls, E6 is designed to help with slices. If a tour caliber ball is a must though, the ProV1x will spin less off the tee than a ProV1. Same goes for B330/B330s, Hex Black/Chrome, Penta TP5/TP3.

[Tyk]

Good post Rev, I will disclose that I cannot hit a fairway wood to save my life. That isn't 100% true, I can hit them beautifully on the driving range, over and over again! I carry a 15* hybrid and a 22* hybrid, then right into my irons. So it isn't just the high handicappers that struggle with the fairway woods!

[RoverRick]

Great points, when I was a high handicapper I carried an additional wedge in lieu of a 3 wood. The problem with that is 60* and 64* can get you in as much trouble as a wayward 3 wood. I carry a 64* but it is the last option. I think I have used it twice in the last 5 rounds and I am pretty good with it.

 

As far as balls, I really like the e5. It is very close to the Tour balls and if I run out of my eBay balls, I will use the e5.

[finalist]

Try to place your tee shot so that your second shot has the best chance of avoiding a green side bunker. For example a par four has a bunker guarding the front left corner of a green. I'll try to make my tee shot land on the right half of the fairway, so when I hit my second shot I'm not having to hit over the bunker in the front left corner.

[sparnar]

wow guys, i don't know where to start thanking you all.

 

RoverRick, first off. you have written some really long posts, and even though you mention you type quite fast, it still must have taken you some time to do. thanks a whole bunch!

 

Richie3Jack, Tyk, SuperTuna, BobTrumpet, RevKev, WDGolf, finalist...

 

All of your input is appreciated, and I will take it to the course tomorrow. Now my damn ego must just not get in the way of the smart plays. my best score so far this year was a 100, and i need to break that. but i'm trying really hard not to focus on score, and rather focus on all the great advice and the outcome of each shot.

 

thanks, Tyk. I just saw my post in the newsletter. This is the second week in a row I got a post in the newsletter. Feels kinda nice. Excuse me while I give myself a little tap on the shoulder ;-)

 

anyway, really feel like i am much better prepared mentally for tomorrow's round than any of my recent rounds.

 

as for the ball i'm playing, i'm playing the Wilson True ball (not the Wilson Staff True). supposed to be low spinning.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wilson-True-Golf-Balls-24pk/dp/B002XDQHSG

 

as for my FW, i've got a 4 wood. but it will be staying at home, since i've only hit about 6/7 shots at the range with it.

[sparnar]

hi all

i tried implementing these strategies on saturday during my round. i wish i could post that i played a great round.

 

unfortunately i couldn't get my 4H to work off the tee. i was hitting it everywhere, but the short stuff. and i wasn't getting much distance with it, as i couldn't make decent contact (i think i pressured myself too much as my opponent was driving it long and straight all day).

 

and contrary to your advice, i didn't take the driver out of the bag. i did however only hit 2 tee shots, and took 2 penalties. i have to add that these were on holes with a forced carry, where my hybrid might have gotten me into trouble as well. but i really shouldn't have hit driver.

 

anyways, on the first 9 i shot 59. which is my equal worst score over 9 holes. three putted 3 times, although i'm not too disappointed with this, since i hit some good second putts that grazed the hole (these were 5/6 footers).

 

at the turn, i was down by 4 shots. and after the 10th hole i was down by 5. i did however pull it back to even with 3 holes to go. and if it hadn't been for my opponent walking across my line of vision on topped tee shot, and an unlucky shot hitting a branch, i might have won by a stroke.

 

but over the second nine my iron play especially, was much better and i shot a 50 (i think my best score over 9 holes, is a 48. so i'm fairly happy with that).

 

i sank some big pressure putts. including one from off the green, to pull back to even with my opponent. and over the last three holes i had to sink two 5 footers (after my opponent had holed out), just to remain even with him.

 

if my tee shots had been better on the day, i would have done much better. i also had about 3 duffed pitch shots.

 

things that hurt my score the most, was two penalties on my driver on the last two holes of the front 9 (might have meant the difference between 59 and 55ish), and making 6 triple bogeys on the day.

 

i reckon i have to go see my pro again, to see if we can work on my tee shots. i have to build some confidence, or at least get some kind of go-to shot that can get the ball in the fairway around the 200yd mark. if i were able to do that on saturday, i would have scored much better.

 

i am proud to say that i did come back from 5 shots down with 6 holes to play, to end at even with my opponent.

 

my opponent was driving the ball extremely well. and i actually gave him an old 7 wood of mine, and he was creaming it left, right and center. his long game performing so well on the day, probably made me think too much about hitting good tee shots. luckily my short game was better than his, on the second nine.

 

i might be playing this saturday again, and i hope to do much better.

[sparnar]

although i am fairly happy with my putting, i am still leaving myself with putts that are too long after my first putt. i did however have a couple of great two putts, from 40 feet and out. which previously i wouldn't have been able to do.

 

all the putting practice is starting to pay off.

 

just a quick question, when doing putting stats, does one count putts from off the green, or only putts on the putting surface?

[GolfSpy WD]

I believe official stats only count putts on the green

[BK in TEXAS]

just a quick question, when doing putting stats, does one count putts from off the green, or only putts on the putting surface?

Track it any way that makes sense to you.....when you look at your stats, you want to know where you need to improve.

 

On the 4H......it's been a while since I used a hybrid under 25Ëš, but when I was trying them out I remember them starting to be inconsistent (for me) at about 22Ëš....anything lower lofted got increasingly less consistent. Take it FWIW.....everyone swings different

[Tyk]

For me, the best way to improve on long putts is to practice putting with my right hand (I am right handed and putt right hand low, "normal" if you will). I view my right hand as my "distance control hand" and my left as my "accuracy hand". When I have a long putt that I'm primarily just wanting to get close, I make sure my left hand is very relaxed, just along for the ride and my right hand is dominant in the stroke. When I've got a putt I want to make, I focus on my left hand and not letting my wrists break down. Now, obviously, it is never really just one hand or the other, both have to function through the putting stroke from either distance, but the change in focus for me minimizes the really bad putts.

 

Try practicing putting with both your right and your left hands only, it will give you an idea of how they work together and the right hand particularly will get you a better feel for distance putts, it also shows you how to relax your hands. As you're putting right handed visualize that you are tossing the ball towards the hole, hell, even toss a few balls at the hole to give yourself a sense of the pace you want, then with your right hand putting, "toss" the ball at the hole. Left handed only will keep your left wrist from breaking down in the stroke.

[MattF]

Well, I wanted to implement the advice given, but I didn't and I really should have. Driver was pretty terrible for most of the round. 3 wood was only used twice. I shot a crowd pleasing 92.

 

Next time out it's 3 hybrid off the tee and on second shots on par 5's.

 

In regards to counting putts, I don't count it as a putt unless it's actually on the green itself.

 

Matt

[RoverRick]

A putt only counts as a putt when on the green. If you use a driver and hit the ball on the green it is a putt not a drive. Conversly if you use a putter from 50 yards out it is a chip not a putt. Officially.

 

I told myself this weekend on long putts, do not worry too much about the line. This is really the case on any putt. You have three putts because you are five feet short or long not five feet left or right. So since it was raining and the greens were breaking differently, one green there would be lots of break and the next it would hold the line. So I told myself, after I picked the line, distance. I would line up just off my line but parrallel to it, and thing "that is the line." Then I would take a swing that was intentionally too short and think "too short", one too hard and think "too long', and then two or three until I felt that was the right speed, and then think. "that is the speed." and then hit it. This also works with chipping. While I did not make near as many putts as I am used to. I did not have any three putts. I played like crap and my putting kept me in the tournament.

 

My course management is predicated on being able to hit the shots. I did not do that this weekend and was short it seemed like every hole. So I can understand the desire to hit the big club no matter what. I saw that this weekend and could not understand it, but by the end of the weekend, the desire was to get as close to the green as possible in the hopes of getting the next shot on the green. I resisted this impulse and I hoped I could break out of this slump but was trying too hard at the time to recover.

[TheHacker]

I find it hard to understand what fun is golf if you play from tee to green with 7 / 8 iron from tee to green? Yes your scores would be much better, but you leave the course feeling like you didn't quite had a round of golf.

 

What's more, golf clubs comes in a set, whether you use it or not, you already paid for your Drivers, Woods and long irons, maybe that's why some people insist on using them on the course against all odds. But the best thing for hackers is to go take some lessons, not go to the golf course and slow other people down. After that, go to the driving range and get your swing working.

 

Do not waste time and money playing in golf course when you really should be spending time at the practice tee / green. Not only you frustrate yourself, you frustrate others.