Greatest Playing Tips

[GlasgowsGreen]

My best playing tip was: Start playing regularly and get into a routine before you get married and have kids :) Because it's hard enough to continue but almost impossible to start at that start ;) I took the advice and just about got in in the nick of time!!!!

Amen to that!

[freedrop]

The tip that is good for all things and certainly golf-doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

[Wally Fairway]

I have two great tips that it took me year to finally figure out:

- one was in an article with Tom Watson when he stated that scoring in golf wasn't about how good your good shots were, rather it is about how good your bad shots are.

- the other was that unless you can reach the green then your goal should be to hit the ball to a spot where you are most likely to hit your next shot on the green. I spent many years, on par 4's and par 5's just blasting the ball as far as I could and then ending up between clubs, in the beach or the woods instead of trying to play to a distance that was a consistent swing (from the fairway) to the green.

I will say that since I've adopted an approach to scoring, instead of just hitting the ball - well I just don't see as much of the course as I used to.

[festivus]

Because you're wasting shots. No way you're better from 100 yards than 20 even if it's 100 fairway and 20 rough.

Flat out no way unless you literally have a BAD case of chip yips. None.

That's backed up by the PGA stat pack geek Richie Hunt who produces his yearly evaluations, pro golf synopsis.  Last couple years he's made a case the FW wood is the key club on Tour because once you get within about 30yds of the green the birdie% increases exponentially.  So guys with a great FW wood can get close to that green and bump their chances of scoring.

Of course there are exceptions like Zach Jonhson's Masters win.  But nearly anyone, barring yips, should get closer from 20 yds than 100 a huge % of the time.

[MS256]

That's backed up by the PGA stat pack geek Richie Hunt who produces his yearly evaluations, pro golf synopsis.  Last couple years he's made a case the FW wood is the key club on Tour because once you get within about 30yds of the green the birdie% increases exponentially.  So guys with a great FW wood can get close to that green and bump their chances of scoring.

Of course there are exceptions like Zach Jonhson's Masters win.  But nearly anyone, barring yips, should get closer from 20 yds than 100 a huge % of the time.

Thank God, since that's the only thing I've ever been really good at hitting. (Just joking, sort of).

No joke: I'll take closer with any reasonable lie every time. "Laying up to a favorite yardage" is for other people besides me. My "favorite yardage" is as close as I can get.

[festivus]

I will occasionally lay up to a yardage but that's usually in the case of a front pin with firm greens or a nasty lie for my would-be approach.  Obviously, things like a water hazard will change the thinking.  20 yards in the water is not a great way to make birdie

[saevel25]

Thank God, since that's the only thing I've ever been really good at hitting. (Just joking, sort of).

No joke: I'll take closer with any reasonable lie every time. "Laying up to a favorite yardage" is for other people besides me. My "favorite yardage" is as close as I can get.

Yea well, there are always exceptions to the rule. Zach had his full wedge shot going for that masters.

Its kinda crazy, I plotted proximity to the hole from rough and fairway earlier today. Just for fun. Proximity definitely goes to a converge point of about 7 feet.

Fairway 50-75 yards: 14.75 feet

Rough 50-75 yards: 22.75 feet

Green to 30 yards,

Rough: 7.75 feet

Sand: 9.25 feet

Fringe: 3 feet

Other Locations: 6.5 feet

I take other locations as fairway. I mean, take away rough, sand and fringe. What else is there for playing surfaces? Cart path?

If you see, from 50-75 the difference from fairway to rough is about 8 feet

If you look at around the green, rough and fairway are nearly identical. Sand is a bit tougher to get it close.

So, looks like the closer you get the proximity converges. There is NO Scenario were you end up closer to the pin from a further distance. I mean Zach could have had a great day putting from 15-25 feet on those par 5's.

[boogielicious]

Yea well, there are always exceptions to the rule. Zach had his full wedge shot going for that masters.

Its kinda crazy, I plotted proximity to the hole from rough and fairway earlier today. Just for fun. Proximity definitely goes to a converge point of about 7 feet.

Fairway 50-75 yards: 14.75 feet

Rough 50-75 yards: 22.75 feet

Green to 30 yards,

Rough: 7.75 feet

Sand: 9.25 feet

Fringe: 3 feet

Other Locations: 6.5 feet

I take other locations as fairway. I mean, take away rough, sand and fringe. What else is there for playing surfaces? Cart path?

If you see, from 50-75 the difference from fairway to rough is about 8 feet

If you look at around the green, rough and fairway are nearly identical. Sand is a bit tougher to get it close.

So, looks like the closer you get the proximity converges. There is NO Scenario were you end up closer to the pin from a further distance. I mean Zach could have had a great day putting from 15-25 feet on those par 5's.

Don't the par 5s in the Masters have water hazards near the green that would cause Zack to lay up?  I am thinking of 13 and 15.  I've watched him hit much closer on par 5s with no green side water.  He also seems to be the exception.

[TheKewTour]

Just enjoy yourself. If you have a bad day there is always another day..

Im great believer in Gary Player quote "The harder you work, the luckier you get"

[mdl]

Not a fan of the 3 foot circle drill. I can understand for something like 50+ feet. For anything else, Aim Small, Miss Small.

I've never liked this either, for the same reason.  Though I'm thinking about it now.  What if instead of interpreting that advice as the goal being to settle the ball within 3 feet, to instead think of it just as a mental game strategy to think of the hole as being huge?  I'm thinking here of interviews with PGA pros or NBA players after a round/game where their putter/shot was on fire saying the hole/basket looked huge.  Maybe thinking of the hole as super big as a way just to relax yourself and have the mindset that the putt is super makeable might be a good mental approach?

So not, "Die it in a 2, 3, 4 foot circle", but "The hole is huge and I can just relax and totally make this putt"?  Maybe I'll try that on some lag putts next round.

Originally Posted by saevel25

There is no scenario were a player should not go for the green in two, unless there is a miss that costs them a penalty.

I agree with what I take as your overall point: the closer your final approach to the hole, the closer you can expect your shot to finish to the hole.  So if you can play driver-hybrid and get to the green, you should generally go for that (barring major risks that make that a dumb play even for a great player), as obviously 2-putt birdies are great but if you miss the green you've got a much better chance getting up and down from 25 yards than with the full PW you planned playing the hole hybrid-7i-PW or whatever.  But...  many high handicappers struggle especially badly with the driver and 3w.  Many of them might have a lower expected score playing a par 5 3h-4h-SW than planning for driver-2h, slicing the driver in jail, pitching out, slicing the 3w in jail, etc.