Things I Learned from Playing With @iacas

[DeadMan]

I had the pleasure to play 5 rounds with @iacas during our Sand Valley trip. 3 on the Sandbox, and then once on Mammoth Dunes and Sand Valley. He is the best player I've ever played with, and it was interesting to notice a few things that were different in our games beyond our golf abilities. Specifically, there were a few course management things I noticed that he did really well that I did not do nearly as well. I wanted to share these things, because I think they are generally good things to think about, and they might help you shave some strokes off your score. I believe all of these are discussed in LSW, but it doesn't hurt to have a refresher.

1. Avoid Doubles

This was by far the biggest thing I noticed. @iacas did get in some bad spots on the course, as everybody does. But, every time he got in trouble, he made a bogey at worst. I don't think he made a double while we played together. I made more than my fair share of them, despite driving the ball almost as well as him. I tend to get sloppy when I get myself into trouble and end up with a double bogey instead of a bogey. A bogey doesn't kill your round, and it only takes one good shot to get the stroke back. A double is a lot harder to recover from. 

How did he do it? He got himself back in play and gave himself a great chance to hit the green with his next shot. Sometimes, this meant going for the green. Most of the time, this meant getting out of trouble while advancing the ball down the fairway. For me, I need to think more about giving myself a wedge that I feel comfortable getting on the green most of the time when I'm in trouble off the tee instead of always trying to find a way to go for the green. It also means being more crisp around the greens when I'm already in trouble. I tend to check out of a hole if I don't have a par putt, and that leads to a double that really should have been a bogey (or a worse score than a double).

Also, if you're in trouble around the green, just get on the green. Forget about the flagstick. Find the shot that will give you a 20 foot putt as your next shot. If the only shot you can try is a risky flop shot to get it close, it is likely to be better to play towards the center of the green than trying that really hard shot. If you're not a good bunker player, forget the flag and concentrate on getting the ball on the green for that 20 foot putt.

For higher handicapped players, you can change this advice to avoid triples. But the bottom line is, bogeys aren't bad, even for a plus handicap. Doubles are bad.

2. Give Yourself a Par Putt

This is really similar to above, but I wanted to separate it out. You are not a PGA Tour pro. You can live with putting for par. If you are in trouble, your goal should be to give yourself a par putt. Unless you are a really bad putter, you will likely 2 putt and make a bogey. If you are chipping for par, that is not good. If you are putting for par, that's fine. If you follow the advice above, you will likely have a shorter putt that you can make more than you think. Think about this - if you have a 20 foot putt for par, your stroke average will below bogey, because you'll make more than you 3 putt, As an amateur golfer, you can live with that.

I separated this out, because this is the matra I need to repeat to myself over and over. A par putt is a good thing!

3. Avoid Shots You Haven't Practiced

We played the Sandbox 3 times together, which is a great par 3 course. It encourages you to try different types of shots - high pitches, hitting a bump and run, chipping an iron, even putting from 50 yards. @iacasliked to try all those types of shots. And it was a lot of fun trying some of those myself, and he definitely had fun trying to pull them off. Here's the thing, though. If you're trying to get your lowest score possible, don't hit a bunch of creative shots. Almost without fail, whenever @iacas tried a unique shot, someone else would hit a standard pitch and get it closer to the hole than him. Which makes sense - we work on pitching a lot more than we work on chipping an 8 iron into a slope to bounce the ball onto an upper tier. So, the bottom line is, if you haven't practiced the shot, it's not something you should try when you're playing for a score. 

I almost titled this "never hit shots you haven't practiced," but there are going to be times on a golf course when you're going to have to try a shot you haven't practiced. Just don't do it very often. Stick with what you know and have practiced if at all possible.

Edited July 26, 2021 by DeadMan

[saevel25]

9 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

How did he do it? He got himself back in play and gave himself a great chance to hit the green with his next shot. Sometimes, this meant going for the green. Most of the time, this meant getting out of trouble while advancing the ball down the fairway.

Also, his drives hardly end up in a hazard or OB. Avoiding stroke and distance is a big thing. 

Yea, like he said for par 5's. You need on really good shot to make par. (i think this is close enough). You can hit a bad drive (not OB), maybe thin a hybrid, miss the green, but still get up and down for par. 

Also helps he is a really good putter and has a really good short game ;). 

 

[DeadMan]

4 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Also, his drives hardly end up in a hazard or OB. Avoiding stroke and distance is a big thing. 

To be fair, the courses we played did not really have much of either. Although I'm sure you found both... 😛

5 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Also helps he is a really good putter and has a really good short game ;). 

Number 4 was going to be "putt your ass off," but that's not really a game management thing. @iacasis by far the best putter I've ever seen. Golf is a lot easier if you're making a couple of 30 footers each round, and your gimme range is legitimately 5-8 feet, haha. 

There was far more separation between our short games and putting than there was between our driving and iron play. 

[Shindig]

Thanks for this write-up.  This is great advice.

Every time I make a double, I look back and try to figure out why I made the double.  In yesterday's round, I had three doubles, each from different causes.  Only on one hole (all day) did I not have a putt for par.  This was a 1-2-3 tournament and, as the highest handicapper on my team, my plan was to get as many net-pars as I could, knowing I'd sprinkle some pars in there (five, all on holes I got a shot on, too), especially on the par-5s, but that we wouldn't move backwards if I managed to make my plan.   I had 14 holes of net-par-or-better.

A month or two ago, I realized I hadn't really practiced the low recovery shot, so I went to an outdoor range and devoted two dozen or so shots to practicing it.  I don't want to say two dozen shots is sufficient, but I am a lot more comfortable with it now.

I don't know if there's a "related threads" feature, but for anyone else who finds @DeadMan's excellent write-up helpful, @iacasand @mvmac wrote a great similar piece (the advice is not the same tips repeated, so this is also worth a read if you haven't seen it) after the 2015 Newport Cup:  

 

(5 and 6 on that list are things I really need to put more work into) 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Shindig

[iacas]

In the rounds I played for score I'm not sure I made a 6. I was close a time or two — I had to make a twenty-footer for par on the 13th at Lawsonia Links, for example, for par.

One thing not listed: my ball generally doesn't go offline. I'll thin or fat some shots now and then, but my face is usually pointing in the right place.

Another: my lag putting is good. I can play to the wide, safe sides of greens because I'm far, far more likely to hit a 50-foot putt to two feet than to three-putt it… and not just because of my "tap-in range."

Also, @DeadMan, I shot 55, 54, 53 at the Sandbox, so it's not like I was hitting just awful shots when I'd "try" different things. And part of the reason I was trying those things is that my partial wedge game is a bit off right now given my swing changes/work. So there, neener-head! 😄

[Vinsk]

I appreciate the write up @DeadMan. But except for learning some management tips, playing with players like @iacas are pure entertainment for me. You see, they do everything better than me. It would be like me trying to run alongside Usain Bolt and think, ‘ boy..maybe I should get my knees up higher.’ It’s just a different world. 😄

[billchao]

22 minutes ago, iacas said:

One thing not listed: my ball generally doesn't go offline. I'll thin or fat some shots now and then, but my face is usually pointing in the right place.

Another: my lag putting is good. I can play to the wide, safe sides of greens because I'm far, far more likely to hit a 50-foot putt to two feet than to three-putt it… and not just because of my "tap-in range."

Yea I was going to bring these points up. We’ve played a number of rounds together now and while I’ve learned a great deal about course management from you, I’ve also learned that I can’t really emulate your game because the gap in our skill sets can be wide.

I don’t think I’m bad at course management, TBH. I know when to go for it and when to be happy to advance the ball. The problem is not hitting the green with my third shot, then pitching on and two-putting for double.

And then of course there are times I go to lay up and still hit the ball to Timbuktu…

[GolfLug]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

One thing not listed: my ball generally doesn't go offline.

Yes, that bit is a little annoying..😉. Ok, seriously this is the one thing I am determined to clean up.

That's where the bacon is at.

[WillieT]

Reading this reminds me of when I get to play along side the old course pro who attends my church.  His game is on a different level and it’s fun to watch him not get into serous trouble.  He’s in his 80’s and still plays with kids in their 20’s (he does tee it fwd as he has lost distance). I’ve learned much from him, mainly to never let trouble get you into more trouble.  Jim, that’s his name, is pretty much a walking example of what is discussed and taught on this site and in LSW.