Course Management

[ZaPPPa]

This is something I see only very rarely mentioned on a forum even though it is a huge part of the game.

Let's take this hole for example. I think it would be interesting to see how people would tackle this one at their skill level and why.

I play a straight/slight fade trajectory, so this hole suits me rather well. I'm assuming I play from the blues, being a beginner and all. It's 173 to the first bunker. What's more important though, is that I am currently way better from 100 yards than from 50. I have practiced my GW&PW; so much I can do an easy shot and put it within a 10 yards radius as long as I play it from the fairway. From 50y I have to choke down and do half-shots, which I haven't got my distances down for. So, my optimal Tee-off would be a 5I aiming at the left bunker, leaving me with a good 80-110 y distance for my second shot.

If I feel bold I could switch to a 5W instead. I get exponentially worse with my irons, so a 4I or 3I would be a bad idea. I feel more comfortable with the 5W. An easy 5W aimed between the two bunkers would hopefully fade me on the 80y line a little right of the second bunker.

How would you do it? Tips, tricks?

[JimmyDoesGolf]

I would probably play a 6 iron off the tee aiming at the second bunker, with my natural draw to take the water out of play. That would probably leave me 100-110 left to the whole, from which I'd play a PW or 9i depending on the pin location. I'd probably favour the left, as I'd much rather be in a bunker than in the drink.

[yeis20]

as a lefty with a nice draw off the tee, I would bomb the driver at the 4th trap down the farway. It really depends on the rough, wind and bunker conditions though, but without any other info, I would be hitting a light paced 64* into the green if it did not roll on anyways, either that or a 54 out of the front area sand traps.

Other plan would be 6 iron, pw but why bother hitting the first shot if there is a high probability for a trap to be in play.

I would play well past those first bunkers regardless of result, because being in the sand that far out is a huge waste. It would easily cost me 1-2 strokes.

[beisenhauer]

With my handicap, par is good score, even on a short par 4. From the tee all I want is a ball in the fairway (or even anywhere besides the water), so I'm laying up to the bunkers, probably with a six or seven iron, depending on which tee, wind, etc. A decent tee shot will probably leave me with somewhere in the neighborhood of 100-115 to the front, so I'm probably hitting a 52° or pitching wedge if I want to guard against missing short. If the tee shot misses the fairway left, then I'm looking at around 130 or a little more to the front. Depending on the lie, I'm prone to hitting fliers from the rough, so I'm probably looking at 8 or 9 iron, again depending on conditions and where I want to miss.

[rubbery]

Depends on the scenario. If I pull driver it's an easy birdie hole, but then I'm flirting with getting wet. If I absolutely needed a birdie I would aim driver at the tree left of the bunker and cut it past said bunker. Which would either leave me with a little 30 or so yard shot or a drop.

If I didn't need a bird, I would draw a three wood to take the water and all the bunkers out of play. From there I would have a nice 60 or so yard shot.

If I'm protecting a lead, I would hit 6-iron short of the bunkers which would leave me a soft pitching wedge into the green.

[doctorjoe]

I would hit a 6-iron to about 110 yards, just right of the traps, then a PW aimed at the center of the green. Par is a good score for me.

[$2 Nassau]

I would hit a 6-iron to about 110 yards, just right of the traps, then a PW aimed at the center of the green. Par is a good score for me.

What he said.

[Spectrums]

Just to let you all know, the yardages are in meters...

[m11]

this hole certainly gives you a got shot at birdie if you hit mid iron off the tee then short iron or wedge.

If you are comfortable with that 5wood. it is certainly an option. I'd pick whichever club is as close of a lock as possible for you. No reason to put that 5wood into the bunker if its not necessary.

Either way, seems like you have the right idea.

I'd have a tendency to pull driver and just try to blast it as close to the green as i could get it...but thats certainly not the smart play.

[beung]

Just to let you all know, the yardages are in meters...

Damn, that changes things, I was going to fly the water, aiming at the middle bunker at 53 out and play a bit of a fade but that's out now.

From the white tees, I would hit 5i to the trap and play a fade. That should leave me with about a 9i or PW to the pin. With those clubs in my hand I am usually aiming no more then 15 or so feet off the flag. For a handicapper like the OP I woud tee of the exact same way. I would play a club to get to on the fairway without getting me into the bunker, so aim left even the bunker is better then being wet. If you can fly a 7-pw iron to the green then go for the middle. If not then layup and play to your boggie handicap. If you think about it a par for you here is like a birdie to a scratch golfer. You don't want to make a double here trying to make a "par".

[docmao]

I'd bust 3 wood over the first 3 traps aiming at the trees. If I fade it, its in the fairway, if its straight, its a wedge out of the rough, no biggy.

But that takes the water completely out of play.

[$2 Nassau]

Just to let you all know, the yardages are in meters...

Yes. That makes it about 315 yards I think, would change the way I played it too much

[ZaPPPa]

So, the proper way to tackle this hole for me is to tee off with an iron and pitch it in there for a par...

Now, what would happen in real life if I would encounter this hole and I'd never seen it before:

I pull out the driver... because that's what I do on a par 4. I look at all the water and get concerned.... really... really... concerned. I put my shiny Titleist NXT back in the bag and pull out a cheap, dirty Top Flight ball I found in a swampy piece of land a week earlier.
I kind of fly through my pre-shot routine.. I mean, the pro's do it, but it's not seriously going to help me, right. I do the thing where I line up using a close target and do a little waggle for the ladies. I promptly forget all I learned in the last couple of weeks of driving range sessions. I start to second guess my ball position, my feet position, my stance and my life.
Then I load up.. arms flailing, shoulders dropping, hips sliding.. After having moved the club a foot back I feel something's... ehmm... 'off'. The butt end of the club shouldn't be hitting my right thigh.. or should it? But, you can't stop now. Going up.. The swing unleashes.. somewhere in the middle of the down-swing I mutter an 'uh-oh', but it's too late. The club hits the ground about 10 inches behind the ball, bounces and tops the ball with the outside edge of the club. The ball screams away at a 45 degree angle, for a minute it looks to be one of those famous wormburners, but then the top-spin sets in and the ball takes a dramatic dive onto a cart path. I swear I see chunks of concrete disintegrating on impact. Big bounce, more topspin, grass is scorched, branches break.. the humanity! Finally, the ball reaches the water. With a loud splash its 'adventure' ends.

Soo.. plan B. The driver! (I'm stubborn), but this time I'll fix all my faults in one swing because I'm analytical n' stuff and really capable of doing that.. A new swing, a new adventure.

I'll spare you the rest.. it doesn't get any better.

[Stacey_E]

Yeah, I don't know my meters and I'm too old to learn. But one thing I would not do is F*#? with a fairway bunker which seems to be what the course designer wants you to do. I'd play a cut shot between a 6 iron and 4hybrid (which ever comes short of the first bunker). With a short iron or wedge in my hand, I'd aim for the center or left center of the green to stay away from the drink.

BTW good thread. I've always known if you saw my swing you would think I was a 25 handicap. But course management is one of my strongest skills. I think a lot of golfers think it's just about making shots.

[Treemagnet]

Aim for the left side of the green and let her rip.

[beung]

Well I'll tell you what, there are 2 sides to golf. One is the fun part and the second is the score.

With that said a person with a 36 index (not sure if that is current for the OP) you're bascially playing double boggie golf. So in reality you can take 3 shots to get on the green and 3 putt for your "par", anything better then a 6 on this hole and your saving yourself strokes as it compares to your handicap - that is the score part of golf.

Infact to break 90 all you have to do is boggie every hole, that sounds easy or hard depending on how you look at it. So you have to approach this hole with the intent of getting a 5 not the expectation of getting a 4. If you play this hole with the intent to get a 4 you're doomed before you even make a swing off the tee. The water is probably an automatic 6 for most golfers, the bunkers is probably a 5 maybe a 4 depending on how good the lie is and how good you are.

Taking a smart 4 or 5 here is going to give you 1-2 strokes to play with on a hole which you can bomb the driver on. It's going to make the hard par 4s easier because you have some stokes to play with, heck even taking a big number like a 7 on a hard hole doesn't hurt so bad when you have a 4 or 5 to offset it.

[ZaPPPa]

I don't have a handicap really. I started playing about six months ago and have only been on the course about 5 or 6 times, mostly doing 9 holes. I practice about 3 times a week on the range and short game area. Last week I ended up with a 55 on the front 9 and scored Par, Bogey, Double Bogey on the 10-12 before it got too dark.

One of the holes last week I hit a fairly decent Drive and had 200 yards to go. Instead of hitting a 5W or 4I, I'd rather do 2 pitching wedges or an 8I and whatever is left. Doing that I am solidly en-route to a bogey, because I seem to have a knack for putting.

PS. The story above is just a funny story.. I hit a ball like that last week, but instead of going right it went left, bounced on a bridge about 30 yards away and landed on the fairway... my playing partner was amazed. I was too pissed to realize the beauty of the shot at the time. I hadn't shanked my driver in weeks, so I was afraid I had lost weeks of hard work.

[$2 Nassau]

So, the proper way to tackle this hole for me is to tee off with an iron and pitch it in there for a par...

Wow, that was interesting to read, and quite entertaining.

Don't be so tough on yourself. We've all done things like that in the early going.