What is your strategy: Lay up or go for it?

[titaniummd]

There are times when I have hit a short drive and I have to make a decision between going for it but run the risk of getting into a hazard (i.e. water) or laying up and make a difficult run just to make par or bogey.

What is your typical approach when one of your shots did not go as planned? Do you lay up or go for it?

Are there conditions or a state of mind or state of the swing that makes you choose one way or the other?

[play4him]

It's different for each player, but everyone needs to know their limitations. I see high handicappers trying shots that a lot of low handicappers wouldn't bother attempting. In a lot of cases, that's where some high handicappers waste too many strokes. They try to pull off a shot that percentage wise is not in their best interest. I've seen many players who would score a lot lower with better course management.

[jonanthans]

If I am within a 6 Iron (160-165 yards) and have a clean shot, I usually go for it. Otherwise, I probably lay up. I have found that, for me, playing good course management usually means I will have 8-9 birdie putts per round, and likely a chance for par on almost every hole, but what it really does is cuts down on the double bogeys. That is what wrecks your card.

[Lefty731PM]

There are times when I have hit a short drive and I have to make a decision between going for it but run the risk of getting into a hazard (i.e. water) or laying up and make a difficult run just to make par or bogey.

You have answered your own question. With a handicap of of 17, "just making par or bogey" should be your goal. I would say that if going for it makes a double or triple bogey likely, lay up. But as you have implied, sometimes laying up gets you into trouble anyway because sometimes you don't pay attention to the "easy" lay up shot.

[brandon_mcg]

i usually go for it unless its on a day that i'm really not on my game

[pjsnyc]

...What is your typical approach when one of your shots did not go as planned? Do you lay up or go for it?...

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Borf]

I never lay up, ever

To be honest I find it rare that I come across a chance to have to decide.

[iacas]

I choose the proper club off the tee. Sometimes that's a driver. On the 13th hole at Lake View, a shot that requires a draw, it's almost never a driver.

Then I weigh the risks on my second shot. If I think they're favorable, I'll go for it (while planning for the proper "miss"). If laying up is likely to result in the best score, I lay up.

[dave s]

#9 on our home course plays about 390. The hole plays due-west which means into the wind as a rule. It has a 'moat-like' hazard and a block wall holds up a short approach to, and the green. Fat is in the hazard everytime and a double (or worse) ensues.

A 'good' drive for me means I'm still 160-165. The shot is pretty much all carry to a generous green, but you still have to stop the ball when you get there because behind is dicey as well. I lay up with a PW and hit my LW to get close.

Last week of season: CRUSHED a drive (no wind that day and fairway is slightly downhill) to about 130. 8-iron to green, well-struck to within 15', made birdie, won LARGE skin money that day!

At about 160, and with risk of a big score due to water or similar, I'll layup nearly every time! If I happen to be swinging VERY well that day, I might give 160 a go. Would take one club bigger though, just to be safe.

What did Clint Eastwood say? "Man's got to know his limitations."

dave

[telrod11]

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I LOVE those commercials.

[i-Guy]

I have found that, for me, playing good course management usually means I will have 8-9 birdie putts per round, and likely a chance for par on almost every hole, but what it really does is cuts down on the double bogeys. That is what wrecks your card.

Great way to think about it and I agree, however, yardage is not the only determining factor...for instance on a long PAR 4 if I hit a bad drive and still have 180-190 into the hole whether I lay up or not has to do with what the hazards are around the green...if not much (sand trap or two) then I probabaly will go for it as I like the challenge of hitting a longer iron well and if I don't pull it off then I have the challenge of getting "up and down"...

PS Hey "jonanthans" , where in North Louisiana are you from...I am a LA Tech grad...go BULL DOGS !!!

[HytrewQasdfg]

What is your typical approach when one of your shots did not go as planned? Do you lay up or go for it?

At the level I play, not making mistakes has more to do with good scores than making great shots. Most of the time when you "go for it" you just dig yourself into a deeper hole.

OTOH, if you are just playing the round for fun, then going for it is a lot more fun. Making one great shot can make your day.

[hamletsdead]

I used to always go for it -- you know, 210 yards to a green surrounded on 3 sides by sand with a ravine in the back, and 20 yards uphill, and I'd think "Yeah, I can get it in there, no problem." -- and inevitably I'd be over or in the sand 9 out of 10 times, but that 10% of the time I dropped it in perfect kept me doing it over and over.

Then I decided to start keeping statistics on my game, and I realized that going for it was costing me an easy 10 strokes a round (yep, I can cut that dogleg; oops, I'm in the woods, again). Now I actually think about the risk/reward of the shot. Am I looking at getting up and down for par if I lay up vs. triple bogey if I go for it and blow it?

My thinking right now is, when in doubt, lay up. When I start breaking 80 consistently, then I'll go for it more often.

[jonanthans]

PS Hey

West Monroe, 20 minutes from La Tech! I root for them 'Dogs as well!!

[GaijinGolfer]

It all depends upon risk vs reward. I calculate how likely it is that the shot will go bad and just how much trouble a mishit will get me into.
If it is likely that going for it isnt going to work, I will lay up.
I used to be a, "go for broke" kind of golfer, but lately Ive found that playing it safe and keeping the ball in the short grass is often the better way to go.

[extremeld]

i layed up once, never again

[907golfer12]

I generally lay up, one I'm not a long hitter and none of the par 5's from the blue tees are reachable for me, and two my wedge play is the best part of my game, and laying up leads to better scores for me.

[Grndslmhttr3]

Go big or go home. Balls to the walls baby.