How often do you play "smart"?

[EightBlue]

or in other words try to shoot the lowest gross score?

For me, its very rarely. Usually when i play with friends, we are playing some skins-type game. Since i am usually giving shots, I need to be VERY aggressive. Even when playing alone, I usually just go out and try to see how many birdies I can make.

One of my goals for next year is to play smarter and actually start playing in some tourneys. I realized that I need to make it more of a habit to play under control.

[deronsizemore]

I try to play the best I can every single time I play. My normal group doesn't bet or give shots; we're all out there to just play our best and post our lowest score.

I haven't played in a tournament since high school and I played in one this year and even though I try to shoot my lowest score every time I'm out, playing in this four day tournament proved to me even more that I need even better concentration to keep it together for four days.

I always try to assess the risk of a shot and be realistic with my ability. If I don't think I can pull off the shot majority of the time, I usually won't hit it. I'll just take my medicine and try to make the best score possible after taking said medicine. Eliminating those dumb three or four shots a round has really helped me. It used to never fail, each round I would play well enough to shoot even but would shoot a 77 or something because of being dumb.

[RS22]

Any time I'm taking a round serious I play smart but if I'm playing w/ some of my beginner buddies they love to see me hit the long ball so I hit driver a lot more often, going for greens in 2 when I would normally lay up or something like that.

[TD22057]

I decided last year to really work on my score. I tried to mentally redefine what I considered to be "fun" to be the lowest total score I could shoot. It's definitely made a difference - my handicap dropped 4 strokes in the months after I made that mental switch.

[Parker0065]

I like to use the traffic light as a analogy for playing smart. If the the shot sets up perfect for my ball flight then it gets a green light. If the shot has some risk involved but I still feel confident I can pull it off it gets a yellow light. Finally if it's a shot that I will have to pull off a career shot then I will give it a red light.

During a average round I would say that 65% of my shots are green lights, 30% are yellow, and 5% are red.

Playing smart doesn't mean never flying at a flag, it just means playing a higher percentage shot when the percentages are against you!

[Fourputt]

I consider course management to be an essential part of the game, so I always try to play the percentages. Sometimes you have to weigh the odds of pulling off a shot against the necessity of taking the risk because of the state of a match or tournament, and that isn't always an exact science. My decision can also be influenced by how I'm swinging on a given day.

I'd say that 90% of the time I'm at least trying to do the smart thing, but occasionally ego or frustration clogs up the thinking processes.

[James_Black]

Well we have competitions every sunday.
In those I play smart.

But if it's a round with friends I play as aggressive as I can.

[kevin.chan]

Depends on the day and the people i play with.

If come to betting , and if i m lagging behind , i normally play aggressive.

But when neck to neck ,play smart !

[uttexas]

Depends on how my tempo/rhythm and confidence are doing. I only rarely play for money or in competitive tournaments, so most rounds are casual with friends. Most of my friends don't take the game seriously, so I try not to scoreboard them--thus I'll hit my putts quickly, taking little time to calculate the line of putt. However, if the round is more serious, I'll look at the putting line from behind the ball, hole, and lowest point along the putting path. If I take the time to look at putts from three different angles, I putt much better. Casual rounds, however, should be played rather quickly, so I play for speed of play rather than score.

When my tempo is good, I can play aggressively and smart knowing that the ball will end up on the fairway and then the green. However, if my tempo is way off, I'll hit toward safe or "bail-out" areas.

[DaSportsGuy]

I'm always playing to beat my lowest score. I don't see any point in paying to go out and just smack the ball around.

[flopdarock]

my whole goal in a round is to score as low as possible... that being said...
for some reason... everytime i play 'smart' it tends to backfire on me...
im by nature a go for it kinda guy and id like to say it works out for me most of the time... ive hit some hero shots in my day and ive had balls bounce back in worse spots...
heck the last time i played 'smart'... drive went into the woods... punched out to a perfect lay up with my pw... all i needed was a 6i to the green... chunk/fail...
next hole... pulled another into the woods... had a slight opening to the green... went for it and got a gir...
there are a few times when going for it is just plain stupid... so my final answer is it all depends on the situation... if i have no choice... smart overcomes stupid... lol

[2bGood]

I do take risks, but I try to think them through, like going for it on a long par 5 with water on the edge from 230 out, I could lay up to 100, but with my game bad things still happen from 100 in, so I will often go for it. The worst case is I get wet and and I chipping 4 from the edge of the green or I don't get all of my 3 wood and I hitting from 30 yards or something.

[kevin.chan]

I slept for only 2 hrs last nite and when i go for the game this morning ,all the smart play and risk play does not work at all !

LOL !

[wedge player]

i never play smart persay,i mean i dont try to carry a 3 wood 260 over water or anything,im always firing at the pins,pulling out driver on all holes i can.im a highly aggresive player.

[FHopper]

I am learning too. There is a left hand dog leg over a lake, #15 at Braeburn Wichita Ks. If you drive over the water you can drive through the fairway and all but through the rough to the driving range. A draw is very hard to do on purpose! The first half dozen times I played the hole I drove to the far edge of the rough and had lots of trees between me and the green. Finally the last two times I have played it I have used a 3 wood and barely gotten over the water but was in the fairway 160 out. (I wish Google Earth would take a few shots that were not in the dead of winter!)

[Lefty-Golfer]

RThere is a straight line between homw much money is being bet and how smart i play...sad but true. For $10 Nassea of less, not so smart, for 20 or higher....I get much smarter!!

[Lefty-Golfer]

I am learning too. There is a left hand dog leg over a lake, #15 at Braeburn Wichita Ks. If you drive over the water you can drive through the fairway and all but through the rough to the driving range. A draw is very hard to do on purpose! The first half dozen times I played the hole I drove to the far edge of the rough and had lots of trees between me and the green. Finally the last two times I have played it I have used a 3 wood and barely gotten over the water but was in the fairway 160 out. (I wish Google Earth would take a few shots that were not in the dead of winter!)

This hole is perfectly set up for my fade!!!

[kfowler]

Always try to play smart. Don't always execute or make the right decision but I do try to consider what my options are.