Better late than never...

[AMGfan]

This year I made a conscious effort to manage my game better. The main theme of this year is that I DO NOT have to hit my driver on every par four or even a par five to lower my index.

Why I didn't think of this sooner is a shame...I hope you guys and gals were quicker to this simple theme.

[chingali]

You have the right idea mate, using your brains will improve your average score faster than practicing will on it's own.

It's certainly not a new idea. If you get a chance to play with good players, by good I mean players who play more than the one course and if they have a bad day they are never more than 5 over par or thereabouts you will be surprised how few times some of them hit driver.

I'm certainly not the best golfer in the world but I am a very sensible one who scores well consistently and in a normal round I'll hit driver maybe 8 times, the other 6 times I'll be hitting 3 wood or a long iron.

Looking at my stats for the last year I hit 81% of fairways when I used a 3 wood or long iron off the tee and only 52% when I used a driver. With the two combined I hit 64% of fairways all told so you'd think I was a reasonably good driver of the ball until you saw it broken down further!

Someone once pointed out to me that there is no real difference between hitting a 4 iron compared to a 6 iron from the middle of the fairway which is the difference between driver and 3 wood but there is a big difference between hitting a 3 wood against a driver off the tee.

[AMGfan]

You have the right idea mate, using your brains will improve your average score faster than practicing will on it's own.

Thanks for the feedback...I just find myself able to control direction and trajectory (esp. on windy days and on tight hazard lined courses) with my hybrids (3i and 1i halos). Granted, I'm about 130-150yds (on average par 4's) from the green, but that is still a manageable distance for me.

Even if I'm 180-210 yds away, the 5i is still in my bag. I played Poppy Hills 2 yrs ago (which is a tight course) and I was gripping and ripping my driver...bad idea. I didn't have the hybrids back then...I would have enjoyed the round a lot more.

[Fisherdude]

For several years I played in a fun little tournament called the "One Club No Matter What". It was played the Friday morning after Thanksgiving. Bloody Mary's and cigars at 8:30, tee off at 9:30.

18 tensomes. You got it, 180 guys in a scramble. Sold out every year. One year we were scraping little channels through the snow on the greens.

Hot lunch and open bar. What a hoot!

So, here's the main thing...one club!! For everything, including putting. Let me tell you something: You'd be astonished how often you're putting for par.

So, on long par 4's, two shots, and then you have to play a bump and run to the green for your third. So, you need to plan where to leave your second so you have a clear shot for your third. Same idea for par fives. Three shots, then the pitch. You do NOT want to be in a steep-faced green side bunker with a 5-iron in your hands.

Talk about making you plan ahead!! Guys who knew what they were doing were routinely in the low 40's for 9 holes. Including the long underwear and the Bloody Mary's!

I read once that if a typical golfer who was in the 90's most of the time would play one round with a 7-iron, a sand wedge, and a putter, he'd shoot the lowest score of his life.

If you want to learn a little something about both course management and managing your own game and your head, give something like this a try. Maybe play one round with a 5-iron, a sand wedge, and a putter. You might be very, very surprised how it turns out.

[AMGfan]

For several years I played in a fun little tournament called the "One Club No Matter What". It was played the Friday morning after Thanksgiving. Bloody Mary's and cigars at 8:30, tee off at 9:30.

That sounds like fun and I just may try that on one of those twilight rounds I have planned. I might switch out that 5 iron with my Cleveland 5i halo though.

[Fourputt]

On the front 9 of my home course, 3368 yards par 36, I usually hit driver on only 4 holes. I hit a hybrid now (used to be a long iron) on the 2 remaining par 4 holes and one par 5. The only time I will break this routine is for a team tournament event, and then only if my partner/team is safely in the fairway already.

When I was in Florida in February, I played a course that was short by my usual reckoning. I played from the 2nd tee from the back, while the guys I played with both days always played from the next tee forward. I was hitting a hybrid on most holes while they hit drivers, and I was still outdriving them almost every time. And even when I didn't outdrive them, I was in play more often with my hybrids, fairway instead of rough.

I think that Yogi Berra would agree that 90% of this game is half mental...

[Fisherdude]

Here's another fun little test of where your game is strong vs weak. If you can take the grief from your buddies...

Play one round from the most forward tees on your course. I heard that a college golf coach had his players do that to get them used to scoring low. It made them not get rattled by being in the low 60's.

I was thinking there may be another eye opener with this exercise...if you don't score much lower than usual, your problem isn't lack of distance off the tee.

[Billbill13]

It's funny I was just thinking about this very samething. I played around yesterday and could not get my driver under control at all. I am usually very long off the tee but sometimes very long and to the left or right. I played terrible on the front nine shot a 51 becasue of several penalty strokes. So on the back nine I said screw it and took a 3-wood anytime I would have normally used driver. I was controlling it great and still getting 250+ off the tee with it. I ended up shooting a 42 on the back nine.

I can't say that I will never use driver again but I can tell you that if I do not have it under control through the first 1-3 driver holes it's going back in the bag a lot sooner.

My other problem is knowing whether to lay up or go for it but that is another story....

[teebuck911]

i find it is best to put your self on the correct side of the fairway and set yourself up for a good approch rather than being closer to the green an on the wrong side of the fairway, but some times i would rather hit my driver as i am realy confident with it and 8/10 times it goes exactly where i wanted it to go,


tom

[AMGfan]

i find it is best to put your self on the correct side of the fairway and set yourself up for a good approch rather than being closer to the green an on the wrong side of the fairway, but some times i would rather hit my driver as i am realy confident with it and 8/10 times it goes exactly where i wanted it to go,

Unfortunately, I've been playing a couple of courses that are really tight and tree-lined, so my margin of error is a lot lower on these courses. My level of confidence in my driver is good, but not at 80%. That is why I've been hitting my 1i and 3i Cleveland Halo's with a much greater degree of success in hitting the fairway, making par a possibility. Whereas, the woods makes a scramble for a bogey.

[teebuck911]

good points there, every one has strong points and weak points, and different views on their course management,


tom

[David D]

I'm with you, I need to manage my tee shots better as well.

There have been far too many times I've hit driver and hit it pretty well, but it just goes a bit right or left and sometimes even right through the turn on a dogleg. This year I'll be hitting 3W and hybrid a lot more off the tee.

Last season I stopped trying to go for the green in two on every par five and it made a huge difference in my par 5 scores. Keep it in the fairway!