bad course strategy.......it destroys so many rounds for high handicappers....

[BuckeyeNut]

After reading several comments, I believe some people are missing the point.  Those who only club down because driver might reach a hazard don't get it......

I suppose if those golfers are playing wide open courses, it's probably a moot point.  LOL

[billchao]

After reading several comments, I believe some people are missing the point.  Those who only club down because driver might reach a hazard don't get it...... I suppose if those golfers are playing wide open courses, it's probably a moot point.  LOL

I'm not quite sure I get what you're saying. Please, elaborate.

[BuckeyeNut]

I'm not quite sure I get what you're saying. Please, elaborate.

For 1.............Strategy from the tee:

Targeting the ideal landing areas is a must.   Most high cappers have no concept of the correct landing area.   They just bomb away and hope for the best........... in many cases, choosing driver makes the target much smaller when laying back just a little bit will give them a wider margin for error and a good shot at the green.  If they'd just play to the smart area, there is much more room for error... That's just the tip of the huge iceberg..IMO

Don't even get me started on recovery shots.......LOL

[iacas]

Targeting the ideal landing areas is a must.   Most high cappers have no concept of the correct landing area.   They just bomb away and hope for the best........... in many cases, choosing driver makes the target much smaller when laying back just a little bit will give them a wider margin for error and a good shot at the green.  If they'd just play to the smart area, there is much more room for error... That's just the tip of the huge iceberg..IMO

What if I told you that too many amateurs don't hit driver often enough, and that the smart play is sometimes to aim in the rough and hit the driver?

Longer shots to the green increase your scoring, and people are not much more accurate with a 3W than they are with their driver.

[joekelly]

Regardless of club in hand, if i do not have a reasonable target to aim at, a good result is less likely. Any time i 'shoot to avoid' and not 'shoot to hit' , the probability  of a poor shot increases.  If i can see a sprinkler head cover, 210 yrds from the tee box, i will aim, and swing,  to hit that.

[JP golf]

I'm not quite sure I get what you're saying. Please, elaborate.

It also helps to play to yardages...  a well hit driver may be in the fairway but put you 45-55 out, when maybe 3 iron or hybrid will put you with a full shot from 110...  Personally, I need to work on my wedge game but 35-60 yards for me is tough, I will get it closer from 90,100...  closer isn't always better....  It will also help me be more accurate giving me a better shot at an ideal approach angle...

It's easier to explain in a pic....   See the example below

These are not 100% to scale but you get the idea.  A hook or slice in picture B would only exaggerate the point.

Hope that helps a little with regards to course management.

PS, just hit driver, it's more fun!!!! .......  unless your worried about your score

[iacas]

It also helps to play to yardages...  a well hit driver may be in the fairway but put you 45-55 out, when maybe 3 iron or hybrid will put you with a full shot from 110...  Personally, I need to work on my wedge game but 35-60 yards for me is tough, I will get it closer from 90,100...  closer isn't always better....

Closer is almost always better. You're quite likely wrong about your beliefs. If you hit it to 15 feet from 50 yards that's nearly world class. 25 feet from 100 is also world class. Your perceptions are probably off. And it's hurting your strategies.

[rkim291968]

Longer shots to the green increase your scoring, and people are not much more accurate with a 3W than they are with their driver.

I can relate to that.  I am more accurate with driver than 3 wood.

[JP golf]

Closer is almost always better. You're quite likely wrong about your beliefs. If you hit it to 15 feet from 50 yards that's nearly world class. 25 feet from 100 is also world class.

Your perceptions are probably off. And it's hurting your strategies.

The picture B......   Proves your point...  You are probably correct.  However, my distance is horrible from 35-60 (maybe within 15 yards-distance).  I'm pretty dialed in right now from 90-100 (maybe within 5 yards distance).  Distance control is what my issue is from 35-60 yards.  It would depend on where I can miss... If line is key (deep narrow green), 35-60 is the better yardage (I'll hit it on a tighter line), if distance is the important factor (shallow wide green), then I would rather be 90-100.  It's a balancing game...  What I lose in distance control on 35-60 I make up for with my accuracy to target line and vice versa for 90-100....

I do know what your saying though and don't really disagree... It was just an example- no golden rule.

[iacas]

Then spend 30 minutes and map your distances with 1/4 to 3/4 wedges.

[JP golf]

Then spend 30 minutes and map your distances with 1/4 to 3/4 wedges.

Yes that would be the wise investment my friend and well worth the time. My intention wasn't to make it about my game but to generalize and support the statement below using me as an example....   because someone asked for clarification to that statement. So I took a few minutes to mark up an example and posted it...

It's really simple.. It's not ALWAYS best to hit driver simply because "closer is almost always better" - the key word is ALMOST - Thus, closer is not always better ...  In the end the best course management is to know your game, where you miss, where to miss, what your weakness are, and how to play to your strengths to optimize your scoring.

For 1.............Strategy from the tee:

Targeting the ideal landing areas is a must.   Most high cappers have no concept of the correct landing area.   They just bomb away and hope for the best........... in many cases, choosing driver makes the target much smaller when laying back just a little bit will give them a wider margin for error and a good shot at the green.  If they'd just play to the smart area, there is much more room for error... That's just the tip of the huge iceberg..IMO

Don't even get me started on recovery shots.......LOL

[late347]

On a wide open hole like that I'd definitely bomb the driver...

Who cares, it's just fairway bunker? Nothing to fear about those...

You don't even lose balls in the Davy Jones's locker...

But I gotta tell ya I've been in some steep dug-in green bunkers a few times...

Smart play for a beginner is to hit the driver straight or slight fade. Ball should land in the whereabouts of right side fairway, or right side rough...

Just hope that the ball doesn't go into a "burrowing animal hole" or whatever...

DON'T aim for the pin! aim for the center of green , if you suck at short game. In this case maybe aim for either the back left side of green, or the front right side of green. Or just the center to make it simpler.

1 wedge shot, lob / pitch into the green

1 putt if you're a good putter

2 putt if mediocre putter...

[CarlSpackler]

I'll take 50, 45, 30, etc. yard pitch over a full GW or PW ANY day whether it's over a bunker or not. Why? I have a better chance of getting it closer. I will leave the driver in the bag on certain holes. For instance, there is a par 4 on a course I play that anything over 230 is wet and you need 280 to carry the lake. There are some other 90 deg dog legs where a driver or 3w will go through the fairway on the fly, but I can draw a 7i around the corner leaving me GW in.

[oregongolfguy]

I think bad execution of shots destroys most rounds for high cappers....Including me.

Having said that.  If I see no serious trouble then I am hitting driver.  Even on short par 4's.  Even though my full swing wedge game has really come on of late.  if you give me 20 shots 30yds away in rough(but not serious trouble) and 20 shots from 110yds in fairway.  I think I will be on average in better position from 30yds.

[Ho Chi Chi Vinh]

Worse than having 'bad' course strategy is having NO course strategy...this (IMO) is the reason why high-handicappers STAY high handicappers. Also having a strategy that is not consistent with their ability.

I am 62 and my course strategy has changed since the days of my youth when i was all attack attack attack (thanks Mr Palmer)...now I take what the course gives me and attack when I can.

One way my thinking has changed is in where I play my approach shots...nowadays I play to where an error on my part will not cost me a stroke or (dread) two....i.e. the fat of the green or the side of the green with less trouble and more room for error...easy up and downs etc.

[billchao]

Worse than having 'bad' course strategy is having NO course strategy...this (IMO) is the reason why high-handicappers STAY high handicappers. Also having a strategy that is not consistent with their ability.

I still maintain that high handicappers are bad golfers because of a higher frequency of poor shots. They stay bad golfers primarily because of poor practice habits and/or bad instruction, not because of poor strategy. Poor strategy doesn't cause one to have to punch out of the woods, or top a ball directly into a water hazard.

[Abu3baid]

I still maintain that high handicappers are bad golfers because of a higher frequency of poor shots. They stay bad golfers primarily because of poor practice habits and/or bad instruction, not because of poor strategy. Poor strategy doesn't cause one to have to punch out of the woods, or top a ball directly into a water hazard.

+1. Totally agree

[Fourputt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ho Chi Chi Vinh

Worse than having 'bad' course strategy is having NO course strategy...this (IMO) is the reason why high-handicappers STAY high handicappers. Also having a strategy that is not consistent with their ability.

I still maintain that high handicappers are bad golfers because of a higher frequency of poor shots. They stay bad golfers primarily because of poor practice habits and/or bad instruction, not because of poor strategy.

Poor strategy doesn't cause one to have to punch out of the woods, or top a ball directly into a water hazard.

But that doesn't mean that they don't have opportunities to minimize the damage that their inconsistency can cause by playing smarter golf.  Good course management can help players at any level.  Even though a well planned shot fails to go where it's intended, that's no reason to turn off your brain for the next one.  That recovery shot just might be the one that saves a bogey, rather than playing for the hero shot and making triple or quad.  That can lead to a cascade of confidence building shots.

Sometimes it's about making baby steps.  Players rarely progress in golf by making quantum leaps.