Stopping the blowout holes

[moe63]

Gidday everyone,

This is my first post for a while so bare with me. I have been sitting around the14 handicap range for the past couple of years and have been frustrated by ruining great rounds with big numbers on 1 or 2 holes, EG: podium finishes in consecutive monthly medal's recently with 9 and 10 on the card respectively.

My course is a group 1 course in Newcastle Australia and is quite penal on way-wood drives and big numbers happen easily if you loose your head. So, this brings me to my point. I went out for a practice round this afternoon to do an experiment that I think everyone should try. To play a 5iron off the tee on every par 4&5!

I hit my 5iron around 170m and was amazed when I walked off after 9 holes shooting 2 over off the stick with very little drama. I didn't try and hit the longer par 4's in 2, just laying up in front and got up and down on most and even birdied one of the par 5's with a dead stick PW and parred the other one. I didn't even look like getting in trouble. 38 is my lowest 9 holes ever.

So what am I saying, well I guess I've had a holy crap moment and having my wife say 'Really that's nice dear', I needed to share with someone that gives a hoot! Now I'm not saying I'm selling my driver and buying a pencil bag and only carry 5 clubs. But maybe the big dog is not the club of choice on every hole and long irons into elevated greens maybe are shots best left to the low markers even on the par 4's.

Now I just have to deal with my ego on Saturday and the crap I will cop from my buddies for hitting rescue on a par 5 and laying up on those long par 4's.

Anyway thanks for listening, love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers

[boogielicious]

Welcome to the site from down under @moe63

There are a lot of factors to lowering your score and preventing blow up holes.  A couple of rules of thumb are:

1. Don't follow a bad shot with another bad shot (i.e. trying a hero shot to recover).
2. Play shots off the tee that will give you the best chance of parring the hole.

Also, understanding your distances, tendencies and ability and applying that to the course will help as well.

I would highly recommend the book below.  It goes into detail on how to play golf with your current ability to score lower.  It also shows you what the important areas of your game are that you should work on and how to work on improving your weaknesses.

http://lowestscorewins.com/

[ChrisPietersen]

Gidday everyone, This is my first post for a while so bare with me. I have been sitting around the14 handicap range for the past couple of years and have been frustrated by ruining great rounds with big numbers on 1 or 2 holes, EG: podium finishes in consecutive monthly medal's recently with 9 and 10 on the card respectively. My course is a group 1 course in Newcastle Australia and is quite penal on way-wood drives and big numbers happen easily if you loose your head. So, this brings me to my point. I went out for a practice round this afternoon to do an experiment that I think everyone should try. To play a 5iron off the tee on every par 4&5! I hit my 5iron around 170m and was amazed when I walked off after 9 holes shooting 2 over off the stick with very little drama. I didn't try and hit the longer par 4's in 2, just laying up in front and got up and down on most and even birdied one of the par 5's with a dead stick PW and parred the other one. I didn't even look like getting in trouble. 38 is my lowest 9 holes ever. So what am I saying, well I guess I've had a holy crap moment and having my wife say 'Really that's nice dear', I needed to share with someone that gives a hoot! Now I'm not saying I'm selling my driver and buying a pencil bag and only carry 5 clubs. But maybe the big dog is not the club of choice on every hole and long irons into elevated greens maybe are shots best left to the low markers even on the par 4's. Now I just have to deal with my ego on Saturday and the crap I will cop from my buddies for hitting rescue on a par 5 and laying up on those long par 4's. Anyway thanks for listening, love to hear your thoughts. Cheers

Coming from a double bogey golfer here. I'm thinking of trying this out myself. I'm a bit shorter off the 5 iron (About 160m at best), but it wil probably still help a lot to stay out of trouble? How many fairways did you hit against your usual rounds?

[moe63]

Thanks Mate

I will check that book out for sure.Had a tin cup moment on the weekend, must learn to stop think and put the fairway wood back. That was one of the best things about today. When you put yourself in a good position short of the green you give yourself the best chance to chip close and make your putt.

[moe63]

Normally I can hit about 8-10 the trouble is my course has very few joined fairways and is heavily bushed so there's no hitting it back over on to the right fairway, just reload and hit your 3rd.

I hit a very high ball with my driver and average around 240m but I think it is into the wind that i will club back and hit an iron or hybrid. keep it in the middle.

[ChrisPietersen]

I see. So you are basically looking to hit GIR+1 on every hole? Getting you in a good position to 1 putt?

[RayG]

This has been around for a looooong time. If you can hit a 5 iron 170 yards, you can reach up to a par 5 of 510 in 3, shorter holes in less with 2 5's and a wedge or something. IF all you are interested in is scoring well and keeping big numbers off, then it's the way to go. Only thing is, it doesn't look good in the "manly" department :-D. Gotta hit a big stick once in awhile! If you go a bit wayward with the driver, put any thoughts of miracle shots out of your head. Just get back to fairway and play on. Almost EVERY round I see a guy who thinks he can thread that 3 yard needle 40 yards ahead with a knocked down 3 iron. .001% he makes it. 49.999 % he hits a tree 3 yards in front of him and it goes who knows where. Then figures if he hits it even HARDER, he'll make it through this time 50% he chunks it and doesn't advance more than a foot anyway.

[moe63]

Now I'm not saying I'm selling my driver and buying a pencil bag and only carry 5 clubs. But maybe the big dog is not the club of choice on every hole and long irons into elevated greens maybe are shots best left to the low markers even on the par 4's.

Yeah I know, not a new concept just didn't realise how effective it could be as a strategy. As I said I have no intention of playing a 5iron of every tee but I now know where it will put me and I have the option. The other thing is that I noticed that into the wind, because I hit the ball quite high with driver the difference between a iron or a hybrid and the driver doesn't warrant the risk. The #1 and #3 indexed holes on my course are 400m par 4's to elevated greens and commonly play into the prevailing wind and it is there where I'm suggesting some course management might be of benefit. I wasn't talking about getting out of trouble that's a given, but to consciously decide to not try and hit my long irons into the wind to elevated greens but to play for position and have 2 putts for boggy.

Maybe being considered less manly is less embarrassing then constantly dragging my partners through bush looking golf balls or reloading all the time.

[ChrisPietersen]

Just something I may need some advice on. I advised my friend to try this in his 9 hole round yesterday. He scored pretty well, but constantly found himself short of the green. He hit a lot more fairways, but where he wanted to be on the green in 3 strokes, he was just short on 3. Could this just be a misjudgement in club selection, or could this strategy cause you to be a bit too relaxed and then you don't hit your normal distances?

[Shorty]

Maybe being considered less manly is less embarrassing then constantly dragging my partners through bush looking golf balls or reloading all the time.

1.They probably won't notice.

2. If they do, they won't care.

[moe63]

Just something I may need some advice on. I advised my friend to try this in his 9 hole round yesterday. He scored pretty well, but constantly found himself short of the green. He hit a lot more fairways, but where he wanted to be on the green in 3 strokes, he was just short on 3. Could this just be a misjudgement in club selection, or could this strategy cause you to be a bit too relaxed and then you don't hit your normal distances?

Yes i suppose it could be. I found that I had to alter my target line then put a full swing on it. The target zone, being closer seemed much bigger so I could swing with confidence. You should always pick a target on that second shot, I'm always looking at my wedge distance or the 100m marker. But the philosophy will work just as well with a 5 wood or a hybrid from the tee, in fact thats the most likely way I will incorporate it into my comp rounds. Tell your mate not to worry about being slightly short for 3, thats what handicaps are for. But, I'll bet his ball striking will improve if he's always playing of fairway lies.

[ChrisPietersen]

Yes i suppose it could be. I found that I had to alter my target line then put a full swing on it. The target zone, being closer seemed much bigger so I could swing with confidence. You should always pick a target on that second shot, I'm always looking at my wedge distance or the 100m marker. But the philosophy will work just as well with a 5 wood or a hybrid from the tee, in fact thats the most likely way I will incorporate it into my comp rounds. Tell your mate not to worry about being slightly short for 3, thats what handicaps are for. But, I'll bet his ball striking will improve if he's always playing of fairway lies.

It surely did help! His score was better, he only needs to get a bit more consistent in his iron distances. I'm also thinking of trying it out, but my iron shots are still way to inconsistent!

[boogielicious]

The through swing will be shorter naturally because the putter head loses momentum after contact.  You just don't want to consciously stop it.

[Ernest Jones]

Might be an OK strategy in the short term but the ceiling is pretty low with that strategy. FIR is hugely overrated as a stat. Nice to have but never at the sacrifice of a GIR. GIR lead to lower scores, FIR (by themselves) do not UNLESS they are bumping up your GIR% which ain't gonna happen if you're acheiving your FIR by laying up.

[ChrisPietersen]

Might be an OK strategy in the short term but the ceiling is pretty low with that strategy. FIR is hugely overrated as a stat. Nice to have but never at the sacrifice of a GIR. GIR lead to lower scores, FIR (by themselves) do not UNLESS they are bumping up your GIR% which ain't gonna happen if you're acheiving your FIR by laying up.

But what about double bogey and inconsistent bogey golfers? Wouldn't this strategy bring them at least to score 90 consistently?

[Ernest Jones]

But what about double bogey and inconsistent bogey golfers? Wouldn't this strategy bring them at least to score 90 consistently?

Like I said, short term (might get you to 90) but very low ceiling.

[ChrisPietersen]

Like I said, short term (might get you to 90) but very low ceiling.

Makes sense. But take me for example, total beginner, I slice big time off the tee using any driver or wood, but I could get pretty decent iron shots sometimes. Would you suggest using this startegy, while working on improving drives in practice? Or would you suggest that I keep playing the driver/wood, even though I slice a lot?

[Ernest Jones]

Makes sense. But take me for example, total beginner, I slice big time off the tee using any driver or wood, but I could get pretty decent iron shots sometimes. Would you suggest using this startegy, while working on improving drives in practice? Or would you suggest that I keep playing the driver/wood, even though I slice a lot?

I would play with what works off the tee (even if it's a 7 iron) but keep working HARD on your woods and driver on the range. A big key to improving in this game is taking weaknesses and turning them into strengths. I'm not great with a driver either but keep working at it. Towards the end of the season I started looking forward to hitting driver.