Playing extraordinarily long courses

[iacas]

Can you let me know when you do write it up I would really enjoy reading it.  I know I have always been from the school of never short side yourself, even watching tour coverage and having those guys bail out to the "fat" of the green and not ever missing on the short side.  I have always had that in my head.  I am open to new ideas just fail to (as of yet) see how it would be easier for most amateurs to get up and down from a short sided position vs. having green to work with.

The short version is this: buy the book in my avatar. It will tell you (among many other things) that the single biggest predictor for how close the ball finishes to the hole is how far away it was to start.

Anyway, this is all wildly OT, so let's put a cap on it for now.

[boogielicious]

Can you let me know when you do write it up I would really enjoy reading it.  I know I have always been from the school of never short side yourself, even watching tour coverage and having those guys bail out to the "fat" of the green and not ever missing on the short side.  I have always had that in my head.  I am open to new ideas just fail to (as of yet) see how it would be easier for most amateurs to get up and down from a short sided position vs. having green to work with.

Wouldn't it depend on the lie, rough, etc? I use Chipping with a putting method a lot, even from light rough and I have great results (up and downs and even hole outs). I agree that if the lie is sketchy or deep rough, you would rather be on the green. A pitch from deep rough is harder to control.

Being a 12 handicap, my approach shot dispersion is not that great. But if I see a hole that let's say has bunkers left and right and maybe a steep fall off on the back, my shot zone may include being short of the green in front. Most holes I play have fairway in front if there is no bunker.

Bottom line is I'd rather be on the green. But if my miss risks going into a bunker, deep rough or down a steep slope, I would change my target and be happy if I was short by a few yards with fairway to chip off.

Edited October 15, 2015 by boogielicious
double quote

[WUTiger]

If you have to play longer tees in a tournament, just take what the course gives you.

You should be OK if you hit a solid drive, but if it's not too crisp you may end up beyond your comfortable approach range. If you're 220 yards out and the green is tightly bunkered or waterbound, lay up with a hybrid or medium iron and chip on. If the green is fairly open, you could try a fairway wood to get home.

The main thing is, don't try an approach shot you can't commit to.

If it's a scramble and the approach is 220 yards out, I sometimes hit a safety shot up short of the green and let the longer hitters swing away. Once or twice a round we ended up using my ball when the others all had bad shots.