Understanding Shot Patterns and Decisions

[dbuck]

This is a straightforward question, not meant as a trick question at all. Based on an actual hole at one of my courses.

The green in front of you is a tilted oval, where the left side is further away than the right side, for illustration's sake say 20-25 yards deep and 60 yards wide, maybe 140 yards to the right front edge and 180 to the left rear edge. The left half of the green is guarded by a fairly deep bunker. The pin is left center, a little behind the bunker from your view. The fat part of the green is to the right. Your shot dispersion pattern is short and right. Prior to enlightenment (reading LSW), even if you had the fat part of the green in mind, you would have hit an 8 iron and probably 40% of your shots would have been close but short and right of the green. Obviously your long term goal is to improve, but for now you should likely hit a 7 iron and aim at or slightly right of the pin?

[billchao]

It's easier for me to understand if you include pictures, but by your description, I'd just aim so I don't end up in the bunker, even if it means being off the green.

[saevel25]

If long is just rough, take a bit more club. I rather have little to no shot zone near that bunker.

[iacas]

If your miss is short and right, you want to aim long and left. And then since the bunker is really a darker shade, probably, that may push the intended target a bit to the right and maybe a bit longer still. So ultimately you may end up trying to aim at the flagstick but 10 yards behind it, so that when you're short/right you're pin-high and right of the target, taking the bunker out of play.

For the 80-95% of the shots that fit in your Shot Zone.