Course Management: Part 4
Know when to pick your spots! What does this mean? Pars are good, but we can throw in some spots to make some birdies. Unless you are on the PGA Tour and on an easy course, making a bunch of pars will NEVER hurt you. This is a good reminder that our view of golf can be skewed to the extremes watching someone like Cam Smith shoot 34 under or whatever he did out in Maui last year.
So when you have been making a bunch of pars like the good golfer that you are, or you are needing a kickstart to your round, here is when I would give you the go-ahead to “pick your spot”, versus playing fairly conservative.
Fairway or Rough
The difference between playing out the fairway versus the rough can be huge in some cases. If you have a wedge in your hand from the fairway, you better be aiming at that flag! Let’s get that thing up and down. Now as we move further away from the green, unless you are feeling really good about that shot, maybe the wind is playing to your favor, go for it. If you are comfortable, flag it. However if that comfort is starting to fade, slightly shift your target towards the center of the green and let’s live to see another day. If we are playing out the rough for instance, all of our targets should be right in the heart of the green, unless you have an unreal angle or fantastic lie. Statistically from the rough, just keeping your shot on the green is a win.
Drivable par 4
This is a hot topic as many courses have that one hole you think about as you pull up to the clubhouse. “Should I hit diver today on 13, or should I lay back and probably make par, even birdie?” My tip is very dependent on the hole of course, but a rule of thumb I play by is if you can get the ball on an average drive to the front edge of the green, send it! You are better off hitting out a bunker or the rough greenside versus 100 yards out of the fairway. However, like I mentioned in the first point, if you have a sliver of doubt in your decision, just hit it to 100 yards and then get that shot up and down. Decision making isn’t rocket science!
Manage expectations
Now as I talk through these shots saying, “get that 100 yarder up and down,” we have to manage our expectations. The goal is to get it up and down, but it is certainly not the end of the world if you don’t because like I said, pars are good. Tour average proximity from 100 yards is……18 FEET. The best players in the world aren’t stuffing it everytime, so you don’t have to either.
Putting
A lot of times when I put pressure on myself to make a putt outside of 10 feet, I end up smoking it, leaving myself four feet coming back for the next one. That is no fun. Something I have learned over the last couple years is you never want to try and forcefully make a putt outside of 15-20 feet. The importance of this is always speed, and usually when you have great speed, the ball will drop more times than not.
Course conditions
Pick a spot to be aggressive is very dependent on course conditions. We played the 2022 MAC Championship in May, blowing 20 mph in 45 degree weather. The course was playing hard. I had a good round going through about 15 holes and hit my drive in the trees. I tried to hit a 30 yard, punch draw 5 iron over water to kind of an island green. Sounds smart, right? Well I will save some suspense and say I hit it in the water, ending up making I think 7 on the hole. Looking back, knowing that the course was playing tough, there is no shame in making a bogey in tough conditions. Punch that ball out to 120 yards and make 5 AT WORST. Lesson learned.
Basically take your pars as they come, but if you feel really comfortable and confident, go get a birdie.
