I've been trying to cast as critical an eye to my game and really discover where I lose strokes. The more I look at my scores, the more I realize I have my "meltdown" holes where I card my 7's and 8's on long (450+ yard) par 4's and/or when I hit poor drives such as to the edge of OB, or generally well off the beaten path. A 240 yard drive still leaving me 200+ yards where I'm hitting a long hybrid off the deck for my second shot, or where I'm trying to get close to the green while shaping a shot to get around a tree is where the trouble starts, and it's just tough to recover from.
My question is, would you approach a hole like this planning to lay up the second shot, or play the second shot to a yardage? Are you planning for bogey at the tee box (and pinning your third shot close enough for a decent putt is a bonus), or do you let how well your drive goes determine how you score? "Damage control" isn't really a part of my game I've developed yet, but not being able to do it, I realize, is badly hampering my scores.
My question is, would you approach a hole like this planning to lay up the second shot, or play the second shot to a yardage? Are you planning for bogey at the tee box (and pinning your third shot close enough for a decent putt is a bonus), or do you let how well your drive goes determine how you score? "Damage control" isn't really a part of my game I've developed yet, but not being able to do it, I realize, is badly hampering my scores.