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Course Managment Tips

RonInThornton said:
I've been playing less than a year so I'm still not up on all the terminology. I have heard several people mention "Playing to a Number" What exactly does that mean?

Thanks
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It means playing your shots from the yardage you feel more comfortable. For instance lets look at this example of a par 5.

You tee off and slightly miss the fairway but only have 225 yards out and very little trouble in front of you. Rather than go for the green because you might struggle with longer irons or FW woods, you play to 75 yards because that is a shot you might be very comfortable with. So you hit a 7 iron (or something else) to try and let it right at a yardage number you are most comfortable with.

It can take a lot of trouble out of play and take the big numbers off the scorecard.
 
JB said:
It means playing your shots from the yardage you feel more comfortable. For instance lets look at this example of a par 5.

You tee off and slightly miss the fairway but only have 225 yards out and very little trouble in front of you. Rather than go for the green because you might struggle with longer irons or FW woods, you play to 75 yards because that is a shot you might be very comfortable with. So you hit a 7 iron (or something else) to try and let it right at a yardage number you are most comfortable with.

It can take a lot of trouble out of play and take the big numbers off the scorecard.
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i'll take it a step further and say (especially since you are fairly new to the game) that any time you are in some sort of trouble off the tee (on par 4's), don't try to hit a miracle shot, just put it out there in the fairway to a comfortable yardage from the green and play for a bogey. if you can eliminate big numbers you'll be much happier.
 
Use your handicap.

If you've got 20, use them, and you might surprise yourself by having some in the bank at the end. Know on the tee, or the fairway that you have a shot to play with, so you don't need to leave this one stiff. Don't overplay the hole and cause trouble. You don't have to hole that chip, and end up with it 20yds past the hole.
 
Sean said:
Most golfers don't take enough club on approach shot or on par 3's. For example, if a golfer has 145 to the middle, than he probably has 160 to the back. Many golfer's take that club they once hit flush 145 yards. Better to take the 155 yard club. If he doesn't hit it flush he's probably on the front of the green. If he hits it flush he's on the back of the green.
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I like this one, its one that I have started using. Get the yardage to the back and take a club that will go NO further than that.
 
For me, playing to a number is all about playing to your strengths, which are different with everybody.

On a par 5 for example, for my second shot I'm going to hit the club I'm most comfortable with that will get me closest to the green, usually a 4h. My goal is to get as close to the green as possible because my strength (last season) was in pitch shots, 1/2 or 3/4-swing wedges, chips, etc. I wasn't playing to a number in the literal sense, but instead was playing to a range. I want to be inside 75 yards and as close to the green as possible.

I've been working very hard on full wedge shots and maybe they will be my strengthnext year. Take what your good at and use it to your advantage and stay away from the things you struggle at. 3W off the turf = bad news for me. Hybrid = good chance it's in the fairway, but a bit shorter than a perfect 3W shot. The thing I had to remember is that I don't really hit perfect 3W shots (ever).
 
If you are in slightly in the woods do you chip out or try and thread a needle through the trees to go for the green? I try and talk my self in to chipping out, unless the hole through the woods is wide open.
 
dmb012 said:
If you are in slightly in the woods do you chip out or try and thread a needle through the trees to go for the green? I try and talk my self in to chipping out, unless the hole through the woods is wide open.
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Depends for me. If I can take a punch shot and make it out I will probably try it.
 
Hawk said:
Depends for me. If I can take a punch shot and make it out I will probably try it.
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I like to go for the Phil Mickelson shot. Bend it around the trees and on the green! Yeah right!
 
dmb012 said:
If you are in slightly in the woods do you chip out or try and thread a needle through the trees to go for the green? I try and talk my self in to chipping out, unless the hole through the woods is wide open.
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depends on what I ma looking at. I have started using my hybrid for these situations and I get out into a good position 95% of the time. the best part is there is ZERO effort involved
 
I chip out and most of the time use my 8 iron which has been my fav club lately.
 
JB said:
It means playing your shots from the yardage you feel more comfortable. For instance lets look at this example of a par 5.

You tee off and slightly miss the fairway but only have 225 yards out and very little trouble in front of you. Rather than go for the green because you might struggle with longer irons or FW woods, you play to 75 yards because that is a shot you might be very comfortable with. So you hit a 7 iron (or something else) to try and let it right at a yardage number you are most comfortable with.

It can take a lot of trouble out of play and take the big numbers off the scorecard.
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Thanks JB, I understand now and actually think I've been doing this without knowing there was a name for it. I usually try to get my 2nd [par4] or 3rd [par5] to about 60 yards from the green becuase I know I can chip it up from there whereas if I try to fly it up to the green 8 out of ten times I overshoot it
 
Gonna be repeating myself from the "leaving driver in the bag"-thread:
I usually approach holes with this idea: "how short can I hit it from the tee and still have a comfortable approach?" or "how little effort is enough?". I try to play "as lazily as possible". I'm about an average hitter compared to my peers, I don't hit it short and I don't hit it long. I try to think my way around the course and try to be as effective as possible. It's a good strategy for playing solid golf where you don't end up with a lot of eagles but you also don't make a ton of double bogeys.

There're courses where I barely pull the driver out, and some where I pull it out all the time. Obviously depends a lot on the course, but sometimes you have par 5s that you have no chance of reaching without pulling off two risky shots. Iron-Iron-wedge isn't manly but it'll get you far.
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Use more club and swing easy.
 
dmb012 said:
If you are in slightly in the woods do you chip out or try and thread a needle through the trees to go for the green? I try and talk my self in to chipping out, unless the hole through the woods is wide open.
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The rational part of my mind tells me to do the smart thing and chip out to the fairway, while the other side simultaneously yells "Are you KIDDING me? Look at that gap, you could drive a TRUCK through there! Grip it and rip it!!!". I'm trying hard to listen to the rational side more often, and it usually turns out better on the scorecard.

A related course management tip I've picked up is that if you're looking at a shot you can successfully execute maybe one time in twenty tries, you're usually better off swallowing your pride and taking the easy way around.
 
Go through the scorecard and set your own personal "pars" on each hole. If you're a 10 handicap, put 3 or 4 bogeys on the card and play a par 4 as a par 5 to avoid a 7 or 8.

Also, it's okay to pay attention to what your playing partners are hitting on par 3's but don't let it sway you into not hitting enough club and coming up short.

Avoid the one spot you don't want to be on each hole. Almost every hole has a place to miss. Left, right, short... Aim for that side of the green and work to get down in 2 from there.
 
Course Managment for me is reminding myself along the way to never try and pull off shots I don't have. It is easy to have a bad hole and then think you need to do something great to get back in the round only to have it make the bad round worse.
Good or bad round I just stick with what I'm comfortable with. No need to compound the problem on days things aren't going well. I also tend to pay little attention to what others are doing. I just stay in the moment, don't think too far ahead and play your own game.
 
Rule #1: Play the right tees. Too many try to play too far back as proof of manhood or something and then struggle all day, get frustrated, etc. If you can only hit your average drive 220 yard you probably don't need to be playing from the 6,700 yard tees. Move forward and have more fun. People that only jog around the neighborhood a few times a week don't suddenly run marathons every Saturday.
 
I'm going to take a recording of all the positive things TC said to me during our last round together and play it on a loop

"Take trouble out of play"
"Avoid big numbers"
"Play to a number"
"I like it, I like it a lot"
"Go for it dude!"
 
Just get it to the green and give yourself a chance at par.

There is no shame in picking up and moving on to the next hole. Sometimes a hole just has your number and that number may be really REALLY high.
 
Great thread with alot of thing to remember>
 
Great thread and lots of great tips too!

I've always believed that playing a golf hole is like taking a multiple choice test and I remember from my school days that teachers always said that when taking a multiple choice test, your first choice is usually the right one. I think golf is the same. I think most people know what the right answer is and I know that when I first look at a shot, I already know what my first choice is and if I stick with that it usually turns out OK. I think the problems start when I try to talk myself out of doing what I know is the right choice. So I guess what I'm saying is to be honest with yourself and go with your gut feeling instead of trying to do too much or even sometimes too little.
 
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