Advice for difficult holes

Callawayplayer85

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So i played my first ever full 18 hole course yesterday,checked the course planner/yardage etc,but when i was on the course alot of the holes were uphill and i could not see where the rest or the fairway is or where the flag is.so basically i had to guess where to hit the ball.
So how do you guys deal with this situation.
 

Pin-seeker

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Tbh I just learn from playing the course a few times.
Or if one of my mates I'm playing with as already played the course ill pick his brain a little.
 

bladeplayer

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Tbh I just learn from playing the course a few times.
Or if one of my mates I'm playing with as already played the course ill pick his brain a little.


IS the right answer & Pretty much sums it up unfortunately ,


most "big " courses have a thing call stroke savers and even tho i use a DMD i find it easier to get an eye for the shot from these ..


P.s .. alot of the time knowing where the fairways and greens are doesnt seem to help me that much either :D
 
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Pin-seeker

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Pretty much sums it up unfortunately , most "big " courses have a thing call stroke savers and even tho i use a DMD i find it easier to get an eye for the shot from these ..


P.s .. alot of the time knowing where the fairways and greens are doesnt seem to help me that much either :D
Didn't say it was the right way,just the way I do it.
I do a lot of things the wrong way when playing this game.
 

pbrown7582

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Don't be concerned about walking forward a bit to crest of hills so you can see where your going, it's almost required anyway to know its safe to play but also gather info whilst doing so.
It will take a few rounds on most courses for you to figure how you think it's best to play to suit you.
Strokesaver gps help but you can't beat local knowledge!
 

palindromicbob

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So i played my first ever full 18 hole course yesterday,checked the course planner/yardage etc,but when i was on the course alot of the holes were uphill and i could not see where the rest or the fairway is or where the flag is.so basically i had to guess where to hit the ball.
So how do you guys deal with this situation.

If this is a course you plan to play regularly you'll soon know where to go after a couple of rounds.

Another thing to take note of when starting out is the S.I of the holes you are playing. Not sure how familiar you are with that but basically as a handicap golfer these can be handy to note. It will tell you were you have shots to play with and walking of with par or better can really help turn a score around but also walking of with bogey (or even a double if you have a 2 shots) won't ruin a card so keep this in mind to avoid the shoulders dropping.

Main thing though. Go out and play the shot as best you can. If it doesn't work out try and put it behind you and play the next one. Golf is great especially stroke based play because you are your own opponent.

In summary:

Stay in the present, this is the only aspect you can exert control over.
Learn from the past don't dwell on it.
Avoid focusing on the future because this will remove you from the present and cause you to lose control.
 

Callawayplayer85

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Yes when i was going around i was using my handicap of 23 so i get 2 shots on S.I 1-5 then 1 shot on 6 and over S.I.saved me a few shots,was great day the best and most difficult course i played so far.
 

Curls

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Stay in the present, this is the only aspect you can exert control over.
Learn from the past don't dwell on it.
Avoid focusing on the future because this will remove you from the present and cause you to lose control.

Fantastic advice for the OP - and indeed all of us!

If you don't think you'll get the hang of it soon then you can marry the score saver with Google Earth. Having a look at the course using G Earth is great, there's even a reasonably accurate measuring tool that gives you yardages.

Finally it sounds like the blind shots you have are over brows of hills. The trick here is to find something over the brow - a particularly tall tree, an electricity pole, something in the distance by which you can reference where you want to be over the hill. Aiming at this (or to the right or left of it as appropriate) will give you the target, and don't worry that its miles away, aim for it and send the ball to it - of course its never going to reach but you brain is trying to send it in that direction and thats what matters.
 

Callawayplayer85

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well i have to say i did do a good guess on the 18th,i teed off with the driver,landed about 250 yards then hit a 4 iron off the deck over a ridge i did not even know where it was going to go,then i was looking for my ball and guess what it was on the green near the hole!.good guess i think.but sometimes guessing is bad.
 

Donscone

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I use my Mobile. I have downloaded an app called Swing by Swing Golf. all you do is search for the course you playing and you get a nice layout for each hole and shows you where everything is. It also uses GPS so you can see how far you have driven or how far to the hole. you can also use it to keep your score.
 

bladeplayer

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In summary:

Stay in the present, this is the only aspect you can exert control over.
Learn from the past don't dwell on it.
Avoid focusing on the future because this will remove you from the present and cause you to lose control.
Who told you that ? or wherd you read it ,.. Wheres the Bob i met in Donegal gone ?:D
 

timd77

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Donscone, I use the swing by swing app too. Do you find that it often crashes or gets stuck? It's happened a couple of times where either the view of the hole doesn't properly load, but also i've had to end the round, start again and basically use it manually to view holes and get yardages.

Any better apps out there?

To the OP, I would definitely recommend getting one of these apps for non-competitive rounds (despite what i've said above!). I'm not a member anywhere and so play lots of different courses, and so they really do take away the guess work on 'blind' holes. Even holes that aren't blind, there's often a little stream or ditch cutting across the fairway.
 
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