Can we really know our Yardages......

[Thexindi]

Can we really know our Yardages in such different weather and ground conditions?

I just dont know my yardages anymore, My 5th hole is 360 yard par 4 with a ditch going the full length of the fairway at 210 yards.
Normal conditions you can fly the ball over the ditch with a good drive and usually leave myself 120 -130 yards in.

Last week I played the hole and the wind was so blustering so much towards me I thought not going to carry 210 yards today was just too windy
I carry my hybrid around 190 and rolls usually to 205 and I thought perfect number its never going to roll to 205 not in this headwind
So I hit it really well and from what I saw carried around the distance Id expect but rolled right into the ditch.

Judging the roll has become impossible

On the fairway you can be extra careful to not roll into a ditch probably what I should have done, But what about the greens cant be extra safe and come up short with those.

Any suggestions or ways other players deal with it?

 

[Region3]

If I absolutely have to be short of something, I figure the club that 9/10 times can't get there then choose 1 less.

 

[Thexindi]

If I absolutely have to be short of something, I figure the club that 9/10 times can't get there then choose 1 less.

I choose 2 clubs less and still got there, Warm weather and hard ground I'm having troubles judging roll, Never have before but recently Im not sure why its rolling more then ever

 

[ScienceBoy]

If I absolutely have to be short of something, I figure the club that 9/10 times can't get there then choose 1 less.

Same here, rather add 10 yards to a shot than a stroke to my score.

When it comes to playing into wind I tend not to account for it for longer clubs, I do still for mid irons and less.

Wind behind I always look if the trouble is long or short and play safe. Half the fun is getting the club right in the wind.

 

[Alex1975]

A big part of the fun is picking the right club for the shout on that given day and conditions.

 

[huds1475]

A big part of the fun is picking the right club for the shout on that given day and conditions.

For me, you forgot to add "and actually hitting it properly".

Most of the time I never get to find out if it was the right club!

 

[huds1475]

On a serious note Karl Morris talks about all the variables on a golf course that you can't control in one of his books when talking about dealing with the outcomes of a shot.

A blustery headwind is the very definition of something unpredictable that you can't control.

You just have to go with your gut and accept the consequences, not sure what else anyone can do.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

On a serious note Karl Morris talks about all the variables on a golf course that you can't control in one of his books when talking about dealing with the outcomes of a shot.

A blustery headwind is the very definition of something unpredictable that you can't control.

You just have to go with your gut and accept the consequences, not sure what else anyone can do.

I'd agree. Pick what you feel is the right club, trust it and hit it properly and take whatever happens. I'm sure most of the time you'll be fine but if the wind drops and you hit the hazard then that's a variable out of your control

 

[Hobbit]

Sometimes you've just got to accept a hard bounce. Alternatively, lay up even shorter, but then risk it getting a soft bounce and being way too short... no sense beating yourself up over a hard bounce

 

[Region3]

I choose 2 clubs less and still got there, Warm weather and hard ground I'm having troubles judging roll, Never have before but recently Im not sure why its rolling more then ever

We have a par 5 with a ditch 100yds or so short of the green. It's a fairly long hole so most of the time I'm laying up.
My thought process goes something like...

180 to the ditch so I want to hit 160. Allow 10yds for roll so I want to carry 150, so I'll take my 140yd club (allowing for any wind as well).

If I then go and hit my 140 club 180yds then so be it, but it hasn't happened yet. Laying up behind a tree on the other hand is a speciality of mine.

 

[Thexindi]

Can we really know our Yardages in such different weather and ground conditions?

I just dont know my yardages anymore, My 5th hole is 360 yard par 4 with a ditch going the full length of the fairway at 210 yards.
Normal conditions you can fly the ball over the ditch with a good drive and usually leave myself 120 -130 yards in.

Last week I played the hole and the wind was so blustering so much towards me I thought not going to carry 210 yards today was just too windy
I carry my hybrid around 190 and rolls usually to 205 and I thought perfect number its never going to roll to 205 not in this headwind
So I hit it really well and from what I saw carried around the distance Id expect but rolled right into the ditch.

Judging the roll has become impossible

On the fairway you can be extra careful to not roll into a ditch probably what I should have done, But what about the greens cant be extra safe and come up short with those.

Any suggestions or ways other players deal with it?

Yeh I can see most of your points I guess I'm just upset having to drop a shot when I actually hit a great shot down the middle reaching a ditch with a hybrid I thought just not possible at the time, I was just +1 after 4 holes too.

Moral of the story is, cant do bugger all over the bounces, Cheers

 

[garyinderry]

Be careful when laying up. It's easy when the ground is bone dey to hit a soft lay up, put less spin on the ball and get a lower flight than normal that will run much further than expected.

I hit a par 5 in two recently trying to lay up with a 3 wood. Clipped it nice and easy and it went alot further than the higher flighted 3 wood I hit off the tee.

 

[garyinderry]

Think about the trajectory of the shot you want to play. If you can hit yet ball higher and Lower then you can hold greens or get the ball chasing depending on your desired outcome.

Been working on hitting higher irons these days. Only way to combat baked greens. Can't always land it short and let it run.

 

[patricks148]

It would depend on how often you play in strong winds, if you are inland i'm guessing not very often. On the coast on the other hand i rarely play without wind. at the moment we reg have a 5 club wind, well at least the last few times I've played. into the wind is not the problem most of the time its the down wind shots that are the hard bit.

Like hitting PW from 175 yards expecting it to be short and run up, only for it to carry all the way and bounce though the back

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

A big part of the fun is picking the right club for the shout on that given day and conditions.

Which is why lid has to be kept on technology that could aid the player when weather conditions are 'different'. We'd lose this part of the game.

 

[Alex1975]

Which is why lid has to be kept on technology that could aid the player when weather conditions are 'different'. We'd lose this part of the game.

Yep. I think the reason we as players look at and try to know our flat calm carry distances is just to aid us work out how that will work in the current conditions. Its just a base line. Golf would be dull if we all had our yardages and just picked the club for that yardage and hit it.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Yep. I think the reason we as players look at and try to know our flat calm carry distances is just to aid us work out how that will work in the current conditions. Its just a base line. Golf would be dull if we all had our yardages and just picked the club for that yardage and hit it.

...and we had our adjusted yardages and clubs for all wind conditions, air temperatures, elevations, drops etc etc.

 

[Khamelion]

I know the feeling, the 9th at Whickham is 349yds par 4 off the whites, it's about 210yds to a dip which is about 25yds wide and is all rough, to carry it is impossible (to the average player anyway) so you would lay up.

During the winter it was a Hybrid and that would get you short of the start of the dip probably around 170-180yds, as the weather warmed up, that became a 4 iron, last weekend on a nice warm sunny day, a 5 iron got me to where my hybrid was landing on a cold day.

The shot that was left was around 140 to the pin (measured with my DMD) normally an 8 iron as its downhill a little, decided to go with a 9 and I flew the green by a good few yards, should've played my pitching wedge.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Not all about yardage though is it.

Played West Surrey last weekend in a match and on last I was needing to get close with my third to have a chance of birdie and a half to half the match. I flew what I thought was a perfect lob wedge into heart of the green and saw it land just where I was hoping - and so went to green expecting to see it quite close - it was off the back of the green. No-one told me (and I didn't ask) that the green sloped significantly down from front to back and as green was firm and fast - off the back it went. I lost the hole to a birdie and lost the match 1 dn. Ach well.