Course Management and 'Having a Plan'

[turbowoowoo]

Advice please guys..

Okay, my problem is that whilst I have an ok'ish , fairly reliable swing, what lets me down is my course management and not having a plan.

I am intending on playing very conservative at this weekends monthly medal and want to build up a plan of action for each hole.

Question is, how best should I approach this? Has anyone got any experience of drawing something up? Do people do thsi on the fly?

Normally I 'go for it' with teh driver even on long par 5's when I will maybe reach it in two 1 in 50 times if I nail both driver and 3 wood. I want to play middle of teh fairway with maybe 5 wood, 5 iron, 8 iron and just try and eradicate the doubles from my card.

 

[fundy]

Going to a default conservative is not necessarily a good approach. Rather than playing to a conservative plan, you should be better off playing to your strengths. Do you drive the ball well? Are you good from 100 yds? Do you putt well etc. Your ideal game plan will then play to your strengths and avoid as much as possible your weak areas.

One thing I have found personally and know others who have struggled the same is when trying to play conservatively you dont fully commit to the shots. If you are going that route have a little trigger that makes you commit to the shot especially if you are hitting a smaller club than you normally would from the same position!

 

[turbowoowoo]

Fundy

Youre correct, although i said conservative, I want to play with clubs I am confident with, with full swings leaving me with 120-140 yards approaches.

I want to reduce high risk shots from my game....

 

[bobmac]

Only play the shots you KNOW you can play.
Don't try and play the shots you think you can

 

[Curls]

Say there's a long par 4 (low SI) you can only reach if you hit a brilliant drive followed by a perfect long iron. How often have you reached it in 2? How often have you taken 6, 7 or 8 or worse cos you duffed it into the trees trying to break the ball? If the answer to the first question is 1/10 and the second is 5/10 then drive with a 4 iron, second shot with a 4 iron. Leaves you 120 in, hit the green, 2 putt for 5. You may get some funny looks on the tee, you may even have to settle for a 6, but staying on the short stuff on these hard holes is what you need to do, take a bogey and eliminate the horror show. You were never going to reach it anyway.

Is this the kind of advice you were after? Have you kept your last few scorecards? Write down numbers 1 - 18 and put your score for the last 5 to 10 rounds under them, if youve got holes you constantly have a meltdown on your playing them wrong. Theres always at least 1 ideal way to play every hole. We might not be capable of doing it, but the closer you get to it the better. For instance a dogleg left with the green tucked into the left requires you to go way long through the turn, probably longer the better, even if you run into the hairy stuff, its better than trying to just peak around the corner with your first and then having no shot in. Sit down with your scorecards and a course planner and just think about every hole and what your capable of reproducing shot wise with relative confidence. Pick out the area in the fairway that gives you the best approach shot, mark them on your planner, figure out the distance to the tee, see if you can get there in one or two. Then when youre on the course, imagine that area on the fairway is a green, with a pin in the middle. Now aim to get it on the imaginary green, imagine its a 160 yard par 3 instead of a 400 yard par 4. You may not start rolling in birdies but you'll soon find you have less 8s.

 

[MashieNiblick]

A plan can be a good idea and I agree it's best to plan to play to your strengths but be prepared to adapt on the day. I remember one time, like you, I planned to play conservatively, so despite driving the ball well all day I pulled out my 4 iron for my tee shot at a short, tight, par 4. Hadn't used that club all day, didn't feel right and I carved it into a water hazard. Subsequently I decided that if I was driving well during a round I'd go with it and stick with driver or 3 wood off the tees.

I also feel if I've played a good shot with a particular club I'm more confident next time I pull it out of the bag and that can help me make up my mind if I'm undecided between 2 options.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It is fine to have a plan but all you can do is hit each shot and then play the next based on its merits. If you are in trouble get back out by the shortest route possible (are you reading this Rory) and work out from there the best way to proceed.

Obviously if there are particular bogey holes, tight driving holes etc, then a plan is a great idea. Nothing wrong in my book with a couple of 5 irons, chip on and two putting for a five. Five on every hole is 90 and even off 18 for example that's a nett 72 which won't be far off

 

[pokerjoke]

Its ok saying it but another thing being able to do it.I dont know what your handicap is,but saying you will put a 5 wood in the fairway regulary is not as easy as it sounds.I agree a 5 wood is a safer option than a driver but thats no guarantee of success.Weigh up the pitfall of the driver,and the risk,reward factor.

 

[SatchFan]

I tend to go for risk and reward these days. Stuck in a nasty position I try and be as realistic as I can so if I believe I've got at least a 75% chance of pulling off a riskier shot then I will give it a go. Reckon I have saved at least two strokes per round when the driving is a bit curly.

 

[TheClaw]

There's nothing worse than making a mess of a 'safe' shot

Go through each hole and work backwards. If you'd rather hit an approach from 120 than say 70...use whatever club gets you to that distance off the tee.

Oh, and going for the middle of greens rather than shooting for pins is probably sensible.

 

[Smiffy]

I've lost count of the number of times I've gone with a certain club for "safety" and ended up cocking it up.
I then pull out the club I should have hit in the first place, play a provisional, and end up saying to myself "why didn't I effing do that the first time?"
Controlled (or uncontrolled) aggression wins every time

 

[Aztecs27]

I'm really, really terrible at course management.

Case in point, our 17th hole:

As you can see, between the tee and green, we have a narrow fairway, protected by two lakes either side. The "safe" play which most (read "everyone except me") go for is an iron played short of the right hand lake. This gives you around 150 yards and a direct line into the green.

The "risk" is to take your driver (or PW for most here ) and bash one over the right hand corner of the left lake to land it on the small bit of fairway. It's about a 230yard carry, but it's downhill and also down wind alot of the time.

Now, I've probably played this hole close to 20 times now, not once have I laid up.

The last 3 times alone have been:

-3 Iron "for safety" to land in the middle of the fairway between the lakes - result: hooked into the left lake

-3 Iron "for safety" to land in the middle of the fairway between the lakes - result: hooked into the left lake

-Last sunday, feeling semi-confident with my driver I figure I can smash one over the right side of the left lake. Result: topped and roll into the left hand lake.

The 1st time I played it, I crushed a drive and landed it in the middle of the fairway...I've not done it since.

I'll learn one day, but I'm sure in my game with Imurg on sunday, I'll pull out the big dog, and knob it into either of the lakes

 

[Oddsocks]

Only play the shots you KNOW you can play.
Don't try and play the shots you think you can

Pretty much sums it up perfectly.

Sometimes playing defensive can be worse for your score than playing your normally game. Ive tried both and now gone with the 90% ruling. If 90% of the time i can play the shot im hoping to play well, then play it, if its anything less, lay up.

Laying up in its own mind is another tricky one. if a bunker is around 140 yards away, dont lay up to 135 yards, lay up within a safe distance that you know is not going to put you in the bunker. In a knock out a few weeks back a wayward drive on our SI2 meant going for the green was tricky, GPS says bunkers are 150yards away so i layed up with an 8 iron which i normally hit 135/140.... nailed it and pitched it straight into the bunker. DOh!. from now on i always lay up with one less club than needed if there is any trouble like ponds, bunkers, etc,

 

[robbest3offthetee]

Az, Love that hole,why not take a shorter iron off the tee,laying up short of the water,ok, may leave a longer 2nd,but takes out all the danger....

 

[Aztecs27]

Az, Love that hole,why not take a shorter iron off the tee,laying up short of the water,ok, may leave a longer 2nd,but takes out all the danger....

Yea, I love this hole too but this is precisely my point! I *know* I should lay up short of the water but I hate playing boring shots!

This will be the downfall of my handicap not dropping, I can see it now.

I'm getting better than I used to be, but for some reason, this hole brings out the evil kinevil in me

 

[robbest3offthetee]

Yeh know what you mean,but sometimes we have to hit "boring shots",may be worth playing sensibly in your comps,then when out for a knock try hitting different shots off that tee....

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Az, Love that hole,why not take a shorter iron off the tee,laying up short of the water,ok, may leave a longer 2nd,but takes out all the danger....

Yea, I love this hole too but this is precisely my point! I *know* I should lay up short of the water but I hate playing boring shots!

This will be the downfall of my handicap not dropping, I can see it now.

I'm getting better than I used to be, but for some reason, this hole brings out the evil kinevil in me

I normally play the risky shot if it's on and my handicap hasn't done too bad. I just figure that if you are playing a risky shot you have to be fully committed and go for it.

With regard the hole above, what are the yardages:
- to lay up short of the ponds?
- for a 3 iron to the middle of the ponds?
- to the front of the green?

 

[Mongoose]

Its a good strategy IMO to play prudently in Medals, go for the safer solid shot rather than the risky shot. If you want a very general strategy that isnt all defensive then divide the 18 holes into 3 groups of 6 holes - the hard, medium and easier. Play the hard ones very safely, attack the easier ones, and just play the medium solid. Reducing the horror scores on the ough holes in a medal will help a lot, and allow you to have a go at the easier holes.

 

[Aztecs27]

Az, Love that hole,why not take a shorter iron off the tee,laying up short of the water,ok, may leave a longer 2nd,but takes out all the danger....

Yea, I love this hole too but this is precisely my point! I *know* I should lay up short of the water but I hate playing boring shots!

This will be the downfall of my handicap not dropping, I can see it now.

I'm getting better than I used to be, but for some reason, this hole brings out the evil kinevil in me

I normally play the risky shot if it's on and my handicap hasn't done too bad. I just figure that if you are playing a risky shot you have to be fully committed and go for it.

With regard the hole above, what are the yardages:
- to lay up short of the ponds?
- for a 3 iron to the middle of the ponds?
- to the front of the green?

Off the top of my head (rough yardages):

-150 yards (left pond) 170 yards (right pond)
-180-220 yards (depending on how far back/forward you lay up)
-340 yards

(all are downhill shots)

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Looking at that picture I would probably consider either:

A, 160yds from the tee to the right half of the fairway.
or,
B, Driver over the left side of the right hand pond.

I'd probably try the later most often. But then again, like I said before, I do like to go for the more extravagant/risky shots.