Different strokes for different folks (comps)

[ShankyBoy]

Being a high handicapper...should I approach a medal comp differently to a stableford? Should my aim be in a medal to play bogey golf, doing whatever it takes to keep away from 3..5.. off the tee? So playing with an iron on any hole that a wood when pushed/pulled means a provisional etc. This is not to say hitting a 5 iron is a completely safe bet, but it's less risky so I should be going for that. And really only pull out the 3w/driver when it's completely safe to do so?So looking at taking 3 to reach the green two puts and walk away and bank on the odd par on the easy/safe holes?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I am also a high handicapper, higher than you. Advice taken over the years, from better golfers than me, is take the shots where you need them. If the shot is high risk then use your extra shot. Don't look to take on shots that may destroy your card, that is why your h/c is usually high. Play to your strengths, minimise your risk. Pick up shots on other holes.

Pretty much what you have said.

(In my instance I just go to jelly with a strokeplay card in my hand. The rounds where I play and score well are the rounds where I am not a bag of nerves and follow the advice above. It really does bring in a better score than going for every Rory shot)

 

[Berger]

I was playing off 21/22 a couple of years ago and kind of dreaded medals because I always had it in my head that I would have at least one nightmare hole that would put me out of the competition. Not sure what caused it but my attitude changed and I now prefer stroke play as it seems to help me focus better.

I don't go out to play with a specifically different game plan as you appear to be suggesting, but I do think I play the percentages more during stroke play, particularly when I'm in a bit of trouble. In stableford I'll sometimes take on the high risk shot because I'm thinking I can just pick up and move on to the next hole if it doesn't work, but that doesn't help me as I then usually end up dinging three or four holes in a round. Whereas in stroke play I'll most likely take the safer option so I don't end up with a massive number on the card.

If your woods off the tee are putting you into trouble on a consistent basis ie 3 off the tee, then hitting irons instead isn't really going to solve your problems long term. You'll just put yourself into a position where you're hitting long irons for your second shot or laying up which won't give you many opportunities to lower your scores. Work on your woods off the tee, even if it means hitting 3 wood off the trickier tees for a while.

 

[garyinderry]

surely there is always a safe side to miss even id you have to hack out. avoid 3 off the tee at all costs if you can.

 

[FairwayDodger]

I'd say you should still try to get it in the hole in the least shots possible regardless of handicap and whether you get a shot or not on any particular hole.

But you have to have a realistic assessment of your ability and your chances of pulling off the shot you are about to attempt. I'd expect a high handicapper would "go for it" less than a low handicapper but the mindset should be the same. At the other extreme, the pros take a lot of very difficult shots on but even they know when a hack out or a lay up is necessary.

 

[Tiger]

To be honest I play them the same way. The benefit of stableford is just that if something does go wrong on one hole I could still win. My aim is to beat handicap which means trying not to have nightmare holes. Playing the percentages all the time...

I've had more success in stableford comps than medals and even more in team events as I generally have 3 or 4 very bad holes a round. In medal they kill me. In stableford I can get away with it a bit more and in team comps more often than not it doesn't matter

 

[ScienceBoy]

I have two rules for all comes, firstly my game plan, shown in sig (but maybe not this one as it doesn't always show from phone.)

Secondly I only take driver on holes over 360 as holes below that I can reach with a 3 wood and a mid iron. If I'm playing well I move it up to 370.

 

[jamielaing]

Basically this is just course management. It can knock shots off your score instantly if applied properly.

Identify the risk areas for you and find the better solution. The aim for you is to reduce the number of shots you normally take on these holes. For example there is a 400 yard par 4 dogleg where I play and it's always been driver for me. I cut the corner as I can hit a long ball.Cutting too much puts you in trouble on the left but equally not enough puts you in a small copse of trees. I started scoring badly so have dropped this to a 3 wood off the tee which is not enough to reach the trees and helps the problem.

Don't be afraid to take your medicine. If you are in thick rough 170 yards away are you going to reach or are you going to put yourself in a worse position. Choose the safe option and play it out. You'll only lose one shot and with 18 strokes you can take a bogey. You cant take a treble.

Look at your cards over the past few months. You will see a pattern. There will be holes that you double bogey alot. Look at how this is happening and try to remove these.

At the same token, you can be too safe. There is a 340 yard par 4 (down hill) that I play. It's hard to get it on the green from the tee but you can get within 20 yards of it. I started laying up so I could have a full shot in but found that I was bringing all the trouble around the 200 yard mark into play. It just didn't work for me so the aggressive option became my safe play.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Don't be too rigid in your thinking!
Play each hole on it's merits, and decide on your game plan based on how you're playing on the day.

 

[IanG]

Also think about where a smart place to miss is, e.g. we have a 180 yard par 3 with hellish trouble short, left and right. Through the green though, there is a nice flat place with a chip/putt up the slope of the green to the hole. So missing long is really not bad at all and you will almost always get at most a bogey 4 and very often get up and down for a par. So take an extra club, swing with confidence and if you don't catch it clean you might end up on the green. We have another par 4 where the opposite is true and ending up short of the green is really not so bad, but left, right or long leaves a difficult up and down. Think about each green on your home course and decide where the smart miss is. If you're not pretty confident of finishing on the green then bias your choice of shot/aim towards the good miss. Note this smart miss will change depending on where the pin is and the skill of who's making the judgement!

These kind of ever changing mind games are what make golf magical.

 

[ShankyBoy]

In stableford I still play sensibly, I don't take a driver off the first, nor a 3 wood, but a hybrid. The past few medals I've pushed it and its a 3 off the tee, sometimes then to the left then so 5! So I'm thinking maybe I should just use an iron until I've warmed up properly, for me its the 3 or more off the tee that destroys my round. So I need to fix that or move to a course with wider more forgiving fairways!

 

[MadAdey]

Being a high handicapper...should I approach a medal comp differently to a stableford? Should my aim be in a medal to play bogey golf, doing whatever it takes to keep away from 3..5.. off the tee? So playing with an iron on any hole that a wood when pushed/pulled means a provisional etc. This is not to say hitting a 5 iron is a completely safe bet, but it's less risky so I should be going for that. And really only pull out the 3w/driver when it's completely safe to do so?So looking at taking 3 to reach the green two puts and walk away and bank on the odd par on the easy/safe holes?

It's good that you are thinking like a low handicapper and looking for the best way to put yourself in position to make a good score.

Driver isn't always the answer and sometimes a strategic long iron or rescue off the tee is the way forward. On a short par 4 look at hitting something that will leave an 8i into the green, don't take the driver and try to get as close as possible if it's risky. Par 4s that you struggle to hit in 2 should be approached like a par 5, a sensible tee shot and second shot to leave a short pitch will give par opportunities, but will keep doubles from your card.

As others have said, use your shots wisely and do not try heroic shots from the rough, take your medicine and your score will drop.

 

[pendodave]

Even though a medal score might look ugly with a couple of big numbers, am I right in thinking that for handicap purposes such 'blow ups' will only count as a double ?

If so, and your intention is to bring the handicap down, then there wouldn't be any need to change strategy between stablefords and medals.

In fact, given that cuts are bigger than the 0.1s going back up, an aggressive (optimistic) style of play might get you down faster, as an occasional really good round will more than offsets the dreaded .1s

 

[jamielaing]

Even though a medal score might look ugly with a couple of big numbers, am I right in thinking that for handicap purposes such 'blow ups' will only count as a double ?

If so, and your intention is to bring the handicap down, then there wouldn't be any need to change strategy between stablefords and medals.

In fact, given that cuts are bigger than the 0.1s going back up, an aggressive (optimistic) style of play might get you down faster, as an occasional really good round will more than offsets the dreaded .1s

Yes they do only count as a double but it is a net double so if you get a shot a hole it is a treble each time it happens. Do that 3 times and it is half your handicap gone. By coming up with a strategy then you can play aggressive when you know you can or play self when you know it is a high risk. Let's say that is 9 holes aggressive, 9 holes safe, in theory you are planning to get 9 pars and 9 bogeys. You will single putt some but also make a mistake on others which mean it's not exact but if you can be an 18 handicapper with a plan for a 9 handicap you should come out in the middle somewhere. It also makes you target a 9 over score which gets your mindset going lower and you will shoot a bit lower.

Basically you identify the par holes and the bogey holes and play for that.

 

[Joff]

I don't get all this strategy nonsense. I get it as close to the pin with each shot as I can, using the fairway. If I stray, I decide what to do when I get to the ball.

I guess lack of strategy, is a strategy...

 

[HomerJSimpson]

In medal it's about keeping big numbers off the card, irrespective of what handicap you play off. You can get too defensive. Play each hole on its' merit and don't take risks.

 

[louise_a]

I just try to play sensibly, don't take on shots that are too risky, use a 3 wood of the tee if its important to get the on the fairway, I often take a club more than I think I need as I don't always hit it spot on, unless there is trouble for be long. Mentally if I hit a bad shot, I just laugh out loud to get it out of my system so I am not thinking about it on the next shot.

 

[ShankyBoy]

I went to the range last night and my woods were great, irons were horrific! Aggh, so me using irons off the tee probably doesn't offer much protection it seems. Just can not understand how in 24 hours you can go from hitting every sweet, to hitting nothing at all. Frustrating game.

 

[woody69]

I went to the range last night and my woods were great, irons were horrific! Aggh, so me using irons off the tee probably doesn't offer much protection it seems. Just can not understand how in 24 hours you can go from hitting every sweet, to hitting nothing at all. Frustrating game.

As a high handicapper that is why I think it is risky to go with a strategy that forces you to take an iron off the tee just because it's a supposedly "sensible choice". Often you have just as much chance of fatting it forward 3 yards into a load of unplayable rough than you do have to slicing the driver wildly off to the right.

Keeping the nightmare holes and 3 off the tee off the scorecard is certainly the aim, but you need to take each hole on it's own merit.

 

[Slab]

Stroke-play or points the only times my strategy/course management/shot selection might change are:

Team events
A single shot left for a point
Round score already blown

I think that’s it

If I’m stood over any shot thinking ‘if I blow it then its only one hole blobbed’ then it’s clearly the wrong shot to take