It worked!....Next tip please JOuk

Whereditgo

Whereditgo

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After reading one of the threads (and I'm blowed if I can remember which), where JOuk advised just trying to get GIR on the par 5's, I gave it a try today.

Took a steady driver off the tee, followed by a mid-iron for position and then went for the green in 3, instead of my usual trying to knock the spots off the thing with driver and fairwaywood and then wedge sideways out of the trees

Played the par 5's in 2 over gross, also made par on SI 1 & 2, in difficult conditions, strong wind and no run-out owing to wet ground. Beat my best score at my home track by 2 shots, off the whites too! :D

Only problem was the par 3's on which I carded 7 over gross :o

So come on James, big tip for the par 3's required please! lol
 
Well done on the par 5's but looks like a bit of work needed on the par 3's!!

All our par 5's are reachable in 2 for me except 1. If I get a good drive away then I know I can make the green or at worst around the green for a chip'n'putt birdie. Mind you yesterday I topped a drive on the longest par 5, smacked a 3 wood and a 4 iron to the green and sunk the 30 foot putt - easy!!
 
What was the reason for all the dropped shots (assuming you only have 4 par 3's)?

If it was finding trouble off the tee, were you aiming at the flags?

If you aim at the part of the green with least trouble, then barring a complete miss-hit tee shot the worst that should happen is miss the green, chip on, and 2 putts. Sometimes you'll 1 putt or hit the green from the tee.
 
I always play our par 5's as a 3 shotter as I'm pretty short off the tee and there is no advantage for me going in with a 3 wood and trying to be a hero. I aim to leave between 100 and 80 yards which is either a wedge or my 52 and I'm pretty confident with either about getting it close enough for a one putt birdie.

Our par 3's a pretty tough as I think anyone on here who has played them off the whites will testify. I just try and make a solid swing and aim for the middle of the green. I don't play them particularly well but when you are using a hybrid or 5 wood on 3/6 then I try not to get too stressed.
 
I made par on a par5 for the 1st time last weekend. I took it easy with a 3 wood off the tee, 3 wood of the deck, pitched on with the wedge, took my two putts and said thank you very much. Easy game. :D

Shame I took 7 on the par 3 that followed it. Oh Balls! :mad:
 
Played the par 5's in 2 over gross, also made par on SI 1 & 2, in difficult conditions, strong wind and no run-out owing to wet ground. Beat my best score at my home track by 2 shots, off the whites too! :D

Only problem was the par 3's on which I carded 7 over gross :o
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Hey hey, well done for your par5's, that is no mean feat for a 20 h/capper, hitting an 'easy driver' is tricky for just about all of us. The question is just how long you can continue to play them well!!!!

Par3's are an interesting kettle of fish depending on how well you hit the ball, I'd assume that as a 20 h/cap you are a bit inconsistent. My tip in that case would be to take LESS club and play for the front edge of every green, basically COME UP SHORT so you don't go into any trouble and you have more chance of hitting a good 9-iron than a good 7-iron. If your ball does happen to trickle onto the green then you've had a result and stand a good chance of 2-putting, if you come up short of the green then you can chip close and possibly 1-putt, 2 at worst.

People often suggest taking more club and flying all the trouble but for a high h/capper that means you can simply hit it further into the crap on a poor strike and end up with double/triple bogies.

Knowing your yardages to the front edge of every green is the key. A 150yd par3 is quite often only 130yds to the front, one or two clubs less.

The only time you might consider taking more club is when the flag is at the back, but any flags front or middle just play for the front edge, chip on if necessary and then focus on your putting. Bogey's should be simple this way, and possibly a few par's thrown in for good measure.

nb: As your h/cap and ball striking improve this strategy changes.


Beat my best score at my home track by 2 shots, off the whites too! :D
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Awesome! Well done :)
 
Justone, to tell someone to not give their ball a chance of reaching the flag are of the green is debatable fella. 130+ yard par threes can be missed by fats, thins, hooks, slices with any club. Taking an extra club does not mean flying all trouble, it means taking a club that you can hit with a smooth swing at 75% and keeping your timing in check. Overswinging causes more problems and introduces more chance of error, we all know that, I just dont agree with defeatist defensive play on holes that are genuine chances of making inroads.
Of course, some par3 holes are designed that you simply cannot play short, large bunkers, water etc.
I think the biggest issue is telling a high handicapper to rely on their short game, a fluffed or thinned pitch could end up being even more expensive. I say assess the hole and play the hole to the percentages, if there is water or harsh bunkers short, play long, if trouble is over the back, don't take enough to reach it, but still make the effort to reach the green.
 
Justone, to tell someone to not give their ball a chance of reaching the flag are of the green is debatable fella.
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Yep, but (in my opinion) it depends as a 20 h/capper whether you are going to nail a 6 iron to 4ft for a birdie OR try and keep a double bogey off your card by playing an 8-iron to the front edge chip on then 1 or 2 putt.

I did add at the end of my post...

"nb: As your h/cap and ball striking improve this strategy changes".

Too much club and swinging easy is the peril of every high h/capper as they often decelerate through impact and hit a poor shot. Every hole is about managing what is in front of you to make a good score, there's nothing wrong with 18 pars and take the birdies when they come. Being bold (pin hunting) on par 3's can be as destructive to a good score as hitting every tee shot into the trees.
 
I definitely agree, you can only slow the swing down so much before the tee goes further than the ball.
Swing speed only scratches the surface though.
I played with a few 20+ handicappers at the weekend and although they could strike the ball well enough, their lack of vision and shot making was very noticeable. I think it is all down to education or no interest in wanting to learn and practice new shots.
A few of the problems I noticed,
Ball too far back in the stance for bunker shots, resulting in a few chips at it.
Wildly slashing at tee shots trying to eek out every yard.
Chipping and pitching techniques were very stiff and never altered regardless of length or obstacles and resulted in duffed pitches into the bunkers.
The more options you have in your game, the better chance you have of avoiding telephone numbers.
 
Hi

Apart from my intro this is only my second post and I'm a bit nevous sticking my oar in between two such established members (brendy and JustOne).

However as I'm going to agree with you both (how's that for diplomacy?) I'm feeling brave enough.

I think it can be a good idea to come down a club or two if it means going from a 3 or 4 iron to a 5 or 6 and there's no trouble at the front. I have quite often done this with my second to our first which is often a 4 iron but I'll go with a 5 or 6 as it's early in the round and all the trouble is left and right. This hopefully leaves a chip or long putt from just short of the green looking at a 5 at worst (hmm... well there was that time... but i'm nearly over it).

However most players should be OK with anything from a 7 downwards in their hands so I'd be less likely to drop from a 7 or 8 to a 9 or wedge.

I also agree with you both that it can be dangerous trying deliberately to take something off your swing if you aren't used to it so it is worth practising. I'll sometimes do it as a "warm up" or "warm down" at the beginning or end of a practice session.

Incidently our pro once told me that our longest par five is one hole on the course where you don't need driver. It's not reachable in two but to be sure of getting up in three you have to be playing your second from the fairway. Trouble is I never remember this when I'm on the tee
 
Apart from my intro this is only my second post and I'm a bit nevous sticking my oar in between two such established members (brendy and JustOne).
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Uh-oh... troublemaker alert! :D ;) ;) ;)

Welcome to the forum :)

Point in case is that it's a 20 h/capper looking to post a decent score, if it were a 6 h/capper I'd say go for the pin when there's no trouble or middle of the green at all other times. You don't have to take on a 'glory shot' every time you hit a ball, manage your round and you can score better than just plain 'playing outta your skin'.

Edfors just missed a green with a wedge in hand!, just because we have the ocassional shot that goes well doesn't mean that we should start looking at landing next to the flag on every hole... well certainly not unless you are approaching scratch or better.

Take less club and put it on/near the front of the green is my advice. As your game improves you can start to take more risks.
 
We have 5 par 5s. For me, Two are usually reachable, 2 more are reachable in the right conditions if I nail my drive and 1 is out of reach - always. However, I rarely go for any of them. Maybe I'm a cautious player I don't know but I've always looked a birdies as a bonus, I try to par every hole and I don't need to hit par 5s in 2 to do that. Having said that, I'm pretty good with my wedges inside 100 yds so I get quite a few sniffs at birdie this way.

The other advantage doing tjis is that I don't have to change the way I play a hole in winter when I normally can't reach any of the par 5s anyway :D
 
Thanks for the welcome JustOne. I have been viewing the forum for a while and always value your advice. I certainly have no intention of causing trouble and I hope it will be a lot of fun getting involved :)

I absolutely agree that, apart from the very low single figure guys, for most of us, better course management is the best way to make a good score with what we've got rather than trying to force a score by going for hero shots. As I hinted above, sometimes it is difficult on the course to make the right call, so going out with a clear strategy, as the OP showed, can be a big help.

As for tips for Par 3's, which was raised in the OP, I'm interested as these little blighters tend to be what makes or breaks a good round for me. My scores often bear no relation to how I'm playing the rest of the course (e.g. play them in 6 over when I'm 7 over for the other 14 or 1 under when I'm 16 over for the rest!). I have tried the "more club, easy swing", and "less club and go for it" approaches with no particular advantage from either. So I like the idea of "less club, normal swing and settle for the front" which is certainly an option on two of ours.
 
As someone well versed in the art of troublemaking on here, can I add another ingredient into the mix. On most holes the trouble is usually short, be it bunkers to the front and side or water and that there is rarely too much trouble at the back of par 3's

I play with a lot of high handicappers in our weekly roll ups and most seem perfectly capable of hitting it far enough forward without huge (20 yards either way) variance to find the real deep rubbish. Most either come up short through a poorly hit shot or miss the target and catch the bunkers. As I've said before three of the six par 3's at Ascot are 200+ yards and so they all get shots anyway. The shortest is still 140 with two deep bunkers short.

The point is, advising to in effect lay up would seem to bring more trouble into play than taking one more club, being committed and aiming for the heart of the green and using the shot received if you miss the target.
 
The point is, advising to in effect lay up would seem to bring more trouble into play than taking one more club, being committed and aiming for the heart of the green and using the shot received if you miss the target.
Click to expand...

To be fair Homer , JustOne did say only if there wasnt trouble at the front and there was a nice clear apron to land on
 
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