Playing safe and game plans.

I try and take every hole on its merits and given the conditions. If I opt for a safe option I have to be comfy with the club and commit to the shot. It's when I try and swing easily, getting armsy, that problems start.
 
A lot of this depends on how you drive the ball imho, if youre a good driver of the ball, pull your driver and hit your normal shot. If like me for the last few years youve driven the ball at best inconsistently and at worst horrifically then you have to be more aware of the options available to you, which means by default there are times where I revert to iron off the tee, can be a 3 iron, on one of our short par 4s can be as little as 8 iron. Last mth when +2 gross thru 17 I played our 535yd par 5 last as 5 iron, 7 iron wedge. Gave myself a 10 footer for birdie too lol, just didnt feel confident hitting driving over the trees on the dog leg

When you just have a nice smooth swing your driver goes like a rocket ( nearly up with mine and ricks :D ) with a cracking gentle little cut at the end

Think you just need to gain some confidence in the club in your hand when you go to it.
 
When you just have a nice smooth swing your driver goes like a rocket ( nearly up with mine and ricks :D ) with a cracking gentle little cut at the end

Think you just need to gain some confidence in the club in your hand when you go to it.

Yeah spot on, not easy when you only hit it a few times a round at most though. Having a lesson with it on trackman next week to try and get an idea of what Im trying to achieve, hopefully that will help me trust it a bit more out on the course
 
I don't play safe off the tee, driving is usually the strongest part of my game, I think more about 2nd shots.

Really? How do you think more about your 2nd shot without hitting the 1st shot? Like: "sh*t - if I'd hit X tee shot, I'd be in a better position for my 2nd shot". No surprises that driving, even if it really is the strongest part of your game, isn't of much use for the majority of 2nd shots.
 
A lot of this depends on how you drive the ball imho, if youre a good driver of the ball, pull your driver and hit your normal shot. If like me for the last few years youve driven the ball at best inconsistently and at worst horrifically then you have to be more aware of the options available to you, which means by default there are times where I revert to iron off the tee, can be a 3 iron, on one of our short par 4s can be as little as 8 iron. Last mth when +2 gross thru 17 I played our 535yd par 5 last as 5 iron, 7 iron wedge. Gave myself a 10 footer for birdie too lol, just didnt feel confident hitting driving over the trees on the dog leg

This x100 for me.

My driver is pretty much redundant at the moment. Course is so baked and rough so bad that keeping it in play is the name of the game.

Hitting iron off nearly every tee, sometimes 4 wood and very rarely driver. What it has done is highlight that I need to work on my short irons to give me more birdie chances.

My old approach was hammer driver everywhere. On the good days I could shoot the lights out, more often than not I'd be struggling badly and visiting every dark corner of the course!
 
I play the clubs to get to a yardage I like. For example, our 7th is about 350/360. Driver actually takes the hazards out of play, but it leave me too close to a 2 tier green surrounded by sand. So I hit 4 wood short of left bunker but long of the right one. This leaves a gw/ sw/lw into the green depending on the pin.

Usually do similar on 10 and 12 too. I don't like to intentionally get inside 100 yards so use club off tee to get to that. Obviously on 400 + holes it's driver for me and would only club down if mega wind behind etc
 
22 hcp and can safely play a 'mutha' par five with mid irons and wedge - surely should be single figures?
No its a par 4. I just play it as a par 5. Doesn't always work either!

I keep meaning to play a round to handicap, by that I mean play every par 4 as a par 5, every par 3 as a 4. Hit two wedges into a par three and two putt for two points etc. never happens tho!
 
I think playing safe and game plans are two different things (but can be the same on certain shots)

Played with a 4BBB comp at the weekend (and for fun it was double points scored with the yellow ball until its lost) It makes quite some difference to a game plan when you're managing the yellow to keep it for 18 holes and how the 4 players changed their strategy when it was their turn with the yellow, balancing scoring with keeping the ball in play (might be an idea to try it on practice games to alternate between two balls awarding yourself double points and see how it works out)

Maybe the result will suggest that a game plan (keeping the yellow) would yield better scoring even without double points!
 
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