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  1. #1
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    Percentage golf....an important tip & a lesson well learned.....

    Percentage golf or ala course management....it all boils down to knowing your game which is your stregth & weaknesses. As easy as this sounds it never ceases to amaze me certain club selections that folks make on certain holes. What is even more disgusting is I have fallen victim to this sort of thing alot! The strongest aspect of my game lays in my irons but recently I found myself pulling out the driver on par 4's less then 400 yards. With my irons being my strength it would only make sense to hit a long iron on the shortish par 4 holes & try to take bogey out of the equation with a short iron approach into the green. For me this approach plays to my stregth and increases my chances of walking away with par and at the very worst a bogey. Secondly with approaches into the green and the pin is protected by a bunker up front it makes sense to play for the opening to the green to asure yourself of a two putt par or at worst a bogey instead of trying to carry the bunker .....percentage wise it is the odds on favorite to play for the opening.....makes sense....but why don't folks and myself play this way? I think it has to do with spending to much time wrapped up in practice of the full swing, short game, & putting (they are very important). While we practice these important areas of our game one can forget about how to play the game itself. The game is so much more then just going on the course for a swing session. I think driving ranges and so much emphasis on the 'power' game has played a role in overshadowing the art of course management! Course mangement is so much more then knowing what club to hit. It is plain & simple knowing your game and applying it to the game itself! I have seen some great ballstrikers who could really play this game...if they knew how! Instead they kill themselves and can never figure out why they can't even come close to breaking 90! I learned this lesson last year but I forgot it and got caught up in the hit the ball concept! I got onto this line of thinking, percentage golf, again by playing a round with a scratch player.........this is one way that will shave a good many strokes from ones game......

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2002
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    What you have said is true and makes perfect sense sitting here in my living room in front of my computer...unfortunately my golf bag does not have a pocket in which I can carry my common sense so as to have it with me while playing. I carry 3 fairway woods that I do not use. I can hit them like nobody's business at the range, but when it comes time to play I can't rely on them...I know this, and yet I will take them out of the bag and go at greens, even though I know I can hit an iron to the 100 marker, from where I am on 9 times out of 10 with the sand wedge. I am sure that if I took 6 or 7 clubs out of my bag I would shoot better scores than I do right now, because I would removing a lot of temptation to play the hero. My putting is solid (very seldom do I 3 putt), my wedges are pretty accurate, and my irons are much more reliable than my woods, yet I will try to bomb it out there to impress...who???me? I just get disgusted when these attempts fail...I usually play alone, but my main playing partner is about 50 yards shorter than me with driver, so not him...I gotta grow up a bit.

  3. #3
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    I've only broken 80 twice - once playing whites (5700 yards), once blues (6400 yards). Both times, I almost always hit 2-iron (actually an 18 degree Mizuno Fli-Hi hybrid) off the tee. Par 5's - even from the whites - I always assume to be 3 shot holes; since my wedge/9 iron from 105-135 is my best shot, I try to lay up to that distance whenever possible. Granted, I was sticking my irons both days, but I also felt little pressure on the tee box, knowing that I was probably taking double bogey out of the equation by hitting an iron off the tee (I doubled none in one round, once in the other).

    Some courses force driver or at least 3 wood off the tee, but I'm trying to recognize when that isn't needed. I haven't been smart enough to try it, but it might even be worth playing those ridiculous 220 yard par 3's as very short par 4's, hitting to a good chipping or pitching spot and taking a chance on up and down instead of hitting a 3 wood or 5 wood.

    Sidling off-topic, those long par 3's are my absolutely least favorite aspect of "modern" course design. One of the best par 3's in the world is the ~ 130 yard hole at Pebble that can play 75 yards or 210, depending on conditions. That's what par 3's should be - thinking holes, not holes to test how accurate your 3 wood is.

  4. #4
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    pressing forward...........

    I will agree that on some par 4's the layout forces you to pull the driver out of your bag! Since my irons are my strength I simply go by the rule of thumb under 400 yards iron off the tee....over 400 a 3-wood or driver. If a par 4 is less then 400 yards and it is wide open with no severe danger well the driver is out (scoring hole)! As for the loger par 4's depending on the width of the fairway and any trouble off the box will determine if I use driver, 3-wood, or even a 2 iron if it is really dangerous.

    Approach shots are always fun since there are so many variables one has to consider! Pin position, slope of the green, danger near the green, wind ( more so now then off the tee), etc. If I have a good idea of what the yardage is to the pin (and that is within 3 yards of the hole) and it is free from danger I will let it fly at the flag! Another option I have is if I know 100% I have the shot to fly it at the pin despite any danger then I will take a swing at it! Again that is if I'M 100% certain I can pull it off otherwise I will play to a safe area of the green to assure myself of a 2 putt par. I have found if one plays conservative & smart scoring chances do appear but you have to be patient & wait for them. Albeit if you are in a tourney struggling to make the cutt or on the losing end of match play then more aggresive play maybe warranted! Folks will say this is nothing more then common sense here but I have found that this sense is anything but common given what I have seen!

    As for brutish 240-250 yard par 3s...that is just nonsense. The longest par 3 I play is 210 and reachable with a 3 iron or an easy 2 iron. If I ever came to one of these monster par 3s I would just lay up short & chip, putt, par & walk away from such a stupid hole....when you learn to play the game itself you start to fully appreciate a courses layout & what makes a good hole. A hole that makes you think, has some risk, & can be played any number of ways is a winner in my book. I agree that long par 3s that have folks reaching for 3 wood is a crappy hole because , as you said, it does not make you think and is a very dull hole.
    Last edited by Tee'd Off; 06-21-2005 at 07:33 AM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
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    I have heard pros often comment that they could easily cut 5-10 strokes off most average golfers' scores without changing their swings, but by merely advising them on course management decisions.

    My front nine this past Saturday was a perfect example of this. Several times I hit driver when a 3-wood would have been more prudent, and there were at least three holes where I fell victim to the dreaded "damn it - I KNOW I can hit it under/over that tree" syndrome.

    It's easy to say "I'll play smarter next time" but once out on the course that ol' testosterone poisoning tends to rear its ugly head.

    The best course management advice I've ever read comes from Tommy Armour's How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time, where he boils it down to the bare essentials:

    "Play the shot you've got the greatest chance of playing well."

    "Play the shot that makes the next shot easy."
    Last edited by Cubfanbob; 06-21-2005 at 08:07 AM.

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