Smart Golf – Preserve Your Balls
If you have even one penalty during your round of 18 holes, you’re not playing smart golf, and there’s a really easy way to shave strokes off your game. Stop losing balls. That may sound difficult at first, but it’s not difficult at all. You just have to have the mindset that the ball you’re using is the only ball you have. I’m going to run through some examples here to show you what I mean.
Par 3 Smart Golf Example
Let’s say you’re on a 160 yard par 3. The flag is tucked in the back right corner, and there’s a pond long and right of the green. The green itself is 30 yards deep and 20 yards wide, meaning any distance from 135 to 165 and somewhat straight gets it on the green. Left side is just rough grass. What’s your play? If you’re like me, your instinct reaction is to hit your 160-165 club, aiming slightly left of the pin, and try to give yourself a shot at birdie. As a mid-handicapper, this decision will result in double bogey more often than birdie and par combined.
The right decision in this situation is to take your 145-150 club and aim at the left side of the green. If you hit the green you have a GREAT chance at a 2 putt par. If you miss the green, you have lots of green to work with for an up and down par.
Know Your Shot Dispersions
Some people think getting your golf shot dispersion from a golf simulator is just for bragging rights. It’s not. It can be used to create a safe circle for any shot you attempt on the golf course. If you know your shot dispersions for each club and distance, you know the best spot to aim to have the least likelihood of a penalty stroke. So if you don’t know your dispersions, learn them. If you do know your shot dispersions, use them.
Using the example above, you can see there’s a decent chance that we miss the green. But that’s okay, because if you miss the green within your circle, you’re going to have an easier chip for a good look at par on the hole. Play smart golf.
Par 4 Smart Golf Example
Alright, now let’s look at a par 4. We have a nice short 290 yard par 4 and you know how to smash your drives. Perfect opportunity for a 2-putt birdie, right? WRONG! Put the driver away. Using a driver on this hole is the absolute worst decision you could make. Usually when a course has 290 yard par 4 holes, they are very dangerous holes. Look at the example below:
There’s virtually no way of losing your ball or getting a penalty if you keep it short of 190 yards on this hole. Plus, if you reach 180-190 you have a nice easy approach shot to give yourself an opportunity to score a birdie more safely. And if not, you’re MUCH more likely to get a par. This is smart golf and it will make your round a whole lot more fun. Let’s look at one more example
Par 5 Smart Golf Example
Okay, by now I think you’re getting the idea. Play that ball like it’s the only one you have. You’ll make better decisions and score lower. Be like my cousin Kyle. After trying to break 100 for months and months, he followed these guidelines and shattered 100 with a 94. All by using smart golf. Here’s an example of a par 5 he played using these techniques.
Let’s break down this hole. It’s 270 to the water. Kyle took his 5-Wood, knowing a good shot would go 240 and he’d have no possibility of ending up in the water. His 5 Wood felt really great so he decided to hit it again, even though the bunker was 300 yards away and he could have safely played a 3-Wood. Playing what gives you confidence is also very important, so the 5-Wood was a great decision. He took it another 240 and had 80 yards left to the green. The green didn’t have a lot of depth where the pin was, and there were sand bunkers both in front of and behind the flag. Using this information, Kyle elected to aim left of the flag, realizing that the best thing he could do on that shot would be to get it on the green. And get it on the green he did, narrowly missing his birdie putt and finishing the hole with a par. All made possible by smart golf.
Summary
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m passionate about making the right decisions. More often than not, the factor that keeps us from shooting a decent score isn’t our ball striking or our chipping or putting. It’s our decision making. Knowing when to lay up and when it’s safe to swing away. Paying attention to the course layout is a huge aspect of golf that is far too often overlooked. Not only does it improve your score, when you’re not paying attention to the course you’re missing a very fun part of the game. There is something truly satisfying about outsmarting the people who designed your golf course. Getting to the hole in few enough strokes to be happy with your performance can be done by anybody. You just have to use your noggin.
