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My strategy on the course is terrible. I'm hemorrhaging shots every hole, whether it's for a par or double bogey. Anybody know any websites/books/course philosophies they could recommend?

Most of us waste strokes by trying to hit shots that we are incapable of pulling off more than half the time. When in trouble off the tee, the first priority should be getting one's ball back into the fairway, not onto the green. This is true whether one ends up in a bunker, deep rough, or trees. Return the ball to the fairway, even if that means playing sideways or backwards, and play on from there. This strategy alone will save a player many unnecessary strokes.

Around the green, get the ball rolling as soon as possible with your chip shots. Accuracy in direction and distance along the ground is much better than in the air.

I'm sure that you know these things already, but an effort to implement them more consistently as you play will certainly save strokes.

I did this the first time I played on a real 18-hole course, a month ago, after reading something along those lines. I was in rough on the inside hook of a dogleg, with trees between me and the green. I pitched out to the fairway, more or less sideways, and my friend said, "You actually meant to do that, didn't you?" Yup. It turned out to be a decent hole for me. She tried to thread her shot from the fairway toward the green between two trees... Hit the tree, and watched as the ball ricocheted back for negative yardage.

I learned something on that hole. Hopefully I can remember it.

Hi, Pullhook! Nice to have a bloke on the Board!

I often play my best when I'm scared of the course and/or am deeply aware of my many limitations as a golfer. That's when I'm inclined NOT to try the "hero" shot. I often advise myself: "Just do something adequate" or "Just throw it down there in the general direction of the hole" or (when in trouble) "Take your medicine and chip out."

I try to use my clubs in a way that helps me manage the course. For example, I often hit 2-wood (an old TaylorMade Fairway Driver), not a 1-wood, off the tee, sacrificing distance for a better chance to hit my next shot from the fairway. I replaced my 3-iron and 4-iron with a 7-wood and 9-wood, which are much easier for me to hit. (Also, they have a higher trajectory, so the ball doesn't roll as much after it lands.) On approach shots with irons, I swallow my pride and hit the club that I know will get it there, not the club that will get it there if I hit it pure. On greenside chips, I do as Valeogut advised and get the ball down and rolling ASAP. Putting: To my partners, it may look as if I'm trying to sink that 20-footer, but probably I'm just trying to stop it close to the hole, to avoid 3-putting.

Humbling game, this golf.

Yeah, i hear you all, but i'll give you an example of my problems.
On one hole, i took a 3 wood off the tee, but in order to be able to see the flag, i hard to hit a slight draw. In practise, and indeed during that round, i hit a draw on command. That time, however, i hit it dead straight and it just trickled into the trees. I had no shot at the green, had to pitch it backwards and ended up in more trouble than if i'd hit driver.

What do you do in that situation?

So, you tried to hit a draw and got "the dreaded straight ball"! I hate when that happens.

Not sure I can help you. I am not good enough (14.5 hdcp) to attempt fades and draws, as the situation requires. On some holes I sadly accept that my shot shape will prevent me from making par. Example: The 18th on my home course is a sharp dogleg left (trees guard the corner). If I could draw the ball, I could give myself a much shorter second shot to the green. But my ever-present fade usually leaves me with an uphill 175-yard shot. So I just play for bogey on that hole. For me, 5 (not 4) is my "personal par" on that hole.

Maybe such an approach will help you if it keeps you from making double-bogey.

QUOTE=Pullhook]That time, however, i hit it dead straight and it just trickled into the trees. I had no shot at the green, had to pitch it back :mad: wards and ended up in more trouble than if i'd hit driver.

What do you do in that situation?[/quote]

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Anytime I "play for position" it comes back to bite me in the arse. 90% it seems like I was better off just hitting the driver. This is followed by keeping the hacker's mentality (hitting the impossible) the rest of the hole until my partners demand I pick up!

Then again, I used to be a 7 handicap and now I'm a 23 :mad: :mad: :mad: , so maybe that attitude might not work for you!

On th course i play on, you have to at least try and shape shots to shoot any kind of decent score. on one hole, you only have to carry it 150 yards, but if you don't fade it (right Hander) you have a shot of 200+ yards to the green on a par4.
When i first started playing i used to mess around trying to hit big slices and stuff, it was fun, but it does have a purpose.

7 handicap to a 23, eh? what happened?!

7 handicap to a 23.....greenguy must've started playing courses set up by the USGA

Pullhook,

I'm not sure how you ended up in more trouble by mishitting the 3 wood and pitching out backwards than if you had mishit the driver. It seems to me that you would have been even deeper in the woods with perhaps no chance at pitching out had you hit driver.

What we seem to have a problem with here is execution, not strategy. Your strategy was fine, your execution wasn't. There's not much that anyone could criticize about your choice to try to hit a draw with a club that you had been successfully drawing all day. It was just one of those unfortunate shots that we all hit. The only thing to do is to take our medicine and not to compound our error by trying something really stupid that will pile on additional strokes.

Execution of shots can only be improved with practice, but there is never any guarantee that a golfer won't mishit a shot at any time. That uncertainty is one of the qualities of golf that makes hitting a great drive or iron or putt that much more satisfying, if you see what I mean.

yeah, i know what your saying. But it happens at least once on every couple of hole, where i put myself in a difficult situation, i'll either miss long on a green and give myself a horrendous up and down, or i'll lay up on a par 5 in the worst possible spot. I'm just not thinking when i play, and its stopping me from shooting low scores.

The recognition that you have a problem is the first step toward solving it.

[7 handicap to a 23, eh? what happened?![/quote]
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I got into the golf business! Worst thing you can do for your game. Problem is that when I get into trouble, I revert to the past and remember when I used to able to hit a particular shot that might be borderline miraculous. Can't get over the fact that I know that good swing is somewhere in there and I can't find it anymore! :mad: :mad: I literally want to pick up and my partners say "no don't pick up yet, you get 2 strokes this hole and we're still in this! Then I'll clanck a few more from the trees and finally someone will yell "ok Now you can pick up! People I play with say that with my swing they don't understand how I can play so bad. I just say that I''ve gotten used to to it!

lets identify WHY you hit straight ....
was there a fear of going straight ?any tension or misgivings ?
sounds like tension caused you to lose your wrist ction thru the ball ....hence no draw .
just a wild guess .....but its been the cause of my golf being * for 18 months ....cured that now tho and am 5 shots better than before ...

Ok, I'd like to jump in here. Few among us can shape shots on demand reliably. The rule of thumb in course management is "take the trouble out of play". This is valid even for shot-shapers.

Take the first example: need to hit a draw?...fine, but choose a target, a specific target, to aim at that allows for some error...few holes are set up where 15 yds one way or the other will mean death. Also, few holes are set up where a straight shot will hurt you...that's tour caliber. On the dogleg right, you're saying you have to bend it around the corner or you'll be facing a 200-yd shot to the green?...which is better, 200 out of the fairway or 100 from the rough out the back? Consider how the hole is set up, how the designer meant for it to be played...consider respecting that. I emphasize to choose a specific target on the horizon to focus your mind on...if you hit right at it then it'll be what you planned, if you miss a little left or right you're still in play. If fate intervenes and you end up stymied then pitch or punch out and take your medicine. I believe if you choose the right line off the tee you'll have to miss pretty badly to get in any real trouble (unless it's just a really hard hole) and a slight miss usually won't mean high numbers.

Same thing on overshooting the green...choose a club that you know you can hit full without flying the world. Of course, "taking out the trouble" depends on the setup...if you're between clubs and there's water in front then take the longer stick to ensure you don't come up short...if there's OB or water behind the green, take the shorter club that you are certain you can't hit that far. Now all of this means you must know your yardages for each club. If you catch one fat or hit a flyer then that's just how it goes but if you've clubbed yourself properly and don't miss-hit it too bad then you should still have a chance to recover.

Even the pros will tell you that often they just want to take one side or the other out of play, thus eliminating the real trouble. They're shaping the shot, allright, but not to hit a specific blade of grass at a specific distance, just to make sure that they don't go in the gunch. If you can do that then you're pretty good and should be able to handle/accept whatever result fate/the golf gods hand you.

One last thing...to me, this seems like a course management issue...some have commented on how to hit a fade or draw reliably - mechanics...well, that should be worked out on the range and shouldn't be at the top of your conscience when on the course. Take your game with you and trust it...but use your head to give your game the best chance to produce.

Shade