Course Management - A Lesson in the Smart Way to Play

Having been through a series of lessons to create a swing that has tempo, balance and ultimately works on the course and repeats more often than not. I've switched attentions to short game lessons, I've been seeing a different pro for my short game so if you like I have a swing coach and a short game coach (how very professional). I still see my swing guy once a month to keep me ticking over and iron out bad habits that may have crept in.

The big thing though since starting short game lessons is my game has come on further as I feel if I go in a bunker I'm now fully equipped to give myself a good chance of getting up and down. Also so changes to my putting stroke and more importantly my putting routine are bedding in and this weekend was the best I've rolled the ball.

This weekend in the medal I had my best round of 4 over par so a 75 nett 66 and came first which was good, however I played with a guy off of 2 who hit it poorly, putted ok but scored level par gross. After chatting with him he said he knew he wasn't playing well but knew where the best places to miss were and best place to give him easier putts on the green so felt safe knowing he can always get it round on a bad day. So to me this would fall under the heading of Course Management (am I right or wrong?).

Based on now having the elements in my game to produce what I think are good golf shots and brining my short game on, I set myself what maybe an unreachable goal but one I want to achieve and that's to become a category 1 golfer by November. I have therefore decided to add the 3rd element I think I need to achieve that to my play and that is course management. I am today (well at midday) heading out with my long game guy for an on course lesson, the stipulation set is we are not working on any technical aspect of my play but merely learning strategies of playing the smart way

The idea is learn when to play smart, when to play aggressively and how to figure out the smartest places to hit or miss! Perhaps I'm over analysing my game in my pursuit of Cat 1 but since I took up the game and got divorced Golf is my new mistress and she insist on new shoes every time we go out! Has anyone had a course management lesson, am I taking things to far or can course management really help me shave the extra shots off I hope it can.

Where is far?

I do not mean to be rude but course management is not a difficult concept and should probably require no more than a modicum of common sense to master. Think about your game and its limitations, and then apply these to the features of the course. Really it is that simple. An understanding of the architecture and how to read a course will help you to do this but all you have to do is be observant and analyse the hole ahead of you.

Start to think about how the array of shots you have will effect ball flight and then in turn how the ball will react with the land.

Further, have a read of the 6 iron thread going at the moment for a few more pointers.


PS, i have no experience of course management lessons but not sure what it will offer. I will be keen to hear what you actually think it offered afterwards.

I don't think there is such a thing as a course management lesson, you just have to ditch the idea of trying to hit the ball as far as you can. Any old mongol can do that.

I see lots of players who are technically good, i.e they can strike a pure ball but have no idea where to put the ball for best position for the next shot.
It's a bit like snooker in that you decide where you would like to play the next shot from.

as a precursor ill say that this is an opinon and by no means a fact or something ive heard from a pro but when im not 100% on my game i get around by doing the following.


ill hit a draw when i know there is trouble on the right as i know its very rare that i "overdraw" the ball... the bad shot is to block it and it doesnt turn back.

on our steeply slopped elevated green when the pin is on the back i actually wont take the extra club you might intuitively expect... id rather have an uphill put than the possibility of having a nightmare chip from the back.

if im not on top of my shortgame then on the par 5s ill lay up to my prefered distance of 80metres as opposed to smashing a 3 wood as close as i can get (leaving my say 30 yards which is a distasnce i'm brutal from)

i try to distinguish between a put im trying to lag and a put im trying to make. ie >20 feet im trying to hit it dead weigh for example rather than trying to hit it 18inches past.

theres probably a few more of these type of things.. would be interested to hear if anyone else had similar snippets!

Why would you try to hit a draw when there's trouble on the right, and your bad shot is a block? Surely that means that you are aiming towards the trouble, knowing you have to hit a draw or you may be in trouble, and if you push it you will be in trouble?

Surely it would be better to aim down the middle and either draw it - left rough - or push it towards the trouble, but maybe not into it?

sorry George- forgot to mention... im a lefty!

Ah, well that would explain it!

Ok. All done. Only played 9 holes, more a walk of the holes than actually playing, played a few shots from different areas but that's it. Firstly to address the points raised above by those posted.

Mac: Yes course management should be common sense but that said there's many professional person plays this game that are highly intelligent and have good common sense that cannot grasp course management. For me today was about affirming certain ideas I have and getting an outside opinion from someone with a golfing brain that's been playing longer than I have to give my thoughts some scope and also point out things I may have missed. Add in the fact he did today for gratis then I couldn't say no.

Super: I actually found today in some instances hitting it as far as you can in some situations can be exactly the thing to do. However it has to be at the right time and risk weighed up which of course you will know. Its actually made me change strategy on one hole where like you suggest I usually bench the driver and hit the 3 wood, however today I figured out using the driver to attempt the carry over a fairway bunker offers less risk! Because if I don't make the carry I have a relatively dimple fairway bunker shot to the unprotected part of the green, whereas the 3 wood tee shot to heart or left centre of fairway leaves an angle where I have to play a long iron high over the hugely guarded left portion of the green. So in that case a shot of as far as you can offers greater reward as the miss is a simple bunker shot or the success is hitting the down slope leaving a wedge in!

Also quite why you feel the need to call others that maybe less talented than you in course management stakes a mongol I don't know?

Hend: I'm confused why you would hit a draw knowing your bad shots a block when the gash is on the right??

Ok points addressed now to the lesson:

I got today for free thanks to the pro saying I'd spent enough with him this past year to warrant a freebie.

I found today highly useful indeed, it has affirmed some of my thoughts on certain holes and shot, and totally changed my approach on other holes by actually making me more aggressive in many instances such as one mentioned above but in others has made me more defensive and look at certain positions of where the hole is and playing to the correct portion of green regardless of where the flag is.

The part I found most useful though was reading the land and wind because we all see others go straight at flags and then end up miles away due to slopes and winds etc. Yes it should be common sense even to a mongol (as we've had pointed out so delightfully by Super) but aiming at a slope 20feet to the right of a hole in order to get the ball to finish close to the pin was simply something I'd not considered, this I would put down to my still relative naivety to the game but I'm sure I'm not the only one and some long standing players may not register that either.

The other thing was knowing when to let the ball ride the wind and play to play against the wind to hold the ball up e.g. Using a cut shot into a right to left wind to make the ball get in close to the hole.

I could go on but this post is nearly as long as war and peace already and I'm falling asleep writing it! I would say if you've been in the game a long time and are a cat 1 player already maybe today wouldn't have helped you, but then we can all improve with the right mindset and I'd highly recommend it to people like me relatively new to the game and to anyone seeking improvement beyond current level. Hopefully today alone will save me at least 3-4shots. Soon find out sunday when its the final round (round 3of3) in our clubs stableford cup competition which after 2 rounds I'm in a 5 way tie for first place on 79points. Today's lesson will go into full practice then, but for now I'm off to do some putting.

Fader, that's exactly the point. Course management isn't a talent or something that you can learn, it's something that everyone with even a couple of brain cells ought to be able to instigate. It should be inate.

1. Look at the shot.
2. Assess the risk
3. Play the shot commensurate with your assessment.

sounds like a a frebbie well spent!. sorry i was so confusing re hitting a draw... i should have added that i'm lefty or said it from a right handers perspective!
i agree with your point on a 3 wood not being the safe play necesarily. Theres a short par four in my club where its actually narrower landing area for a 3 wood and a well hit driver will carry everything even if off line.
I rememer listening to Dustin Johnson about why he hit a driver down 18 when he needed a par(or something to that effect) and he said something like
"Ive hit 13 drivers today and im playing well and winning the tournament.... right know my driver is the straightest club in my bag"

Fader

The advice you were given seems to have been very specific to the course where you play regularly, but do you think you will be able to apply any of the lesson to other courses? Also, are you sure the pro was taking your game into account and not just detailing how he plays the course?

Mac: we didn't do the lesson at my course it was at his. i was merely applying my findings in the above description to a hole on my course as it was easier to explain that way. so based on what ive learnt i believe i can apply this to any course i goto from now on

as for way he plays it, never once did he say "i'd do this etc" he asked me what i would usually do then got me to look at certain things in my surroundings and gave me ideas on how they affect ball, flight and how to see the pitfalls or advantages of what i was going to execute.

Hend: a freebie very well spent imo as it helped me highlight things myself that we simply don't usually think about.

"The idea is learn when to play smart, when to play aggressively and how to figure out the smartest places to hit or miss!"

its all about the bail out.

playing a shot where you miss in the right place if you slightly miscue- however that is more about technique over course management.