Smart(er) Golf

Golf is a game where one is never too old to learn how to play smarter golf. I frequently play with a guy who, during almost every round says "I wonder what would happen if I played the smart/safe shot for an entire round?" Inevitably, this is said after he tried to hit a shot so his ball would split a six inch gap between two trees only to "come so close" and have the ball go deeper into the woods.

I've often wondered why we feel the need to play beyond our own game and capabilities? Why is it that we believe that we can hit the most difficult of shots even knowing that we are not quite sure where the ball is going in the best of conditions? I guess it's because at one point, we did hit the miracle shot and believe that we can repeat that feat, or we say to ourselves "how hard can this be?" We are gullible creatures.

I'm not saying I always make the perfect decisions during around. I often stand over a shot and think "all I have to do is hit a little fade around that tree and I'll be sitting pretty..." Funny how the tree moves into the path of my ball the moment after I swing.

Golf is a lot like risk management, or would a better analogy would be that golf is like damage control.

There are a million reasons why pro golfers are pro golfers, but one of the ways that they truly separate themselves from the rest of the pack is because they they go to great lengths to play the "safe" shot and do their best to avoid the danger areas on the course.

What does this mean? Here's an example:

The following images are from Google Earth; they are of the hole at Currie Park in Milwaukee, a 353 yard par 4. Seems simple enough, eh? A slight dogleg to the right with a bunker on the left side. The end of the trees on the right are about 120 yards from the green. The green is relatively level with a slight slope from back to front and right to left.



So let's think strategically about how to approach this hole, starting at at tee box.

When teeing off, where are the obvious no-no areas? Areas where if you hit them, you are most likely going to lose a stroke (or two) to needing to hit a recovery shot?

The answer: the trees on right. The trees on the left. The bunker short-left of the green.



This holes plays to the strength of a person who hits a slight fade. He/she can aim up the left side of the fairway (or even at the trees on the left) and let his/her natural curve take the ball to the right. Obviously, if one does not aim far enough to the left, or has a significant curve (*cough* slice *cough*) then the trees on the right side will suck up the errant shot. I can vouch for this happening on more than one occasion.

So, off the tee, a decision needs to be made: risk ballooning a ball into the trees to the right if the driver can be temperamental and prone to spells or erratic behavior, or play it a bit safer by hitting a 3 wood and increasing the likelihood that the ball will find the fairway even if it is a bit further back?

The smart shot is the 3 wood.

Now, let's scenario play the second shot.

Let's say you hit a good drive (or 3 wood off the tee) and have about 150 yards left to the center of the green. The pin is short left (the blue dot). You are in the middle of the fairway (I know, keep dreaming ... but you need positive thoughts). The question is, how do you approach your next shot?

If your iron play is not very accurate, where do you want to be if you miss the green?

Looking at the next picture, there are two big no-no areas: the bunker and the rough to the left of the green. These areas are bad because they are on the short side, meaning there is very little green to work with; and from this distance it is very difficult to stop the ball close to the pin (remember, you would be coming downhill too). Leaving your second shot in these areas means there is a very good chance you will try to get too cute with your next shot and either blade it all the way across the green or, more likely, chunk it and move the ball six inches forward but short of the green.



Long-left (purple area) is far from ideal but at least you have more green to work with. The area marked in yellow would be considered the safe bailout zone. You would have plenty of green to work with, so any pitch would simply need to land on the green and start rolling towards the hole. It might be difficult judging the distance out of the rough, but they key is that there is room for error.

If you came up short of the green but still in the fairway, it would be better if you were more to the right (orange area) than the left (blue area). This is because there is more room to work with with the former than the latter. Also, in both locations, you would be coming uphill which would help control the pace of the ball on your next shot.

What all this means is that short right is okay, as is a bit further to the right.

If I'm thinking about the green, simply being on the proverbial dance floor may not mean an easy two-putt-par.

Looking at the next image, ideally you will be under the pin and maybe just a bit to the right (yellow area). This would leave you an uphill putt. It's pretty clear with this hole, and the pin location, that it is a pretty small target area so there should not be any screams of frustration if you miss this location.



Your next best option would be on the "fat" side of the green but somewhat close to pin high (the dark blue area). Placing the ball here means you've taken the bunker and the left side of the green out of the equation -- two no-no areas. This should make for a relatively easy two putt and par -- no harm done on the first hole.

If you go a bit long and right (purple), you are still on the green, but the downhill putt and distance might make two putting a bit difficult. If the conditions are dry, you might find yourself off the green with your next putt.

Finally, the least ideal spot would be the red zone because there is simply not that much room for error coming back down the hill. Also, placing the ball here would mean you've flirted with missing the green to the left which is "dead."

So, when I am looking at this green from the fairway, I would focus on zones 1 and 2. Chances are, I may not even look at the pin when aligning my shot knowing that I want to be to the right of it. This means I want to pull a club that will go about 130-140 yards (assuming the middle of the green is about 20 paces from the front) and not much further.

For this hole, with this pin, it is better to be short than long and to the right of the green than to the left of it.

So, there you go: smart(er) golf. Yes, it involves quite a bit of analysis but when applied, playing smart(er) golf can definitely save a few strokes each round.