Managing my game

My regular playing partner is a lovely chap. We both started to learn to play at the sane time, joined our first club together and are equally enamoured with the joys of golf. However, when it comes to course management we are chalk and cheese. He loves the big stick, even though he can't wield it properly yet, and unless it's a par 3 he pulls that or the 3 wood out. I have tried to reason with him but thus far to no avail.

I'm slightly more conservative in my approach. What's the danger on the hole? What's the risk/reward? If it's a par four could I get on the green with two decent mid iron strikes? The next thing I've learnt is assess the wind, lie, slope, ground conditions, distance. Think which club I want to hit, go one stronger and swing easy. Every par I hit on Saturday was because of that approach. I took a 6I over a 7 on the 3rd and 6th, an 8I over a 9I on the 9th and a PW on the tiny 11th which on paper should have been way too much club.

This is my simple starting point but there are still a number of challenges. The course only has markers at 150 yards, meaning guess work is required when you are close in. There are also a lot of blind greens so I'm hoping to get up there midweek sometime soon when it's quiet so I can take time on each hole to think about what the best lay up positions are as well as places I want to avoid.

I've only just scratched the surface of course management and am starting to realise the complexity and magnitude of the mission I've taken on. I'm hoping in time with more rounds under my belt, how I think around the course will get better.

Comments:

Simon Hutton
Sounds good. I’m learning that clubbing up and swinging easy is an extremely useful option – primarily because swinging easy means I have more chance of hitting the ball nicely and avoiding a slice.

Homer
If your course has a course planner, buy one and then add your own yardages on each hole bit by bit (obviously better if you can borrow a DMD but even a guesstimate at this stage will suffice) and give yourself as much info as you can.

Years ago I did my own one for Wimbledon Common as they didn’t have one. I pace the green out down the middle of each one and across the widest part. I made a not of the relevant features I wanted and then paced from the furthest back to the middle of the green. Next time I just paced from my starting point to the next feature and deducted.

The thing is you can then build up a detailed map for each hole (arguably more detailed than any DMD) and find safe go to areas so that even if you hit a bad tee shot you have options.

Tiger
Unfortunately they are making some course modifications at the moment so they are waiting till they are completed before they produce a new course planner. Went on MyCaddie and have mapped the course on there so will use my iPhone in the interim as a GPS. The main issue is they only have yardage markers at 150 yards so once you are closer than that you’re screwed.