Course management is much touted as the critical component that is oft missing from the high handicappers game. Till now my approach has worked from green back to tee with the ambition of playing my approach shot from about 100 yards out and steering clear of any trouble on my way there. Recently I have started hitting a lot more GIR and it has actually been because I have been playing my approach shots from further out!
My course isn't the longest with quite a few short par 4's. Recently rather than having a wedge in my hand I've been hitting more approaches with my short irons. This has got me thinking. Distance control with my eight and nine iron is better because the club head is so forgiving on off centre strikes. While specialist wedges come into their own around the greens, from distance they can be as tricky to hit as any forged club, especially when you generally use Super Game Improving irons (though Titleist would never call the AP1s an SGI club).
The other factor of course is that, if I am hitting my approaches from further out, I am hitting less club off the tee or second shot on par 5's. This is in turn helping my accuracy and putting me in better positions to nail my shot to the green. All of a sudden I am starting to think I want to be approaching this green from the left because the pin is on the right. It has really opened my eyes to the way I play my course and how flawed my course management has been until now. My new considerations for my course management are:
- leave myself 140 yards for my approach shots
- hit each approach from the opposite side of the fairway to the pin
- check as I move around the course to know pin positions (front, middle or back) for upcoming holes
- where is the trouble on the green
- where is the trouble from the tee and can I aim away from it
No comments:
Post a Comment