By Steve Gordon
I work as a starter a couple days a week at a local golf club and I hear the talk regularly as I chat with the players as they prepare to tee off. You know, the plan on how they are going to score better with a better short game, make better putts, etc. as the friendly bets are made for the round.
Then as I am out on the course to marshal play I see first hand how scores are raised by various blunders that weren't planned.
Score is important as it is a bench mark of how we performed on a certain day. The other side of that coin for me is that fixation on score can ruin a good walk as opposed to the Mark Twain quote that "Golf is a good walk spoiled."
What I want to put in front of you here is to present ways you can potentially score better WITHOUT taking a lesson or hitting the ball better. There are many facets of this game to master to play well to score better. Drive for dough, putt for show but what happens in between? Sure, the efficient repeatable swing is the most sought after goal but it isn't the end all.
SO my fellow golfers, what if I told you there is a way to score better hitting the same assortment of tops, pop ups, worm burners, skulls, slices, hooks, shanks, etc.? Those shots are usually followed by talking to yourself or a playing partner on what went wrong. Things like coming out of the shot, not keeping the head down (one of the worst pieces of advice ever), half swing, too big a swing, trying to kill it, etc.
How many of you have heard (and said) that perhaps the most important part of learning the game and playing well (and scoring better) relies on that six inches between your ears?
We have all done things on the course to waste shots so going back to my opening line of what I see regularly let's think about what we do out there outside of the first tee shot in front of an audience wanting to show off your game or trying not to embarrass yourself. No pressure there, right?
The hard fact is that it is so simple and yet so many of us don't take advantage.
It can start with the tee shot with alignment on the occasion that you will hit that driver in the sweet spot and end up in the trees or worse. Not all tees are aimed directly down the hole (on purpose is some cases as part of a design). I watch players line up and aim left or right but think they are aligned to go down the middle.
What I want to hit on however are those hero shots. The ones envisioned that rarely if ever come off and are low percentage.
1. Your best shot might be 200 yards off the tee (the USGA says the average male bogey golfer hits his drive 180-200 yards). In your head is this majestic high and long tee shot down the middle of the hole and just last weekend I saw a group of players who thought they hit it better than they did and all it did was cause them frustration and slow up play thus frustrating all the players behind them. Let's call this playing within yourself. Just take that swing that hits the fade, slice, draw, hook or the shortish but straight shot and go from there. Anything other than that is likely to result in something far worse and potentially cost you a stroke or two on the scorecard.
2. The same approach works from the fairway with the player who is 250 yards out and is afraid he might hit the people on the green. This is more of a pace of play thing but a really bad shot trying to hit it too hard could cost you.
3. I think the most defined of shots that costs strokes comes when players try to hit it through a hole in the trees the size of a car window. When in the trees or very deep rough just accept it get it out, even if you have to hit backwards or sideways. In the end trying the hero shot is going to cost at least one on your scorecard. Same thinking goes for deep fairway bunkers.
4. Around the greens don't try to hit the Phil flop shot. The odds are long that you will pull it off and end up in the same spot or a worse spot. Another lost stroke.
5. On the greens don't try to make everything, especially those 60 footers. Good putts are hit with the correct speed, great putts have speed and line. The line is easier to get than distance so having say a one or two foot putt is a lot easier and potentially makeable than perhaps a six, or eight foot putt that didn't get to the hole or ran past it.
Do I practice what I just put out here. I'd say I have a very high percentage and a higher percentage when playing with my longtime golf partner who keeps me in line. Am I a scratch golfer? Nope, but I have learned how to save making unnecessary scores.
I work as a starter a couple days a week at a local golf club and I hear the talk regularly as I chat with the players as they prepare to tee off. You know, the plan on how they are going to score better with a better short game, make better putts, etc. as the friendly bets are made for the round.
Then as I am out on the course to marshal play I see first hand how scores are raised by various blunders that weren't planned.
Score is important as it is a bench mark of how we performed on a certain day. The other side of that coin for me is that fixation on score can ruin a good walk as opposed to the Mark Twain quote that "Golf is a good walk spoiled."
What I want to put in front of you here is to present ways you can potentially score better WITHOUT taking a lesson or hitting the ball better. There are many facets of this game to master to play well to score better. Drive for dough, putt for show but what happens in between? Sure, the efficient repeatable swing is the most sought after goal but it isn't the end all.
SO my fellow golfers, what if I told you there is a way to score better hitting the same assortment of tops, pop ups, worm burners, skulls, slices, hooks, shanks, etc.? Those shots are usually followed by talking to yourself or a playing partner on what went wrong. Things like coming out of the shot, not keeping the head down (one of the worst pieces of advice ever), half swing, too big a swing, trying to kill it, etc.
How many of you have heard (and said) that perhaps the most important part of learning the game and playing well (and scoring better) relies on that six inches between your ears?
We have all done things on the course to waste shots so going back to my opening line of what I see regularly let's think about what we do out there outside of the first tee shot in front of an audience wanting to show off your game or trying not to embarrass yourself. No pressure there, right?
The hard fact is that it is so simple and yet so many of us don't take advantage.
It can start with the tee shot with alignment on the occasion that you will hit that driver in the sweet spot and end up in the trees or worse. Not all tees are aimed directly down the hole (on purpose is some cases as part of a design). I watch players line up and aim left or right but think they are aligned to go down the middle.
What I want to hit on however are those hero shots. The ones envisioned that rarely if ever come off and are low percentage.
1. Your best shot might be 200 yards off the tee (the USGA says the average male bogey golfer hits his drive 180-200 yards). In your head is this majestic high and long tee shot down the middle of the hole and just last weekend I saw a group of players who thought they hit it better than they did and all it did was cause them frustration and slow up play thus frustrating all the players behind them. Let's call this playing within yourself. Just take that swing that hits the fade, slice, draw, hook or the shortish but straight shot and go from there. Anything other than that is likely to result in something far worse and potentially cost you a stroke or two on the scorecard.
2. The same approach works from the fairway with the player who is 250 yards out and is afraid he might hit the people on the green. This is more of a pace of play thing but a really bad shot trying to hit it too hard could cost you.
3. I think the most defined of shots that costs strokes comes when players try to hit it through a hole in the trees the size of a car window. When in the trees or very deep rough just accept it get it out, even if you have to hit backwards or sideways. In the end trying the hero shot is going to cost at least one on your scorecard. Same thinking goes for deep fairway bunkers.
4. Around the greens don't try to hit the Phil flop shot. The odds are long that you will pull it off and end up in the same spot or a worse spot. Another lost stroke.
5. On the greens don't try to make everything, especially those 60 footers. Good putts are hit with the correct speed, great putts have speed and line. The line is easier to get than distance so having say a one or two foot putt is a lot easier and potentially makeable than perhaps a six, or eight foot putt that didn't get to the hole or ran past it.
Do I practice what I just put out here. I'd say I have a very high percentage and a higher percentage when playing with my longtime golf partner who keeps me in line. Am I a scratch golfer? Nope, but I have learned how to save making unnecessary scores.
