# Golf Strategies



## broken tee (Jan 13, 2008)

Fourputt, Surtees and I are having fun posting scenarios and applying the rules of golf which has been quite enjoyable. How many of you high handicappers get out on the course knowing your strengths and weaknesses just hit the ball from the tee to the pin and some where in between your looking at a shot and thinking "What the he** do I do now." So besides just hitting the ball straight and staying in the fairway there is a strategy to this game and yours truly here has yet to get a grip on good course management. This is where you low handicappers could help us. Give us a situation that worked or failed and lets see how others would of handled the shot. Example: one of my Nemesis holes is a 205yrd par three with a water hazard in front with 20yrds of short rough between the green and the water. knowing I'm a weak hitter with my irons, What do I do? a driver for sure would put me over,so would the 3 wood my 5 wood maybe so, do I lay up in front of the hazard and hope for a good chip and a putt or go for it? You analyize it and tell me how you'd play it. Clarity in writing is not always my strength so I hope you get the gist of my request.


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## Fourputt (Nov 18, 2006)

205 yard par 3 (to the center of the green?) would mean that you have to carry about 170 to clear the water. That's a hard one to make a suggestion on as I probably favor a different club as a safety net than you would. For me that's a nice little choked down 4W, which is one of my favorite clubs anyway. The 4W might be a bit long, but at least safe. But I can also hit either of my hybrids and clear the water too, so if I'm playing really safe I might hit one of them. My 4H might or might not reach the center of the green, but even the 5H should easily clear the hazard.

Don't know if any of that helps.


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## broken tee (Jan 13, 2008)

Fourputt said:


> 205 yard par 3 (to the center of the green?) would mean that you have to carry about 170 to clear the water. That's a hard one to make a suggestion on as I probably favor a different club as a safety net than you would. For me that's a nice little choked down 4W, which is one of my favorite clubs anyway. The 4W might be a bit long, but at least safe. But I can also hit either of my hybrids and clear the water too, so if I'm playing really safe I might hit one of them. My 4H might or might not reach the center of the green, but even the 5H should easily clear the hazard.
> 
> Don't know if any of that helps.


So if you new my swing how might you advise me to play this hole based on the facts as you understand it.


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## Fourputt (Nov 18, 2006)

broken tee said:


> So if you new my swing how might you advise me to play this hole based on the facts as you understand it.


Make sure you play enough club to clear the hazard with room to spare. Since you have 20 yards to play with after you clear the hazard and before you get to the green, plus probably about another 10 yards to the center. I'd pick the best club that goes at least to middle of that range. If I';, reading all this right, that would be at least a 185 yard club. And if you have a club that you trust that might be a little bit long, that really isn't a problem either. 

Unless you have a 200 yard club that you are confident with, I'd play whatever club gives you the best chance for bogey. There are holes on my home course which I know I CAN par, but that I play for bogey and hope for par. On a par three, I pick the club that will put me in the best position for a chip. That means trying to play a shot that takes trouble (bunkers, hazards, deep rough) out of play. If I leave myself a good chip, I still have decent chance of saving par. On a par 4 or par 5 hole, especially if I'm not in the best shape off the tee, I again try to hit to a position where I have a chance to get up and down from. 

We have a par 4 hole, dead straight, 430 yards from the middle tees. When the wind is out of the south or southwest (more than 50% of the time), it is a full driver and solid hybrid or FW wood to reach the green (for most human players ). I always hit my driver, then I plan my strategy from there. If I'm in the fairway, I'm generaly still 200 to 220 out with a headwind, so the odds are that I will still be short even with good 2nd shot. If I do hit my approach far enough, it is unlikely to be straight enough to be on the green. Missing left can leave you with an awkward stance and lie because of rough covered mounds. Right it is just a mere 5 yards to a lateral hazard, with deep rough bordering an irrigation ditch. Long there are couple of plum trees, small but bushy and difficult to play around or under. On days when the odds are against me successfully reaching the middle of the green, I'll try to run it up somewhere toward the front of the green. If it rolls a bit far, then great, I'm on the green. If it's short and in the middle, I have a decent chip. If it's short and off the fairway right or left, then I'm still facing a better chip (nice flat lie) from the rough than if I was pin high in the mounds or in the hazard. 

The moral is... try playing those holes for bogey and you'll be surprised at how often you end up making par. Play it for a par you will have an uncomfortable number of double bogies and worse. And if you play it for bogey and make bogey, it will feel more like a par.


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## broken tee (Jan 13, 2008)

You've just given me some thing to try tomorrow, You said you'd ckoke down on a 4w that give me the possibility of choke down on my 3w or depending on tee markers the 5w or 5h. I'll let you know how I decided to play it.

I think this is a good Rick thanks
Bob


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## Fourputt (Nov 18, 2006)

I'm off to play here in a few minutes. I'll see if anything arises today that is worth contributing to this thread.


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## broken tee (Jan 13, 2008)

Rick: We had the right idea, cleared the hazard, push it righ and off the green, but had we not discussed this I believe it would have been short or too long.
a balmy 34f when we teed off this morning. Snow tomorrow in the forcast and possibly coming your way.


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## stevel1017 (Apr 30, 2007)

another suggestion, forget the par on the card, set your personal par, it takes some of the pressure of the mental side. We have some brutal par 3's on our course, I figure for me they are par 4's. So if I get a 4 I have par and even a 5 is only a bogey


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## broken tee (Jan 13, 2008)

stevel1017 said:


> another suggestion, forget the par on the card, set your personal par, it takes some of the pressure of the mental side. We have some brutal par 3's on our course, I figure for me they are par 4's. So if I get a 4 I have par and even a 5 is only a bogey


I agree Steve, my goal on long par 3s is to hit that short grass. I'm not a power hitter so its finding the right club
to meet that goal choking down on the 3w got me closer.


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## Surtees (Sep 11, 2007)

Wow that was a bit of reading and I agree about making your own par or trying for bogey. This does save shoot and make you feel better too if you do bogey the hole.
I think that some holes on the courses I play that the pars are made for really low handicapper. So if I get a bogey I'm happy with that.


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## broken tee (Jan 13, 2008)

Next how would any of you play thick rough still 200 yrds out, for me its use an iron and put it back in the fairway


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## Fourputt (Nov 18, 2006)

broken tee said:


> Next how would any of you play thick rough still 200 yrds out, for me its use an iron and put it back in the fairway


That depends on a lot of factors. First, how thick is thick? The definition of "thick" can vary greatly from player to player, defined by what clubs you carry, what clubs you can use well, and simply how strong you are. Next, is the ball setting down, or is it a reasonable lie? Then, what problems lie between you and your eventual target (i.e. the green)? Bunker, water, trees, more deep rough? 

I take all of these into consideration before I make any decision on the best play. Worst case I may just wedge it back to the fairway... best case I'll go for the green. But there are a lot of tweeners here too, where I might pick an in between club to try and cut off as much distance as the conditions allow. Sometimes an iron is the wrong choice simply because it is more likely to twist when the grass wraps around the hosel. I might more inclined to use a hybrid or a lofted FW wood, even if I know that I can't reach the green with it, because I am more likely to hit it straighter.


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## stevel1017 (Apr 30, 2007)

I agree Rick, sometimes I will lay up to a comfortable yardage, instead of an awkward 65 yard shot, leave myself 100 out for a nice smooth full gap wedge (my go to shot)


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## Surtees (Sep 11, 2007)

depending on how thick the thick rough is I might go for the hole with my hybird or if it a bad lie/hazards in the way I'll try put it back onto the fairway with my 7 iron it's my go to club for shots like this because I know 19 times out of 20 it will go where I want it to.


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