Manage yourself as well as the course ________________________________________ Course management is not just about how to manage the course - it’s how you manage yourself, too. Tournament professionals are a perfect example of how to map and plot your way around a course to make the most of your abilities while being aggressive and conservative when the situation demands it. We know these guys are good and can score low, so let’s see identify their course management skills. Tour pros will: *Only hit shots they have practised and with a high probability of success. *Hit clubs they know they can hit straight on to holes with tight fairways. *Make sure when they lay up short of a hazard, they are well short of it with a yardage to the pin with which they are comfortable. *Favour the side of the green which leaves the easiest shot if they miss the target. *Leave an uphill putt were possible. *Aim for the centre of the green for long shots. *Accept a bogey, if necessary, and take double bogey out of the equation *Get chip shots rolling on the ground as soon as possible and on to flat landing areas, therefore avoiding pitching the ball onto uphill or downhill lies, where the bounce can be inconsistent. *Be target specific. There are probably probably dozens more but these are the basics. Now ask yourself how you see yourself sticking to these strategies? If you take on shots that you only hit occasionally - leaving downhill putts, chip shots with nowhere to land the ball, aiming for the pins and always taking the driver on par-4 and par-5s - then you have to discover your decision-making strategy and change it. Here’s a couple of simple ideas to explore. Think about good decisions you’ve made in life Think about situations, away from golf where you always made good decisions. There will be a pattern to your strategy; pick it out and study it. Somewhere in the process you will realise how the decision feels - a gut feeling. Most strategies that lead to bad decisions tend to miss out this essential element. That gut feeling is usually your first instinct. Imagine the worst case scenario Imagine you have played the shot and hit the worst shot possible. Did you think through all the worst scenarios? Now, imagine what you should have done and replay it the correct way in your mind. If you remember some of these bad shots from the past when you have made the wrong decision, then played correctly, you will notice how the second time you played the right shot so much better. Course management includes good preparation - an essential of good management. Tour pros will: *Arrive, relaxed and in plenty of time for their tee start, with their yardages sorted. *Be properly equipped, including the right selection of 14 clubs for the type of course they’re playing. Their clubs will be clean with grips in good condition. *Wear and carry suitable clothing for the conditions and possible eventualities if the weather is threatening. *Carry waterproof protection for towel and extra gloves if it’s raining. *Carry adequate water and energy supplies. Remember… Before you decide what course management means to you and how important it might be, ask yourself why you play golf. We play for many reasons. For those who want to shoot the lowest scores possible, the pro’s lists will be essential. For those that live for the one good shot they hit each round, they should go for every shot as long as they don’t regret it . And as for those of us who merely play socially, we should carefully pick partners whose company we enjoy, My advice, finally, is to know what will make you happy and you will respond in a way that will give you the highest probability of success.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 05:32:41 +0000
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