NOT FOUND: golf 1.jpgHow many times have you stepped up to the tee on a long par 5 and pull out your driver? For most amateur golfers it happens EVERY time!! What happens next? Some times you may hit a great drive and lay up to a comfortable yardage for your third shot and make par or even birdie! I am willing to bet though, that most of the time, one of two things happens:

#1. You hit a tee shot with your driver that either goes out of bounds or into the trees.

#2. You hit a good drive and try to hit the impossible 3 wood into the green and end up out of bounds or in the trees!

Either way you are writing a crooked number on your scorecard that could end up ruining an otherwise great round of golf!

When I give a playing lesson with a student one of the questions that I love to ask when we arrive on the tee box is “what club would you like to hit for your approach shot to the green?” Most players will pick a club anywhere from a 7 iron to a pitching wedge. My next question is “what is the easiest club to hit off of the tee in your bag that will get you close to that desired yardage or club?” What I find is that many players are making their life much to difficult by choosing to hit a driver when a 3 wood or hybrid is all that is necessary.

A great way to improve your course management skills is to play each hole backwards in your head when you arrive at the tee. I start by figuring out what yardage would be ideal for me to hit my approach from. There are several factors to look at including hitting to a yardage that keeps me away from any hazards such as water or bunkers. I could also pick a yardage that allows me to hit to the widest part of the fairway. From this information you will pick the easiest way to get to a manageable approach shot to the green.

At Teal Bend Golf Club, hole #8 a long par five is a great hole to use as an example of this process. Here is my thought process as I reach the tee box:

1. Where I want to Hit My Approach Shot From: In looking at my yardage card I notice that there is a large fairway bunker that I will want to avoid that is approximately 115 yards from the green. I then decide that my ideal approach shot on this green will be 120-130 yards. This gives me a comfortable gap wedge or pitching wedge and an excellent opportunity for birdie.

2. Where I Want to Land My Tee Shot: My next step is to look at the tee shot landing area and find a spot that is safe to land my tee ball that gives me a chance to hit my second shot to my ideal approach shot zone(120-130 yards from the green). There are two large fairway bunkers that are located 195 yards away on the left side. I also notice that a tee shot down the right side can run to the hazard if I push my tee shot with a driver. A 3 wood of approximately 230-250 yards on the right would be safe though.

3. Decision Making: I now want to decide what the best course of action is for my game. If I lay up short of the bunkers I will have over 200 yards to go to reach my ideal landing zone. I decide that shot is too risky so I decide to hit a 3 wood down the right side of the fairway. This will hopefully take the bunkers on the left out of play while giving me room for error if I push it to the right.

4. Second Shot Options: After executing this tee shot I will have approximately 190 yards to my ideal landing zone. When I arrive at my ball I realize the if I hit it too far I will find myself in the fairway bunker 115 yards from the green. This is exactly what I don’t want. Therefore, I choose to play it safe with a 6 iron that will go around 180-185 yards. The last thing I want to do is choose a 5 iron and hit it into the bunker!

From this point on, it is all execution! As we all know golf is a game of misses and we all make mistakes! The one thing we can control though, is our course management. Try this method out and don’t always pull the driver from the bag. If you do this, I guarantee lower scores!