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Playing a Three-Club Round

September 19, 2010 By 6 Comments
Golf Clubs

You might have noticed the poll in the side bar that’s been running for a while that asks, “If you had to play a round with only three clubs, which would you choose?” My golf league does a three-club event which, unfortunately, I missed this year. It got me thinking about it some, though, and I thought I’d see which clubs you all would choose. It’s really a great exercise in course management. It forces you to think about which clubs you need most and which clubs you can most easily adapt to fill in the holes. Many teachers would tell you that a limited set is the best thing for juniors, too. It gets them out of the analytical mindset that overburdens many of us and teaches them just to grab a club and hit a shot, and if they don’t have a club that’s perfect for that shot, then they have to make that shot with what they have. It’s a great way to learn creativity and to become versatile shot-makers. As of now,

Filed Under: Course Management, Equipment Tagged With: ,
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Can You Miss On Purpose?

April 12, 2010 By 5 Comments

We all know golf is a game of misses.  The only shots that come off exactly as we want are the ones that go in the hole, and many times they still didn’t happen exactly as we wanted. Have you ever made a putt that hit the hole so hard, it popped a few inches in the air before falling? Then you know what I mean. So often, I find myself (and observe others) being fixated on the cup, no matter what it will take to get there.  I contend that, sometimes, the best play is to miss on purpose.  Maybe calling it “missing on purpose” isn’t the best way to state it. Let’s refine that to mean that we choose a target different from our natural tendency to shoot for the hole, the flag, or the green itself. Sometimes, it’s an obvious choice and sometimes, it’s not. Take, for example, your classic sucker pin.  Say the flag is tucked way to the side, behind water, just on the green, with a nasty bunker off

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Reading Lies on the Golf Course, Part I

March 1, 2010 By 2 Comments

A few weeks back, I was contacted by a reader who is interested in learning how to read lies and suggested the topic to me.  I thought it was a great idea, so here we are.  He pointed to a recent golf telecast where Nick Faldo, in discussing the new groove regulations for 2010, pointed out that players are going to have to do a better job of reading lies now. As most of you probably know by now, grooves in irons have been dialed back at the highest levels to try and reduce the spin that wedges and short irons can impart on the ball.  In recent years, it became common for players to just bomb away off the tee, because they knew that their wedges would still provide high spin from the rough. Now, with grooves providing less help to players out of the fairway, Faldo made a good point, that reading lies will become more important.  (Note that the new grooves won’t affect most of us for quite a while, but all

Filed Under: Ball Striking Tips, Course Management Tagged With: , ,
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Dreaded Shots: Delicate Downhill Pitches to Close Pins

April 4, 2009 By 2 Comments
Delicate Chip

The poll in the sidebar asking for your most dreaded shots has been running for a while and as time goes on, I’m getting a much clearer picture of what kinds of golf shots you collectively don’t want to face. Previously, I covered the tee shot on a tight driving hole, and the long carry over water.  Since then, the tight tee shot was overtaken by the delicate downhill pitch/chip over a bunker with the pin cut close, moving it to second place. It’s very interesting to me that this shot is in second place behind the long carry over water.  The reason being that the delicate pitch or chip over a bunker downhill to a closely cut pin position is a virtually no-win situation.  The other two are almost completely mental challenges. I would have expected the no-win situation to be more dreadful, but I suppose the things that cause those kinds of feelings are specific to the individual based on ability, experience, and the like. If you can forget about the water or

Filed Under: Course Management, Short Game Tips
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Dreaded Shots: Long Carry Over Water

January 26, 2009 By 6 Comments

I’m still eagerly following the sidebar poll where I asked you to tell me about your most dreaded shots in golf.  Previously we covered tee shots on tight driving holes.  Currently in second place with 15% of the vote, we’ll turn our attention toward the universally hated long carry over water. I’m a little surprised that this type of shot is the subject of such dread because the solution has nothing to do with swing fundamentals.  Conquering these shots has everything to do with combining an honest assessment of your own ability and game with a solid course management plan and combining all that with a solid mental approach. Let’s not mince words:  if you’re dreading this shot, it may be because you shouldn’t be hitting it.  There’s no shame in laying up and it will probably save you more strokes than you’d gain if the gamble pays off. Why don’t we take a closer look at the situation and you’ll see why. First we’ll define the long shot.  Since everyone’s game is different, I’ll

Filed Under: Course Management, Mental Game
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