This an important and hard lesson to learn. Especially for the golfer who is close to the next level of consistently shooting in the 70's. An example of this lesson was demonstrated perfectly just the other week when I was playing golf with a friend. My friend happens to be a golfer that can really hit the ball quite far. His ability to hit the ball over 300 yards made him take risks that might not have the highest percentage for success. One hole that we played, we both had 2 different strategies. It was a short par 4, of about 400 yards. What made the hole challenging was the water hazard along the left side of the hole, and the "out of bounds" along the right side. This narrow hole called for accuracy.
My friend pulled out his driver. In his mind, if he hit the perfect drive he would have about 90 - 100 yards left, which would be an easy wedge shot to the green. From that potential position, the possibility of a birdie was quite high for him. He set up for his drive and took a mighty swing. He hit did hit his drive over 300 yards, but it drifted to the right, and crossed the "out of bounds" adding unwanted penalty strokes to his score, forcing him to re-tee and take another shot.
I was surprised he took this course of action especially we he saw me tee off just before his turn.
My course of action was much different. I measured the risks of the dangers along the left and right sides of the hole and made a decision that would reduce my potential for error. I hit my 3 wood right down the middle about 265 yards. I committed to this decision because I would rather have a 150 yard shot from the middle of the fairway than the possibility of having a shot closer to the green. The driver is a club that tends to be less accurate than the others, and my potential to hit a bad shot with the driver is greater than with a 3 wood. I took the safer couse of action which resulted in a positive outcome.
This is course management. The safe decision will result in better damage control. The riskier decision has a high chance for more penalty strokes.
A golfer that is on the cusp of consistently shooting better scores should adhere to this council. Take the safe route and your penalty strokes will begin to be reduced. you may reduce the opportunity to make a birdie here and there, but the end result of fewer to no penalty strokes will ultimately lead to lower scores.
When you hear about someone thinking their way around the course, it is implying that the practice of course management is being exercised.
so next time you are on the course, think about the next shot, and where you would like to play from, and commit to your decision.
