(August 2014)
As the golf season starts to heat up, I often find myself watching the action on Saturdays and Sundays while marveling at what professional golfers can do with a golf ball. They play on courses that are usually well over 7,000 yards long, hit tee shots upwards of 300 yards and stick approach shots within feet of the flag stick with ease. I am sure that I am not alone in thinking that if they can do it then surely I can do that when I play golf. Unfortunately, for the average golfer, making the same kinds of shots that the professionals make come few and far between. At the same time, making a professional type shot is probably doing more harm for our golf game than good.
First Tee Box
I was once asked by a golfer that I didn’t know (who was going to play the same course that day) which tee box that he should play from. He stated that he hadn’t played in quite some time and that he was probably going to shoot in the 100’s. I told him that he should play a tee set of tees that were about 5,400 yards. He took my information and proceeded to play the set of tees that were about 6,100 yards. I asked myself why he even bothered to ask me if he was going to do what he wanted to do anyway. Even before our round begins, the choice of which set of tees to play is one that is often made with no real thought at all. We often rationalize, if our buddies are playing a set of tees then they must be good for us too. We know what shape our golf game is in on a particular day, so it would make sense to choose a set of tees that will at least give you somewhat of a chance to play well.
Par 5’s
Getting a birdie is very nice but scoring an eagle is a thing of beauty. Some courses have par 5’s that can be reached in two shots, but average golfers often have so much stacked against them that getting home in two is almost unheard of. The problem is that we see the pros hit greens in two shots, from 235 yards away like it is nothing, and then we go into our next round thinking that we’re entitled to that same level of skill simply because we own golf clubs. Can it be done from time to time? Yes. But you are probably better off (most of the time) getting to the green in regulation and working on a birdie, and hopefully a par, if your short game cooperates.
Greenside Bunkers
Stick it close, stick it close is what we all want to do from a green side sand bunker. But how many times have you tried to stick it close and ended up taking 2 or 3 shots just to get out of the bunker at all? So many times it is better for weekend warriors to get their ball out of the bunker and onto the putting surface without the headache of losing strokes digging holes in a sand bunker. Most amateurs would happily take getting out of every bunker in one shot and take their chances holing out in two more strokes, than hoping to get it close with that magical bunker shot of a lifetime each time their ball finds the beach.
Par 3s & Approach Shots
On so many par 3 holes, as well as on many approach shots, the flag is placed in a place where going directly for it is downright foolish. It is heavily guarded by bunkers or, close enough to a hazard, that hitting your shot in hopes of getting it close to the flag turns out to be more about getting lucky than being skilled. But this doesn’t stop many amateurs from attempting to hit that ‘hero’ shot that they can brag to their buddies about for years to come. But why not just play for a safe place on the green in hopes of making a par and sometimes even a birdie. I would much rather be able to brag about how well I did for an entire round than what I was able to pull off on one hole. Unless of course it was a hole-in-one, then all bets are off!
Taking Your Medicine
So many times throughout a round a golfer is faced with the decision: “How risky of a shot should I play in trying to advance my ball?” The decision is, of course, so much easier when you are hitting that shot from the fairway. But what about when you are stuck behind a tree or just inside a hazard or have no clear shot into the green? Logic and potential goose scores say that you should make your way back to safe ground on your current shot in order to play your next shot from a more favorable position.
But the riverboat gambler in all of us comes out and we easily talk ourselves into attempting a shot that even the most skilled golfer would look at and choose a safer route. Again, we are faced with the near impossible, yet, come to the conclusion that we can play magician and pull a rabbit out of our hat and make a shot ‘work’. Life would be soooo much simpler if we just ‘take our medicine’, sacrifice a stroke and get into position to finish the hole with an acceptable score. Unfortunately, grinding for a bogey or maybe still making a par is not as sexy as hitting a ball under the trees, rolling it onto the green and stopping within a few feet on the cup.
The game of golf is filled with numerous twists and turns within a single round. The fact that we actually pay to play should be reason enough to want to enjoy the game as much as possible. It is pretty hard to do that from deep in the woods or standing in a water hazard. So the next time that you tee it up try to make some decisions that will help you score well and not throw your clubs into the nearest lake. After all, the golf gods are not as generous as we think they are.
ABOUT ANTHONY L. WILKINS
Anthony L. Wilkins is a national Academy of Sports Medicine & Titleist Performance Institute Certified Personal Trainer an avid golfer from New Jersey who currently resides in the metro Atlanta area with his wife and son.
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AnthonyLWilkins@gmail.com
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