No, we’re not talking about how high the fairway grass should be or the amount of sand that should be in the bunker.  We’re talking about how you’re playing your game and maybe even how to cut a stroke or three.  How, you ask?  I reply, by playing the hole in reverse!  That, my friends, is the idea behind course management.

Here’s a simple example.  Let’s say that you’re playing a par 4 hole that’s 260 yards.  You know that you can hit a drive somewhere between 190 and 210 yards depending on certain variables.  You also know that your high percentage go to club is your pitching wedge which you can hit 90 yards with a great trajectory and fairly on target all day long.  So then, subtract 90 from 260.  That leaves you with 170 yards.  Why then would you hit it 200 and then go for the next 60 with a club that may not give you the same confidence (real or imagined) as your pitching wedge?

It’s not only okay, but also wise, to break out let’s say a 3 wood and tee it off from there.  You end up around the 170 mark and, Bingo! you pull old faithful out of the bag, step up to the ball with the confidence that you have already established with that shot, and watch it fly high and plop down on the green.  Make sense?  Yes, there will be those in your group that can drive the ball and get it within ten or fifteen yards of the green.  But, have they developed the confidence to flop shot it 10 yards and land it soft enough not to run to the other side?   Even if they do, you both got there in two.  Once again, the short game is the great equalizer.

On average a Champions Tour player hits their drive around 268 yards depending on which study you reference.  On average I hit my drive around 195 yards give or take 5 yards or so (unless I really skull it and hit a worm burner 40 yards!).  Yes, I’m basically a short hitter and I’m fine with that.  I almost always get out driven but, more often than not, I’m usually in the fairway or pretty close to it.  This means that the above example is pretty much how I play my game.  It also means that I may need three shots to get to the green instead of two for the simple reason that I like to take the high percentage shot.  Remember, as someone once told me, ‘the woods are full of long hitters!’

So where else does the course management concept come into play?  How about knowing whether to lay up or try to make it over the stream?  Or maybe how to avoid the bunkers by hitting right before it instead of trying to clear it and then aiming for the spot from where you can have the confidence to hit the green?  Maybe to set up the correct angle to the pin on a dogleg?  I’m sure that you can think of a specific hole or two that you may be able to cut a stroke on by looking at it from the reverse.  Start at the hole, work out how far you need to come back in order to use your best club, then back it up to the tee taking into consideration any hazards or obstacles between you and that money shot.

If you haven’t played this way before let me tell you, it’s not easy.  If you’re used to stepping up and letting it rip every shot or if you see someone in your group make a shot that you ‘think’ you can duplicate; then this will be a slow process.  But that’s okay!  Just start by trying it on one hole and see how it turns out.  Even if it only works once, well, that’s one less stroke on your scorecard isn’t it?  

Make sure to share with us how you already, or are going to, apply course management to your round!

Play well,

Roseann