How to Manage your Golf Game on the Course - Technical Thursday #96.
How to Manage your Golf Game on the Course - Technical Thursday #96.
Hi, I’m Mel Sole, Director of Instruction at the Mel Sole Golf School, headquartered at Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club in Pawleys Island, SC. We conduct 1, 2, and 3-day golf schools, hourly golf lessons, and senior golf schools—any golf instruction program your heart desires. Give us a call at 800-624-4653 or 843-237-4993. We will be happy to book a commuter school or a package that contains accommodations, golf, and golf school.
Golf Blog by the Mel Sole Golf School.
Good course management is a learned skill that every golfer can accomplish. It is impossible to hit every shot perfectly in golf, and if you can manage your Golf Game, you will be a better golfer with lower scores. The best golfers I have seen who have great course management are Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods. These golfers can play a mediocre round and still finish with a reasonable score. Here is how you can incorporate good course management into your game.
First Question:
The first question you want to ask yourself is, "Where do I not want to go?" Many of my students will ask, "Is that not a negative thought?" It would be a negative thought if it were the last thought in your head. I want it to be the first. Identify the trouble areas and build your thought process around them. In the video below, I am pretending that the tree's shadow out on the range just short, and to the left of the green I am hitting is a pond. So my answer would be, "I do not want to miss this green short left." So, where do I want my ball to go? Long right! So I now add five yards, and I am going to aim slightly right.
Second Question:
My second thought would be, "How strong is the wind, and is it into me or behind me? If it is into me, I have to add yardage, and behind, I would subtract from my yardage based on my first question.
Third Question:
Elevation. Is the green higher or lower than where my ball is? If it is higher, I have to add yardage. If lower, I have to subtract yardage.
Fourth Question:
The fourth question relates to the position of my ball. Am I hitting a level lie on a par 3, and therefore have the ball teed up slightly? Or, is this my second shot on a par four, where my lie dictates how I need to hit the shot? This will influence my decision on what club I will hit and where I want to aim.
My final action would be to select the club I want to hit based on all the information I have gathered, stand behind the ball, and pick my intermediate target. My intermediate target is a spot about 12 to 18 inches in front of my ball, directly in line with where I want the ball flight to start. This is seldom directly at the flag. Walk-in, aim my clubface at my intermediate target, aim myself parallel to the line, then take my stance and go ahead and hit my shot.
By teaching yourself how to Manage your Golf Game while you are playing, you will minimize errors and keep those double and triple bogeys off the scorecard!
https://youtu.be/B22sIGBGLOg
Source: Mel Sole Golf School.
Thanks for watching - How to Manage your Golf Game on the Course - Technical Thursday #96.
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