Best Way to Make the Right Decisions on the Golf Course

Many club golfers play good shots but don’t make sensible decisions. Very often they don’t make a decision at all and hit the ball without a definite plan in mind. There are certain situations on the golf course that catch people time and time again.

On a dog leg hole the typical fault is trying to cut the corner. By cutting the corner you don’t usually reduce the length of the shot into the green by as much as you imagine. You also risk going in the trees or rough and can leave a more difficult directional shot into the green. The golden rule with a dog leg is always to take the widest route round the dog leg. You may give yourself a slightly longer shot into the green but it will usually be easier and safer.

Many golfers always want to hit straight at the flag and never seem prepared to zig-zag. As soon as they see the flag they want to hit straight through trees, hedges, brick walls, rain shelters – anything but play safely. The higher your handicap and shorter your experience with golf, the more likely you are to make this error. Look at any obstacle you need to avoid and aim well away from it. Look at the shape of the green and the approach you would like. Be prepared to zig-zag to the left of the fairway if it leaves you a more open shot to the green. Don’t just aim at the flag.

When playing to the green, learn to aim away from the flag. Greenkeepers like to tempt golfers into bunkers and ponds by putting a flag alarmingly close to them. You are unlikely to hit so close to the flag that your next putt is a certainty. Be prepared to aim away from the flag to the largest and safest part of the green. You will probably be just as close. It is often easier to get close to a flag by hitting five paces left of it than by trying to go straight towards it and misjudging the distance. If aiming away from the flag, try to picture another target where you want to land or look at something behind the green and fix your sights on that for direction.

With a cross bunker or pond in front of you, remember that you have five choices. You can go left of it, right of it, over it, short of it, or in it! Many golfers just don’t make a decision at all. They get caught between all four sensible choices and finish up in the hazard.

With a cross bunker just in front of the green it may be worth attempting to carry it, even if a little risky, if you have a chance of landing on the green. If your bunker play is good, you may not be much worse off being in the bunker than I use short of it. But it the bunker is 40 paces or more short of the green, your successful shot may not finish on the green anyway. If you land in the bunker you may not be able to recover onto the green. Weigh up the situation sensibly.

Are you just a gambler at heart who can’t resist trying the carry, or are you really going to achieve something?

Learn to play for position. If there is a downhill area short of the green, think of playing short of it. If the shot from the left of the fairway into the green is much easier, then be prepared to be in light rough to the left rather than in the middle of the fairway. If playing short of a ditch or bunker, know your distance as accurately as possible. Most people playing short, play too short. Try to think of the mistakes the golf course designer and greenkeeper are trying to make you make, and don’t make them!