Yeah, this is good advice. Game management is by far the most effective shot saver there is. It's not practicing more. You can be the ****tiest golfer in the world, but if you think your way around the golf course, I guarantee you that you'd immediately drop like 10 shots off your handicap. Ok, that might be a little extreme. But if you can get the ball off the ground and have no extremely bad flaws in your swing, there's no reason you shouldn't be breaking 90.


6 years ago during my junior year in high school, I would be happy as hell when I broke 80. A few years after that and a couple summers of getting in 60+ rounds, something finally clicked. I finally understood the strategy part of golf. Most of that had to do with me getting a lot better at poker and utilizing logic more, but it applies to golf the same way. You want to put yourself in the most +EV situation possible.

Even to this day, skill-wise, I'm maybe only a few shots a round better than I was 6 years ago. Stroke-wise I'm averaging close to 8 shots better a round. How can this be? Well, club selection plays a big part. Actually reading putts and knowing when to be aggressive and when to baby it up. Reading chips helped a lot. Playing the wind. Knowing where to miss for easy up and downs. Knowing what to do when you're in the woods. Knowing when to play like a pussy and knowing when to pinseek. It all comes down to EV.

Just a little example of my thought process 6 years ago:

Say I'm 250 out on a par 5. My 3wood maxes out at 260. I'd just whip out the 3wood without thinking about anything and rail away. I wouldn't think about any hazards by the green, wouldn't think about the wind, wouldn't think about how easy the green is to chip onto from all sides.

My example of my thought process now:

I'm 250 out on a par 5. My 3wood carries 240 and rolls 20 when hit perfectly. There is water short left and sand long. Then I'll weigh in my chances of actually hitting a pure shot (maybe 50/50 even when I'm on my A game) and the odds it'll come off at my desired line and stay there (another 50/50). So I have a 25% chance of the ball going pure in the direction I want it. Then I'll have the variance of landing and stopping short or landing hard and going into the sand. So even if I do hit it the way I want, I still will have to chip, to which I get up and down 60% of the time, or hit a sand shot (to which I get up and down 30% of the time). So after quickly going through all that info in my head in like 10 seconds, it's pretty easy to see that I'm not really gaining anything by going for it, especially if I dunk it in the water. Might as well just lay up to 100 and hit my average SW to 20 feet and have a 15% chance at birdie.


That was kind of an extreme example where I'm maxing out my distance and there's trouble in play, but it comes up pretty often on par 5's. It can also save you a lot of shots. I could hit it in the water and double bogey pretty easily or I could lay up and par or better 90% of the time. Not a very tough choice.


Other shots I see high handicappers trip on their dicks with are going for pins that are close to water or sand traps. In reality, they will stick it close (within 10 feet) maybe 5% of the time. The other 55% they will change their mind mid-swing and hit some pathetic shot away from the trouble and still have a tough time getting better than bogey. The other 40% of the time they end up in the water or sand and are pissed for the rest of the round after they triple or quad.

So think to yourself, even if you manage to stick it to 10 feet, what are your odds of making the putt? 25% maybe? Why not just hit it to 30 feet and have a slim chance of missing the green and still have a 5% chance at birdie and 80% chance to at least par? The game would be a lot easier doing it that way compared to pinseeking and still missing your 10 footers 75% of the time.

I was watching Luke Donlad at the recent Masters, in the final round at par 3 in the amen corner , he hit his tee shot into the water close to green, he can drop it close to green, but he went all way up to 100 yds n hit his 3 shot, that might be his Stock shot

That’s the next thing I have to think about Chile playing.
For example first hole on my course is par4 – 246m. I usually just drive with my 5iron so after good shot I have about 65m to the green- distance I’m not great at.
If I drive with let’s say 7 iron- it will be about 90m to the green- distance I’m much better than from 60m.

So easy… but usually at the begging you don’t think about those things, just want to hit it as far as you can

yaa exactly, if we could plan every hole that way we can easily score way less than we used to, instead of banging every hole as far as we can if we can lay it up and play to our strengths that would be great

Good course management is like a 15th club in your bag! It's funny you mention the first hole as an example - both courses at my club begin with a par 5, and I constantly use those for management lessons. Many students tell me they have a hard time getting off the tee on those holes & it causes them to get off to a bad start on a hole that you should make par/birdie & bogey at worse. I ask them why they hit driver - "Well, it's a par 5, one of the longest holes on the course." Then I ask them if they ever reach it in 2 shots, "No way." - I explain to them, if you're going to lay up with a 6 iron to a pw, why not hit a 5 wood off the tee (which will be much easier to put in play on the first hole, and gives them a wider landing area), then hit a hybrid for a lay-up, and they're in the exact same position for their 3rd shot, with a lot less pressure on the tee shot. It's a hard pill to swallow, hitting a club less than driver, but it's not a game of hitting it furthest - it's a game of getting from tee to hole in the fewest shots possible! Learning to manage your game, and controlling the few things you can on the course (club selection/management being one of them), is a big step into playing to your potential and scoring your best!

archive bump

btw just noticed
lol wtf, nice automatic correction

I just read this for the first time. What a great thread! Many, if not all, golfers who are taking the game seriously need to read into this and apply to their own games.

Bump.

I remember reading these posts last year and thought this was really good advice. Re-reading it again now and I think this advice is even better the second time. You really have to let it sink into your game but distance control is so important and if you know your stock shots and distances it makes this tough game that much easier.

100% agree with your post. Kind of forgot about this thread but remember taking notice at the time and have improved an easy 4/5/6 strokes after installing the ideas put forth here. Low 90's to high 80's last eight months.

So, belated thanks to dagolfdoc for the op and LFC for the original archive bump.

Thanks guys - glad to have this thread "re-discovered" and that it is providing some help to people. I've got another thread that I'll hopefully get out next week (we'll be on vacation!! yeah! so I'll have free time), which should help some get ready for the golf season.