Course Management

[BrianW]

I mentioned something like this in part of another thread but thought it may be worth a debate on its own.

I played in a club fun day match which was a 4 ball team comp where each team member played stroke play minus full handicap and the best three team scores were entered for each team. (hope that was clear?)

As it was a fun comp I decided to try a few things, one was to use my 7 iron around as much of the course that I could. I managed to hit most of the par 4's and 5's in regulation as they tend to have dog legs where you can cut over the trees with a nice high shot. Also, I did not miss any fairways. Some of the longer and tricky par 3's were also good as the second pitch with the 7 normally got near enough for a par attempt.

It reminded me of that bit in the film "Tin Cup" where he broke all his clubs other than the 7 iron It really is worth thinking about on many holes.

[oldwease]

Re: Course Management

It's really the way to compete. Cards have stroke indexes for a reason (actually, a few reasons). The usual problem for a handicap golfer is that, too often, they try to play the course, ie. against scratch, rather than against their handicap.

You give an example of just that. Yet, most people stand on the tee of the hardest hole and set about trying to shoot par or better. In my case, the hardest hole on the course is a 448 yd par 4 with a narrowish fairway and pretty penalising rough on both sides (some trees). About 320 yds from the tee, a tree sits in the fairway (I hate than on any hole - can penalise a good shot). Once you reach the green, it undulates a lot, so not easy.

Basically, this is a tough par 4 but a pretty straightforward par 5. Given than I'm not playing off scratch, a 5 keeps me 'level'. So, the sensible play is really an easy iron off the tee. Everbody I know takes a driver.

[slater170]

Re: Course Management

I mentioned something like this in part of another thread but thought it may be worth a debate on its own.

I played in a club fun day match which was a 4 ball team comp where each team member played stroke play minus full handicap and the best three team scores were entered for each team. (hope that was clear?)

As it was a fun comp I decided to try a few things, one was to use my 7 iron around as much of the course that I could. I managed to hit most of the par 4's and 5's in regulation as they tend to have dog legs where you can cut over the trees with a nice high shot. Also, I did not miss any fairways. Some of the longer and tricky par 3's were also good as the second pitch with the 7 normally got near enough for a par attempt.

It reminded me of that bit in the film "Tin Cup" where he broke all his clubs other than the 7 iron It really is worth thinking about on many holes.

a timely post brian!
got my last comp of the year on saturday so im leaving the woods at home and will just use my irons and see how i get on.
played last week and a low capper with us hit nothing bigger than 5wood and he was mustard with his irons.