No matter how many times I see it happen, it always amazes me. A foursome arrives at the course 30 minutes before their tee time, grabs some coffee, starts loading up their cart and heads over to wait in line at the first tee. After 15 minutes they are called as on deck and they pry themselves out of their cart to stretch out a bit. A quick bend or two and they reach into their bags for their drivers and head over to the tee box. The first guy takes 2 minutes to check his stance with a club shaft, then takes four or five practice cuts before scuffing his tee shot 20 feet past the ladies tees. The next guy fairs a bit better by pounding it 100 yards out there, but 100 yards to the right. The next two guys manage to find a bunker and the right rough, but their round is basically destroyed right from the get go.
If you want to go out and have a great time with the guys and not worry about scoring, then by all means, don’t pickup that scorecard at the pro shop and go have fun. But if you are expecting to go out and compete with the boys, make sure you mentally setup the round at the range the week before. Start with a few warm up shots, then play the course in your head and out on to the range. Begin by mapping out your ideal clubs in to each green, then work backwards to the tee box. So, for example, at Riverbend Golf Course in Kent, WA, from the blue tees, the first hole is 347 yards. Normally in the past, I would have ripped a driver 275-290 down the middle (or into the trees) and left myself a 1/4 to 1/2 wedge into the green. Fortunately, it’s much easier to hit a comfortable 3 iron off the first tee and follow that with another full swing of a 9 iron or wedge.
Continue this process at the range by picturing the hole in your head and working through the holes with your clubs. What Iron would work best off the tee here or there. How would your strategy change if they move the tee boxes around or lengthen a hold 10-15 yards. What if they play the par 3’s short or give you a harder pin placement. Imagine all the possible scenarios while you practice. If you get a bucket with 60 balls in it, you can play almost the entire course and warm up quite easily. Just remember, don’t work the big sticks too much. In fact, with my pre-course card for Riverbend, I have 18 shots (out of 36) that would be made with a 5 iron or less on the course. That means over half my practice should be with those shorter clubs. The sharper those short irons and wedges get, the closer to the flag stick those scoring shots will go. This doesn’t mean go hit wedge after wedge at the range flags, but playing out the shots you need to reach the stick on every hole you are going to play.
Don’t get me wrong, starting off with a round with a booming drive down the middle sure sends a message that you’re serious about beating the course into submission that day, but even the tour pro’s are happy to hit 70% of their fairways with a driver. This leaves them a 30-40% chance that they miss it and that percentage is even worse for you. There’s nothing like your rounds starts off in the trees, or worse. Instead, the smarter, and safer play is to poke a long iron or hybrid off the tee and leave yourself a nice full shot into the green. Making a chart like above for your next round and see how the numbers work out for you. If I play mine to a “T”, I end up with 36 shots from tee to green and only hit my driver 6 times over 18 holes. If I can manage to hold my puts to 2 per hole, I should walk off the course even par without taking any major chances or hitting that “killer shot”.
If you want to play competitive golf, wait until you get on the first tee to start your course planning, your chance of being successful take a pretty serious hit before you even start. Again, this is a tip for those that want to shoot better, not just go out and play. Think of it as tournament golf verses recreational play. If you’re playing to win, even if it’s against yourself, a bit of pre-planning will go a long way.
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