Standing over your tee shot, par 3, 186 yards, water to the left, bunkers behind and a group of trees keep you from .bailing right. The flag is playing back left and you are in complete control of your round. What do you do? The answer to that question is really, what can you do? If you’ve been working your fade all day and it’s been your shot, perfect. If your draw has been dead on, you have the shot. If you’ve been playing that boring “straight” shot all day, then you’re good to go also. The one thing you need to do on a long, difficult shot like this is to make sure you have a shot and play to the limits that you have.
Too many times, we fall into old thoughts about something we read or something we used to do on the course, even though there was a good reason why we stopped doing it. For example, my favorite one in a situation like this was the old, “Hit the ball at the trouble and let it move back away from it.” I have to admit that trying this for years, and some of the time, I had good results. The problem was, say on the shot above, i would start my fade over the water, but it would be the one time during the round it didn’t fade. I took a bath, dropped 2, hit 3 and two putting for a double. Had I started the ball to the left edge of the green and hit it straight, I’d have hit the green or just left of it, and made my 2 putt par. Take a look below on how to plan a better route on a challenging hole like this and save yourself a par instead of bringing bogey into play off the tee.
The Fade: While this may seem to be the best shot to play on this hole, a 186 yard fade is a tough play for most people. Still, if your fade is working and predictable, your play is to let the ball start at the left edge of the green and work back to the center. A 190 yard par 3 isn’t really a birdie opportunity for most shooters, so keep that par on the table as the worst possible score by moving the ball from left to center. Don’t over club on this one as you have the bunker behind, but nothing in front. A nice shot to the front edge is even better than trying to come out of a back bunker to a tight pin with water on the opposite side. Short and center is the best play, then let your putter do the walking for you.
The Draw: Depending on the control factor, you can start your ball either center and work back to the flag, or left edge and work to center. As I said with the fade, a 186 yard shot is awfully tough to get close, so you are wanting to play for that par here. You want to make sure your ball comes up short and right of the hole. This makes the safe shot being one that starts on the right edge of the green and works back towards center. This path also gives you the maximum amount of error before you bring anything else into play. Keep you club shorter on this one as draws tend to end up with a bit more power behind them.
Straight In: For the straight hitter, I always recommend a nice 1/3 rule. Break the green into 1/3 sections from left to right. Analyze the trouble in all three and decided which one offers the safest route to par. For example, if you were playing a hole where the flag is left, but there is a green side bunker short left, you would want to play to the center section of the green. If the pin was right and the bunker was left, you’d play straight to the flag on the right 1/3. Since this hole has trouble in all three sections, your safe play is center 1/3 and just short of the trouble. You should be safe with a 190 club, but if you usually get that little extra pop from it, make sure you verify the back edge yardage before you haul off on it. If needed, drop to your 180 club and take that bogey out of play.
One of the beauties of golf is having 1000 different ways to play shots from anywhere you end up. Knowing which of those shots will give you the best chance to make par, that is the key to scoring better. In my last round, I really took the time to look at my approach shots and what I realistically could or couldn’t do, and was blown away by hitting 15 of 18 greens. Even with drives that drifted into the wrong fairway, I was able to reach greens by playing a better shot than what I may have originally. Thinking about trouble and limits can really be a game changer and keep you on the path to breaking through that 90 or 80 scoring plateau. Just keep this simple thought on your approach shots, “Land in the safest section that gives me the best shot at making par.” There are going to be plenty of birdie opportunities during your round, but that 190 yard par 3 probably isn’t going to be one of them.
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