Budget Beater: Time Is Money, Don’t Waste It At The Lake

Is there anything cooler than spending 15 minutes down by the lake that you just launched your drive into? You find a Srixon, a Nike, a Taylormade and even a brand new Titleist. Sure, your ball is still MIA, but you have plenty of time, there’s nobody behind you. The search continues until the you notice the group behind you is no longer way back on the last hole and are currently looking very perturbed on the tee box behind you. You climb two clubs away from the edge of the water, drop your ball and rush your, now hurried, shot to the green, which you miss. This is something I see all too often on the course and something that is completely preventable. There’s three different ways to handle this situation and all of them can help you score better, but most of all, they will help you not waste your time on the course. As we’ve all been told for as long as I can remember, time is money, so if you are spending less time doing something unproductive for your game, you must be spending less money doing it also.

Let’s start with your drive going into the lake. If you know your shot is water bound, begin watching for where it crosses in. This is key since you will need to drop at the point of entry for most hazards. After the rest of the group hits, walk straight at the point you saw the ball go in and drop your bag approximately 2 clubs from that point. This way your bag shows you where you should be, rather than somewhere you wandered to while looking. Then, scan the edge of the water, any further than that, you won’t have a shot to the green anyways, so you are dropping at your bag. Go back to your bag, drop a ball and hit when it is your turn. This will allow you to keep playing on pace, and not rush the shot when the group behind you comes up. You can now continue to look for your ball while the others in your group hit their approach shots. This is the ideal way to play through this as it keeps your group on pace and keeps your momentum going.

Option number two is to walk directly up to the location that the ball went into the water, drop one, and hit it immediately and move along. Many players cite the golf gods on this one, but sometimes lost balls are just better off being lost. Whether it’s a head game or a defective ball, sometimes it is just better to walk away. Again, this keeps your game moving at normal pace. This keeps the group moving as quickly as possible, and unless you have a large wager on the match, the stroke penalty normally won’t kill your chances of scoring well. The added benefit is if you lose more than a few balls a round, this can cut 15-20 minutes off your round very quickly.

Finally, there’s the 6 hour round rule… If you are suffering through one of these gloriously horrible days, then by all means, bring along the ball retriever and have at that lake. Heck, make one of the rope-tow-basket jobbies for that round and dredge the lake for the poor course. If you are trapped on every shot, sometimes the distraction of having something to do will pass the time. Of course, I say this half in jest and half in truth, but honestly, unless you are playing a tournament and are one stroke down with one to play, there’s never going to be a reason to play a shot out of the pond. A drop is always the correct course of action for this, but if you are waiting to hit, see option number two above. Drop a new ball, hit your approach and then continue to search down the water line until your group has all finished their approach shots. You’ll find the time you save is not only going to help your next shot, but with the 30 minute faster round, you’re saving yourself some time with the family when the round is done – which is money in the bank.