Books on Course Strategy and Management?

[dbl]

Otto, would one of Pate's book you recommend be this:

Enter The Zone - How to think and play like a champion

Richie, answer if you can why it is easier for me to make up n down for par than get a two putt par. the chip and the putt, I am bearing down, feeling like must make. The 2 putt par, might have initial distance wrong, or trying to get birdie with "the line" or have lost focus since "just 2 putts and it's a par"

I don't know if any stats would bear on this, but any help would be welcome

 

[Shot Limit]

This could be a really good thread.

 

[willgolfer]

What's the philosophy on knowing the front, middle, and back yardages as they relate to where the pin is? How does trouble left, right, back, front, as well as weather conditions, shot shape, green sloping and tiers affect the decision making process?

There's a guy I play with a few times a year (good player) who frequently wants to know the front and/or back yardage on his approach shots to the green. What's he thinking about?

 

[Richie3Jack]

The first rule of 3Jack Club is.....avoid double bogeys and worse at all costs.

Since you were in the 'Danger Zone' (typically shot from 175-225 yards), I believe first we need to understand the 'Watson Rule.' Tom Watson said that on long iron shots like that one, he would just focus on hitting it solid and aiming for the middle of the green.

I believe we want to play for our 'average swing' (by that golfer's standards). The issue I see with amateurs is that they usually play for their 'bad swing' (by their standards) anytime they see trouble or the hole gets tight. One of the major problems with playing for the 'bad swing' is that you may take a decent pass at it and still have a very difficult shot on the next shot.

I would have concentrated on the tee on what iron I believe gets me to the fattest part of the green with an 'average swing.' Of course, you stated the hole slopes away (which is a bad design when having a long iron into the green). So it's a bit difficult for me to gauge what would happen if you landed on the middle of the green. Also, I'd like to know what trouble there is in the back of the green, too.

So...tee shot IMO should be the club that will get you on the fattest part of the green. Even if it's a 50 foot putt, you probably won't do more than a 3-putt from there, which still beats a 6.

Also, I think you can learn from the tee shot that if you hit it poorly and short of the green, we want to be more left so we don't deal with the bunker and the narrow green. So I would probably favor aiming left a bit more as well. Still though, we want to play for the 'average swing', not the 'poor swing' (and the results from poor swings are unpredictable compared to the results from average swings).


On the 2nd shot, I would have been looking for the uphill putt. I'll take a 12 footer uphill over the 8 footer downhill more than most people will think and...I think I'll make it more often than the 8-foot downhiller. Anytime I short side myself or just have a difficult pitch/chip in general...I start seeking out a way to leave myself with an uphill putt. Studies have shown that golfers make far more of a % of their uphill putts than downhill putts. The downhill putts break more and the ball is more likely to 'wobble' because it's moving at a much slower speed.

So....first shot....look for fattest part of the green, favor the left side slighty. 2nd shot...look for the uphill putt and don't worry about the pin so much because you probably won't hit it close anway. If you can find an uphill putt or the pin...just find the part of the green you know you can find, 2-putt...take bogey and move on. Sounds like that hole is a toughy. If you're playing a tournament, the scoring average would likely be above par, so taking a 4 wouldn't be too bad. If you're just playing in general, a decent architect will likely follow up that tough hole with a birdie hole soon. So...take the 4 and move on.

Question: When should you 'Layup Chip'

Mostly when the odds of getting it within 5 feet are not in your favor. The PGA Tour pros make only 55% of their putts from 6-10 feet. They putt on much better greens that we do, so more putts are likely to sink. And that doesn't factor in that even pros make much less downhill putts than they do uphill putts. So a 7-foot downhill on the PGA Tour may be made 45% or less of the time.

I don't know your handicap, but for a 7 handicapper I cannot imagine them making a 7-foot downhill putt on non-Tour courses more than 45% of the time.

Look for the uphill putt and favor leaving it there.

Brian's 'Rule of 12' chipping system/technique is a good example. If you do the Rule of 12 and have an 8-iron into an uphill slope, you might want to use a 9-iron if you want to keep yourself with an uphill putt. When in doubt, look for the uphill putt.

Question How much should your par-three/approach club selection be influenced by the areas with the lowest amount of 'trouble' - i.e. even if 'going for it' from Danger Zone, do you go for a pin high yardage, or a safe spot near the pin?

Look short to long first. Particularly short. Most holes are designed so if it's a long approach shot, they'll put water up front so if the golfer hits it poorly, they go in the water.

The first thing I look at it what is short of me. If short is trouble OR a tough up and down...I then look for the fattest part of the green, and look for the yardage to the back edge of the green and play that yardage.

Danger Zone shots are tough because there's so much carry involved. You can hit one flush...regardless if you are a short hitter or a bomber' and a few gusts of wind can knock it short or to the right, etc. It doesn't matter if you're using a 7-iron from 210 yards or a 3-wood from 210 yards....that amount to carry is difficult to control distance and the line. The thing the bomber has in favor is that generally the shorter clubs are just easier to hit and they can stop the ball much better. But, even for a bomber a 210 yard approach shot is important because this is where they will likley take a bogey or worse.

Anyway, I look short because if there's water in particular....I want to avoid it at all costs and the best way to do that is to play to the back edge of the green, focus on hitting it solid and aiming...direction wise...for the fat part of the green.

If short is not an issue, then I look direction wise AND yardage wise to the fat part of the green.

That's is UNLESS the pin is up front and I'm confident I can get up and down if I'm short of the green.

There's a hole at a course I play that is a great example of this. The green goes at a 45* angle to the right from the tee (par-3).

The fattest part of the green, width wise and depth wise is the middle of the green.

If the pin is in back, I do not play to the pin distances wise. I play to the middle. The hole is generally open. But if I play to the back pin distance, but hit it directly over the middle of the green, I will miss the green and it will leave me with a short sided up and down.

If the pin is in front though, short of the green is wide open and usually not a hard up and down. So I will play the yardage to the front pin.

You can really improve your game if you can figure out where the easiest up and downs are when you miss the green. The easy part is figuring out where you don't want to go (i.e. water). The hard part is figuring out where the easiest up and downs are.







3JACK

 

[Richie3Jack]

What's the philosophy on knowing the front, middle, and back yardages as they relate to where the pin is? How does trouble left, right, back, front, as well as weather conditions, shot shape, green sloping and tiers affect the decision making process?

There's a guy I play with a few times of year (good player) who frequently wants to know the front and/or back yardage on his approach shots to the green. What's he thinking about?

I believe that in general, you will want to know the distance to the back more than the distance to the front. The reason being is that most designers (and I've talked a bit to 3 different designers) will put something like water in front of the green. It's better aesthetically and it presents the challenge of having to hit the ball well enough to avoid the trouble. Golfers hit the ball too short much much much more than they hit it too long. Architects know that, so that's why they put the trouble there.

So, if you have trouble short, play to the distance of the back edge. Brian had a video about this emulating #17 at Sawgrass. You also have to remember that sometimes hitting it short is out of your control because of the wind. Another reason to play to the back fringe if there's trouble short.

Once a golfer gets out of the Danger Zone area...I think they should start looking at going for the flag more often because the easiest way to make birdies is to stick one close. In fact, if you look at the low rounds of golf on the PGA Tour, typically the golfer catches fire with their ballstriking moreso than their putting. They'll start flagging a few more shots, finding fairways and greens instead of making bombs. So if you want more birdies (and less bogeys) you need to stick some more shots close.

Anyway, if you are looking at the flag on the approach shot that's when I start looking at the chances of getting up and down from both sides.

Let's say I have a 150 yard shot, to a flag that is in the middle of the green. The wind is blowing pretty decent to the right. I will contemplate at firing at the flagstick, but then I will also look left and right to see what the up and down is going to look like if I miss the green.

If the up and down is really good if I miss right and so-so if I miss left. I'll aim at the flag. If the wind doesn't bother the ball too much, I'll be at the flag. If it bothers the ball a little, I'm probably still putting. If I miss it right...then I have the best shot of getting up and down.

IMO, getting the yardage short of the green is probably best if there's trouble long (which isn't too common) or you will have a hellacious putt. Or if you think that if you miss short, it's an easy up and down and the pin is up front.

But these things are not as common as having trouble short or short siding yourself to a front pin location.




3JACK

 

[Richie3Jack]

Richie, answer if you can why it is easier for me to make up n down for par than get a two putt par. the chip and the putt, I am bearing down, feeling like must make. The 2 putt par, might have initial distance wrong, or trying to get birdie with "the line" or have lost focus since "just 2 putts and it's a par"

I don't know if any stats would bear on this, but any help would be welcome

2-putts are generally the better way to go. Up and downs are typically not that easy...even for Tour pros. That's unless they just miss the green and have an uphill slope.

It's why I believe in the Danger Zone you should typically look for the fattest part of the green. I'd rather have to 2-putt for par than try to make an up and down after a Danger Zone shot.

But, we have to consider the fact that there's a decent chance we miss the green. Perhaps you are leaving yourself with uphill chips and a putt versus 40-foot downhill putts.

In general..

Uphill = Good
Downhill = Bad






3JACK

 

[Shot Limit]

What's the philosophy on knowing the front, middle, and back yardages as they relate to where the pin is? How does trouble left, right, back, front, as well as weather conditions, shot shape, green sloping and tiers affect the decision making process?

There's a guy I play with a few times of year (good player) who frequently wants to know the front and/or back yardage on his approach shots to the green. What's he thinking about?

I don't really attack the pins most of the time (99%) so that's all I really think about.

If the pin is up front: but the green is only 7 feet wide up front, water is front left, sand is front right but the green opens up to 60 feet wide and is free from trouble if I take another club or two, I want to know front, back and middle. (sorry for the run on)

There usually isn't too much trouble around the back of the greens I play, it's mostly up front. Alot of times I'll pick the club that'll get me to the mid/back of the green where it's wider regardless of the pin placement. I'm not tour caliber though. It's just what I have to do.

 

[Shot Limit]

Damn!

You ever hit reply, start typing and walk away from the computer for a little bit and then come back and finish your reply. You hit the "Post Quick Reply" button only to find out that you been upstaged by 5000 word dissertation on the subject.

Thanks for making my reply look like a turd sandwich Richie!

 

[johnnymarlboro]

Good stuff, I love the direction this thread is headed! Keep it up and I may not have to buy any books! I don't feel like course management is discussed very much in pop instruction, or even around here for that matter. It seems to me learning how to play, rather then just how to swing is really the path to better scoring. At least for me. I'm sure that kind of advice can be hard to give without specific examples like BrendanC gave.

After not playing for several weeks, then hitting maybe 40 or 50 balls and playing the next day I was really encouraged how solidly I was hitting it. I had one of my best full rounds all year. Now this I'm sure is due mostly to changes I've made that are finally starting to gel, so I don't have to think about my swing so much, I can just swing. My best shots, were really good, some of them better then I've ever hit a golf ball. I hit a few too many hooks on full shots though. The hook I think I can lick with some minor adjustments. I keep resorting to a stronger grip which I used in the past. But that sort of adjustment isn't likely to have me channeling Seve on short game shots. Anyways, my point is now that I'm not thinking about my swing as much I can focus more attention to scoring.

Now I know I need to improve my short game and long putting, and my scores will show it. Definitely my wedges inside 100 yards too. But in a lot of short game situations i've just been uncertain how to play the shot, and just rushed into it trying to keep up my pace of play. Or I picked an option I was comfortable with, and just had poor distance control. Usually hitting a lofted shot, when a lowing running one may have been a better option. I feel like I gave up alot of strokes to par because of hitting a hook to miss a green, and then compounding the problem with a poor choice of short game shot. I've always been the type who, when I miss a green, just grabs my two most lofted wedges and putter from the cart and heads to my ball without even seeing the lie. This, it would seem, may not be my best option when I don't have much time for practice. However, while I'm on the course rarely seems like the time to try out new things like chipping with mid irons.

I realize I'm essentially just bitching that I'm not better at golf. After playing for about 4 years without instruction other than what I've read, and YouTube, I really feel like I'm closer then ever to breaking 80. I'm realizing that there are better ways to improve then beating my brains out at the range. I think that with the right changes, none of them mechanical, I can turn that 84 into a 78 or 79. I guess in essence, what I'm really saying is, this place is awesome and I'm grateful that it exists. I don't know where else I would be able to get this kind of information. And no, I haven't been drinking. Also I've already put several of these book suggestions in my cart on Amazon.

 

[dbl]

2-putts are generally the better way to go.

I shall probably have to embrace that idea and work harder.

Perhaps you are leaving yourself with uphill chips and a putt versus 40-foot downhill putts.

A good possibility! What I think happens on the blown gir's is that the "first putt" is much harder than the chip I might have left myself. Again, maybe I should look at holes which seem to be the tough gir/pars and really review what they are doing. The back 9 is like this:

10 - very hard if ball is more than 20 feet from pin due to 3 humps and a saddle.
11, 12, 13, no real problem
14 - not too tough but has some break that can be hard to read - better if one had lots of experience with this green.
15 absurdly hard, due to 10 foot slope back to front. Always be underneath the hole to survive!
16 - two saddles, depends on pin position, but the front left and back right corners can be very hard if more than 10-15 feet away.
17 - no real problems unless pin is on left where there is a huge drop off. Have figured out that for front left pin underneath, even chipping on, is the play.
18 - medium tough with large slope back to front and 2 ridges. Always be short would be a reasonable play.

 

[Richie3Jack]

For a golfer on the verge of breaking 80 and trying to do so, I recommend the following strategy wise.

1) Try to eliminate double bogeys or worse and 3-putts. Hit a bad drive? Say to yourself that you're going to leave with no worse than a bogey and maybe give yourself a decent run at par. You really have to think about that because often times golfers hit a bad drive and then try to make up for it by hitting a career shot. If they don't pull off the career shot...then it just compounds and you make that double bogey.

Let's say your 'goal' is to shoot under par. If you play 'dumb' golf and make a double on the first hole and then you par the next 2 holes. Now you are +2 after 3 holes. But, you just used up 1/6th of your round. Double bogeys are KILLERS.

As far as putting goes, my belief is that speed/touch is the key to good putting. The reason why I believe this is because of 'capture width.' That is the width of the hole that can sink a putt at a given speed. I believe if you hit a putt hard...say 5 feet bye the cup...the capture width is about 1/2 of an inch. What you want is to maximize the width of the hole which is 4.25 inches. If you have 'good speed' and consistently are making the capture width of the hole closer to 4.25 inches....you're more likely to see the hole 'get in the way' and drain the putt.

I find this particularly important on 3-5" putts. Generally, the best putters on Tour are at least above average to great from 3-5' (by Tour standards of couse). The problem I see is when a golfer has a 5 foot putt and hits it 20 inches bye. They think that the speed was 'fine' and that they missede putt because they mis-read it or mis-aimed it. That can be true, but they also reduced the size of the capture width and thus, reduced their odds of making that putt.

Plus, if you have perfect spead and mis-read or mis-aim a 30 footer...you'll likely have a very makeable second putt and avoid the 3-putt.


On Tour, the part that matters around the green statistically is the proximity to the cup on shots from 1-20 yards. But for the higher handicapper it's more important to focus on shots around the green from 1-40 yards. Tour players hit it better and thus the majority of their misses are closer to the green. Amateurs don't hit it as well so they'll get a lot of shots from up to 40 yards off the green.

If you're a higher handicapper, I would look at things in this order:

A) Where is the spot on the green that I am confident I can safely get the ball on the green.

B) If we've established A, then is there a spot on the green that will leave us with an uphill putt that we can safely get to?

C) If we've established C, how confident do we feel we can get the ball to 3 feet.

If you're sorta wishy washy on C, then I would go for the pin, but lean towards leaving myself with an uphill putt. Brian's Rule of 12 is a good example. If you use that and it says you need a 9-iron, but it's a noticeably uphill slope...take a PW and that way you'll increase your odds of at worse...being left with an uphill putt. This is something the Tour pros do, but often don't mention. Nicklaus on #12 in the '86 Masters could've gone at the pin with his chip, but the danger was the water and if he missed and stayed on the green, he had a slick putt. So he played conservatively for the uphill putt. He got jobbed because his ball went behind a spike mark...but his strategy was spot on.


Lastly, practice with the longest iron in your bag more than any club on the range...unless you are struggling badly with your driver. The 'Danger Zone' will vary depending on the length of the course. For the Tour pros, the 'Danger Zone' is approaches from 175-225 yards. That's because they routinely play 7000+ yard courses. If you start playing courses 6,600 yards or shorter, the Danger Zone becomes shorter. For a 6,500 yard course, it's probably about 160-210 yards.

The Danger Zone is where golfers lose their most shots. The FLAW in most golfers thinking is that they should practice 7-irons or shorter because they will use those irons more often in the round. They may hit their 3, 4 and 5 iron a combined 4 times in a round. But, they may use their 7 and 8-iron 8 times in a round. So their theory is to practice the 7 and 8-iron.

To me, I believe that is a BAD idea.

Why?

Because the actually 'lose' more shots with the 3-5 irons than they will with the 7 and 8-irons...evne though they hit more shots with those clubs.

Let's say you hit your 7 and 8-iron a combined 8 times a round. You may be likely to do something where 5 of those shots are 'average', 2 of those shots are 'bad' and cost you a combined 2 strokes, and 1 of those shots is great and basically makes up a stroke (you make the short putt). Overall...thru those 8 shots...you really only lost 1 shot.

Let's say you hit that 3, 4 and 5 iron a combined 4 times. Your average shot with the 3-iron is going to wayyyyy further away from the cup than your average shot with the 8-iron. And you are more likely to hit a less than average shot with those clubs because they are harder to hit. So you may hit 1 good shot, 1 bad shot and 2 avearge shots and it can cost you 3 strokes. The good shot will be closer than your average shot...but not close enough to 'gain' a shot.

With that (I know it's a bit confusing), I think golfers are better off hitting more shots with the longest iron in their bag on the range. First, those are the clubs where you lose most of your shots on the round. Second, if you can hit your 4-iron well, you can certainly hit your 7-iron well. Essentially, you're killing 2 birds with 1 stone.








3JACK

 

[grahler]

Great thread! I disagree with you on practicing long irons however. What is a golfer trying to break 80 doing from say 160 210 yards from green? He is going to be chipping most often. So if you leave yourself in your danger zone its a short game hole probably bogey is fine. Key factor on long shot is aim into the right area where a miss is not dead.
Short iron practice is more important because that is the way to easy pars. 150 in you need to know where the ball is going to break 80 consistently. GIR's are what its all about. To me missing a gir from 150 in is like a slap in the face to confidence also because already you got into position to score from the tee.
If long irons are that important to scoring I should think one would be better served working on driver/three wood. Easy pars from a reliable short iron game are more important UNLESS you have issues off the tee. I have a differing belief in that I believe the closer to the hole you are the more important the shot is.
Awesome advice everything else you wrote is golden. I just disagree on practicing mid/long irons.
I really believe an easy way to get from say 90 to 80 is focus on GIR the game is easier the more greens you can hit from 150 in. ELIMINATE THE CHIP!
FYI I broke 80 first time 2 years ago and I was a horrible putter. I think scoring irons are referred to as such for a reason.

 

[Richie3Jack]

Grahler - statistically you are way off.

I've researched this going back to 2002 (that's as far as the data goes from the PGA Tour Web site). It's a little more difficult to apply this to the regular golfer because they tend to have more problems with the driver. Although if they can't hit a driver...they probably cannot hit a shot from the Danger Zone.

Still, working on your weaknesses is a good idea. It doesn't matter if you're Joe Duffer or Joe Durant.

The giant misconception people have about the Tour is that they think when a Tour player gets a wedge in their hand that they stick it to 5 feet...routinely, make the putt and get their birdie.

This is far, far from the truth.

Currently, the leader from the fairway from 75-100 yards is hitting the ball *on average* 10'10" to the cup. The avearage for the Tour is 17'6".

And again...that's only 75-100 yard shots from the fairway. The average from the rough is about 25 feet.

So saying that a Danger Zone shot will leave a chip for the golfer trying to break 80 more times than not...simply is not true.

They are more likely to have long pitches, flop shots, tough bunker shots, etc. And the water as well. It's not a coincidence that designers like to put water in front of greens on holes where the approaches are a little bit longer.

We have to remember that in golf, most likely the best we'll do on a hole is make a birdie. But, we can theoretically shoot a number as high as we want.

If I birdie a hole, I'm really only going to gain a shot on the field...or if I'm just playing...a shot against my average. But if I double...I've lost 2 shots.

And where do the Tour players make most of their doubles from? 175-225 yards.

And again, if I can hit my 3 and 4-irons well, I certainly can hit my shorter irons well. Can't say the other way around is true.




3JACK

 

[Festus]

Hey Richie, thanks very much for your last 2 posts. I'm bouncing along the 80 line and what you wrote makes a lot of sense. Can't say I've ever thought along those line before but once you can make a reasonable pass, this stuff becomes more and more important.

Well done!

 

[Richie3Jack]

Thanks, Festus.

I'll say this. I've used this and it's worked for me quite well. No more needing to hit 15 greens just to shoot under 70. I've had another blog reader thank me for this and a few weeks ago I went out on the course with a mini-tour player to help him understand it and he's given me a lot of praise for helping lower his scores.

One thing we need to understand that I'm not saying 'don't work to get better on this and just focus on this.' Anytime you can get better at a part of the game...that's a good thing. It's just more of knowing 'where to look'. Where you are most likely to lose your strokes.

There are no guarantees. But, this isn't about certainty...it's about probability and how to play the odds correctly instead of blindly guessing your way around the course.








3JACK

 

[dbl]

Richie, a paragraph on Danger Zone please? I searched through your blog and found lots of tour lists, and then one chart about yardages.

Seems to me you list 150-200 as a DZ for average golfers on average length courses. Is the DZ just an area where double bogey chances are greatest compared to other zones?

 

[Richie3Jack]

Seems to me you list 150-200 as a DZ for average golfers on average length courses. Is the DZ just an area where double bogey chances are greatest compared to other zones?

I split the approach shot for each hole into 3 different zones.

Danger Zone
Safe Zone
Birdie Zone

I also give different yardages for these zone. One set for par-3's and par-4's....another set of yardages for par-5's.

For me, I play 7,000+ yard courses routinely.

Par-3 and Par-4 Zone yardages

Danger Zone = 175-225 yards

Safe Zone = 111 - 174 yards

Birdie Zone = 110 or less yards


PAR-5 ZONE YARDAGES

Danger Zone = 150 - 225 yards

Safe Zone = 61 - 149 yards

Birdie Zone = 60 or less yards

The reason for the difference in yardages between the par-3/par-4 holes and the par-5's is the common practice by architects called 'form follows function.' Generally, architects know that your shortest approach shots will be on par-5's. So they tend to make the green smaller or tougher to hit into. Generally speaking...hitting a 150 yard shot into a par-5 is harder than one on a par-3 or par-4.

I use these zones as a guide. It's not a 'you must at all times use this strategy.' But it's a great reminder and helps set your thinking straight well before you hit the shot.

One thing...the 'Birdie Zone' is NOT saying that you 'should make birdiie.' It's just saying that in general this is where you will likely make most of your birdies. This helps with your strategy on the approach.

I should, more often than not...be able to shoot at the flag from the Birdie Zone (although I would be aware of the severity of the slope of the green).

From the Safe Zone, I think we consider firing at the flag, but also have to figure out where our best place to miss the green is and our worst place and then determine 'can I fire at the flag and if I miss, where will I likely miss and what's the likelihood of getitng up and down?'

From the Danger Zone, I'm thinking about making solid contact and finding the fattest part of the green. Hit the green, 2-putt from 40 feet and be happy. You're just not really 'meant' to birdie from the Danger Zone. Don't get me wrong, there are times I fire at the flag from the Danger Zone, but I usually want the flag....directional wise' to be somewhere near the center of the green. If the flag is cut left part of the green and you fire at the flag and miss the green left...you likely leave yourself with a very bad short sided pitch. One of those 25 yard pitches with little room to stop it. Then you wind up going too long or getting cute and missing short on the pitch.

Ugh.

I think it also helps if you can learn to hit up on the driver. Even if it takes away some of your accuracy, as long as you can hit up enough to hit about 20-30 yards further than your 'stock driver', that can be invaluable.

Let's say you hit your stock driver 280 yards and your 'upward hit' driver 310 yards.

If you are on a wide open 460 yard par-4, I would really consider the 'upward hit' driver. It's the difference between being in the Safe Zone vs. the Danger Zone. Again, the hole should be fairly wide open. Even if the fairway is normal...as long as you don't have trees, water, fairway bunkers, etc...I'd go with the upward hit driver so I can get an approach shot that's not in the Danger Zone.

HOWEVER, let's say you are on a 480 yard par-4. Technically, that 'upward hit' driver would put you in the 'Safe Zone' (170 yards away), but that's pretty close to the Danger Zone. I would recommend going with the stock driver and trying to find the fairway. It's very difficutl, even for PGA Tour players, to hit shots that find the green from the rough in the Danger Zone. If you are pretty much relegated to having an approach shot in the Danger Zone, then focus on finding the fairway more. This is something I've talked to a couple of PGA Tour players and caddies about and they said they do indeed think the same thing.

I'll have to look for my chart that I calculated to determine what 'Danger Zone' lengths are for length of courses.











3JACK

 

[willgolfer]

What's the current strategy on how much to club up or down on elevation changes to the green. Is it 1 club up/down per 10 yards of elevation change?

 

[dbl]

Thanks, this is the chart of yours I saw:

Not really sure about the Mid1, 2, etc.

Richie3Jack Golf Blog: Golf Strategy Followup

 

[Richie3Jack]

What's the current strategy on how much to club up or down on elevation changes to the green. Is it 1 club up/down per 10 yards of elevation change?

I own a rangefinder with slope and have talked pretty extensively to some people at Bushnell.

It really depends on how far your are.

If you've got 8% of slope, the change is much great from 200 yards away than it is 100 yards away. I also believe that this theory holds true for wind. A 20 mph wind will not change the yardage as much from 100 yards as it will from 200 yards.

If you're playing tournaments, I'd probably recommend getting a rangefinder with slope to chart the differences. Although I live in Florida and to be truthful, I can only remember one time where the slope greatly affected the yardage. However, when I lived in Georgia, it would affect it quite a bit.





3JACK