Course Management… what’s that? Well, a big part of the battle in golf is making the right decisions. What club to use, what line to choose etc. I was playing with another pro-friend one day and there was a hazard that crossed the fairway about 180 yds. in front of us. I took a club that I thought would go about 175 yds. and the ball ended up in the hazard. This happens a lot to golfers on a lay-up (a shot that is purposely short, as to not get into trouble). Why? Mostly because the golfer is not trying to subconsciously hit it as far as possible and everything clicks and it is hit solid from not over swinging. Okay, now back to the lay-up story… After I hit the shot into the junk, my friend said… “Nice Ross” and I said, “That’s what I didn’t want to do*“. He then said one of the best pieces of Course Management “Musts” I have ever heard. “If you’re gonna Lay-Up, Lay-Up!” meaning, if the trouble is 180 yds away hit a 160 yd. shot and never have a chance to get into trouble and put the pressure on the “Next Shot” to the green. This is also true on “Lag Putting”. Just get the ball up around the hole and put the pressure on the next putt. I think to this day, every time I have a Lay-up shot, I think of him and have stayed out of trouble.
* I later learned also not to send “Don’t Do” images to my brain only “What to Do” images. The brain can not differentiate… it just sees a visualization and then makes it happen. If it is a “Don’t Do” image, that’s what you get.
5 Comments
Thanks the for the post, and great point about avoiding “don’t do” images. I had never thought of this, but now I’m going to apply it to my game. Heck, I’m going to apply it to my whole life.
So I guess you play like it is like a long pitch and roll, shot… You would almost have to play a break. Hope you get some rain soon!
Yes, in Houston we are in the middle of a drought. The ground is concrete and you will have an extra 10 to 20 yards of roll whether you want it or not. The ball doesn’t quite bounce like it has hit the cart path, but it’s close.
Yes! Very good add-on. So, what I hear you saying is … choose a shot you know will work and don’t take chances when laying up. Thanks, Patrick
Another thing that people may not take into account is that the ball will roll after it lands. I have played several courses where the intelligent thing is to lay up, you hit your shot but the ground is hard and slopes toward the water. You neeed to know the course conditions and where you can miss.