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Island Golfer 2007
Course Management

As we all know July and August are very popular months for tournaments. This month I am going to give you a few tips on how to apply course management to your game.

Before we get onto the course, we need to cover a few areas that should be worked on. First, you need to have good alignment so you can set up towards the target every time. Line your club face to the target and your body parallel to the target. Here is what good alignment looks like.

When you are practicing on the range be sure to choose different targets, this will help with your alignment.

Be sure to have a good pre shot routine; this will help you achieve better tempo and consistency with ever aspect of the game.

Thirdly, you need to know how far you hit every club. Go to a flat driving range and one that has lots of targets. If you have all three keys mastered, then we are ready for some tips on course management.

1. Hit the fairway
There are many people who rush to the first tee without warming up and sometimes that can't be helped, but to step up and grab for the big stick right away without considering how the hole sets up is a very common problem. The driver is the longest club in your bag and usually the least accurate. If the fairway is narrow and you think there is a chance you could hit the ball into the rough or trees instead of the fairway, hit a club that is going to be easier to hit down the middle. This goes for every hole, not just the first.

2. Take enough club
This is where knowing your yardages will come into play. Every situation is different such as there may be water short of the green and no trouble behind. The smartest play is to take one more club than usual. It is very difficult to get the ball up and down from the water, but really easy from the fringe around the green. If there are sand traps on both the right and left short side of the green, take one more club so if you miss hit the ball, your chances of getting over the sand are much higher.

3. Don't try unpracticed shots
When you get yourself into trouble, the first thing you want to do is smack the ball as hard as you can through the trees. Most of us don't practice hitting high cuts or low hooks around trees, so please try to get the ball out of trouble as soon as possible. This might sometimes mean chipping the ball out sideways, but remember you can always make up the shot somewhere else.

4. Tee
When you tee your ball up on the tee box, try giving yourself the best angle and the clearest shot to your target. You might have to go to the right or left side of the tee box to achieve the best position. I have seen many golfers tee it up in the middle and have given themselves a much more difficult shot than what is necessary.

5. The Pin
Pay a little more attention to where the pin is on the green, there may be a huge slope behind the pin and nothing but a flat surface short of the pin. I don't know about you, but I would much rather putt from a flat surface than have a downhill slider.

I hope these tips will come in handy for you in your future golf games. Remember you will score better by playing a little smarter.