13
Jul '11
Course Management: Don't be a hero
By Swingpal.com staff
On Monday, Swingpal.com instructor Justin Bruton offered up some great tips on how to manage your golf game in windy conditions, something the world’s elite players will have to do this weekend at the British Open.
In keeping with the theme of the Open Championship and the myriad of challenges that players are presented with in that event each year, most notably as it relates to the weather and the infamous gorse, this blog entry will be devoted to the importance for golfers of all ability levels to play within themselves.A better way to say that might be that any golfer who steps on the course needs to understand their limitations. If that’s the case, fewer catastrophic mistakes will be the result, which will in turn lead to lower scores.
The reality is that even the best players in the world will face shots during a round where the risks associated with trying a particular shot far outweigh the potential rewards. More often than not in situations like that, in an effort to minimize the potential damage, you’ll see the top players “take their medicine” and play safe.
And everyone who plays the game needs to understand that there’s nothing wrong with playing safe -- something even Phil Mickelson begrudgingly has learned in recent years -- and that sometimes bogey is a pretty good score. In fact, you’re assured to see that mindset in play often this weekend at Royal St. George’s.
So keep that in mind the next time you find yourself in a tough spot on the course, which we all know is going to happen from time to time.
Don’t try to be a hero. Play the percentages, get the ball back in play and don’t turn an easy bogey or possibly an outside chance at a par into a triple bogey or something even worse because you’ve tried to play a shot that you’re simply not going to pull off with any regularity.
Follow that advice and there’s no question that your score will benefit at the end of the day.
Additionally, your round as a whole will prove to be more enjoyable, as overcoming big numbers can be mentally tough on anyone and making one early in a round can ruin an entire day.