Hit Over Hazards to Set Up Shorter Approach Shots, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Hit Over Hazards to Set Up Shorter Approach Shots, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles A really nice feature of some golf course is, when you got some doglegs to go around, it makes it a little bit more interesting to have that decision off the tee of do you play round the dogleg or do you play across the dogleg. Particularly if that dogleg has a hazard in it, maybe some bunkers or some trees, or a pond. And one of the things that you got to decide on whether you’re going to play the risk and the reward game is, if the carry distance is makeable for you, then maybe that hazard almost doesn’t appear like it’s there. If you hit your driver 250 yards, and there’s bunkers there at 200 yards, then effectively those bunkers aren’t even there for you, you can just go and blast it straight over the top of them and knock it out onto the wider fairway on the far side, which ultimately will give you a shorter shot into the green. But there’s two really important distances there, you have to know how far you hit your average tee shot, and I stress average, I don’t stress best, because you can’t guarantee you are going to hit your best, so it has to be your average tee shot. The only distant you need to know is, how far is the danger? How far is the trouble? And try and make sure that’s not just guess work. If it’s a golf course you’ve played before, you’ll probably have an idea that you can clear over it. But if it’s a golf course you’re playing for the first time, you might need to either use one of the laser devices or a GPS device, or just have a really good look and think and if you’re playing partners have cleared the corner and you normally outdrive your playing partners, there is always a chance that you will be able to go over the corner as well. But don’t go gung-ho when you are playing the golf course for the first time, if you haven’t got accurate judge on how far that distance is, or an accurate judge on how far you actually hit the golf ball. So have a good look, how far do I have to carry, is it worth me taking the risk, can I carry with my average tee shot, not the world’s greatest tee shot, an average tee shot, is it worth the risk, because if I can knock you over the corner, it gives me a better angle into the green and if it’s all signals are go, you’ve got enough club, the carry is not too difficult, it’s worth taking on. The last thing is commit to hitting that shot, don’t have a last minute back around try and hook it back on the fairway, stand there with a bit of confidence, smash it down there over the corner, with the confidence, you’ve got the right club and you’ve got enough club to clear that carry. 2012-08-03

A really nice feature of some golf course is, when you got some doglegs to go around, it makes it a little bit more interesting to have that decision off the tee of do you play round the dogleg or do you play across the dogleg. Particularly if that dogleg has a hazard in it, maybe some bunkers or some trees, or a pond. And one of the things that you got to decide on whether you’re going to play the risk and the reward game is, if the carry distance is makeable for you, then maybe that hazard almost doesn’t appear like it’s there.

If you hit your driver 250 yards, and there’s bunkers there at 200 yards, then effectively those bunkers aren’t even there for you, you can just go and blast it straight over the top of them and knock it out onto the wider fairway on the far side, which ultimately will give you a shorter shot into the green.

But there’s two really important distances there, you have to know how far you hit your average tee shot, and I stress average, I don’t stress best, because you can’t guarantee you are going to hit your best, so it has to be your average tee shot. The only distant you need to know is, how far is the danger? How far is the trouble? And try and make sure that’s not just guess work. If it’s a golf course you’ve played before, you’ll probably have an idea that you can clear over it. But if it’s a golf course you’re playing for the first time, you might need to either use one of the laser devices or a GPS device, or just have a really good look and think and if you’re playing partners have cleared the corner and you normally outdrive your playing partners, there is always a chance that you will be able to go over the corner as well. But don’t go gung-ho when you are playing the golf course for the first time, if you haven’t got accurate judge on how far that distance is, or an accurate judge on how far you actually hit the golf ball.

So have a good look, how far do I have to carry, is it worth me taking the risk, can I carry with my average tee shot, not the world’s greatest tee shot, an average tee shot, is it worth the risk, because if I can knock you over the corner, it gives me a better angle into the green and if it’s all signals are go, you’ve got enough club, the carry is not too difficult, it’s worth taking on. The last thing is commit to hitting that shot, don’t have a last minute back around try and hook it back on the fairway, stand there with a bit of confidence, smash it down there over the corner, with the confidence, you’ve got the right club and you’ve got enough club to clear that carry.