Three approaches to golf course par 5 layups (Video) - by Pete Styles
Three approaches to golf course par 5 layups (Video) - by Pete Styles

If you are to consider that you’re playing into a par-5 hole and you’ve hit yourself a decent tee shot right into the middle of the fairway, and now you’ve got your second shot into the green, we’d often refer to this shot as a layup shot. You’re laying the ball up into the right position where you want to take your next shot from. And that layup shot, that second shot, can have quite a few different variables.

One way of playing this would be that you take the most aggressive approach possible. You hit your longest club that you can hit from the fairway. Let’s say that’s a 3-wood. You try and hit the ball as far down that towards the green or maybe even up on to the green if you can. The advantage is that, is you get nearer to the green. The disadvantage is hitting a 3-wood. It’s often quite a difficult shot from that fairway. So, you’ve got to weigh the pros and the cons. You get nearer but it’s a more risky approach.

The next option would be to layup to a desired distance. So, if you’re very good with your wedges from 100 yards and in, you would try and play the layup shot to leave you 100 yards away from the green. So, you would hit the right club that would go exactly the right distance to 100 yards. The advantage of doing that is that you’ll good from 100 yards and in. The draw back from that is sometimes it might feel a bit defensive and if you don’t make a good contact and you don’t judge how far the ball rolls, you could leave yourself not necessarily close to the green and not in your desired layup. So, you really need to know how far you’re going to hit certain shots.

The next option you’ve got with a layup would be just to reach for your preferred club-feel second shot. So, if your favorite club in your bag is a hybrid golf club, let’s say my favorite club is my 3-hybrid, it might not necessarily be the right distance to get as far as I can towards the green. It might not give him my desired layup distance, but I should be very good at hitting this as this my preferred club. It’s my favorite club. I should be able to guarantee that I get a good strike on the ball and I can knock it down that towards the green and not top it, scoop it or knock it sideways.

So depending on how aggressive you’re feeling and how you hit your other shots, you can choose whether you go gone-how and stike towards the green with your biggest club, you layup to a desired distance or you layup using your favorite club. It’s all about course management. Experiment with those three different options and pick the one that suits your game the most.

2012-12-03

If you are to consider that you’re playing into a par-5 hole and you’ve hit yourself a decent tee shot right into the middle of the fairway, and now you’ve got your second shot into the green, we’d often refer to this shot as a layup shot. You’re laying the ball up into the right position where you want to take your next shot from. And that layup shot, that second shot, can have quite a few different variables.

One way of playing this would be that you take the most aggressive approach possible. You hit your longest club that you can hit from the fairway. Let’s say that’s a 3-wood. You try and hit the ball as far down that towards the green or maybe even up on to the green if you can. The advantage is that, is you get nearer to the green. The disadvantage is hitting a 3-wood. It’s often quite a difficult shot from that fairway. So, you’ve got to weigh the pros and the cons. You get nearer but it’s a more risky approach.

The next option would be to layup to a desired distance. So, if you’re very good with your wedges from 100 yards and in, you would try and play the layup shot to leave you 100 yards away from the green. So, you would hit the right club that would go exactly the right distance to 100 yards. The advantage of doing that is that you’ll good from 100 yards and in. The draw back from that is sometimes it might feel a bit defensive and if you don’t make a good contact and you don’t judge how far the ball rolls, you could leave yourself not necessarily close to the green and not in your desired layup. So, you really need to know how far you’re going to hit certain shots.

The next option you’ve got with a layup would be just to reach for your preferred club-feel second shot. So, if your favorite club in your bag is a hybrid golf club, let’s say my favorite club is my 3-hybrid, it might not necessarily be the right distance to get as far as I can towards the green. It might not give him my desired layup distance, but I should be very good at hitting this as this my preferred club. It’s my favorite club. I should be able to guarantee that I get a good strike on the ball and I can knock it down that towards the green and not top it, scoop it or knock it sideways.

So depending on how aggressive you’re feeling and how you hit your other shots, you can choose whether you go gone-how and stike towards the green with your biggest club, you layup to a desired distance or you layup using your favorite club. It’s all about course management. Experiment with those three different options and pick the one that suits your game the most.