Weigh Risk-Reward to Handle Dogleg Holes, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Weigh Risk-Reward to Handle Dogleg Holes, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

So how could risk and reward affect your approach to playing a good round of golf?

Any good course design would build an element of risk and reward into the halls of the design and dogleg holes particularly bring that risk and reward to the full.

Now, dogleg is anything that's described as a non-straight golf hole. Generally par-4s, par-5s curving from left to right or right to left. Now, as a good golf course design you generally curve the whole one way and then place danger on the inside of the curve and a bit more safety around the outside of the curve.

So the more risk that you take, the nearer it's the danger you would be going but the reward is that it’s a sure to hole. But if you played around the outside of the curve, away from the danger and the water, the reward is less that you have actually a longer shot for your second or third just in to the green.

So a good risk and reward hole really makes you stand on the tee with a few more decisions in you had rather than just a straightforward Par-4.

So standing on the tee, you need to asses, where is the danger, where is the bail out? Where is risky, where is the safe side? If I tell you the risk, is the reward worth it?

Now, if your risk is a bunker for example, there's no penalty for going in the bunker. The disadvantage is, that it’s a tough second shot up because of the penalty.

If it’s a water hazard, that's a stiffer risk because if I go into the water hazard I have to drop the ball out to the side or behind the water hazard and then play my third shot with my one shot penalty added. So water is a bigger risk.

And out of bounds is a bigger risk even still because if the out of bounds is on the inside of the dogleg and I go out, I have to come back to the tee and add a shot on my penalty, added a penalty shot on.

So I'd be back on the tee hitting three of the tee.

So bunkers and rough, not ideal but there's no penalty and I can play after them.

Water hazards, penalty for going in then--in them, would need to drop back.

Out of bounds, penalty for going in that and need to come back and hit my tee shot again.

So try and weigh out the risks of the dogleg, try and weigh out the rewards. If it’s a case cutting off the corner to hit a nine-ninth to the green, rather than playing safe and hitting the seven-nine to a green; there's not a real massive deal of difference between the risk and reward.

But if it’s a difference on a par-5 where taking the corner on and risking it, I can cut the corner and get on to the green in two or three whereas playing the longest shot around the outside, I'd be one shot more on to the green. That might be worth the trade-off.

So have a good think about the risk and rewards strategy that you employ.

The other way of considering this would actually be that the type of competition that you're in or if you're playing in a medal of stroke play rounds where every shot you hit you need to add on to your total score at the end, go a bit safer, play around the doglegs and play a little bit less of the risk-reward strategy a bit safer.

If you're playing in maybe a match play format where you're playing against a friend or colleague and your playing shot for shot, hole for hole; if you hit the ball out of bounds and you have a bad hole, you've just lost that hole. You can put that to the side so you can maybe a bit more aggressive and the strategy is different and you'll see this in the sort of format of the USA versus the European team.

So lot more aggressive format? Because it's match play, shot for shot, hole for hole, so that if the people have a bad hole, it doesn’t matter, now some more aggressive play. They'll take on the doglegs, they'll take on the drivable par-4s or try and get on the par-5s in too but when they play the strategy of the stroke play game, particularly for the first few rounds, it might be that they play safer, building a score over a longer period of time rather than being too aggressive.

So think about the format of the competition you are playing in, where the danger is and how severe the danger is and whether the risk is worth the reward--sorry, yes. Whether the risk is worth the reward or they should play safer to play to play around the trouble.

How about you'll think about your strategy next time you're on the golf course?

 2012-06-01

So how could risk and reward affect your approach to playing a good round of golf?

Any good course design would build an element of risk and reward into the halls of the design and dogleg holes particularly bring that risk and reward to the full.

Now, dogleg is anything that's described as a non-straight golf hole. Generally par-4s, par-5s curving from left to right or right to left. Now, as a good golf course design you generally curve the whole one way and then place danger on the inside of the curve and a bit more safety around the outside of the curve.

So the more risk that you take, the nearer it's the danger you would be going but the reward is that it’s a sure to hole. But if you played around the outside of the curve, away from the danger and the water, the reward is less that you have actually a longer shot for your second or third just in to the green.

So a good risk and reward hole really makes you stand on the tee with a few more decisions in you had rather than just a straightforward Par-4.

So standing on the tee, you need to asses, where is the danger, where is the bail out? Where is risky, where is the safe side? If I tell you the risk, is the reward worth it?

Now, if your risk is a bunker for example, there's no penalty for going in the bunker. The disadvantage is, that it’s a tough second shot up because of the penalty.

If it’s a water hazard, that's a stiffer risk because if I go into the water hazard I have to drop the ball out to the side or behind the water hazard and then play my third shot with my one shot penalty added. So water is a bigger risk.

And out of bounds is a bigger risk even still because if the out of bounds is on the inside of the dogleg and I go out, I have to come back to the tee and add a shot on my penalty, added a penalty shot on.

So I'd be back on the tee hitting three of the tee.

So bunkers and rough, not ideal but there's no penalty and I can play after them.

Water hazards, penalty for going in then–in them, would need to drop back.

Out of bounds, penalty for going in that and need to come back and hit my tee shot again.

So try and weigh out the risks of the dogleg, try and weigh out the rewards. If it’s a case cutting off the corner to hit a nine-ninth to the green, rather than playing safe and hitting the seven-nine to a green; there's not a real massive deal of difference between the risk and reward.

But if it’s a difference on a par-5 where taking the corner on and risking it, I can cut the corner and get on to the green in two or three whereas playing the longest shot around the outside, I'd be one shot more on to the green. That might be worth the trade-off.

So have a good think about the risk and rewards strategy that you employ.

The other way of considering this would actually be that the type of competition that you're in or if you're playing in a medal of stroke play rounds where every shot you hit you need to add on to your total score at the end, go a bit safer, play around the doglegs and play a little bit less of the risk-reward strategy a bit safer.

If you're playing in maybe a match play format where you're playing against a friend or colleague and your playing shot for shot, hole for hole; if you hit the ball out of bounds and you have a bad hole, you've just lost that hole. You can put that to the side so you can maybe a bit more aggressive and the strategy is different and you'll see this in the sort of format of the USA versus the European team.

So lot more aggressive format? Because it's match play, shot for shot, hole for hole, so that if the people have a bad hole, it doesn’t matter, now some more aggressive play. They'll take on the doglegs, they'll take on the drivable par-4s or try and get on the par-5s in too but when they play the strategy of the stroke play game, particularly for the first few rounds, it might be that they play safer, building a score over a longer period of time rather than being too aggressive.

So think about the format of the competition you are playing in, where the danger is and how severe the danger is and whether the risk is worth the reward–sorry, yes. Whether the risk is worth the reward or they should play safer to play to play around the trouble.

How about you'll think about your strategy next time you're on the golf course?