Understand Course Design to Play Strategic Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Understand Course Design to Play Strategic Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

So if you now look at the topic of course management. The course management is how you choose to play your way around the golf course. Golf is a game of whack it, walk after it, whack it again, get it in the hole, and go to the next round; but whiz golfers know there is a lot more subtlety to the game and course designer, certainly modern course designers, starts into building a lot more decision making course management into the way that you stand on the tee and pick your way around the golf course. You should be playing a good golf course almost like a game of chess. You are battling against the golf course, playing one move at a time to try and play your ball into the right areas.

Now, there is no saying that you will always hit the shot that you wanted to play in the first place, but by playing the golf course in the right way, you will widen your margin of error, you will maximize your chances of hitting on to the fairway. So what I would suggest is when you stand on the tee, you look down the golf hole, try and look for where did the designer put the trouble, where did the designer put the safer area and then normally there will be an area of danger that might give you a shorter route to the hole or safer route around. Now if you think the safer route around is the one that you are going to take, fine. Let us go for that but commit to that line. Don’t at the top of your backswing think, I will try and cut the corner of this dogleg and then slice out wildly into trouble. Whichever route you pick, pick that route and stick to it; whether it is aggressive or defensive. Once you have hit into that area, get to the golf ball again and again, look at the positioning of the bunkers on your second shot going onto the green; where is the danger, where is the safe area, where is the risk, where is the reward. Just a word of caution here that from what I have seen on my experience of playing golf, most golf course designers put the bunkers and the water hazards particularly when you are playing towards the green around the front of the green because that always makes the most visual impact. If I am going to spend 10,000 pounds, let say putting in a lake, I want you all to see it right around the front; otherwise, you play over it but if you go without knowledge of it or if you are armed with that knowledge, you have the ability then to play the ball to the middle or the back of the green which not many club golfers do. Most club golfers land it at the front, which like I say that is where the danger is. So particularly, your 2nd shot or your 3rd shot is going into the green, try and land the ball beyond the middle of the green maybe towards the back end of the green and you will see when you get up there that most course designers, the danger is around the front; the risk is around the front. Try and play a little bit beyond the flag if you need to. Play towards the back of the green and it think you will find that is a safer place to play, but think long and hard about your course management and that will help you improve your skills.

 2012-05-10

So if you now look at the topic of course management. The course management is how you choose to play your way around the golf course. Golf is a game of whack it, walk after it, whack it again, get it in the hole, and go to the next round; but whiz golfers know there is a lot more subtlety to the game and course designer, certainly modern course designers, starts into building a lot more decision making course management into the way that you stand on the tee and pick your way around the golf course. You should be playing a good golf course almost like a game of chess. You are battling against the golf course, playing one move at a time to try and play your ball into the right areas.

Now, there is no saying that you will always hit the shot that you wanted to play in the first place, but by playing the golf course in the right way, you will widen your margin of error, you will maximize your chances of hitting on to the fairway. So what I would suggest is when you stand on the tee, you look down the golf hole, try and look for where did the designer put the trouble, where did the designer put the safer area and then normally there will be an area of danger that might give you a shorter route to the hole or safer route around. Now if you think the safer route around is the one that you are going to take, fine. Let us go for that but commit to that line. Don’t at the top of your backswing think, I will try and cut the corner of this dogleg and then slice out wildly into trouble. Whichever route you pick, pick that route and stick to it; whether it is aggressive or defensive. Once you have hit into that area, get to the golf ball again and again, look at the positioning of the bunkers on your second shot going onto the green; where is the danger, where is the safe area, where is the risk, where is the reward. Just a word of caution here that from what I have seen on my experience of playing golf, most golf course designers put the bunkers and the water hazards particularly when you are playing towards the green around the front of the green because that always makes the most visual impact. If I am going to spend 10,000 pounds, let say putting in a lake, I want you all to see it right around the front; otherwise, you play over it but if you go without knowledge of it or if you are armed with that knowledge, you have the ability then to play the ball to the middle or the back of the green which not many club golfers do. Most club golfers land it at the front, which like I say that is where the danger is. So particularly, your 2nd shot or your 3rd shot is going into the green, try and land the ball beyond the middle of the green maybe towards the back end of the green and you will see when you get up there that most course designers, the danger is around the front; the risk is around the front. Try and play a little bit beyond the flag if you need to. Play towards the back of the green and it think you will find that is a safer place to play, but think long and hard about your course management and that will help you improve your skills.