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Originally Posted by GreeBoman this is what Im trying to find out, I think something relatively simple like shot selection or alignment could save the high handicapper a bunch of easy shots per round |
I think there's a big difference between the ordinary high handicapper, who maybe plays about 100 most of the time, and the "super handicapper," like myself, who is yet to break 110 (and until just recently played pretty consistently around 120). For example, alignment is a very sketchy thing to a golfer who doesn't hit straight. And shot selection is a guessing game to a golfer whose distances vary a lot.
Consider, say, a 425 yard par 4. The first decision is the tee shot. For most golfers this wouldn't take much thought about club selection, but for me...if I'm smart I'll leave the driver in the bag. The probability is too high that I'll either lose the ball outright and take a penalty or send it into an unplayable lie and take a penalty or send it where I need to take a "medicinal" shot to get it back on the fairway. If the fairway is very wide, I may take a chance. More likely, I'll use my 3W or 3H from the tee and hit 200-220 yards, with a pretty good chance of hitting the fairway.
With 225 yards to the green, for my next shot I just want to get close. There's nothing I can hit from the fairway that will travel 225, so I probably choose either my 22* hybrid or my 18* hybrid--180 and 200 yards respectively, but the 22* is likely to give me the straighter shot. If all goes well I'm now 45 yards or less from the green. I probably use my sand wedge, a nice easy swing, and put the ball on the green. Then two putts.
That describes pretty much an ideal golf hole; about as good as it gets for me. I'm very happy to get that bogey. That would get me a score of 108, which I've yet to achieve. That's because there are going to be a few holes where...golf happens. Maybe the 3W off the tee wasn't so straight after all. Maybe the hybrid shot from the fairway was a little thin. Maybe my pitch onto the green rolls right off on the other side, etc.
So my immediate goal is to play consistent bogey golf and reach that 108 mark. My strategy is to leave the driver alone unless I'm looking at a fairway the size of Rhode Island, and to swing the club easy, lessening the likelihood of junk shots.