Any chance of some advice guys ?!?

Hi everyone....

I have a few questions...

I am a reasonable golfer to say I have only been playng for about 6 months. The par for my local course is 72, Its Morley Hayes in Derbyshire and I have never hit higher than a 100, the average tends to be about 94/95. I have a few good holes and seem to be consistently hitting 2 over par on every hole.

After some discussions witha friend of mine who plays off 5, he tells me I should use as much "Course Management" as possible....can you explain what this is and how you use it?

My drives are okay, long and straight, no problems at all. Now my irons are what I struggle with....i get no divots at all, no matter what club i use and i'll either sweep it off the surface of the grass, hit it superbly and it will zoom off the backend of the green or duff it totally.....how do it reach a happy medium? I'd like to hit the ball solid yet not have to worry about it zooming off the green...if i aim before the green it dont reach it etc...

So when my shot lands short of the green i normally get the 7 Iron out and chip on or the using the sand wedge and end up over shooting....one option is to use the flop shot, now i try this in the back garden and never manage to do it....any advice on how to properly do this shot?

Now for an overall game....whats the best way to improve your overall game....i am in the back garden every night for about 30 mins swinging clubs, practising chips and drives and iron shots....

Thanks for all your time.
Stuart

Your right Stuie shot saving does come from course management, i.e not trying shots you "think" you cannot achieve, if you think you can't you won't!!!

As for your iron play, the swings are different slightly woods are swept of the turf with a flatter swing and irons are pinched off the turf. TIP: set up normal with an iron so you are comfortable then move two inches closer with your feet, this will feel like you are too close to the ball, ignore this feeling and just swing, your body will get out of the way automatically without you thinking about it."now look at your divit"

As for chipping with any club except the flop< keep your arms straight no tense and just make a turn with your shoulders nothing else.

Hope this helps.
Ian.