One of the differences between actual golfers and people who “play at golf” is course management in light of their skill set. Hitting the ball into the steep wall of a bunker is almost always an indication that the player attempted the wrong shot. Hitting it into the steep wall of a bunker five times is just insanity (doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result).Report
Or you could just do what Colin Montgomerie did.Report
Probably the greatest failure of course management at the top pro level was at the British open in… 2000? Sometime around then. The Frenchman stood on the final tee with a three stroke lead. He told his caddie to give him the driver and the caddie did. Multiple overly-ambitious shots later, he took a triple bogie and lost the tournament in a playoff the next day.
What the caddie should have done was take the driver out of the bag, break it over his knee, and hand his boss a 4-iron. “Hit the 4-iron into the fairway, sir. Then hit the 4-iron again to a bit short of the green. Chip onto the green with the 4-iron. Three-putt for double-bogie and the win.” Situational course management.
Jack Nicholas once said something like, “The typical club player can do far more to improve their scoring by learning course management than anything else.”Report
The story of Jean van de Velde is one for the ages. I remember watching it on live TV in complete disbelief.
The right kind of putter is surprisingly versatile. I remember driving a 160-yard par three with one when a drunken friend bet his girlfriend’s services that I couldn’t do it. Watching his face while he slowly worked through that I had done it, and what he had bet, was enough of a reward. “Let’s not tell Amanda about the bet,” I told him.Report
One of the differences between actual golfers and people who “play at golf” is course management in light of their skill set. Hitting the ball into the steep wall of a bunker is almost always an indication that the player attempted the wrong shot. Hitting it into the steep wall of a bunker five times is just insanity (doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result).Report
Or you could just do what Colin Montgomerie did.Report
Probably the greatest failure of course management at the top pro level was at the British open in… 2000? Sometime around then. The Frenchman stood on the final tee with a three stroke lead. He told his caddie to give him the driver and the caddie did. Multiple overly-ambitious shots later, he took a triple bogie and lost the tournament in a playoff the next day.
What the caddie should have done was take the driver out of the bag, break it over his knee, and hand his boss a 4-iron. “Hit the 4-iron into the fairway, sir. Then hit the 4-iron again to a bit short of the green. Chip onto the green with the 4-iron. Three-putt for double-bogie and the win.” Situational course management.
Jack Nicholas once said something like, “The typical club player can do far more to improve their scoring by learning course management than anything else.”Report
The story of Jean van de Velde is one for the ages. I remember watching it on live TV in complete disbelief.
Here he is playing 18 with just a putter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlVZIOHVfhYReport
The right kind of putter is surprisingly versatile. I remember driving a 160-yard par three with one when a drunken friend bet his girlfriend’s services that I couldn’t do it. Watching his face while he slowly worked through that I had done it, and what he had bet, was enough of a reward. “Let’s not tell Amanda about the bet,” I told him.Report