Month: February 2014

Categories
Golf Tips

Takeaways from the Match Play Championship

By Shooting 90

For an event that many argue its very existence, the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship provided a very exciting Sunday afternoon of golf. Jason Day outlasted Victor Dubuisson to win the final match in 23 holes. Day squandered a three hole lead on the back nine, including being two up with two holes to play, only to withstand probably the greatest back-to-back up and downs in the history of golf from Dubuisson on the 19th and 20th holes.

On the 19th hole, being played on hole #1, Dubuisson’s second shot bounced over the green and into the desert, prompting Nick Faldo to exclaim “He’s ruined!”. He then proceeded to hit an unbelievable chip shot from next to a jumping cactus to within 5 feet. He made the putt, sending the match to the 20th hole.

The 20th hole was played on hole #9. Earlier in the match on the 9th hole, Dubuisson hit his approach shot left into the desert and ended up conceding the hole. He again hit his second shot left on this hole into the desert and under a branch. He hit his next shot through the branch to within 7 feet. He once again made the putt to send the match to the 21st hole.

After halving the next two holes, Day won the 23rd hole with a birdie.

There are a few things a high handicap golfer can take away from this match.

First off, both Dubuisson and Day had very good short games the whole day. So good, it prompted Greg Norman to tweet the following.

It is so important to have a solid short game, yet this is an area that many high handicap and beginner golfers do not practice near enough. Dedicate weekly practice time for pitching and chipping.

Both golfers showed tremendous mental strength. Dubuisson stated he only slept one hour the night before because he was nervous about playing Ernie Els in the morning. He must have been physically drained after 41 holes of golf on Sunday but it only showed on a few shots. His mental determination was strong the whole day. Day won the 9th hole and then did not win another hole until he won the match by winning the 23rd hole. He blew leads of 3 up on the back nine and 2 up with 2 holes to go. He had Dubuisson all but dead on each of the first two extra holes only to see Dubuisson make miraculous shots to extend the match. He could have collapsed but didn’t. He instead played the best golf of the two on the extra holes.

One last takeaway from Sunday is something not to do. Don’t try to be a hero and hit a miraculous shot you can’t pull off. Dubuisson only attempted those two shots because he had no choice. It was attempt the shot or lose the match. I’m a big believer in making your own luck but even with that the golfing gods were smiling on Victor. He actually conceded the 9th hole earlier in the match when he was in the desert. Unless playing the last hole in their flight of the club championship, a high handicap golfer has no reason to attempt a shot that they have little chance of pulling off. Take the unplayable lie and move on.

Categories
Hit More Greens

Lay Up on a Par 5

By Shooting 90

You’ve just crushed a drive down the middle of the fairway on a par 5. The aggressive side of you wants to knock it on the green in two and make a 15 footer for eagle. Of course, making it on the green in two on a par 5 rarely happens for a beginner or high handicap golfer and more often puts you in a bad position, either in a hazard, bunker, or green side rough. You should be very selective in the times you go for the green in two on a par 5. If the green is surrounded by hazards, your best play is to lay up, which simply means to hit a shot shorter than you are capable of.

When laying up, instead of going for the green in two, you hit your second shot to a safe part of the fairway with a remaining distance that leaves you a full wedge shot. The advantage to laying up is that most of the time you will be closer to the hole in three shots by laying up instead of going for the green in two. Develop a layup distance that you can repeatedly shoot for. The distance I usually lay up to is 100 yards, but choose the distance that is best for you based on your wedge play.

By laying up, you are also taking dangerous shots out of play. You may not need driver off the tee if you are playing three shots to get on the green. You may be able to reach the green with a 3 wood, mid iron and wedge. Along with leaving the driver in the bag, you are also taking a higher risk second shot with a fairway wood out of play. Laying up and taking three lower risk shots gives you an excellent chance at hitting a green in regulation and having a putt for birdie.

There will be times when being aggressive, going for the green in two on a par 5, will be the best play. You may have hit a booming drive right down the middle of the fairway and have a clear second shot to a green with minimal hazards surrounding it. These are the times to be selectively aggressive, go for the green in two if you have the distance to make it, and try to score low. The rest of the times play it safe and lay up on par 5’s.

Categories
Golf Short Game

Learn to Chip Around the Green

By Shooting 90

The short game probably has a bigger gap in ability between low and high handicap golfers than any area in golf. The ability to get up and down is critical in improving your game. How many times does a high handicap golfer take three or four shots from beside the green to get the ball in the hole?

The need to be able to shoot a variety of shots is one of the challenges high handicap golfers face in having a good short game. The chip, pitch, flop, and sand shots are all part of a well-rounded short game. In this post, we will be talking about the chip shot.

Around the green, many beginner and high handicap golfers exclusively use their pitching or sand wedge, attempting to fly the ball most of the way to the hole with a lofted shot. Sometimes it is best to play a chip shot. A chip shot consists of bumping the ball up in the air just enough to get it on the green and rolling. The big benefit of a chip shot is that it is much easier to control both the direction and distance when your ball is rolling opposed to flying through the air.

Chip shots can be made with a variety of clubs including your 7 iron, 8 iron, 9 iron, and wedges. Use your wedges for chipping when your ball is closer to the hole as they will provide more spin and your ball with roll less. Your less lofted clubs are for longer chip shots where you need your ball to roll a greater distance.

The stance and swing for a chip shot differs from a regular shot. The ball is played off the inside of your back foot with the handle of the club forward of the ball. Probably the most important thing to remember about a chip shot is that you strike down on the ball allowing the loft of the club to get it in the air. Many amateurs make the mistake of trying to scoop the ball into the air.

While the setup and execution is the same for all of your chip shots regardless of what club you choose, it is important to practice chipping with all of your wedges all the way down to your 6 or 7 iron. The club you choose will depend on how far away from the hole you are.

In the video below, Peter Finch, shows us how to control our distance when chipping.

Spend a serious amount of time chipping during your practice sessions. Becoming a successful chipper will most definitely lower your scores. The short game offers high handicap golfers the biggest impact on their game with more practice.

Categories
Hit More Fairways

Managing First Tee Nerves

By Shooting 90

High handicap golfers often struggle on the golf course. Unfortunately many times the struggle starts on the first tee. Nerves result in a bad drive, starting the round off on the worst possible note.

Most golfers will have at least a few nerves on the first tee even in a foursome comprised of all people they know. Add people to the group that you’ve never met and the nerves get much worse. The audience watching your first drive doubles if you have the group behind you show up early to the first tee.

There’s a few things you can do to hit a good shot off the first tee despite your nerves.

Get to the course thirty minutes prior to your tee time to hit a small bucket of balls on the range and take some practice putts. Hitting a small bucket on the range gets your muscles ready for golf.

It also provides important information for your upcoming round. Pre-round shots on the range will tell you what shot you have brought to the course. You’re not always going to have your preferred ball flight every time out. High handicap golfers simply do not have that level of consistency. Your ball flight may be different this time out. The first tee is not the place to discover what ball flight you have brought to the course. Find this out on the range. Just keep in mind the pre-round small bucket of balls is not for fixing a swing issue. Save fixing swing issues for your weekly practice sessions.

Taking a few putts on the practice green will give you a general idea for the speed of the greens. Don’t putt 10 foot putts one right after another. Hit several 20 to 30 foot putts to work on your lag putting. Getting the speed of the greens nailed down is the key to keeping your number of three putts to a minimum.

It’s OK to leave your driver in the bag on the first tee. Shooting 90 is a big advocate of learning to hit your driver. You may be learning how to fix a slice, making good progress with your driver, and finding success with it on the course. That said, it’s still the most dangerous club in a high handicapper’s bag. With nerves on the first tee, you may have problems finding the fairway or putting the ball in play with your driver. That’s OK. Use your “go to” club off the first tee, whether that’s a fairway metal, hybrid, or even a long iron. Save your driver for the rest of the round. The worst thing you can do for your round is to put your first drive in a bad place.

Don’t hit first or last in your group off the first tee if you can help it. There’s a lot of pressure on you when you hit first. Everyone is pumped up for the round and all eyes are on you. There’s similar pressure in hitting last. Everyone has hit and they’re now waiting for you. It’s twice as bad if everyone striped one down the middle of the fairway before you. Tee off second or third in your foursome off the first tee.

Tee up your ball on the same side as trouble. If you have woods down the left side, tee up on the left side of the tee box. This gives you the best angle to hit your drive away from the trees.

I’m not sure golfers ever get over first tee jitters. The best we can do is learn to cope with them. Hopefully applying these tips will help you do that.