Michigan Golf Journal October 2019

One aspect of playing ĐŽŶƐŝƐƚĞŶƚ ŐŽůĨ ŝƐ ŐĞƫŶŐ to know what you can do reliably and only play shots that you are good at. Course management involves being able to ƌĞĂůŝƐƟĐĂůůLJ ƉƌĞĚŝĐƚ ƚŚĞ outcome of your shots. Ask yourself these ƋƵĞƐƟŽŶƐ ďĞĨŽƌĞ LJŽƵ ƉůĂLJ a stroke. If I hit a solid shot with the club I have selected, where is it likely to go? If I miss hit or misdirect this shot with this club, where is it likely to go? Is there room for either outcome? If not, maybe I should not be using this club. There is no rule that says that you are obligated to Ăŝŵ Ăƚ ƚŚĞ ŇĂŐƐƟĐŬ͘ /Ĩ ƚŚĞ ŇĂŐƐƟĐŬ ŝƐ ůŽĐĂƚĞĚ ŶĞĂƌ trouble, you would be well advised not to aim at it, but only as close as you dare, ǁŝƚŚŽƵƚ ŐĞƫŶŐ ŝŶƚŽ ƚƌŽƵďůĞ͘ dŚĞ ŐŽůĨ ůĞŐĞŶĚ ĞŶ ,ŽŐĂŶ ǁĂƐ ƐĂŝĚ ƚŽ ŚĂǀĞ ŵĂĚĞ ƚŚĞ ĐŽŵŵĞŶƚ ǁŚĞŶ ĂƐŬĞĚ ǁŚLJ ŚĞ ŵĂĚĞ ƐŽ ĨĞǁ ŚŽůĞƐͲŝŶͲŽŶĞ͕ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĂƐ ďĞĐĂƵƐĞ͗ ͞/ ǀĞƌLJ ƐĞůĚŽŵ ĂŝŵĞĚ Ăƚ ƚŚĞ ŇĂŐƐƟĐŬ͘͟ He aimed to the side that had the most margin of error. Each shot is planned to make the next shot easier than the previous one. In most cases I will not play a shot to the green unless I believe there is a high probability that I ǁŝůů Śŝƚ ƚŚĞ ŐƌĞĞŶ͕ Žƌ ůŝƩůĞ danger for a miss. If the ƉƌŽďĂďŝůŝƚLJ ŽĨ ŚŝƫŶŐ ƚŚĞ green is low, I will play to a safe area where the distance and angle make for an easy next shot. Mistakes and high ƐĐŽƌĞƐ ƵƐƵĂůůLJ ĐŽŵĞ ĨƌŽŵ consistently playing shots ƚŚĂƚ ŚĂǀĞ Ă ůŽǁ ƉƌŽďĂďŝůŝƚLJ of success. Playing easy shots that have a high probability of success ďƌĞĞĚ ĐŽŶĮĚĞŶĐĞ ĂŶĚ ůĞƐƐ ŵƵůƟƉůĞ ƐƚƌŽŬĞ ƉĞŶĂůƟĞƐ͘ 'K>& d/W͗ KhZ^ D E ' D Ed 'ŽůĨ dŝƉƐ ƉƌŽǀŝĚĞĚ ďLJ ĂǀĞ <ĞŶĚĂůů ĐĂĚĞŵLJ ŝŶ zƉƐŝůĂŶƟ Michigan Golf Journal 'ŽůĨ dŝƉƐ