Tour Course Management Question

[The D]

Was thinking about this the other day, and a friend brought it up to me that I was doing this backwards.

 

 

If I have a tee shot and there is water right, I will start the ball down the left side with a cut. I do this because If I miss it, I will hit it straight. If I hit it good it will cut back in the fairway. I rarely will over cut it into the water.

 

The reverse is true with water/trouble left. I will play it down the right with a draw, trying to draw it back into the fairway. I miss with this is to leave it out right, not getting the draw, but staying clear of the trouble out left. Again, my mishit will most likely be right in this case, not over hooked.

 

He told me most tour players do the opposite. They hit it at the trouble/hazard and work it off from there.

 

Opinions, Thoughts? How do yall do it?

 

Of course if the hole is straight with no trouble, then I will play which ever one feels more comfortable to me. I try to hit a draw when possible off the tee.

[Carl Spackler2]

I thought the rule of thumb is: do not aim where a straight shot could get you into trouble. Thats how I tend to play, but there are certain cases where I tend to favor the fade even with trouble left.

[ZBigStick]

Do what works for you and know YOUR misses.

Yes, most work the ball AWAY from trouble. Do not aim AT the hazard, but inside the margin of the trouble so that a straight shot is still safe.

[k.kim913]

just work your natural ball flight whether it be a draw of fade to hit the fairway..

trying to draw/fade the ball all day will be inconsistent. imo

dont worry about the hazards.. jus worry about where u wanna place your tee shot to give you the best position for ur 2nd

[mcmski]

it also helps to tee the ball up on the same side as the trouble making the angle to the trouble area worse and the angle to the safe part of the fairway better.

But really, work the ball how you're more comfortable. It's when you try to force a shot that you tend to get in worse trouble.

[MadGolfer76]

My strategy is the same as yours. I am no tour pro, but I want my tee shots to follow the shape of the fairway. When I do this I don't even worry about hazards because I know that my misses are going to be safe.

I only watch pro golf on TV, but I don't see many tour players deliberately playing over trouble unless it is a risk/reward, crosswind, or a forced carry. Those few that do, I think, are playing to their particular standard shot shape rather than play a shot they find harder to execute.

My 2 cents.

[Williams5203]

Yesterday at Cog Hill, almost all the players were playing a draw into 18 green to keep the water out of play (Which was on the left), I think you have got it correct and your friend is a little backwards.

As said above, work what your comfortable with, but also, when in doubt play the angle where even a "straight miss" will keep you out of trouble.

[Puppetmaster]

[quote name='ZBigStick' post='1949847' date='Sep 14 2009, 01:13 PM']Do what works for you and know YOUR misses.

Yes, most work the ball AWAY from trouble. Do not aim AT the hazard, but inside the margin of the trouble so that a straight shot is still safe.[/quote]


[quote name='mcmski' post='1949858' date='Sep 14 2009, 01:19 PM']it also helps to tee the ball up on the same side as the trouble making the angle to the trouble area worse and the angle to the safe part of the fairway better.[/quote]

This is pretty much my approach as well.

Another tip is that if your misses will tend to go towards the hazard and you don't want to try to hit a shot counter to your natural tendency, just hit a more accurate club off the tee, be it 3W, hybrid, iron, etc so that it reduces some of your odds of getting in trouble.

[umassgolfer]

The reason some TOUR guys will do this is they know that there is a better chance of them over-shaping their shot than under-shaping it. If they over-cut a ball that is following your method it is wet, but over-drawing it will just result in a lie in the rough.

I, like most of us I think, just tend to play to my game on a given day. But as the commercial goes, These Guys are Good.

[The D]

Thanks for the responses. I wasnt going to change my approach as Im comfortable at my with what Im doing now. I know where my misses are and no reason to change something that is working. I think tour players do whatever they feel confortable with also, and different players probably have different ways of doing things.

[ZBigStick]

[quote name='Williams5203' post='1949881' date='Sep 14 2009, 01:35 PM']Yesterday at Cog Hill, almost all the players were playing a draw into 18 green to keep the water out of play (Which was on the left), I think you have got it correct and your friend is a little backwards.

As said above, work what your comfortable with, but also, when in doubt play the angle where even a "straight miss" will keep you out of trouble.[/quote]

The shape of the hole must be considered as well. It can also be different when hitting into a green.

A dogleg left with water on the left would call for a draw á la #18 TPC Sawgrass, as the right rough is preferable to the water. On the 18th hole at Cog Hill, the pros were working the ball from the center of the green to a back left hole on a green that is angled from right to left. Straight: center of green, draw: ball goes further and closer to the back left hole, pull: water.

[ggammell]

Tiger says never aim at a hazard for the the obvious reason that a straight shot will get into trouble.

I'll buy that.

[retep]

Fade gentle or draw over the trouble?
i pull out the 3 wood and aim straight. seems to work. i was 3w 3w just short of a long par 4, managed a bogey, fits in with my lifestyle. Scorecard didn't know i got a bogey by playing from the fairway safely albeit from farther back but safely out of danger...

[mcmski]

[quote name='ZBigStick' post='1950228' date='Sep 14 2009, 01:09 PM'][quote name='Williams5203' post='1949881' date='Sep 14 2009, 01:35 PM']Yesterday at Cog Hill, almost all the players were playing a draw into 18 green to keep the water out of play (Which was on the left), I think you have got it correct and your friend is a little backwards.

As said above, work what your comfortable with, but also, when in doubt play the angle where even a "straight miss" will keep you out of trouble.[/quote]

The shape of the hole must be considered as well. It can also be different when hitting into a green.

A dogleg left with water on the left would call for a draw á la #18 TPC Sawgrass, as the right rough is preferable to the water. On the 18th hole at Cog Hill, the pros were working the ball from the center of the green to a back left hole on a green that is angled from right to left. Straight: center of green, draw: ball goes further and closer to the back left hole, pull: water.
[/quote]
They're also pro's. The normal laws of physics don't seem to apply to them as much as to the rest of us

[masterli]

edit: reread your post and you said nothing about which side of the tee box you start. my post might not be so relevant lol... for me i can only trust a fade (natural shot) so try to give myself the best angle w/ that.

i agree that if you can trust it and it works stick with it.

as for why most do it opposite is because it gives you a wider margin of error. for example's sake, say there is a tee box 10 yards wide. fairway extends 200 yards out and makes a rectangle 10 yards wide in line w/ the tee box. if you setup on the left side of the tee box, aim straight, you can fade it 10 yards max to bounce in the fairway. if you hit is straight you run out of fairway at 200 yards. if you setup on the right side of the tee box and aim left because you're going on an angle you can fade it more than 10 yards and still bounce in the fairway. if you hit it straight, again, because you're on an angle you have more than 200 yards to play with.

obviously courses and hazards aren't setup as rectangles but this is the general idea. aim opposite of the way you're working it and setup and the same side of the tee that you're working it for a larger angle.