Graham Averill has turned 50 this year and he’s freaking out. Instead of buying a motorcycle or getting a tattoo, he’s decided to try to get really, really good at golf. He started this project as a 13 handicap attempting to reach scratch in a year. He is now an 8.1. Welcome to his midlife crisis.
I didn’t play any golf this week. I went seven days without a single round, the longest I’ve gone without teeing it up since I started this project in March. I blame the day job. I had a long work trip to South Dakota and there was no opportunity for any golf activities outside of awkwardly pretending my camera tripod was a golf club. Not playing golf is no way to live. I never want to do that again. I’m also worried that when I step onto the course again after this forced sabbatical that I will have forgotten everything I’ve learned over the last five months.
Because I have learned a thing or two, especially when it comes to course management. It’s taken a while but a few simple concepts have finally sunk in and they’ve changed my approach to the game. To be clear, these aren’t groundbreaking discoveries. Honestly, it’s all stuff I’ve heard or read before but I’m a slow learner. I need to make a mistake several times over before the lesson sinks in. I wish I would have learned all of these lessons months ago but what can I say? I’m human.
So, in an attempt to help you get better, here are four lessons I’ve finally learned about course management that are cutting strokes off my game. If you’re trying to get better, these lessons might help you, too.
The lie matters. A lot.
Is the ball sitting in the fairway or in the rough? How thick is the grass? Because I’ve finally learned that the lie is everything when it comes to club selection. If you can’t get at the ball cleanly, it’s time to club up because those blades of grass between your clubface and the ball are going to take some distance off.
Oh, and the rough really matters when you’re close to the green. If it’s thick, you’re going to need a higher-lofted wedge to pop it out of the grass. And that rough also eliminates spin so expect the ball to roll.
Wind is everything
I never paid much attention to the wind until recently. I might have blamed the wind if I was looking for an excuse for a slice or hook but I never considered it a factor when choosing a club. But now I realize that a 10-mph headwind might require a club adjustment. Actually, it might require two club adjustments. There’s no shame in it. You might be strong but you’re not stronger than Mother Nature.
Just club up already
Seriously, nobody cares how far you hit your 7-iron, sometimes. You should probably just club up to a 6 or even a 5 and swing easier. In the last month, my game has evolved towards more partial swings on approach shots and it’s delivering more greens in regulation. It’s not a perfect science. There are plenty of situations where I have to swing a full wedge into a green because I need to go over a bunker or pond. And I hit into a lot of elevated greens because I play in the mountains which also requires a lot of loft. But, in general, clubbing up and swinging easy has been revolutionary. I’m thinking of getting “Just Club Up” tattooed to my forearm so I never forget this lesson.
Maybe don’t hit the driver
Hitting the driver is fun and if you don’t care about your score, you should pull it out all the time. Putt with the damn thing if you want. It’s just a game, right? But if you’re trying to score, the driver might not be the best club choice off that tight par-4 tee.
I play a very narrow mountain course with a routing that takes the driver out of a smart player’s hand on a frustrating number of long holes. I’m a red-blooded American dude who says things like “red-blooded American dude” so I want to hit the driver all day but I’ve finally learned that laying up is the often the smart play. It’s all about landing zones and choosing the club that puts you at the spot on the fairway with the largest margin for error. Figure out that safe zone on every par-4 and par-5 and adjust your club choice accordingly. You will have fewer blow-up holes and, ultimately, lower scores.
Again, none of this advice is revolutionary. A variety of golfers, including my own coach, have told me about these concepts over the last couple of years. I’m hoping you can learn from my mistakes and absorb these lessons quicker than I did.
Dig deeper into one golfer’s struggle to get better at golf in middle age and read last week’s Scratch By 50 where Graham tries to figure out if he’s actually good at golf yet.
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