Graham Averill turned 50 this year and he’s going crazy. Instead of buying a motorcycle or getting a tattoo, he decided to try to get really, really good at golf. He started this project as a 13 handicap trying to get to scratch in a year. Now it’s an 8.1. Welcome to your mid-life crisis.
I didn’t play golf this week. I went seven days without a single round, the longest I’ve gone without teeing 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 golfing activities other than awkwardly pretending my camera tripod was a golf club. Not playing golf is no way to live. I never want to do it again. I’m also worried that when I get back on the course after this forced sabbatical, I’ll forget everything I’ve learned in the last five months.
Because I learned a thing or two, especially when it comes to course management. It took a while, but a few simple concepts finally sunk in and changed my approach to the game. To be clear, these are not revolutionary discoveries. Honestly, these are all things I’ve heard or read before, but I’m a slow learner. I need to make a mistake several times before the lesson sinks in. I wish I had learned all these lessons months ago, but what can I say? I am human.
So, in an attempt to help you get better, here are four lessons I’ve finally learned about managing the courses that cut the shots in my game. If you are trying to get better, these lessons might help you too.
The lie counts. A lot.
Is the ball sitting in the fairway or in the rough? How thick is the grass? Because I finally learned that lying is everything when it comes to club selection. If you can’t get to 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.
Oh, and the Russian indeed it matters when you are near the green. If it is thick, you need a higher wedge to get it out of the grass. And that rough also eliminates spin, so expect the ball to roll.
The wind is everything
I never paid attention to the wind until recently. I might have blamed the wind if I was looking for an excuse for a slice or a hook, but I never consider it a factor when choosing a club. But now I understand that a 10 mph headwind might require a club adjustment. In fact, it might be necessary two club adaptations. There is no shame in that. You may be strong, but you are not stronger than Mother Nature.
Just make a club
Seriously, nobody cares how hard you hit your 7 iron, sometimes. You should probably just club up to a 6 or even a 5 and swing easier. Over the last month, my game has evolved towards more partial swings on approach shots and delivering more greens in regulation. It is not a perfect science. There are many situations where I have to swing a full wedge into a green because I need to pass a bunker or pond. And I hit a lot of high greens because I play in the mountains which also requires a lot of loft. But overall, clubbing up and swinging easily was revolutionary. I plan to get “Just Club Up” tattooed on my forearm so I never forget this lesson.
Maybe it doesn’t hit the driver
Hitting the driver is fun and if you don’t care about your score you should take it out all the time. Put up with the damn thing if you want. It’s just a game, right? But if you’re looking to score, the driver might not be the best club choice off that tight par-4 tee.
I played a very tight hill course with a route that takes the driver out of a smart player’s hand on a frustratingly long number of 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 settling is often the smart play. It’s all about landing areas and choosing the club that puts you in the spot on the fairway with the biggest margin of error. Find out that safe zone on every par-4 and par-5 and adjust your club choice accordingly. You’ll have fewer bogeys and ultimately lower scores.
Again, none of this advice is groundbreaking. A variety of golfers, including my own coach, have told me about these concepts over the past couple of years. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes and absorb those lessons faster 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 really good at golf..
The place Scratch By 50: I’m Getting (A Little) Smarter appeared first MyGolfSpy.
