Golf is a game where a lot of mistakes are made, but understanding and working away from them is an effective way to lower your scores.
In this video, we break down one of the most common mistakes that many amateur golfers make on the course, and how they can easily rethink their process and fix it!
When golfers think about ways to actively improve their scores, and lower their handicap, they rarely consider course management strategies, and other non-technical methods of improvement.
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Hey everybody thanks for tuning in I'm George Connor with scratch golf tips and Today we're going to be talking about One of the biggest things so many Golfers get wrong on the golf course now When speaking about some of the biggest Mistakes that golfers make on the course It's very easy to say too many golfers Slice the ball too many golfers don't Put the ball well I'm not going to go With some of that Elementary advice I'm Going to talk about something specific Actionable and a decision that you make On the golf course that is really Hurting your game that we can very Easily convert now the mistake I'm Talking about is how golfers approach The par 5 holes that they play Throughout a round if you've ever Watched a PGA Tour LPGA Tour broadcast You'll often hear the announcers say oh The X player is heading on to a par 5 This is a great scoring opportunity These players love the par 5S it gives Them opportunities to score birdies and If they can get out of position they can Get back into position and still fight For par much more effectively than they Could On a par 3 or a par 4. yet many Amateur golfers dread par 5S because They make a lot of big scores on these Holes they get out of position they Can't get back in position and it leads To more blow up holes on par fives than
You would see on par threes or par fours Now the reason for that is not Necessarily what you'd expect a lot of Golfers would think well it's because They don't hit my drive 300 yards like Rory or maybe it's because I can't stick My wedges like Zach Johnson or Steve Stricker that's not necessarily the case It's much less the ability and much more Often the main issue is how we're Approaching these holes for the sake of This video I'm going to use a baseline Example of a par 5 that is 500 yards on The dot you may play them that are much Longer you may play them much shorter But this is the Baseline so you can work Your your clubs and your individual Yardages according to that if you hit a Basic drive out there say 260 yards and You have 240 left many golfers if They're in the Fairway and they have an Unobstructed line of the pin they think Immediately how can I go for this in two That's the first thought it's a very Aggressive thought now that's not to say That this is an incorrect thought if you Want to go for it into and you feel Confident in it then you can absolutely Do that but it's important to try and Reverse engineer the golf hole what I Mean by that is if you have 500 yards Left and you hit a 260 yard shot okay so Your first option is the aggressive Option like I said earlier you can hit a
240 yard 3-wood and maybe you'll get it On or around the green but without what Else could you do from 240 yards well You could hit your 140 yard Club say an Eight iron and you can stick that right In the middle of the Fairway and then You'll have a hundred yards left and Maybe you love that distance you can hit A 58 degree and put it right next to the Hole and have a putt for birdie maybe Two putt for par that's a simple way to Deconstruct the hole from the hole back To you to understand those yardages and Conceptualize it in your head there are Not many amateur golfers who are Excellent ball Strikers from 200 yards And out if you put a long iron a hybrid Or a wood in someone's hands more often Than not they're not going to hit an Excellent shot so if you have 240 yards Out and you take that three wood and you Slice it out of bounds now you're 60 Yards away from the hole you're an Awkward distance you had to take a Penalty stroke now you're fighting to Get up and down for par whereas if you Flip it on the other way playing a more Conservative way you hit that eight iron If you have 140 yards and you're not Aiming at a green you're aiming at a Wider Target which is the Fairway as a Whole you're probably going to hit that Ball into the Fairway and if you don't Hit that ball in the Fairway you might
Hit it in the first cut or the rough the Point being you're going to have 100 Yards in roughly and you're going to be In a much better position you're likely Not going to be obstructed by any trees And you didn't take that penalty stroke So now you have a hundred yards in and You want to get up and down for birdie Now it's very easy for me to sit here And say well you're going to hit your Three wood horribly and you're gonna hit Your eight iron perfectly I know that's Not always the case but you know your Game better than I can explain it to you Obviously so deconstruct it everyone has A few clubs that they really like a few Yardages that they really like and a lot Of people have yardages that they Absolutely hate so personally I really Don't like right around 90 yards that's A tricky number for me uh if I hit a Full lob wedge it's going to go too long I don't like knocking down my lot but Just not a shot I'm comfortable with so If I had 240 yards in one number that I Love is 110 yards I it's one of my Favorite yardages to have so I can Deconstruct that hole I know that my Pitching wedge full can go around 130 Yards so I'll hit a pitching wedge and I'll get to my number 110 yards and from There I know that the majority more more Often than I won't I'll hit the green Then I can one putt or two put maybe
Three putt but most of the time I'm Gonna be making a par occasional birdie Occasional bogey okay keep that in mind That's scenario one now I have 240 yards And I'm gonna hit a three wood Personally I don't like to hit my three Wood off the deck I use it more off the Tee I'm not great with it they're all There's a lot of things that can go Wrong with the three wood I can top it I Can hook it I can slice it and nine Times out of ten I'm not gonna hit that Ball on the green and a huge Contributing factor in why it is not Always great to go for it in two is that Second shot if it doesn't go where you Want it to there's so much Unpredictability in that third shot Going in like I said earlier you could Be out of position you could take a Penalty stroke and be hitting a fourth Shot you could have a yard you hate you Know for me like I said I hate 90 yards If I don't get a good piece of My Three Wood maybe I Sky it maybe I chunk it a Little bit then I might be faced with That 90 yard shot which I don't like I'd Rather be further out and maybe I'm 90 Yards from the rough because it didn't Hit it perfectly that I know that I Won't be in those unpredictable Situations when I go for it in three and I take that iron wedge approach it all Comes back to the predictability there
Are many golfers who if you put them in The Fairway they're not going to make a Huge score right it's a fairly simple Equation but if you go for it really Aggressively and you want to push the Eagle you want to push the birdie that That's fine I understand that but just Know that the other side of that coin is Double Bogey and triple bogey are very Much in play and with the conservative Method you're probably not going to make A triple bogey too many times so that's The mindset that a lot of people should Be going into a par 5 with if you go on A par 5 and you're playing a match with Your friend and you're a few down on the 15th hole absolutely it makes sense to Be aggressive but if you're on the third Hole of the day you're still trying to Figure out where you're at for the round How you're feeling why wouldn't you go With a little bit more of a conservative Approach and guarantee or as close as You can guarantee something in the sport Of golf a bogey or better it all comes Down to course management and the number One thing that is important when you're Making your course management decisions Is understanding your game like I said Earlier know which clubs you like know Which yardages that you wish to hit from That's very important and that can only Be done by spending time on the golf Course spending time in the driving
Range spending time on a on a on a Flight scope or a launch monitor similar If you'd like a flight scope we have an Affiliate Link in the description down Below it's a great affordable way to get Your yardages which will help so much And not only when you are clicking the Pin oh I have 160 here's the shot but Understanding those course management Decisions I hope you enjoyed this video If you have any questions or comments or Just a different point of view on Anything that I've brought up in this Video I'd love it if you left a comment Down below we read and respond to all The comments on these videos if you did Find this content helpful I would Appreciate it if you left a like rating On the video that does two things one it Shows me that you enjoyed the video two It helps YouTube understand that people Are enjoying the video and it shows this Video to more people who will find it Helpful as always you can scroll through The scratch golf tips YouTube channel we Have plenty of videos that'll help you Gain more confidence on the golf course And if you want to see some of our Future uploads coming out you can Subscribe to the YouTube channel to see Everything that we come out with as Always thank you very much for watching Play well and take care Foreign
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