All too often, I see golfers frustrated and confused after taking lessons. Many practice diligently, but don’t see the results they want on their scorecard. They improve their game, skills and ball-striking, but not their score.

Often, this is due to scoring mistakes rooted in improper course management. No matter how drastic your improvements, if you’re still making the same mental errors, your scores won’t improve, at least not at the rate you want.

Below, I take you through some shots and situations I encountered while at Puerto Peñasco, just south of the border of Arizona on the Northern part of the Sea of Cortez, where the hilly lies and green-side slopes give you more than you can ask for by way of a challenge. I hope that offering my thoughts in this playing lesson will encourage you to think more critically during your rounds of golf.

Tee shot: Reachable Par-5

Here is the tee shot on No. 18. The fairway slopes from right to left, the wind blows from right to left and the fairway pinches in around the bunker on the left side of the fairway, which is the normal landing area.

As a reachable par-5, the risky play is to hit driver into the smallest part of the fairway. The slope of fairway and predominate wind could force the ball too far left into the deep bunker, however, where going for the green probably isn’t an option. The safer play is to hit a shorter club off of the tee, taking the bunker out of play, and aim for the widest part of the fairway, but from there it becomes a three-shot hole.

Which shot would you choose and why?

I do my best to make my golfing decisions through logic, not emotions, unless the state of the match dictates a different strategy. In this situation, I’ve hit 13 other tee shots on the day, so I should have a very good idea of how I’m playing and what type control my swing is providing. If I feel confident and the conditions are favorable, then I will hit driver in hopes of reaching the green in two.

If my misses that day are going right, I’ll hit fairway wood, since most of the trouble is on the right on this hole. But if my misses have been left, or hooking, then I may just aim a touch right and allow the wind and my hook to bring the ball back into the fairway. At worst, I’ll still be able to reach the green in three shots.

Remember to use your trends, confidence and the conditions to help you find the fairway off the tee. Sure, sometimes you will hit the ball out of play, but if you use all the information you have at hand you’ve done all you can do.

Where to lay up

After your tee shot (congrats on finding the fairway, by the way), you cannot reach the green and you have to lay up with a hybrid or long iron. The lay-up shot is to a fairway that slopes uphill from left to right, and the pin is cut on the right center of the green. From the picture below, you can see that most of the trouble is on the right side of the hole and the predominate wind is from right to left.

Where would you aim?

First of all, I take into account what yardage I want to have into the pin. Personally, I want to hit my lay-up shot as close to the green as I can, since that offers me the best chance to make birdie. This isn’t the case for everyone, however, so make sure to figure out the approximate distance you want into the green, then subtract that from your total to the green.

For me, I want to lay up with the longest club I can where I KNOW I’ll have no trouble finding the fairway a majority of the time. Once I have selected this club, the next thing I must do is make sure I find the best “look” to the pin for my third shot. Let me show you what I mean, because simply being on the correct side of the fairway can make your next shot easier or harder.

Option 1

Option 2

Both options have the same yardage to pin, but are from different sections of the fairway.

• Option 1 offers a clear shot into the pin and the ability to use the slope to my advantage with a left-to-right shot.
• Option 2 shows the look from the far right side of the fairway, leaving me an uphill, partly blind shot into the pin with a false front short of the pin.

As we know, whenever you hit the ball from an upslope you can usually guarantee that you’ll leave the ball short. If you do so here, the false front will grab your ball and funnel it down farther short and right of the green, leaving you a difficult fourth shot for your up and down.

Remember, your goal is to leave yourself the best yardage possible for your strengths AND to make sure you leave yourself an angle into the pin that works for the conditions and your normal shot pattern. There’s nothing worse than blocking yourself off from the pin location due to improper planning on a lay-up shot. Watch the Masters next month and you will see what I mean; when players leave the ball in the wrong place, they have issues making pars, let alone birdies!

The long bunker shot

Here’s an example of a shot that haunts the average golfer, and can certainly cause a blow-up hole that ruins your handicap and score for the day. So let’s take a look at the situation.

We’ve bailed out right on an approach shot, and now we’re faced with a long bunker shot with fairway between the green and the pin. The wind is into us, the fairway and green run away from us toward the ocean, and the conditions are firm. The ball won’t hold the green unless we’ve hit the shot nearly perfectly.

What kind of shot would you play here?

Most people in this situation would try and pick the ball out of the bunker, or hit a long bunker shot with a sand wedge onto the green. Both shots are lower percentage because, first of all, very few practice these shots and secondly, there are red stakes just past the green.

What would a better player do from here? The first thing I would examine is the lie and the lip of the bunker. As you can see, the ball is sitting up very nicely and the lip is basically out of play, which gives us a few other options. The next thing I would examine is the firmness of the sloping fairway in front of the green. As stated earlier, the slope is running toward the green, and since the wind is blowing there is no moisture in the grass to help stop the ball.

So what’s my best play? I would first make sure I took the big number out of play. By hitting a picked shot or long bunker shot with a sand wedge, I can make a 2, 3, 4, 5, or even more. But if I choose a higher percentage shot like a bump-and-run, landing the ball well short of the green and depending on roll to get it there, or a bunker shot with an 7, 8 or 9 iron, both options take big numbers out of the picture. Sure, I could hit the safe shot like a buffoon and make a big number, but the odds are that I won’t and a par or bogey is the worst I’ll make.

Sometimes, being a hero or trying to “look” like a Tour Player is out of the question because of the risk/reward. Personally, I would look at this shot as one where I hit a bad approach and I need to escape with nothing worse than a bogey. The odds of me making par are slim, so let’s not make double trying to get cute.

Remember that hitting the “right” shot is not always the one that gives you the most style points in the end.

Flop, or not?

This is a very typical green-side shot that gives people fits and usually causes much more anxiety than it should.

Think about how you would play this shot.

Here you can see that we have our ball just off the green, but we have to loft a shot in the air to a tight pin with a green that’s running away from us. Most of the time, I see the lob wedge coming out and the Phil Mickelson super-flop swing warming up!

As you know, these are shots that beg to be left short on the mound, giving you the opportunity to hit the same shot all over again! So what’s the best play?

Take your time to look around the pin… what do you see? There’s a backstop just past, which means we won’t have to hit the super flop and can use a more square-face shot, which offers more consistency. From here, you can make your normal pitch swing, land the ball between the fringe and the pin, run it up the slope, and watch it drift backward down to the pin again. Two chances to make it for birdie!

Not every shot requires you to hit the super flop. The key for most players is to opt for the shot that’s easiest for them to pull off time after time, and still allows them to get up and down. Phil practices flop shots every week at a tournament site, while you probably only play on the weekends and rarely practice your short game.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to use the backstop and take short and the mound out of play? Chances are you’ll hit a better shot than you think and won’t even need the backstop.