Chapter 4
Stepping Up Your Game
In This Chapter
Challenging yourself to play better
Saving strokes by thinking ahead
Taking notes from the game’s greats
After you have a good sense of what kind of golfer you are, know your strengths and weaknesses, and get to the point where you can usually keep the ball in play with more 4s, 5s, and 6s on your scorecard than 8s, 9s, and Xs, you’re ready to take the next step: improving your game. In this chapter, we show you how to set reasonable goals for your improvement, make smart stroke-gaining decisions, and emulate the attitudes of some great golfing pros.
Shifting from Novice to Greatness
Golf is hard. Few master the game, and nobody perfects it. But one of the great things about this game is that it rewards a little effort almost as much as a lot of blood, sweat, and blisters. After you get over the hump — the initial period when everything is new and the club feels weird in your hand — your improvement can be rapid. Some beginners can go from shooting 120, 130, or more for 18 holes to shooting around 100 in a matter of months.
Of course, the better you get, the harder you have to work to whittle away the next ten strokes. Did we say ten strokes? How about one, or even less than one? Touring pros would gladly work like maniacs to save half a stroke off their per-round statistics. Matt Kuchar led the PGA Tour in 2010 with an average score of 69.59, while Charlie Wi tied for 12th with an average of 70.09, exactly half a stroke worse. Kuchar raked in $4.9 million, and Wi earned $1.5 million, or less than a third as much! That’s an extreme example — Kuchar played more rounds and played his best at the right moments, winning $1.35 million for a single tournament victory. But it goes to show you how valuable each stroke can be at the game’s highest level.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to break 70 like Kuchar — that is, shoot 69 or better — to have a breakthrough on the course. You don’t have to break 80, 90, or even 100. Depending on your experience and physical abilities, breaking 120 may be the achievement of a lifetime.
What matters more than the number is setting goals. If you set out to make par on every hole, you’re pretty much guaranteed to spend the day grumbling. The great Annika Sorenstam had an approach she (and coaches Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott) called Vision 54. The idea was to birdie every hole. Because most courses have a par of 72, that would give her a “perfect” round of 54.
Annika got within five shots of that number, firing a historic 59 in a tournament in 2001. But don’t shoot for perfection, at least until you’re playing in front of thousands of fans. Give yourself a goal that’s challenging but reachable:
I’m going to break 110 (or 100) this year.
I’m going to play a whole round without 3-putting.
I’m going to shoot my best score yet.
I’m going to keep the ball in play and finish a round with the same ball I teed off with.
We know one player who was so focused on improving that he taped the words Break 100 — and celebrate on his golf bag. He was 13 years old, and doing it took him all summer. One day, he finished a round of 98, tore the message off his bag, and set a match to it. He’s enjoyed the game for 40 years since then but still calls that his favorite day on the course.
Surveying Strategic Stroke-Savers
If your dream is to progress from beginner to intermediate golfer, remember one word above all: practice. May we reiterate the most important tip any golfer ever got? Practice!
Thank you. And if you promise to heed that crucial bit of advice, following the methods outlined in this book, we’ll offer some tips that can help you get to the next level.
Minimizing trouble
Picture a hole with danger on the right: dense rainforest, with volcanoes, swooping pterodactyls, machine-gun nests, and probably vampires. That’s an exaggeration, but you get the picture. And on the left, clean green fairway as far as the eye can see.
Now watch your typical amateur set up to hit his drive. Does he adjust? Noooo, he aims right down the middle, as if this hole were just like any other. And two times out of three, he slices his drive into the vampires.
When danger lurks, shirk it. On a hole where all or most of the trouble is on one side, change your aim. You should choose a target that keeps your shot safe even if you miss toward the trouble.
The same is true for shots with your irons. If you see a pond or bunker in front of the green but no trouble behind it, shift your target. Take more club and try to hit the ball to the back part of the green. (See the later section “Taking one more club” for more on this suggestion.) You may be surprised how often you come up a little short — and the shot turns out to be perfect! You may even begin to notice how architects often bank the back of such a green to favor the smart shot.
If you tend to leave sand shots short, like most players do, quit trying to land the ball short of the hole. Visualize a longer shot, with the ball landing beyond the flagstick. You double your margin for error and wind up escaping more bunkers. (After you get more proficient, of course, you need to do that less and less.)
The putting surface offers its own danger. If the hole is cut near a drop-off in the green, the greenskeeper may be inviting you to 3-putt. Outsmart him by leaving your lag putt a few inches shorter than usual for a safe tap-in.
The safer side of the hole is almost always the side below the hole. You’d much rather have an uphill 2- or 3-footer than a downhill slider of the same length.
Knowing when to be a hero
Golf is a game of risk and reward. It usually rewards those who limit risk, playing “within themselves.” As Socrates once said (or was it Snead?), the race doesn’t always go to the swift, or the golf match to the smart player, but that’s the way to bet. That said, sometimes the smart golfer embraces risk. And those can be some of the most exciting, fun times of all.
Suppose you’re playing a best-ball match, and your partner’s ball is safely on the green. Or you’re in a scramble, and one or more of your three partners has struck a good shot. (For information on various team formats, see Chapter 1 of Book V.) You’ve got a next-to-impossible shot over water, trees, and a barn to a green the size of a sticky note. Or maybe it’s only a tricky flip from rough to a slippery green, as in Figure 4-1. Now’s the time to go for it! If you splash the shot or even chili-dip it (hit behind the ball), it’s no loss. But if you succeed, you’re a hero to your partners and yourself. What’s more, you gain confidence for the next time you face such a shot.
The same goes for a less glorious situation. In match play, if you’re down by two holes with two to play, for example, and your opponent is safely on the green, you can’t just match his or her score on the hole. You’ve got to win it. So hitch up your courage and fire at the flag.
When you encounter the occasional must-make putt, whether it’s a 3-footer or a 20-footer like the one in Figure 4-2, don’t forget the one cardinal rule: Don’t leave it short!
Taking one more club
Do yourself a favor and take more club. Pro golfers are pessimists, or at least realists. That’s because it’s a humbling game. They know how easily things can go wrong on the course, so they guard against disaster — or even bogey — and usually aim for the wide side of the fairway or the fat part of the green.
Figure 4-1: In some tricky cases, you can go for the heroic shot.
Figure 4-2: If it’s a do-or-die putt, it absolutely, positively has to reach the hole.
Your typical amateur is the exact opposite. After he bombs one 250-yard drive, the longest of his life, he’s convinced they’re all going to go that far. After she hits a 6-iron to a green 150 yards away, she reaches for the same club every time she’s got a 150-yard shot.
May we be diplomatic here? All right, please attend to these words of wisdom: Don’t be an idiot! Smart golf is more about typical shots than career shots. That’s why the pros spend so much time determining precisely how far they usually hit a particular club. It’s why you should pay more attention to your average shot than to the laser beam you blasted over the dogleg at 15.
Say you’re between clubs — a little closer to the target than you want for a shot with one of the clubs in your bag, a little farther than you want for a shot with a different club. For example, many players hit an 8-iron about 140 yards and a 7-iron about 150. What should they hit from 145?
You’re way ahead of us here. As a rule of thumb, hit the longer club. You come out ahead in the long run because your less-than-perfect shots will turn out better. In fact, most amateur golfers score better when they try a simple test: Each time they’d usually hit a 7-iron, they hit a 6-iron, and each time they’d usually hit a 6-iron, they hit a 5-iron. Try it yourself, and you can see what we mean.
Just don’t get discouraged if you catch one pure and knock it over the green. Enjoy the feeling of solid contact; store it in your muscle-memory bank. But remind yourself: This game is all about typical shots.
Seeking help from the pros
The time when you’re setting new goals may be the perfect time for a lesson. A PGA professional can spot flaws that may have crept into your swing and offer tips to help you reach your next level. He or she can also provide invaluable advice on your equipment. Ask these questions (and check out Chapter 2 of Book I for more on lessons):
Can I keep improving without major swing changes?
Is my practice routine appropriate to my current game and to the level I want to reach?
Are my clubs appropriate to my current game and to the level I want to reach?
As golf’s glorious road leads you to lower scores, you may seek more technological assistance through launch monitors and high-tech swing analysis. It’s all part of the never-ending pursuit of happiness, or at least a half-stroke improvement.
Channeling the Golf Champions
If you’re a weekend basketball player, you’re probably not doing your own game much good to watch Kobe Bryant soar to the hoop for a thunderous dunk. As hard as you may try, you couldn’t match that feat without a ladder or a jetpack.
Just as you likely can’t dunk like Kobe, slug homers like Albert Pujols and A-Rod, or crush an overhead smash like Serena Williams, you’ll probably never play a full round of golf like Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson. But you can apply aspects of great golfers’ games to your own as you work to improve.
If you’re looking to step up toward the promised land where drives soar out of sight and putts disappear, emulate these exemplary players:
Ernie Els: Ernie has been swinging like syrup for more than 20 years on tour. Despite some recent physical woes, he has one of the smoothest moves the game has ever seen. And under the most intense pressure, with the world watching, he seems to relax even more. A competitive fire lurks under that calm exterior, and probably at least some of the same terrors that beset all golfers. But the Big Easy doesn’t show it, and that helps keep his swing nice and easy when it counts.
Before your next really important shot, step back. Take a deep breath and picture Ernie’s smooth, unhurried swing.
Tiger Woods: Tiger went through a personal and professional crisis in 2010, but many still expect him to come back in a big way, winning more majors as he chases Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18. That’s due in part to his track record. Unlike most great athletes, Woods wasn’t satisfied with being the best. Earlier in the decade, the already-top-ranked golfer decided he had to improve. So he rebuilt his swing and played even better. At his best, he’s been both the game’s best player and its greatest grinder — a golfer who gives his absolute all on every shot whether he’s tied for the lead or ten strokes behind.
During your occasional bad rounds, grind out a bogey that could have been a double- or triple-bogey. Even if your score that day is terrible, you’ll have something to be proud of.
Phil Mickelson: Phil was the modern Arnold Palmer, always taking chances and never laying up, until he realized he wasn’t going to win majors that way. By banking his fires a little and choosing discretion over valor, he took a step to the very forefront of the game. Phil can still hit the heroic miracle shot when he has to; he just doesn’t feel he always has to.
Play a practice round with two balls. Play it safe with one ball, and go for broke with the other. Compare your scores. And whatever happens with your hero ball, enjoy giving it a ride.
Christina Kim: Christina is an LPGA star who wears her emotions on her colorful sleeves. A sharp dresser and fan favorite, she treats golf as a joy, not a job. Through 2010 she had two tour victories — no majors yet, but keep an eye on Christina and an ear out for her next highly quotable quip.
Try playing a round as if you didn’t have a care in the world, as if just hitting the shot were the whole point, regardless of the outcome. You’ll probably have a blast out there, and you may even play better.
Jim Furyk: Jim had a weird swing when he was a kid, and he still does. Commentator David Feherty describes it as “like an octopus falling out of a tree.” And Jim still has that unique swing because he and his father, Mike, resisted every attempt to change it when Jim was growing up. Jim actually delivers the club to the ball in near-perfect, classic fashion (that’s why his swing works), and he plays with a belief in himself that owes a lot to the way he and his dad stuck to their guns.
When you play with golfers whose swings are prettier than yours, remind yourself that it’s how many that counts in golf, not how. Picture 40-year-old Furyk playing with all those guys with picture-perfect swings in September 2010. All he did was win the season-ending Tour Championship and its first prize of $1.35 million. Plus a little bonus for claiming the FedEx Cup: another $10 million.
Jack Nicklaus: Jack was a master at just about everything, really, with six Masters championships among his all-time-record 18 major titles, but he was particularly brilliant at minimizing danger and at course management — moving the ball around the course in a way that optimized his chances. The Golden Bear faded the ball from left to right with great consistency, so he seldom had to worry about trouble on the left. And although the weakest part of his game was wedge play (“weak” only compared to the rest of his genius game), that didn’t matter much: Jack would bomb the ball all the way to the green, or lay up so that he had a 9-iron shot.
Strategize like Jack by laying up once in awhile, leaving yourself a full shot to the green.
Erik Compton: Erik, a Florida pro, has spent much of his career on the minor-league Nationwide Tour, one rung below the PGA Tour. Not bad for a former college star who has endured two heart transplants. His health and strength are always a worry, but he doesn’t complain, saying he’s lucky to be playing the game he loves. Few people in any walk of life have shown more heart than Erik.
Step up, swing hard, and smile. Isn’t it great to be alive?