Using strategy on the fairway Golf Tips by Brad Clayton August 2007

Do you always just hit your ball as far as you can, go find it, and hit it again with reckless abandon?

Try to play a bit more strategically by looking at the hole from the hole back to the tee. Look at the best angle to approach the pin. Think of it as an experienced pool player might, always look one shot ahead. Granted, a pool player may look the whole rack ahead, but in golf we do not have as many shots to plan as in pool {we hope}.

Look for the best approach angle, your most comfortable distance, and one that most people over look - the flat spots of the fairway. Play to level areas rather than just hitting as far as you can and ending up with an awkward lie.

It is easier to hit an extra club or two than it is to hit from an uneven lie.

Even if you do not have total control of your ball, just thinking more strategically will help you lower your scores. As in any event, golf or life, things do not always go as planned and rarely exactly as planned, so we must always adapt and over come. If your shot does not go as planned you
must re-analyze what now is the best approach to get the ball in the hole with the fewest amount of strokes and so on until it is in the hole.

Once again, if you do not have control of your ball and things do not go as planned each shot, simply thinking this way and trying to play with a plan will help you manage your game better and lead to lower scores.

Brad Clayton is a PGA master teaching professional, teaching golf at his school in Oxford and Raleigh North Carolina.