It’s the start of the golf season, and spring is finally here! The warm air and sunshine feel great. Now if we can just get our games off to a good start, we won’t fall short of our hopes and expectations this year.
At the beginning of the season, we all hope to play better golf. Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Instead of wishing and feeling and hoping, let’s take charge of our games and lower our scores with better decisions and a better approach to how we play the game.
There are many pitfalls into which we descend early in the season that can be avoided if we’re mindful. You don’t even need to practice this in the traditional sense; just apply the fix.
The first area we can immediately improve our game is club selection. Most golfers don’t select enough club for approach shots that will provide sufficient distance to land the ball on the green and get it to the hole.
This is probably true all season long for many high-handicappers, but it’s especially applicable for all golfers this early in the season. The ball doesn’t fly as far in the colder air, the turf is softer and not providing much bounce or roll, and our golf swings might not be as efficient in delivering the speed and contact for which we know we’re capable.
My challenge to you is to get the ball to the hole or beyond. At the beginning of the season, add 10 yards to whatever distance you have to the hole and select the club accordingly. If you miss the shot, you will be on the front edge of the green with an easy chip or putt. If you miss the shot a tad, you will be well on the green with a good birdie look. If you hit it really solid, you will be left with a 30-foot birdie from behind the hole.
In general, most golf holes have the trouble designed in front of the green with bunkers, slopes and ditches. While there are exceptions, most golf course architects do not design too much trouble long or over the green on every hole. It’s too expensive to maintain.
Yes, a few holes will have trouble long, but they also have trouble short. In general, you shouldn’t worry about going long when you’ve been coming up short most of the time.
So take the challenge and don’t go short. Just say it: “Don’t go short! Don’t go short!”
Add 10 yards to your distance, pick the club for that yardage and your results will not fall short.
Peter Harris is the director of Golf at the Fore-U Golf Center in West Lebanon. His column appears weekly in the Recreation page during the golf season.