The Blathering Duffer
Approach Shot Targeting
(TBD 25.6)
We’ve talked about putting, chipping, being a LEWD golfer and now its time to continue moving back from the green and talk about the approach shot into the green. This is not a short chip shot, but rather a shot over 80 yards that requires an Iron, hybrid or wood…You’ve looked at the ball’s Lie, accounted for Elevation change to the green, determined Wind effect on your ball and calculated the adjusted Distance you need to hit. Now its time to think about what trouble is near the green and where you should aim. Course architects know most amateurs hit short so you are likely to see bunkers in front of the green, one side or the other. Is there water to be avoided? If you miss the green is there a bad miss and a good miss? What’s behind the green? Is the wind likely to move the ball left or right? Do you need to adjust for a draw or a fade? Where’s the Pin/Flag location and should you even aim at it?
Let’s start with that last question first. NO! You should not aim at the Pin. Not only have the architects set up trouble in course design, but green keepers try to sucker you into hitting at hard to reach pins set near trouble. ALWAYS AIM AT THE CENTER OF THE GREEN or well away from the trouble. If there is water running up the left side of the green, right of center. If there are bunkers on the right, aim left of center. You have to take into account your dispersion. Think of a shotgun, you can aim at the center of a target but all those pellets are going to hit all over the target out to a maximum distance. If you hit 10 balls, some will be short, long, left and right and the higher our handicap the greater the distance from target. Shift your “center target” to account for this to stay away from trouble.
So how big is your dispersion circle? Too often we think we should be hitting the green and land 10 ft from the pin and if we don’t we start questioning the Universe and the purpose of life. Here’s a handy guide based on using a 7 Iron and Handicap. This data comes from Shot Scope, but Arccos data is very similar. I find this helps set reasonable expectations. (Note: Average Distance includes the good, bad and ugly shots for a given handicap.)
The shots to hole out includes the shot with the 7 iron, so the 0 HCP golfer hits the approach shot and has 2.3 more shots to finish. Assuming a par 4, they average 4.3 score. The 25 HCP golfer would finish on average 5.51 total strokes.
Dispersion is greater with the longer irons, hybrids and woods, but would be slightly better with shorter clubs. So if you are hitting an 8 iron, 9 iron or wedge, you should be closer than what’s shown in the chart above. The shots to hole out would also be adjusted accordingly.
So the chart shows that a scratch golfer hits the green less then half the time. Tell me again why you think you should be hitting the green every time? Its a great goal to have, but don’t let missing the green get you down. If like me, you are a high HCPer, hitting the green 1 in every 5 shots is going to be a good day. Hopefully, we are getting close on our misses with easy chips. Fingers crossed!
The other really interesting stat to note across all data platforms is that amateurs woefully over estimate their club distance. Over 70% of the time, amateurs hit short of the green. Knowing this, may I suggest that you club UP the next time you hit into the green. Or maybe play your first 9 holes as usual and take note where your approach lands; short, long, left or right. Then the last 9 holes, club up each and every time. So if you think it should be a 9 iron, take an 8 iron and see what happens. If you use a range finder or golf watch, don’t use the pin distance, use the back of the green distance. Play around with these ideas and note if you hit more greens or are at least closer.
Flag Colors
Most courses will use Red, White or Blue flagged pins. Generally, Red indicates the pin is near the front of the green. White flags are middle of the green and Blue flags are near the back of the green. But some courses have other colors such as yellow or black. You can ask the starter what flags are used for Front Middle and Back.
Also note, if you don’t have a range finder or gps device, most sprinkler heads in the fairway will have yardage. This is usually to the middle of the green, but sometimes its to the front of the green. Ask the starter, if you rely on sprinkler heads, whether sprinkler head yardages are to the front or middle of the green.
A Fun Story to Learn From
I recently played with another golfer whom after bemoaning her inability to hit a green for the first 8 holes, I asked to just choose a club based on the distance I gave her. She’d been coming up VERY short on almost every hole. I told her not to think about the distance to the pin, just use my number. I told her the distance to the back of the green every time and sometimes added even more if the wind was against us. VWHALA! She started to hit greens or her misses were much closer or just to the side of the green. Turned that frown upside down and she was a happy camper at the end of the day! She ended up having a great day scoring.
Approach Shot Targeting
(TBD 25.6)
We’ve talked about putting, chipping, being a LEWD golfer and now its time to continue moving back from the green and talk about the approach shot into the green. This is not a short chip shot, but rather a shot over 80 yards that requires an Iron, hybrid or wood…You’ve looked at the ball’s Lie, accounted for Elevation change to the green, determined Wind effect on your ball and calculated the adjusted Distance you need to hit. Now its time to think about what trouble is near the green and where you should aim. Course architects know most amateurs hit short so you are likely to see bunkers in front of the green, one side or the other. Is there water to be avoided? If you miss the green is there a bad miss and a good miss? What’s behind the green? Is the wind likely to move the ball left or right? Do you need to adjust for a draw or a fade? Where’s the Pin/Flag location and should you even aim at it?
Let’s start with that last question first. NO! You should not aim at the Pin. Not only have the architects set up trouble in course design, but green keepers try to sucker you into hitting at hard to reach pins set near trouble. ALWAYS AIM AT THE CENTER OF THE GREEN or well away from the trouble. If there is water running up the left side of the green, right of center. If there are bunkers on the right, aim left of center. You have to take into account your dispersion. Think of a shotgun, you can aim at the center of a target but all those pellets are going to hit all over the target out to a maximum distance. If you hit 10 balls, some will be short, long, left and right and the higher our handicap the greater the distance from target. Shift your “center target” to account for this to stay away from trouble.
So how big is your dispersion circle? Too often we think we should be hitting the green and land 10 ft from the pin and if we don’t we start questioning the Universe and the purpose of life. Here’s a handy guide based on using a 7 Iron and Handicap. This data comes from Shot Scope, but Arccos data is very similar. I find this helps set reasonable expectations. (Note: Average Distance includes the good, bad and ugly shots for a given handicap.)
The shots to hole out includes the shot with the 7 iron, so the 0 HCP golfer hits the approach shot and has 2.3 more shots to finish. Assuming a par 4, they average 4.3 score. The 25 HCP golfer would finish on average 5.51 total strokes.
Dispersion is greater with the longer irons, hybrids and woods, but would be slightly better with shorter clubs. So if you are hitting an 8 iron, 9 iron or wedge, you should be closer than what’s shown in the chart above. The shots to hole out would also be adjusted accordingly.
So the chart shows that a scratch golfer hits the green less then half the time. Tell me again why you think you should be hitting the green every time? Its a great goal to have, but don’t let missing the green get you down. If like me, you are a high HCPer, hitting the green 1 in every 5 shots is going to be a good day. Hopefully, we are getting close on our misses with easy chips. Fingers crossed!
The other really interesting stat to note across all data platforms is that amateurs woefully over estimate their club distance. Over 70% of the time, amateurs hit short of the green. Knowing this, may I suggest that you club UP the next time you hit into the green. Or maybe play your first 9 holes as usual and take note where your approach lands; short, long, left or right. Then the last 9 holes, club up each and every time. So if you think it should be a 9 iron, take an 8 iron and see what happens. If you use a range finder or golf watch, don’t use the pin distance, use the back of the green distance. Play around with these ideas and note if you hit more greens or are at least closer.
Flag Colors
Most courses will use Red, White or Blue flagged pins. Generally, Red indicates the pin is near the front of the green. White flags are middle of the green and Blue flags are near the back of the green. But some courses have other colors such as yellow or black. You can ask the starter what flags are used for Front Middle and Back.
Also note, if you don’t have a range finder or gps device, most sprinkler heads in the fairway will have yardage. This is usually to the middle of the green, but sometimes its to the front of the green. Ask the starter, if you rely on sprinkler heads, whether sprinkler head yardages are to the front or middle of the green.
A Fun Story to Learn From
I recently played with another golfer whom after bemoaning her inability to hit a green for the first 8 holes, I asked to just choose a club based on the distance I gave her. She’d been coming up VERY short on almost every hole. I told her not to think about the distance to the pin, just use my number. I told her the distance to the back of the green every time and sometimes added even more if the wind was against us. VWHALA! She started to hit greens or her misses were much closer or just to the side of the green. Turned that frown upside down and she was a happy camper at the end of the day! She ended up having a great day scoring.
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