Developing a mechanically solid golf swing goes a long way toward posting lower scores and being a competitive player. Strategy, however, should not be overlooked as a key part of the recipe to helping you reach your potential. Whether it's understanding how to approach certain challenging holes, dealing with pressure or stopping yourself from making mental errors and coughing up strokes, applying strategic fundamentals should be a part of every golfer's approach to the game.
Risk vs. Reward
Most golf shots you'll face offer you a variety of options. You can play at a tricky pin tucked behind a bunker or aim for the middle of the green, try to carry the water on a par-5 or lay up. PGA pro Rick Sessinghaus points out the importance of realistically assessing your abilities in order to determine if the risk you take on a given shot is worth the potential reward. If the risk you take won't result in much of an advantage from a successful shot or if you don't know that you have the ability to pull off the risky shot, choose a safer option.
Play Away From Trouble
Whenever possible, you should look to play away from trouble with your shots. While you don't always have the option of doing so, your tee shot on each hole provides you with a means by which to employ a better angle to play away from danger areas. Golf writer Les Miller advocates teeing your ball up on the side of the tee box where the greatest amount of trouble exists. Hitting from that side will cause you to naturally line up and aim away from bunkers, trees, water and whatever else you'd like to avoid on the hole.
Slow Down
Rick Sessinghaus notes that when golfers are under pressure, there is a tendency to speed up. This increased pace includes not only the golf swing, but also decision making and yardage calculations. Consequently, Sessinghaus stresses the importance of sticking to a pre-shot routine that includes accurately and calmly judging distance for club selection and making wise decisions about which shot to hit. Slowing yourself down with familiar routines in pressure-filled situations helps to give you the best chance to make a good swing.
Match Play Strategy
You may, on occasion, find yourself in a match-play situation in which you're facing off against one player and not counting your total number of strokes for the round. Rather, match play is based on winning holes and the score is kept between the two players in terms of which player is up and by how many holes. Arnold Palmer points out that the caution of stroke play can be relaxed a bit for match play. It doesn't matter whether you lose a hole by one or five strokes. Consequently, if your opponent puts you in a situation that requires a risky shot, know that it will only cost one hole at the worst, so trying a debatable shot might pay dividends.
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