You don’t have to be a pro to know you can have a disastrous hole anytime anywhere. It could be on a long par 5 or a short par 3, or on a par 4 with a lake in it. It doesn’t matter. All it takes is one bad shot and you’re done for. Whatever it is, it throws you off your game, causing trouble and costing you strokes.
Avoiding bad holes is critical to chopping strokes off your average score and your golf handicap. Holes where you card a 7, 8, or more balloon your score, turning a good round into a bad. String enough of these rounds together and you’ll kick-up your golf handicap more than a notch or two. Avoid them and you’ll see your scores and your handicap drop dramatically.
One way to avoid them is by working on your game. Visit the practice range, take a golf lesson or two, or read golf tips in magazines, do whatever it takes to improve the weakest areas of your game and you’ll cut down on the number of bad holes you have. If you’re not sure which areas of your game are the weakest, try working on your driving and your bunker play.
Driving For Accuracy
There’s no denying the benefits, or the thrill of smashing a 275-yard drive down the middle of the fairway. But when golfers over swing, they often end-up slicing or hooking into trouble, assuming they can find their ball. Starting a hole this way spells disaster. Instead, stay within yourself and learn to eliminate power-draining swing flaws that also hamper accuracy.
One way to increase accuracy is to focus on your right elbow (for right-handers). The right elbow keys the delivery of power and accuracy. Keep the right elbow in front of your hip, with the club parallel to the target line and the toe of the club pointed straight up during your takeaway, and you’ll hit the ball longer and straighter, with much less effort and without over swinging. You should feel as if your elbow is attached to the front of your hip.
Unfortunately, players with high golf handicaps often let their elbows fly. Swinging over your hip produces slices and pulls, delivering the club on an outside path and with the butt of the club aimed left of the target (right-handers). Swinging under your hip produces pushes and hooks, delivering the club on an inside path and with the butt of the club aimed right of the target. Swinging the club behind your hip generates weak shots. Learn to keep your elbow in front of your hip and you’ll hit the ball longer and straighter.
Work On Your Bunker Play
Another area to work on to avoid disastrous holes is bunker play. Weekend golfers often need several shots to escape a greenside bunker. Even with a good lie, they frequently take two, three, or more shots to escape. Hit into a greenside bunker a couple of times a round and you’ll boost your score dramatically. If you’re not a good bunker player, consider a sand strategy that helps you get out of a bunker with the least amount of strokes.
Here are four alternatives in a greenside bunker:
1. Blast at the pin
2. Blast to the middle
3. Clean chip shot
4. Putting out of the bunker
Accomplished players often choose blast at the pin, hitting a high soft shot that lands within 10 feet of the pin. That’s great for a good bunker player, but risky for mid- and high-handicap players, who are less skillful. They should consider other alternatives, unless they have no other choice.
For less accomplished players, blasting out to the middle of the green is safer and easier. If that’s your strategy, play the ball to the middle or fat part of the green. Your key is getting out of the bunker in one. Do that and you’ll avoid writing down a big number on your card.
If you’re not a good bunker player, consider the last two alternatives. Picking the ball cleanly off the sand with a chip shot, using a 7-iron, a 9-iron, or a PW, is a good option when the bunker lip is low. Putting out is the safest escape from a shallow bunker. You’ll rarely catch it fat, and with practice, you’ll extricate yourself every time.
You can’t eliminate bad holes from your game. Even the pros have them. But you can reduce them by working on your game. Stop at the range as often as you can, take golf lessons to enhance your play, adopt golf tips that improve your swing, do whatever it takes to cut down on your bad holes, and you’ll see both your scores and your golf handicap drop dramatically. Count on it.
