Break 80 in your next game!
Difficulty level: Intermediate | Handicap 8-14
Aim Small, Miss Small – Don’t just aim for the fairway and try bomb it down the big lawn you see in front of you. If you favour a specific area in the fairway, or aim for a small tree in the distance as visual cue, you won’t miss by far. Just swinging the club and not aiming specifically will encourage errant shots. Small and centered focus will raise the concentration levels and the general game can only improve.
Highland Gate
Big Part Green – Too many golfers get excited and attack the hole. This happens especially on par 3s. I can guarantee you that you’ll make more birdies from 12 feet than going for that special close-to-the-pin magic shot! Being too aggressive by trying to score in the 70s will cause some unwanted big numbers on the scorecard. In this example, just pushing it slightly from the tee will leave you short sided and you can make 4 or 5 very easily. Go for the heart of the green – a slight push and you are close to the flag, a slight pull and you are still putting for a birdie!
The Gary Player Golf Club
Landing Zone – Don’t ever go for the flag in the chip shots! I know this sounds rather silly, but just aiming at the flag and sort of reading the break is not good enough. Do this: When you are chipping, get a landing zone and visualize that when the ball lands “here”, it will get close to the flag. If you need to hit a high shot, take the landing zone further away from you. Lower shots that run, bring it closer. Keep this spot in your mind all the time, it adds a little bit of forgiveness and the shot suddenly becomes a little bit easier.
Leopard Creek Golf Club
Shaped Shots – If you are thinking about breaking 80, your swing is good enough to put some shape on the ball. Always shape the ball away from the trouble. This example has trouble on the left. The tight flag on the right is protected by bunkers so the shot straight to it is NOT an option. Start the ball just inside the left bunker, slight fade, and it goes away from the trouble and TOWARDS the flag. Visualizing these kind of shots will certainly improve your game all around.
Highland Gate
Don’t Be Cute – I see too many golfers trying to squeeze the shot too tight to the hole with shots over water, or a flag close to the front edge. This is silly. You’ll hit the water or the font edge and you won’t be on the green. Your first goal when pitching or chipping is to make sure you are putting! The birdies or long pars will fail. Sure, not every single one but certainly more than the ones that go in the water! Again, go for the bigger part of the green, observe where you can leave the ball to still have a chance for making the up and down.
The Gary Player Golf Club
A last thought – If you want to shoot 78 this weekend, you can make a drop on every one of three holes… And if you can make one or two birdies, you can make so many bogeys too, and still break 80… So when you push the ball into the trees from the tee, play it safe to the fairway and make the bogey, it’s okay!
Brought to you by Alwyn Vorster – Head Golf Professional of Rovos Rail.
Enjoy your game!
