RichieHunt

1. Avoid laying up off the tee as much as you can. Laying up off the tee should be considered a last resort. There's going to be obvious holes you can't hit driver because it's not feasible to do so, but many golfers get too lay-up happy and that's a particular problem if they are lousy with their 3-wood off the tee. 2. If you don't hit your driver very far (say less than 250 yards)...learn to hit it fat. 3. Even the pros don't really start firing at flags until they get about 150-yards and in. And that's from the fairway or par-3 tee box (some pros will say they don't fire at flags from even those distances and conditions, but they essentially are or they are off Tour). I don't know your hcp, but I probably wouldn't fire at too many flags until you're no more than 120 yards to the hole and in the short grass. Everything else play for more of the center. 4. Concern yourself more with distance control than directional control with your irons. It appears you have some semblance of directional control and can consistently get the ball airborne. So it's really your distance control to worry about. Figure out what your carry yardages are on a launch monitor and what the deviation in distance is on semi-decent strikes or better. 5. From there, learn about cover #'s on approach shots. I recommend Tour pros have a cover number of +6 yards, low handicaps (3 or better) at +8 yards, mid-handicaps at +10 and high handicaps at +12 yards when it comes to front edges, and bunkers. When it comes to water I'd keep it around +12 yards. 6. Yes, steer clear from water. Great way to make double and kill your scorecard. 7. Better distance control and better use of your cover #'s will get you to hit more GIR's and have more makeable birdie putts. It will also mean less bunker shots and less shots in the drink. 8. On shots from the rough and many shots from more than 120 yards, it's not so much about playing for the center as it is playing for the fattest part of the green. You may not make birdie if you have a 60-foot putt, but expected score values drop significantly if you're actually on the green and putting versus being closer but off the green and chipping. Put it this way...if you took any course and made the greens twice as big...the course gets easier. Hope this helps. RH