Pat,thanks for the response
What you don't understand is best summed up by the immortal words of Sam Snead.
"You gotta dance with who ya brung"
If I can't hit a controlled fade on the practice tee, I'm sure as hell, not going to try to hit that shot on the redan.
If I can't hit a low draw or low punch shot, I'm not going to experiment with those shots, or any shots, on the golf course either.
No, I do understand that, and I don't disagree with it entirely. As I said earlier, for a player who is incapable of hitting anything other than a fade, it is probably not a realistic option to try a draw.
But there are two caveats:
1. I don't believe everyone is restricted to one and only one shot
2. Maybe a small part of the joy of golf is pulling off a shot that is not your bread and butter?
What you also fail to grasp is that the golf course is not the same every time I play it.
The temperature, the wind, velocity and direction, the moisture in the air, the firmness of the fairways and greens, their speeds, the lushness of the rough.
All of these components factor into the presentation that the golf course offers me each day. It is those factors which conspire to complicate the presentation of the architecture,
the architecture du jour.
No, I get that too. The course changes, the needed shots change, the choices you make will change.
Hence my game plan is set by what the course offers or gives me. And, if it offered me the same every day, and if my confidence and control of my shots was the same every day, then I'd play the golf course the same way every day. But, we know it isn't, and thus I have to play it as it's presented, with a game that's determined 15 minutes before I tee off.
Yes. You will hit different shots or make different choices depending on 'temperature, the wind, velocity and direction, the moisture in the air, the firmness of the fairways and greens, their speeds, the lushness of the rough'. You will not choose one and only one shot for every situation.
Have you ever hit a fade into the Redan?
YES
Of course, that makes sense, as you have said there are times it is the best shot for some hole locations. But does this not imply that you have made a decision to play both draws and fades into this hole, based on a variety of factors, that you have not hit the same one shot over and over?
What's your normal shot shape?
A draw.
For years, for my tee shots in the north, I've been searching for a higher trajectory and finally found it in a Taylor Driver.
An old Callaway, Biggest Big Bertha allowed me to hit a much lower draw which was ideal for the windier conditions I encountered in South Florida.
My irons were on a lower trajectory until about 1998-9 when I made some adjustments and began hitting my lower irons higher, which is what I wanted.
Yeah, my years in FL have left me with a much lower ball flight than I would like. And now that I am in MD, I wish the longer irons would get up in the air a little better!!
What's your handicap?
It was zero or lower for 40 years.
Sadly, it's gone to the 6-7 range in the last 2 years.
However, I'm determined to get it back to 2-4 this summer.
I wish you luck (note to self: make sure you get strokes when you play Pat Mucci)
Clearly, you have played at a higher level than most. But you certainly have played different shots based on the situation. Why do you not think others would do the same?
Do you ever adjust the height of any shots there when the wind is blowing?
Does that include taking a lower club ?
Of course. That's all part of the options and strategies involved. I am sure you make those types of choices all the time. Why wouldn't others? For example, when playing a short downhill par 3 like 7 at Pebble Beach, I would expect many people to make a conscious decision to hit more club to keep it down a little.
Yes, I've tried to adjust my trajectory depending on wind direction and velocity. Sadly, my body didn't always follow my brains intent and directions.
That sounds about like the rest of us
But the outcome doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the strategies or options.