[jim_lewis]

I have not started a new thread in a long time, so I think I’ll jump in there with a topic that I’ve had on my mind for years. It may belong in the “in my opinion” section because of it’s length, but I want to get some reaction here.

Strategy is discussed often on GCA. Courses and architects are often evaluated based on how much strategy they introduce and how much they make the player think. Most of that discussion centers on the tee shot options. I say that most strategic options are NOT presented on the tee shot and NOT by the architecture of the course. If they are playing a course they have played before, most players know where they want to hit their tee shots before they even get to the course. The factors which may change their mind when they reach a tee are mainly wind direction, pin placement, status of the match, and prior shots by a partner or an opponent.

I think that most strategic thinking occurs on the second and ensuing shots. After all, you can’t plan for those shots in advance, since you don’t know where your tee shot (or your second) will come to rest. At that point, I will take many factors into account, and architecture is usually way down the list. Most of the games I play are match play, and usually I have a partner. So, my first consideration is the status of the match. Where is my partner? Where is my opponent? Who has strokes on this hole? How does the match stand? Is this a must-win hole, or will a tie suffice? All of those will determine how aggressive I will be with my next shot selection. Then there are questions like: Can I reach the green? If not should I try to get as close as I can and risk trouble around the green or lay back to my favorite wedge distance? What are my personal strengths and weaknesses, wedge, chipping, sand? Where is the pin? How thick is the rough? How deep is the bunker?

Then if I miss the green, a whole new set of options comes into play. Here is where course design and set-up really do influence strategy.

By now you get my point. We should not lay the burden on the architect to make us think. There are plenty other factors and most of them begin after the tee shot comes to rest and are only partially impacted by the course design.

Much has been said about how the new rough at Augusta limited strategy off the tee. I doubt it. The preferred tee shot is the same now as it was before. The difference is the consequence of missing the target. The target did not change due to rough. Even for players of that high quality, most strategic thinking starts with the second shot.

Jim Lewis

[Padraig Dooley]

Jim

Pin placements, wind, bunkers etc all indicate a preferred position off the tee which does change from day to day.
The preferred tee shot is therefore not the same from day to day. There is still some strategy off the tee

[Garland Bayley]

...
Much has been said about how the new rough at Augusta limited strategy off the tee. I doubt it. The preferred tee shot is the same now as it was before. The difference is the consequence of missing the target. The target did not change due to rough. Even for players of that high quality, most strategic thinking starts with the second shot.

Jim Lewis

In fact, if I remember correctly, the historical preferred position off of the 11th tee at ANGC is now a stand of trees. On another hole (the first?) they moved bunkers into the historical preferred position.

Jack Nicklaus writes that his highest level of concentration is on the tee, because that is where he decides his strategy for the hole by starting at the pin position and working backwards deciding his position(s) for his shots. He also writes about not being able to concentrate deeply for 4 plus hours so gives tips about how to moderate the concentration while playing the hole.

[jim_lewis]

I agree that bunkers and trees have been placed in the preferred landing areas of some players at Augusta.

The bunker on #8 has been moved out several times. The fairway bunkers on #18 were introduced because a few players (most notably, Jack) preferred to hit the ball into the old practice area. And, as mentioned the bunker on #1 has been moved out (and deepened) more than once. The pine trees on the left side of #1 were added back in the late 60's or early 70's for the same reason.

I am pretty sure that Jack had a plan for each tee shot before he left home. The pin position and the wind were the factors that changed, and he knew those before he left the locker room. I doubt that he stood on many tees (except for Par 3's) try to figure where he wanted to hit his tee shot.

I am not suggesting that there is not plenty of opportunities for stategic thinking on tee shots. I just claim that even more exists on later shots, and that many other factors besides the architecture drive that strategy.

Jim Lewis

[Tom_Doak]

Jim:

I agree that second shots and recovery shots can offer more options for strategy than most tee shots do.  Certainly, other factors come into play, but interesting architecture is the basis for presenting options ... if you're looking at a flat expanse of fairway and a flat green, your choice of "options" is not going to be much affected by the wind or the state of the match.

By far the most strategic course I know is The Old Course at St. Andrews.  I've said it before that unless you put your tee shot within 5-10 yards of where you want, you have to replan your entire strategy from your new position, regardless of your opponent.

[Chris Cupit]

Jim,
I think its possible that there is less tee shot strategy needed/used than ever before.  Fairways have been pinched so now even great players are just trying to be in any part of the fairway instead of say, aiming for a particular side of the fairway.

Having grown up in a family that has had tour playes and having caddied a couple of times on the Tour I also don't think even elite players are trying to hit particular sides of the fairway.  No one can hit a driver within 30 feet of their target on a consistent basis.

Anyway I was talking to an architect just after their conference in Atlanta and he made a comment something like this:

When designing a course we of course look at strategy but for 99% of players today, conditioning and asthetics are what matters.  When players come off a course you almost always hear them discussing how pretty the course was or how immaculate the greens or fairways were.  You never hear a golfer finish and say, "Wow, can you believe the strategy involved on that 7th hole today"

Now this architect was lamenting that fact as much as many on this site will but he was making the point that the "great golf experience" almost always means so much more than strategy to golfers today.  Only after you get a players attention with condition and pretty views can you thing even get them looking at the strategy

I do think some of my favorite course had strategy more defined on the approach shot--so called "second shot courses"??  More and more courses that try to employ strategic options may rely on this more as the drive becomes just "bombs away"  

[Matt_Cohn]

One thing about strategy is that you won't notice it too much if you only play a course once.

If you play it ten times, you'll really notice the strategy, if the course is well designed, because you'll find yourself hitting very different shots in very different places, all on the same hole.

You'll notice this if you play a course in different wind conditions as well. More variety means more interest.

At a non-strategic course, you'll hit the same shots every time. But if you've only played the course once, that means nothing.

[Patrick_Mucci]

In fact, if I remember correctly, the historical preferred position off of the 11th tee at ANGC is now a stand of trees.

On another hole (the first?) they moved bunkers into the historical preferred position.

I don't believe that's correct.
There's always been a bunker on the right side of the DZ on
# 1.[/color]

Jack Nicklaus writes that his highest level of concentration is on the tee, because that is where he decides his strategy for the hole by starting at the pin position and working backwards deciding his position(s) for his shots.

I would think that most of the better golfers accept that thinking.

Identifying the spot to hit the approach from and then trying to drive to that position seems extremely prudent.

I"d add that there are probably planned prefered margins or spots for missing the desired tee shot as well.

I'd disagree with Jim Lewis on this, in that, where the drive ends up will almost always dictate the remaining strategy, hence, I'd agree with Garland that it starts at the tee shot, and, in the ultimate, is almost a complete function of the results of the tee shot with some adjustment for unusual situations.[/color]

He also writes about not being able to concentrate deeply for 4 plus hours so gives tips about how to moderate the concentration while playing the hole.

I find Nicklaus's comment on this to be disengenuous.
He was one of the slower players out there, deliberate to a fault, but, it worked for him, and he didn't care about anyone else behind him..

In the Senior Open at Ridgewood, Trevino commented on the fact that Jack was two holes behind the field in the final round, and that as a result of his slow play, some conditions that occured when he should have been in the clubhouse
influenced his play and affected the outcome of the tournament.[/color]

Chris Cupit,

I'd agree, narrow fairways and deep, dense rough dictate playing corridors

[Lloyd_Cole]

By far the most strategic course I know is The Old Course at St. Andrews.  I've said it before that unless you put your tee shot within 5-10 yards of where you want, you have to replan your entire strategy from your new position, regardless of your opponent.

Tom
Just a thought, but
At TOC, for the average tourist round, do the caddies have pin sheets? Because it's pretty hard to see where some of the pins are, exactly, right?

[Rich Goodale]

Lloyd

Every player gets a pin sheet, every day.  Not that they help that much when you can't see the green!

Rich

[Tom_Doak]

Lloyd:

Yes, everybody has a pin sheet nowadays.  Not so 25 years ago, when I caddied there ... but for everyday play they tend to keep the holes cut over on the right side of the greens, taking a lot of the teeth out of the strategy of the course.  Without the pin sheet, the most difficult part was trying to determine how deep the holes were cut on the way out (assuming you noted the incoming hole locations as you went out).

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