[Aaron Katz]

As I've gotten older, I almost always choose to play safe on so-called "risk/reward" holes.  For example, I almost never take driver on a driveable par four if that realistically brings double bogey into play, and I'll take iron on virtually any par four under 370 yards if that significantly reduces the risk of a lost ball/unplayable lie.  The only time I'll shoot at a gambling par 5 is if I have an iron in my hand.

Would the architect be pissed off if everyone played it safe like this EVERY time?  Am I robbing myself of the golfing experience by never taking what I see as a foolish risk?  

[Garland Bayley]

And when you are 3 down with 3 to go you depend on the other person to choke?

[rjsimper]

David Sims would be proud.

I believe your definition of "foolish risk" is flawed if you consider every par 4 under 370 to require an iron from the tee.

[Garland Bayley]

Ryan,

I guess he hasn't played Rustic Canyon!  

[Aaron Katz]

If driver is the play, I'll hit driver.  It's not just the yardage (sorry if I give that impression).  

Here's a good example:  The 6th hole at Red Tail is 365 yards.  The fairway sits at an angle to the tee, and left of the fairway is a canyon.  The fairway runs uphill until the 150 yard marker, at which point the fairway gradually drops about 20 feet to the green.  If I hit driver and had a little bit of a tail wind behind me, I could realistically run the ball to within 20 yards of the green due to the slope and angle of the fairway.  But my landing area would be about 20 yards wide (at most), and missing that area would likely mean double bogey.  If the target is hit, I'm looking at a 20 yard up and down for birdie.

I have NEVER hit driver on that hole.  I take a 2 iron and hit a low draw down the right side, taking the canyon out of play.  I've never missed the fairway and I always have between 120 and 150 yards.  

If I played the hole 10 times with a driver and ten times with an iron, I'm sure that my average score would be better with the iron (I think that my scoring average currently is probably a hair under 4).  Should I take a driver on this hole at least sometimes because the architect is opening it up as a possibility?

[peter_p]

This is why practice ranges are built. Imagine a template of that hole and try and hit driver into the landing area.
And don't ever opine on this board how you would lay up on a sacrosanct hole, ala the 16th at Cypress Point unless you are a masochist.

[Gary Daughters]

Aaron,

I played position golf for several years and thought myself too clever by half.  Then it hit me that maybe I was robbing myself of a certain amount of enjoyment.  I started playing more aggressively, my scores went down and the fun went up.  Give me half a chance to be a hero now and I'll take it.  The only hazard that keeps me honest is the much-maligned water.

[Aaron Katz]

Peter, I think you are precisely right:  If I had one round in my life at Cypress, laying up on the 16th hole would be a sin -- even if I were 11 under at the time and protecting a potential course record.  Same deal with the 13th and 15th and Augusta (assuming I had the length to reach carry the water).  And it's because laying up would take away the fun!

So, I guess the lesson is that I should go for it more often at the courses that I play on a regular basis.  Otherwise, I'm sapping some of the enjoyment out of the game.  Moreover, I'm now laying up as a matter of course.  Even if I'm hitting my driver like a laser I'm keeping it in the bag on certain days because I've gotten so used to doing so.  To that extent, I'm not strategizing like the architect intended me to.

By the way, Garland, I never get 3 down in any matches!

[wsmorrison]

Aaron,

I noticed in your profile that you are 27 years old.  You have a long way before you're old.  Play without fear (or at least without a care) a few times and see how you do.  You should still be playing with more brawn than brain.  How else are we really old guys gonna have a chance  

[Padraig Dooley]

Aaron, are you playing for fun or for score?

Score, play the percentages.

Fun, go for everything.

[Aaron Katz]

Lately I've always been playing for score, but I think I should start playing for fun and leave the scoring for tournament play.

[Garland Bayley]

...
By the way, Garland, I never get 3 down in any matches!

One day I saw this program on the golf channel while working out. I think it was something like Golf with Style, where they played three hole matches. I guess I didn't know how common that was until I find Aaron is playing three hole matches too.
 

[Brian Noser]

What is this playing safe that you all speak of???

If you do not hit driver on tight holes in practice what are you going to do if you have to make birdie and hit a driver when you are not accsutomed to doing it.. or reaching a par 5 with a wood. If you never take the risk in fun how are you going to have the confidence to do it if you have to, if it means somthing.

What if you are 7 under going into 16 at cypress and you need 3 birdies to break the course record do you lay up to preserve your great round(play safe) or fire at the flags.

[Tom_Doak]

"Would the architect be pissed off if everyone played safe like this all the time?"

Aaron:  As far as I'm concerned, you can play my holes any way you like.  But it sounds like you're not having much fun playing safe.

I sure don't lose any sleep worrying that golfers won't ever take the "sucker play" when I build one in.  As P.T. Barnum implied, there's a golfer born every minute.  

[Glenn Spencer]

Aaron:

If ever there was someone that I had something in common with, it is you. I basically don't hit driver below 410, unless it is uphill or the biggest fairway in the world and I drive it well. I almost never take enough club to go long, because that is where the trouble is. I do go for par 5's though. I don't really try and make anything on the greens and I don't think about holing enough chips. Do you know what employing these strategies has gotten me? Well, I went from being afraid of nobody and thinking any score was possible when I rolled out of bed, to somebody who walks off the golf course thinking,'I hit all these fairways, all these greens and I still hacked.' Quit now, you are still young!!! I am taking the winter to get myself ready to attack next year. If you need counseling on this problem, IM me. Quit now!!!

[Gary Slatter]

Aaron, Tiger played "smart" at the Open this year, and won. In my long golfing "career" I find that well designed penal holes are much easier if the whole course consists of similar holes. There are too many courses that have 15 "easier" non-challenging holes and suddenly a 460 yard single file par 4.  Years ago, when my long game was not working I would try to play the National - you must attack the course, all 18 superb holes, and after a few you get into the game.  
I think Kapalua has a very tight hole on the back nine, after warping it as far as you can the previous holes, I think its "smart golf" to play safe on it. I remember playing with Bobby Wilson, he drove it pin-high with his first 5 drives! I thought my 5 iron, 9 iron approach was smart, not safe.

[Matt_Sullivan]

Like most, I was a go for broke player in my teens and early twenties. When I returned to the game 5 or 6 years ago, I started playing more comp and money matches at a Pete Dye course with a lot of water. This made me quite a conservative player -- laying up on par 5s and short 4s particularly. I also got sucked into the "lay up to a full club" philosophy.

About two months ago I played with a good player (2 hcp) who hit 3 wood as his second shot to every par 5. He was not a long hitter (probably in his early sixties) and we were playing from the plates, so that meant he had a lot of 20 to 50 yard pitches to the par 5s -- and he did pretty well; better than I did with my driver, 6 iron, wedge approach.

So I decided to go back to basically hitting the ball as close as I could to the green on the par 5s and short 4s. And I am scoring better and having more fun as a result!! You can be too conservative.

[Chris Cupit]

Aaron,

Nothing ventured....

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