Analyzing a golf course for tournament play

[Adam_F_Collins]

If you're going to be playing in a tournament at a course you don't know well, how might you go about getting a sense of the course, and planning the best strategies for playing it - in a short time?

What are some of your approaches?

Do you do anything special? Do you make notes? Draw maps? Just play a practice round?

How do you prepare - in relation to the architecture?

[Jim Thompson]

Adam,

I always play a practice round with a couple of friends.  Try to put together a group that includes one "smart and control" player and at least one of the guys who is a bomber.  Gives a great idea of what approaches work on various holes.  While they play I try to map out green complexes, approaches and contouring, taking a variety of chips, run-ups, and putts.

If nothing else, I always make notes on a scorecard, like no driver, good line is third red oak from right etc...  After the round we always sit at the bar, not a table.  You'd be shocked at the playing tips for a new course you can get out of bartender.  Tips like: six breaks to the road, the approch on twelve is soft, the yardage on four is wrong.

Hope this helps!

Cheers!

JT

[TEPaul]

Adam:

My approach for tournaments on courses I'd never seen before was to NOT play a practice round or even go see the course---but I'm obviously very unusual that way. I felt---belay that---I knew I generally played courses I'd never seen before better than if I knew them. But that's because I always tried to play very conservatively anyway.

[Patrick_Mucci]

AFC,

Everyone is different.

Some play by feel others play by detailed maps and yardage indicators.  Some rely on a caddy, others don't.

The best non-professional I ever knew who could get out of a car, not hit practice balls and play a great round on a course he never saw before, in tournament play, was Terry McBride.
Talent seems to overcome a lot of unfamiliarity.

Sometimes playing a strange course for the first time is easy because you DON'T know where the trouble is.

Everyone has their comfort zone or their pre-tournament routine, so I don't think there's any one way to approach a strange golf course in tournament play.

[Adam_F_Collins]

AFC,

Everyone is different.

Everyone has their comfort zone or their pre-tournament routine, so I don't think there's any one way to approach a strange golf course in tournament play.

Patrick,

I'm sure you're correct. That's exactly why I asked the question. I thought it might be interesting to hear about a variety of different approaches - and maybe we might see some ideas from others which we'd like to try ourselves.

[TEPaul]

"The best non-professional I ever knew who could get out of a car, not hit practice balls and play a great round on a course he never saw before, in tournament play, was Terry McBride."


Pat:

About that you're not just whistling Dixie. I saw one of the oddest things from Terry McBride I've about ever seen in my years in golf.

I believe I once posted this on Golfclubatlas.com years ago but I'll post it again because it's pretty representative of what you just said about him.

This goes back quite a few years now but one time we were playing a practice round for the Coleman at Seminole (I think it was the first year).

On the really long 8th (from the tips and maybe into a bit of a breeze) we're all standing on the tee with 3 woods in our hand and Terry asks his caddy what he should hit (I don't know why he even bothered to ask because he hadn't asked much of anything of him up to that point and Terry did belong to Seminole and probably knew his own game on that course a lot better than his caddie did);

Anyway, the caddie says; "Hit the 4 wood".

Maybe Terry wasn't really listening because he pulls out a 4 iron and flies the ball with a normal trajetory right into the middle of the green from the tips.

You know Terry doesn't take very long to hit a golf ball and when the rest of us saw him take out that 4 iron we all looked at each other silently in surprise. I looked over at Terry's caddie and I could see him looking surprised too and looking like he wanted to stop Terry but he just hit it pretty fast.

That shot effectively played like about 230-235 and this was a good 15-16 years ago. We were all so stunned no one said much for awhile except walking off the tee someone said; "Terry I think your caddy told you to hit a 4 wood" and Terry just said; "Oh, I thought he said 4 iron".

There was a lot of "Nu, NU, Nu, Nu" to that shot I can tell you. But that's just Terry McBride, as you said. The guy has fast hands and wrists, phenomenal hand to eye coordination and he is strong. But still, flying a 4 iron all the way into the middle of that green back then from the tips really shouldn't have happened but it did. I guess it was just because it was Terry McBride!  

By the way, as I recall, it was even odder since I don't believe the rest of us even reached the middle of that green with some pretty good 3 woods!

[ForkaB]

Adam

I think it really depends on your level of skill and your ambitions.

If you are an elite golfer (and your name is neither Terry McBride nor Tom Paul) it behooves you to study a course before you play it, particularly if it is important for you to do well in the tournament.

On the other hand, if you are a less than an elite golfer (i.e 2-3 HCP and above), and you have no particular need to do well (other than self-esteem), study of a course is probably irrelevant (unless, of course, you want to, for GCA reasons).

[rgkeller]

Hit driver down the middle on every non par three.

This will give you some perspective on trouble in and out of play off the tee.

Hit every approach shot to the middle of the green from the middle of the fairway. Move the ball there if your tee shot does not manage to make it down the middle.

This will give your some perspective on trouble and proper angles for approach shots.

Hit a putt from front to back and left to right on every green and note the actual speed versus the expected speed.

[ForkaB]

Hit driver down the middle on every non par three.

rg

Even Tiger can't do that.  How do you expect us schmucks to follow your advice?

[rgkeller]

Move your ball to the center of the fairway after you get the distance of your average tee shot estimated from the ball you did hit.

And if you can't hit the middle of the fairway on at least half of the drives, withdraw.

[ForkaB]

Move your ball to the center of the fairway after you get the distance of your average tee shot estimated from the ball you did hit.

And if you can't hit the middle of the fairway on at least half of the drives, withdraw.

rg

Fred Funk only hits 3/4 of the fairways (not the "middle" but any old part of the fairway) he plays on tour, and he is the best in the world (at the highest levels) at this aspect of the game, and I would bet my (modest) house that he doesn't hit 1/2 in the "middle" or even near it.

By your standards, all golfers would have to scratch from all tournaments all over the world, forever.  This might be an interesting Zen koan, but it would not be golf..........

[Brad Klein]

Walk the course backwards, from 18th green to first tee. What you see in terms of angles and features is amazing.

[Jason Topp]

I've started using aerials to create a game plan for courses I have never seen.  You can get a decent sense for distances to fairway bunkers with a scorecard and ruler.  You can also see where an approach shot will be tight, perhaps making a more aggressive tee shot a better play than it first appears.  You can also see the impact of the wind when used in combination with a weather forecast.

Oddly, it seems to me that the scale changes for different holes.  I'm either screwing up or there is something about aerials I do not know.

Based on my play this year, I don't think it is actually helping me, but it is interesting nonetheless.