Clever Course Management

By Adrian Cafaro PGA

When playing a round of golf you will invariably walk past and be able to see various pin positions on greens for which you are about to play. Let me use my old home course as an example, Bellshill golf course. The 1st fairway runs parallel to the 15th hole meaning it is possible to look at the 15th green as you walk down the 1st fairway. This bird’s eye view makes it easy to exactly locate its position. The consequence of not looking left is a blind shot approach to the 15th green since the green is at the top of a hill. Many people run up the hill to see where the pin is on hole 15 during competition play, which can be 180 yards. This is not the best way to tackle the shot wheezing out of breath and also very near the end of the round. It could have been alleviated with one glance walking down the 1st.

Consider the 9 holes at Northwick, when finished on the 1st hole glance over to hole number 3 and note exactly where the pin is. You will also be able to do this as you walk half way down hole 2 if you look through the gap between the trees. Now when you are on the 3rd tee you will know exactly how far down the green the pin is, making club selection a little easier.