I don't know if this is something I read a while ago, or just kind of thought about, but I was kicking the idea around in my head...

For this year, I was thinking to try and associate some point system for "hazards" around the green - bunkers, water, O.B., etc. When approaching the green, my thought is, add up all the points and then use that to decide when to go for it, factoring the club needed and accuracy on a declining scale.

I.e. if there are 5 "points" worth of hazards around the green, I can go for it with a 6 iron or less. A 5 iron needs to be played to a safe place. A 4 iron/hybrid or longer should stay in the bag.

Has anyone ever done something similar?

My approach to the approach differs just a little bit. I err on the side of laying up as much as possible because my approach game pretty much sucks anyway. So if I see a green that has a front side protected by two bunkers and a water hazard behind, I pretty much always lay up.

I don't think i follow, but i'm not really a mathematician or statistician at all. Hence why i use OOB it's easy. haha.

When i'm approaching a green though, i guess i kinda do the same thing in my head. I work out how good i am at each particular shot and find the meat of the green in it all and play to that. similar, but no points.

Since I only have 1 shot- a cut that sometimes doesn't cut- I generally find a safe spot on the left side of the green, aim there, and see what happens.

If the danger is there, I'm looking for a safe place where I can get up-and-down. A bunker is OK with me, because my sand game has gotten pretty good over the last couple years.

I think you might be over thinking your approach.

Don't get me wrong - I fully admit that this method is likely going a bit too far in it's complexity. It's just that the last couple years, I honestly can't think of laying up more than a few times on a par 4 that was within striking distance of my hybrid. I lay up almost exclusively on par 5s, but I have taken so many risky second shots with 5 irons and hybrids, it kind of pains me to think about it. And I know that my accuracy really drops off with the 5 iron and 4 iron/hybrid. I'm guessing unless a green is wickedly guarded, I'll be fine with a 6 iron and down 90% of the time. So this is really about finding the green light / red light with my longer clubs until I get more accurate with them.

I wonder how many of those times, I'd have been better off hitting a club or two less, and then tried to run something up close to the pin from 15-20 yards short, as opposed to having to blast out of a bunker, or throw something up in the air, short sided on an elevated green.

And my hope is if I start figuring out the method now, it should be somewhat automatic come golf season up here in the north.

Do you have the same "miss" with the longer clubs?

Not a consistent miss, but a consistent flaw. I have been working for a few years to fix a quick transition. It results in coming over the top.

If I release my hands properly - I go long left. If I don't release in time, short right. The 5 iron and the hybrid are the last two clubs to come around on the new swing.

I've been getting improvement on the flaw each year, and I'm hoping this year I can work the fix into the longer irons, but just looking for a back up plan in the meantime. I've done a lot of work on my short game, so that's my thinking behind giving myself a better chance for up and downs.

Remember when Luke Skywalker had that must-make at the end of Episode IV? When it mattered the most, what did he do but turn off all his computerized aiming instruments, take a good look at the target, a deep breath and and then fire away. That's how I approach my golf shots--I try to use the force. It knows how to get the ball to the hole.

My biggest problem with the approach shot is that I'm a pin seeker...no matter what type of hazard is in front of the pin, that's where I'm going...I need to just start aiming for the least dangerous part of the green but can't break myself of that bad habit...

KVSmith59 wrote:

My biggest problem with the approach shot is that I'm a pin seeker...no matter what type of hazard is in front of the pin, that's where I'm going...I need to just start aiming for the least dangerous part of the green but can't break myself of that bad habit...

It's not a bad habit if you're good at it.

My regular playing partner is a pin seeker. He's not that good at it, but he's such a great scrambler, it really doesn't hurt him either unless he finds a penalty stroke. I figure that if I'm on the green with a 60' putt and he's in the greenside bunker, we'll probably, on a long term average, hole out in the same number of strokes.

beef - I'm starting to rethink my strategy. I think I'm gonna get one of those "soundboard apps" for my smartphone and have Yoda throw me out wisdom before my approach shots. I'm sure to break 80 within a month!

I agree-not a bad habit