Connect with us

Club Selection

Know Your OWN Limits (and Clubs)

mm

Published

on

I believe that this is the closest I’ve ever come to a hole in one. The 15th Hole at Packsaddle Ridge Golf Club at – 150 yards:

packsaddle

To be fair, this is probably the closest I’ve ever actually HIT to the hole. Ironically just the week before at Pleasant Valley Golf Club on their nasty 173 yard 4th Hole I hit just short of the green and rolled up to within about 5 inches of the hole:

tc-432apic

What is my point in telling you this? Is it just to share my fabulous shots with the general golfing public? No, my point is that whenever I show these pictures to a fellow golfer they invariably hit me with the most useless question in golf:

“What club did you hit?”

Flash forward to yesterday when I’m playing at Bristow Manor Golf Club here in Bristow, Virginia and I get randomly paired with two other solo players (hereinafter referred to as ‘Randos’). So that’s three solo players playing together for the first time, not knowing anything about each other, joined now at the hip by a bullying Marshal trying to speed up the play. Fine.

3rd hole – 136 yard Par 3. Rando #1 sets up, swings, and deposits the ball about a foot in front of the green. Fair shot, not great, not horrible by any means. A typical shot for a typical amateur. Rando #2 rushes up to the “until-10-minutes-ago-complete-stranger” and states:

“Wow…that was shorter than I thought….what club did you use?”

Maybe I’m just a little sensitive on this subject, because I routinely hit down about two clubs on every shot from what an ‘average’ golfer might hit. Why do I do this? Because I have found over many years that slowing my swing speed gives me more balance and control over the shot, and obviously with the reduced swing speed comes reduced distance. I also have found that with a longer club I can mishit and still come up with a decent shot.

Did I still hit the green on both the 150-yard and 173-yard Par 3’s mentioned above? See the pictures.

There are so many factors that go into golf that I would never ask someone what club they hit for a particular shot. If you don’t know how far you can hit a 7-iron when you stand at the tee box, then what exactly are you thinking about when you look at a potential shot? What does it matter when a Rando swings a club how far HIS ball goes? You don’t know his swing speed, his technique, his wrist snap, his strength – it is a completely pointless question that should NOT impact how you play a hole.

So the next time you see someone hit a shot – good or bad – take a minute and think about NOT asking the question of what club he/she hit. Think about the yardage, think about what YOU want to hit and be confident in your choice.

You’ll be a better golfer, a better partner and you will save yourself a LOT of useless knowledge.


Cover Image via Flickr

Tim Braun is an avid golfer and blogger living in Northern Virginia. Having reached the age where work is not nearly as important as golf, Tim is always on the watch for new techniques and interesting technology to improve his game. He currently works in the Washington, D.C. area at a defense contractor. To see more of Tim’s non-golf blogging, go to flyinghereinthemiddle.wordpress.com for his non-traditional take on life.

Click to comment
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Trending

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x