Golf Tips By Dave Barrell

This is not about hitting the ball farther or compressing your irons, there are at least 5 videos a day that attempt to convey those messages. This is the just plain common- sense decisions you make every round. You see, I’ve been playing competitive golf for 70 years and have won my share of matches and tournaments, mostly because of good decisions.

My condo is right on the 6th tee of the Quechee Highland Golf Course in Vermont. I watch from 50 feet as golfers hit their tee shots on this simple dogleg hole. 355 yards from the blue tees and 319 from the whites (club tees). The fairway is pretty wide
and
an average drive leaves about 130-145 to the green. What I constantly observe is players wanting to bite off a little of the dogleg and ending up in a trap right at the corner, some thick rough, or finding the trees on the right. Always a bad choice. An average drive down the center or even 10 yards left, leaves a very doable approach shot. Duh? Why try to gain yards by cutting the corner. Simple decision no.1.

Most of the par 3’s on our two-championship courses have big elevated greens. So recently I’m playing with a high handicap golfer and he leaves it short on a par three. So too does his playing partner. I ask what did you hit? Almost in unison they say 6. I give them a funny look and again in unison I hear, “if I really hit it that’s the right club.” I hit five on the green and say that there is always a breeze coming at us on this hole, the green is elevated and huge, why not use more club? They both put down a second ball and prove my point with two short shots with their same club. Simple decision no.2.

Another hole is a 390 yard difficult challenge, well protected by a pond and a bunker. Often the third shot presents a 20–to-30-yard uphill pitch. It seems that the folks I play with all want to pretend they are tour players and attempt to get it close with a sand wedge and either leave it short or skull it over the green. Jack Nicklaus has stated in various journals that the safest and easiest shot up the hill is an 8 or 9 iron. It gets the ball rolling and there is less chance of a wayward strike. I like Jack’s advice and mostly use a 9 iron. If it’s really a long shot I use an 8. Simple decision no.3.

Putting has always been one of my strengths. Ben Crenshaw was known for his prowess on the green. He never lagged a putt to the proverbial three-foot circle. He aimed for the hole. The smaller the target, the better you aim. I aim by getting at least 10 feet behind the ball and getting as low to the ground as my body will allow. It confounds me when I see a golfer attempt to line up a putt by standing by the ball and tilting his head and eyes toward the hole. No, no, no. It’s impossible to see the line correctly unless both eyes are level and looking straight ahead. I personally draw a line in my head where a straight putt would finish. I then adjust the line by the amount the straight putt would miss. Works for me.

Simple decision no. 4.
Dave Pelz, the short game guru spent a whole year tracking pros on the tour. He concluded that they all can strike the ball off the tee but noted a wide dispersion with their approach shots. Us club golfers really struggle to get the ball on the green. And when we do, it’s invariably short. Why? Course designers usually put most of the trouble around the front and sides of a green. It seems that long shots are not as much of a problem. Yet invariably the club golfer leaves his approach short. I struggle with this malady. Why do we so consistently fail to get the ball close to the hole. They say the most important distance on a golf course is the six inches between our ears. My answer is to remind myself to use enough club. Sometimes it works, but the tradeoff is a swing that has too much juice and then I have a long downhill putt from the back of the green. As Bob Rotella, the golf psychologist and author has quoted. “Golf is Not A Game of Perfect”.

Keep it simple and make good decisions!

Happy Fairways!