Most of my walking actually takes place on the golf course. I’ve had years where I play over 100 times, and walk 600-800 miles on the course. If you put that in perspective, that’s more than walking the Camino de Santiago, every year.
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Equitable Approach Free Drop – Rule 16.5
One of the goals I have in golfing, is making it fun. When you see people get mad and throw their clubs you can see why this is so important.
Over the years as I get older I watch my ball distances decrease. My drives are now down to about a 180 yard average…about 2/3’s that of an average pro-golfer. Not bad but nothing to write home about. So how can you make the game fun when you hit short.
These are the observations I’ve made over 15 years of golf.
- Use a handicap, this classic method accounts for all weaknesses in your game and on a net basis allows you to try to be competitive with par.
2. Follow the new Tee-it-Forward targets. This resized the course and the tee’s you play based not on your handicap, but on your average driving distance.
Guidelines for selecting tees
driver distance recommended
18-Hole Yards based on average drive on normally 14 par 4/5 holes.
275 6,700-6,900
250 6,200-6,400
225 5,800-6,000
200 5,200-5,400
175 4,400-4,600
150 3,500-3,700
125 2,800-3,000
100 2,100-2,300
This chart is to be used as a guideline to help golfers potentially align their average driving distance with a course length that is best suited to abilities
For me I would find a course around 4,700 yards.
3. Just Play a Scramble/Best Hit Ball format. You can do this with a partner or a full foursome. BTW. You can also do this with yourself, if you play alone and the course is not crowded, hit two or more balls and play the better on on each shot. Or for the best opportunity to play par or better, combine this with Tee-it-Forward or Fantasy Golf!
4. Most recently I created a game I can “Fantasy Golf”. In this game you hit your drive and then play a wedge shot to knock it farther down the fairway. Count these as your drive. If I do this I almost make pro level…driving on average 250 yards, and some drives much more than that.
5. When I play Fantasy Golf, I try to adjust for the fact that my 2nd/3rd approach shots are not at the level of a 250 yard driver, so I play a course where the par 4/5’s are about 5,300 yards, allowing for my approach shots to fall about 30% shorter than the big hitters. Also I play from the forward tees on the par 3’s. This gives me the perfect sized course for my game, I don’t use a handicap, and I try to see if I can play close to par.
At this point it becomes a matter of consistency, can I play as well as I am capable of playing. It actually becomes fun trying to make pars and birdies.
At the course I play now this means I play all the gold/senior tees for par 3’s and on the front nine I play the Driver/Wedge from the White tees, and on the Back which is longer, I play from the gold/senior tee’s for all par 4’s and 5’s.
Here is an example at Boundary Oaks Golf Course.
Anyway Golf should be Fun. Even though I like to say:
My game is always above par!
Just Walking Together 