With the Presidents Cup coming to Medinah Country Club, the strategy off the tee will be about much more than simply finding the fairway. The recent renovation by OCM Golf created areas of width that give players different ways to play a hole. A player can challenge the penal bunkers and potentially earn a better position for the next shot, or play to the safer side knowing they may be sacrificing distance or a more open angle into the green.
This multitude of options puts a premium on decision-making off the tee. Tour players know their carry distance, understand their normal dispersion and recognize how much of a bunker they can realistically challenge much better than most players, and with that premium skillset, it affords them plenty of options off the tee. Sometimes taking on more risk creates an advantage. Other times, choosing less club and keeping the most penal trouble out of play is the smarter decision.
That same thought process can help recreational golfers play smarter golf. Here’s how.
Making smarter decisions off the tee starts with knowing three things: your (actual) carry distance, your typical dispersion pattern, and the trouble you absolutely cannot afford to bring into play.
For example, if you carry your driver an average of 230 yards and a bunker starts at 245, don’t make your decision based on the occasional drive you hit 250. That bunker is still very much in play. A wood or hybrid might leave you short of the trouble and give you a shot you can repeat more consistently.
You can practice this decision-making on the range. Instead of hitting 20 drivers at the same target, create different situations. Use two targets to represent the edges of a fairway and imagine where the bunkers or other trouble would be. Hit driver, wood, hybrid or long iron into the same scenario and pay attention to your dispersion. Which club gives you the best combination of distance and consistency? Then change the scenario. Move the trouble, narrow your target or decide that one side of the fairway gives you a better position for the next shot.
That’s what will make the Presidents Cup at Medinah interesting to watch. The design of the course gives players options off the tee, but every option comes with a trade-off. Challenge the bunkers and you may earn a better position for the next shot. Play away from them and you may have more room, but you could be left with a longer shot or a more difficult angle. For the amateur golfer, the distances are different, but the decision is the same: How much risk do I need to take to put myself in the best position for my next shot?
You don’t need a Tour-level golf swing to make Tour-level decisions. Know what your game does well, understand where your misses tend to go and build your strategy around that. Better decisions can lead to better scores long before you make a swing change. The pros will provide a great example of that this weekend.
