Million Lesson Secrets
Secret #33, Course Management

85% RULE: LESS IS MORE,
MORE IS LESS
by Coach Dave Baltzer, Houston, TX 

Reason Secret is Revealed
Most amateur golfers hurt their scores for the simple reason that they fail to select the correct club on the course. This often results in poor shot accuracy or the feeling that they need to swing forcefully to hit the ball the correct distance. Following this rule will help players club themselves correctly on the golf course. The result is cleaner ball contact and more accurate shots.

Change Recommended
Choose the correct golf club. The typical amateur should only plan on making 85% clean ball contact. Let's start on the tee box. Mis-hitting the driver by 15% will definitely result in some distance loss, but more importantly it will result in direction loss and inconsistency. This often puts the player in trouble or creates an even worse problem — penalty strokes. In order to score well, it is vitally important to keep the ball in play. From the tee box, less is more; rather than a driver, a fairway wood or hybrid will be easier to hit straight, allowing you to keep the ball in play until you are more confident with the driver. The shorter lengths and increased lofts of these clubs allow better accuracy and consistency.

Just because you have hit your 9 iron 150 yards once (on a sunny day with the birds singing, no doubt), that doesn't mean that it is your 150-yard club. You should pick the club that you will hit 150 yards ALL the time. There are many types of mis-hits that will cause the ball to go short; there are few mis-hits that will cause the ball to go too far. When hitting into a green, more is more; pick one club more than you normally would. This will allow you to swing smoother and make better ball contact more often. If you miss by 15%, you're still on the green rather than short of it where most bunkers are located. If you catch it clean, chances are you'll be on the back of the green at worst.

Other Factors
Don't forget to take your lie, elevation, weather, and course conditions into account before making your final club selection. Once you are confident in your driver you will want to put it back in your hands because the added distance you will gain WHEN/IF you put the ball in play will lead to shorter and easier approach shots to the green.

Results to Anticipate
Implementing this habit of selecting clubs will increase accuracy both from the tee box as well as accuracy hitting into greens. Keeping the ball in play will make lowering your scores an attainable and frequent event.