What Can We Learn From Watching The Masters?
Yes, I think just about every single one of us golfers love watching the Masters Tournament each and every year... especially Sunday's final round! How can we not? It's a masterpiece of a golf course with outstanding competition, tons of amazing golf shots that produce thunderous roars, and many not so great golf shots that make the higher handicap player feel pretty darn good about themselves!
Today though, when you're kicking back and appreciating all the wonderful things that the Masters Tournament has to offer, I recommend that you take a bit more out of your 2008 Masters experience than just pure enjoyment. Let's try to learn from watching the greatest golfers in the world attempt to manage, or plot their way around one of the most challenging tests in the game. Course management is crucial if a player wants to have a chance to win at Augusta. Observe how players play away from the pins on certain holes, and how they position themselves off the tee, in order to get the best angles into the greens. It will be interesting to notice which players stay the most patient on the back 9 today see if the less experienced, or those at the top of the leader board without major championship titles, go for pins that they don't necessarily need to go for... and end up making major mistakes. Many Masters tournaments are lost because of poor decision making under extreme pressure, and many Masters tournaments were won through extreme patience... and maybe just waiting for the others to make the mistakes.
Think about how you can learn to manage yourself around your home golf course better than you have in the past. Could you lower your scores by being more aware of positioning of the tee... do you really need driver on every hole out there? How about those par 5 holes that you can't reach in two, but can easily reach in three... maybe a 3-wood off the tee would get you out there into a good enough position to set yourself up for a nice birdie or par chance? Ask yourself if you really need to aim at every pin out there... or might playing away from pins, or for that matter not even paying attention to the pins at all, will help you hit more greens in regulation... which in turn would keep me out of trouble and lower my scores a bit.
So here's a few good examples of certain strategic decisions you'll see on Championship Sunday at Augusta:
Hole #11 - Any shot you see that's hit right at this pin is either a mistake or pure in experience. A back left hole location with all the trouble in the world left of the pin. Ben Hogan used to say that he would aim to the right of the green on #11 at Augusta, and if he hit the green at all then it was a mistake. Par is a good score on this hole... even for the greatest players in the world!
Hole #12 - A short par 3 hole, nothing more than an 8 or 9 iron shot... but again, any player you see firing their ball right at this pin is either a fool or incredibly desperate!
Hole #16 - Another par 3 hole. Typically you'll see players hit their shots well to the right of the pin. In doing this though, if placed deep enough into the back of the green could have the ball funnel right down towards the pin.
Labels: Course Management, Instruction, Masters, Mental Discipline