Odiorne Point Golf Company

Everybody knows that every guy in a bar hits his driver, AKA the Big Dog, (according to Roy McAvoy in Tin Cup), 300 yards. Maybe 320. That’s in the bar. On the course it’s more like 220, 221, whatever it takes.

So the question today is how far do you hit your other clubs? Your niblick, spoon or mashie? Or more modern clubs like the 9 iron, rescue club or your Skakel iron? This is critical if you’re going to get the ball where it needs to go – over the water, short of the marsh, back of the green, etc.

For me the first step in actually developing a course strategy was realizing that I didn’t have to, nor should I try to, hit the ball as far as possible on every shot. It took me years to realize that trying to get over a small stream bounded by marsh on the right side and knee deep grass on the left, while hitting my second shot from a downhill lie on a long par 5 (try saying that fast three times!), was not a formula for success. Especially when I all had to do was knock the ball to the bottom of the hill and leave myself 130 to 150 yards out on level ground with an unobstructed view to the green. The risk (lost ball, hitting out of deep grass or getting across left and sitting behind a long row of trees) was simply not worth the reward (hitting from 110 to 90 yards out with an uphill lie). Especially with a 10% success rate.

So to employ some strategy, you have to know how far you hit each club. For real, not bar distances or heaven forbid, Golden Tee distances. Here are some basic ideas for creating and understanding a yardage chart and how other factors will affect your distances.

http://suite101.com/article/how-to-know-which-golf-club-to-use-golf-pro-tip-a128749

How to Know Which Golf Club to Use - Swing Tips Knowing which golf club to hit is simple once you have calculated how far each club hits the golf ball. Know club selection by experimenting and using a yardage chart.

On Ask Rex on the Golf Channel, Rex answers what Tiger needs to improve. I think that Rex needs to improve his tanning regimen.

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/golf-talk-central-011513-ask-rex/

Ask Rex Hoggard at Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship | Golf Channel Rex Hoggard and Tom Abbott answer Twitter questions Tuesday at Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.