This is how I use to play, see if you recognize it.On my way to course, in back of my mind I was going to have my best round ever. Getting to course I would sign in and go to first tee with little or no warm up. I would swing club a few times, tee up ball and with butterflies or shaky knees boom, I would shank it in woods, or slice it bad, or top it about 100 yards. Frustrated I would go find my ball, normallly in a bad lie or have to lift it out of woods if I could find it. Then looking at green about 250 yards in distance I would get out old 3 wood and give it my best (worst) swing. Again I would shank it, top it, slice it or some other terrible shot. By time I was finished first hole I was looking at an eight or worse, and thus started another frustrating bad round. I did this over and over again for over two years.
One of first things I figured out from listening to pros and experts was that golf was a mind set, and in order to play good golf to have to play smart. That means playing within your strengths. This is part of "good course management". That's right, course management is not just making good shots, it's also playing to course design and playing to your strengths as well.
Let me give you an example of how I use my strengths now to lower my score. The other day I was playing our number 5 hole, one of hardest par fours I have played. Not in length, but in design. It's a dog leg left and you ned a really good tee shot over trees to fairway beyond to have any chance of reaching green in two. That's way most people would approach it. And if tee shot is not good most people are thinking boggey. But why?
I hit my tee shot a little right of trees and landed in fairway about 220 yards from green. What would you do? Get out 3 wood and try for green? That's what I would have done, even last year. That shot for me, because I rarely play it or practice it, is a very high risk shot. Hitting that shot increases my chance from boggey to double boggey tenfold. I am not mentally prepared to hit that shot with confidence. But I was thinking par all way though.