The crucial course-management mistake costing you strokes (and how to fix it)

One of the biggest course-management mistakes I see golfers make is aiming at the flagstick without considering where their shots typically miss. I joke with my students during playing lessons that they aim at more flagsticks than I do, and I’m the professional!

I encourage golfers to play aggressively to conservative targets. It might sound contradictory, but the concept is simple: choose a smart target, then make an aggressive, committed swing.

To understand why this works, you need to recognize your shotgun pattern i.e. the dispersion of your shots around an intended target. Nobody hits every shot perfectly. Some miss left, some right, some short and some long. That’s why it’s crucial to pick a target that leaves even your bad shots in an OK spot. Understanding your predominant miss should influence where you aim.

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For example, if your typical miss is left and the flag is tucked on the left side of the green, aiming directly at the stick increases your chances of short-siding yourself. Aim toward the middle instead, and that same miss will leave you with a birdie putt.

I demonstrated this during a playing lesson when I told a student I was aiming at a palm tree behind the middle of the green. The flag was on the right, but I knew my tendency was a slight pull. I made my swing, pulled the shot slightly and finished about three feet from the hole.

Had my student not known my intended target, he would have assumed I’d aimed directly at the flag and executed a tremendous shot. But I hadn’t. I’d actually missed my target. My strategy simply allowed that miss to produce a great result. That’s the difference between good course management and relying on perfect execution.

The next time you’re approaching a green, consider the trouble, your typical miss and where an imperfect shot might finish. If you do that, you’ll start shooting lower scores without changing anything about your swing.

Remember: Conservative target. Aggressive swing. That should be your mantra on the course. Give it a shot.