Taming A Hard Course

Professional courses like Torrey Pines or are no picnic, even for the pros. For weekend players, forget it. PGA courses have narrow fairways (less than 30 yards wide), punishing rough, and lightening fast greens. They also have length.  One mistake and you're putting a big number up. Putt enough big numbers up and you've had a miserable round, damaging your golf handicap.

While you may never play a PGA course, you probably play courses you find hard. These courses give you fits. They also frustrate you. Maybe they don't fit your game. Or, maybe they're too long. Whatever the case, you don't play them well—even when you're swinging the club your best.  Still, you want to play these courses. They're a challenge. And they teach you a lot about golf. It's like taking 18 golf lessons.

Below are some strategies to keep in mind next time you play a tough course:

Stay Focused

The hardest thing about playing a difficult course is the mental grind. Every hole, it seems, is narrow and long, with deep rough. Or, it has a tricky layout. Or, you have to carry water a lot. With these courses, you must stay focused. You can't let a bad break throw you off.

Instead, stay within yourself and don't try to do more than you can do. If a bad break occurs—your ball hits the pin and bounces off the green, a good drive ends up in a fairway bunker, a well-struck iron fails to make it over the water—don't let it throw you. Take some time on your next shot and get yourself under control.

Play From The Fairway

Another goal when playing a difficult course is playing from the fairway. Resign yourself to the fact that you probably won't hit many greens in regulation. And stop thinking long and deep off the tee or hitting the green on second shots. Instead, focus on staying short and accurate and hitting your targets on the fairway. 

In addition, play par 4s like short par 5s. Use the 3-wood, the 5-wood, or the longest club you can hit straight instead of the driver. Pick out a target within range and go for it. If you shoot for a bogey, you're staying away from the kind of trouble that leads to a triple bogey. Playing conservatively has its advantages.

Get Back In Position

One hallmark of hard courses is the rough. Hard courses often have deep, thick rough that entangles a clubhead just prior to impact, causing you to mis-hit. Once you get in the rough on these courses, it's almost impossible to get out. You end up wasting a shot or a couple of shots trying to hit the green.

Instead, aim for the 150-yard or 100-yard marker, or from a spot where you know you can hit a full shot. Then, go for it. If you hit that target, you have an easier shot to the green. And you won't have wasted a shot trying to do something you couldn't do anyway.

In addition, when you do hit from the rough, don't just take a mindless practice swing. Play your practice swing to the depth of the ball. Find a similar patch of grass and practice your swing to the depth that your ball sits. Use this information to calibrate your real shot.

Get The Ball On The Same Tier

 Another hallmark of hard courses are the greens. Often, these courses have tiered greens. The idea about getting back into position holds for them, too. On any shot—chip, pitch, or sand—aim for the same tier as the hole, even if you're only 30 feet away. You're chances of two-putting from there is greater than the same chip from a nasty lie or the same spot. 

On holes close to the edge of the green, hit lofted shots, instead of low running shots that can sail past the green. And make sure you've spent time on the practice green before hand. Try to get a read on just how fast the green is. In fact, make your first half dozen practice putts long ones, just so you can get a reading on the green's speed. Once you have that, translate that information when putting.

Hard courses are a challenge to a golf handicap. But they reward you if you take a more calculated approach. Study the course before hand. Stay focused after bad shots. Get back in position. And be careful on the greens. These golf tips help you tame a tough course and improve your scores on them.