Mental Mondays: Play A Stong Dogleg Four as A Par Five

On a dogleg four that requires a heroic tee shot to clear the corner, consider playing three shots from the fairway. Hit the ball safely to the outside line on the tee shot, clear the corner with the second and then go for the green with the third on what is likely a short- to mid-range shot. With that strategy, you’ve still got a chance for a single putt and a par, or at worse a bogey.

Trying to make the heroic shot around the bend brings a double or even triple into play. If you fall short on the inside line (heroic shots rarely are the accurate ones), at best you’ll need an extra shot to get to the corner, and still have a long play to the green. If that heroic shot gets you off the fairway into the rough or trees, the penalty will be even more severe.

This tip is an excerpt from The Five Inch Course: Thinking Your Way To Better Golf. The complete book is available in Kindle format at Amazon.com.