A lost ball will cost you stroke and distance, so pay attention to where it goes.
This is not to suggest, however, that you should look up before finishing your swing. That’s bad. Very bad.
Instead, as soon as you finish, and get a bead on the ball’s landing spot, pick out a landmark on that line. Then, when you get out into the fairway (or sadly, the rough), you can position yourself between the landmark and the tee box to help locate the ball.
Another helpful hint: if you have a gps system and know your club distances, you can use the unit to narrow your search to an appropriate distance. Far too many players begin their search twenty or more yards away from the most likely distance.
It seems like a very beginner tip, but I can’t count the number of people I’ve played with who don’t mentally mark their ball position. Rather than making a beeline to their ball, they meander their carts to a general spot and then begin driving in big circles trying to spot their ball.
Ultimately, they either don’t find the ball, or they spend so much time looking for it that they get out of their rhythm, then must rush because they’ve just backed the course up.
This tip is an excerpt from The Five Inch Course: Thinking Your Way To Better Golf
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Great advice,
Yes I always like to pick out a tree or similar and start looking there.
Cheers
That’s good advice!
Never take your eye off the ball, especially when you hit a bad one. I still don’t agree with using gps. Personally it takes away the mental challenge of knowing your game and working out yardages.