Page 32 - Golf Champion - June 2020

[GOLF LESSON]

Golf Your Ball

공을 골프하라

y coach was a contemporary and friend of Ben scores drop so quickly during professional tourna-
MHogan who used to say the most important ments where “lift, clean, and place” is in effect should
element of scoring was “golfing your ball.” It was a be obvious. If you can clean your ball and control your
phrase that took me a lifetime to understand and lie, your shots and scores will improve. Whether it’s
translate to players, but the essence of the wisdom was your first shot on a Par 3 or the seventh shot on a Par 5,
that controlling where you played from and to was the hit the ball to the fat part of the green and give yourself
only thing that mattered when it came to scoring, and a better shot at a lower score.
winning. You don’t get extra points for hitting perfect
shots and managing a round is about good decision- Focus on the target not the swing. If you’re trying to
making and proper focus. Here are a few things to score, throw the swing thoughts out the window. Pay
consider to quickly lower your scores: attention to the target. Focus on a tiny landing spot,
the trajectory of the ball as it lands, the roll out, and
Don’t choose to put the ball near or over trouble.
Course architects will occasionally force you to carry
the ball over water or a bunker, but the truth is that
most of the time, you can play away from trouble (bun-
kers, penalty areas, or penal rough). Trying to carry
bunkers with maxed out tee shots, flop shots from
tight lies over bunkers, or hitting into pins that tucked
up against penalty areas are going to lead to higher
scores no matter how high or low your handicap. Keep
the ball in play by aiming away from trouble and focus-
ing on putting the ball in the areas of the course from
which you can score.

Hit the shot you can hit. I know it sounds counterintui- the ball finishing where you want it to finish. More
tive, but if a course architect is forcing you to hit a slice than one swing thought is only going to get in the way
on a hole and you can’t move the ball that way, don’t of visualizing and executing. Focus on the target.
try! Trying to hit perfect shots that are outside of your
comfort zone may be thrilling, but every attempt is a The longer you play and the more you practice, the
potential disaster that will eventually show up on your more adept you will likely be at hitting shots (high,
scorecard. Hit the shot you can hit, not the one that low, slicing left/right, piercing trajectories, or floating
you wish you could. flips). However, having the ability to hit those shots
doesn’t always lead to lower scores. Scoring is about
Get your hands on your ball. The quicker you can get golfing your ball, often playing the conservative and
on the putting surface, the more quickly you can clean consistent shot to get your ball onto the green. Don’t
the ball, align your shot, and control the maximum fall in love with perfect shots - they all count the same
number of conditions affecting play. The reason why and the point of the game is to hit fewer of them.

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