Second Shot into a Par 5

Strategy
#21

So after playing the front by myself for super twilight, I’ve finally hit traffic here on 10, so thought I would give a status report.
On the Par 5 2nd (510yd), I hit a very nice drive, right around 270yd in fact. 240 in, no trouble, so I grabbed the 3w. Low draw right to the front fringe. Putted up with good speed and tapped in the birdie. :sweat_smile:

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#22

I’m following the research and hitting that second shot as far as I can.

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#23

I played a couple really nice punch pitching wedges this evening from 50-60 yards. Assuming I have a decent line in, I think that’ll wind up my stock shot. Getting pretty comfortable with it.

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#24

So just to wrap up on the round this evening, I played some really good golf. Amazingly, I got in the whole 18, finishing with the light of the full moon and just a bit of false horizon. Had absolutely no eye on the ball for my approach on 18, but it felt decent. Walked up to the green and found this:
image
(side note: no idea why this got turned sideways, but you get the idea)
Couldn’t see the break, so it turned just a little bit too much to the left, but still tapped in the par to finish at +2 74. New personal best for my home course (Hansen Dam Golf Course) and could be considered my best round of the season.

7 Likes
#25

Nicely done, Cory! :golfing_man: :golf:

#26

Yes! My good shots are 150 - 175 yards. Pretty straight though. Whatever will leave me with a good lie and out of water and not down a hill. Have to be able to FIND the ball! Playing solo, I’ll occasionally hit a provisional off the fairway, the par 4s and 5s I’ve played are doglegs some with ponds. My goal is to get par on the 5s and I’ll go home elated!

#27

One thing I’ve found that helps somewhat here is using a reverse overlap grip for distances that don’t require a wrist hinge. Ensures much more solid contact. Another @ScottFawcettDECADE tip.

#28

I have similar issues. My fairway wood is my weakest club in my bag. Last Friday I was faced with the same situation. I could borderline reach the green with my fairway wood, but I had 0 confidence. I decided to hit my 18.5 degree hybrid and left myself 20 yards short. Then I hit a terrible pitch and 3 putted. Easy bogey.

There wasn’t undue risk and I definitely should have tried to put it on the green. I likely wouldn’t have made worse than 6 and could have easily had an eagle putt. Gotta work on that weakness.

In general though, I’ve always subscribed to getting it as close as possible while avoiding risk.

1 Like
#29

If I’m sure that I can’t get home in two, then I pick my club based on the distance I’d like to be for my 3rd shot. In many cases, the best number for me is about 75 yards, and not as close as I can get to the green as others have noted.

#30

I told you about this! I tried this on the course for the first time this past weekend. Definitely need to work with it on the practice area for awhile to figure out where to use and where not to use it.

3 Likes
#31

Question. RU familiar with the Pelz deal with Tom Jenkins a few years back on the senior tour? During proams Jenkins agreed to hit 6 iron layups every time he was more than 200 yards away. His scores on the 6 iron layups were less than when he tried to get home. Pelz talks about this in one of his books (maybe short game bible?). I’m a shot hitting old guy who always tries to get it closer to the hole, but wonder how Pelz/Jenkins experience fits into the Broadie paradigm?

1 Like
#32

True story - I topped my 3-wood today on a par 5 approach. Still made par :man_shrugging: #crazygame

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#33

I vaguely remember this story. But it’s a sample size of one unfortunately. There are always exceptions to everything in golf, but on the whole, the closer you are the better your chance of scoring. Also, for a pro golfer they are so skilled that they can probably overcome these circumstances versus a recreational player.

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#34

I use this almost exclusively now. Unless I need wrist hinge this is the easiest way to chip/pitch.

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#35

I like to play a five iron to say 100m out from the flag. Maybe 80 metres on a good day and that gives a good full swing for my wedge for the third shot in. Not much finesse involved but it seems to work with the least amount of errors.
Course management works best on a Par 5.

2 Likes
#36

Everyone has to play their own game, but I’m going to continue to do my best to trust the data and (assuming there’s no trouble) hit the longest club I can into par 5’s from now on. Even if I wind up topping it 100 yards, then I still only have 150 yards in and decent position for par.

#37

Did that a few weeks ago :man_shrugging: just happy it rolled right of the lake

#38

Pretty sure the majority of these were three woods…

And they’re all just fine :grinning:

4 Likes
#39

My one buddy that I play with very frequently always tops or hits his 3-wood really thin but it always turns out better position than if he would have hit his hybird.

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#40

The pros topping shots here did me a great service, I console myself with these videos after my games, in which there are plenty of the same! Helps me mentally get off my own back, LOL :smiley:

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