The Importance of Strategy in Golf

13th green, strategically placed trees in front of green

The Mount Coolum golf course is only 20 minutes from our flat and, although not particularly long at 5166 metres (par 72), it's tight and demands accuracy off the tee.

We love this course because every hole is different and strategy plays a big part in scoring well.
Strategy also played a big part in Mt Coolum being the golf course we play most often while on our jandal budget golfing holiday.
To all the Kapitit Coast golfers who missed out on their July copy of Pacific Golfer, I apologise. They had an article on Sunshine Coast golfing which included a voucher for Mt Coolum, pay one green fee and get one free.
So I collected 27 copies, which covered most of our time on the Sunshine Coast. We'd managed to disguise our appearance and accents 12 times but alas, I blew our cover yesterday by winning the women's stableford section in the Mt Coolum pro-am.
No more 2 for 1 green fees, but the $75 pro shop voucher and golf balls for nearest the pin makes up for that.
The Mt Coolum pro-am is part of the Sunshine Coast mini tour. There were several kiwi pros playing in it, as well as one woman and the Aussie pros. The pros were playing for a purse of about $10,000 of which the winner gets about $1,800.
We paid $30 to enter the tournament and played in the morning round, teeing off at 7.00 in a shotgun start. The afternoon golfers teed off at 12.00 and, with temperatures getting up to 27 degrees, we were more than happy to get up at 5.15 to meet our tee time.
Our pro was Ryan Fowler (no relation to Peter Fowler, on the seniors tour) and it was his first year on the circuit. Unfortuately, he didn't have a great day, scoring 82. We thoroughly enjoyed his company and, in spite of his score, saw him play some great golf shots.

Ryan Fowler on the 12th tee

 We started on the 16th, a par 3 of 103 metres, bunkers front left and right of a very narrow sloping green. I hit just short of the green but had an easy chip and one putt for par.
The pro was short and left, while Fiona was short and right. Both had difficult chips so ended up chipping and 2 putting for bogey.
On this course, it's really important to 'miss' in the right spot, or you're faced with a Phil Mickelson flop shot, requiring pinpoint accuracy.
Not a lot of amateurs (or mini tour pros) have that shot.
The next hole, the 17th, is a 398 metre par 5 - a classic 'risk and reward' hole. There are fairway bunkers on the left, just where a good drive would finish, and there's a water hazard opposite. If you manage to drive the fairway, you are then faced with a decision. Lay up short of the pond and then play a mid to short iron across the pond on to the sloping, bunker protected green, or take the chicken way to the left of the pond and trees, from where you'll play only a wedge or 9 iron to the green.
I went the chicken way and got a par. The other two went across the pond (Fiona accidentally) scoring triple bogey and the pro scoring bogey.
I speak fluent chicken (having owned chooks when a child) so tend to favour chicken golf strategy.
Seventeen out of the eighteen greens are raised, and many of them are narrow, so if you don't play straight irons, you'd better have a solid chipping and pitching game.
A couple of the par 5s also favour strategy over power. The 4th is 447 metres with a ditch crossing the fairway precisely where a good drive would end so 3 wood off the tee is the best option. However, this means you've got 2 long shots to get to the green in regulation so you need a solid 2nd shot to give you less than a 3 wood to the green. If you're struggling with your fairway woods, like me, you have to weigh up whether to go for regulation or be happy to hit it in four and settle for 2 stbfd points (it's the number 2 stroke hole).
Unfortunately, I didn't listen to my inner chicken and my 3 wood shot got as much height as my putter stroke. How the ball managed to hit the ditch bank and stagger forward, I don't know. Unfortunately, I then went into the hazard on the right, took a penalty, went into the greenside bunker and ended up with an 8.

13th fairway, showing fairway trees

The 6th is a 447 metre par 5 with a wide ditch just past a good drive's finish. Fiona and I both drove to within 20 metres of the ditch. The lies weren't perfect so my inner chicken squawked and I took out my 6 iron for the second shot.
Fiona's only contact with chicken is when it's stir-fried or roasted. She chose a 5 wood.
My ball flew straight over the ditch and straight up the fairway to 104 metres from the green.
Fiona's ball flew like a flying fish - straight into the watery ditch.
Unfortunately, I 3 putted for a 6. For good measure, Fiona threw in a shank by the green and ended up with an 8.
It is very, very easy to score triple bogey on these par 5s.
The 13th is yet another wonderful par 5 of 423 metres. It's a double dogleg with a generous area for your drive. However, the closer you get to the green, the tighter the shot and, probably, your grip. For your second shot, there's a wide area of rough on the left and a lateral hazard on your right. Then, for good measure, there are two trees on the left of the fairway, at about your second shot's finish. Another 80 or so metres on, there are another two trees about 50 metres short of the green, dead centre.
This hole may look easier than the other par 5s but, trust me, it isn't.
Unless you copy my strategy for the hole, when we played in the pro-am. Here's what you do: Slice your drive so that you end up in the sandy area just beside the lateral hazard (pond). Listen to your inner chicken and don't go for the fairway wood because the lie is bare. Take out your 23 degree rescue club and play a solid shot into the rough on the left. This leaves you a hell of a long way short of the green, but the first lot of fairway trees are close and the second lot are within reach too.
Take your 3 wood and play a slice so that the ball goes left of the first lot of trees and curls to the right of the second group, leaving you 45 metres short of the raised green.
Pitch ... or bump and run?
Take the percentage shot. Bump and run. Aim it about 15 feet to the right of the pin, to take the curve of the green into account. Hit a low 9 iron into the bank and watch as it jumps up on to the green and curves beautifully around and then ... disappears into the hole for a 4 for 4 points.
At the end of the round, I'd managed 33 points off a 9 handicap, which I was reasonably happy with. The greens were fast and the greenkeeper had many of the pins teetering on the edge of slopes, or the far side of the greens.
Fiona had her worst game of golf since arriving in Australia, so I didn't have to drive home.

15th tee, Fiona with her card-shredder