Welcome to Maddi’s Caddie, a new instruction series from GOLF.com. Here, the goal is to have tour players and top coaches caddie and guide me, Maddi MacClurg, to a score of par or better. Thanks to their expert tips and tricks, we can all boost our golf IQ and lower our handicaps in the process. Make sure to check out the accompanying video at the top of this article, too.
The caddie: Keith Bennett
Bennett is a PGA professional McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. You can follow him on Instagram here.
The hole:
The long, 471-yard par-4 1st hole at the Karoo Course at Cabot Citrus Farms in Brooksville, Fla.
The challenge:
How best to attack a long, into-the-wind par-4
The rundown:
Standing on the tee box, it was clear that the strong headwind was going to make this lengthy par-4 even more challenging. But it was the double-fairway design that really psyched me out. I considered clubbing down in hopes my shot would ride under the wind and find its way into the short grass.
As you can see in the video above, Bennett talked me out of the safe play and shared some sound advice in the process.
“The bunkers down the middle are definitely going to draw your attention,” he said. “But they do make up a very small portion of the ultimate left-to-right width that we have in this fairway. And with this wind into the face, I think we gotta hit the ball as far as we can.”
After hitting the fairway, I was still about 200 yards from the pin. I had a long way into the green, a tricky downhill lie and still a lot of wind into the face. Normally I’d avoid hitting a high-pressure shot like a fairway wood from this lie, but Bennett changed my mind.
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“We’re going to be off a downhill here, so the ball is going to come out lower,” he said. “But we do have a headwind which is going to add a little bit of lift. So those are going to cancel out a little bit.”
Knowing that the wind was going to counteract the downhill lie eased my nerves and gave me confidence over my fairway wood. I hit it well and found a corner of the green. From there, all I had left was a simple two-putt — or so I thought.
“On the PGA Tour, [the pros] average two putts from 33 feet,” Bennett said.
Knowing that my goal was to get it close, I got a good read and hit the putt. Unfortunately, I didn’t hit it hard enough — the ball settled a few feet short of the hole and I was left with a tough side-hill slider. Bennett and I agreed that for this putt, it really came down to speed.
While my distance control was lacking on my first putt, thankfully it came through on my second and I drained it for par.
3 things I learned:
1. Don’t bench your driver: As Bennett explained, your driver is a huge asset on the course. It is going to give you the most length off the tee and give you the best chance of hitting the green on your approach.
2. Remember to account for the elements when selecting your club: On my approach shot, Bennett explained how the headwind was going to counteract with the downhill lie, essentially canceling out the two factors and allowing me to hit a fairly normal shot off a seemingly tricky lie. Knowing how conditions like the wind or temperature affect the ball is key to making the right club selection.
3. Manage expectations on the green: A two-putt might seem like an easy task from 30 feet, but that’s not the case. Since we’re not tour pros, it’s safe to assume we’ll three-putt from this distance more often than not, and that’s OK. Managing your expectations from this distance will allow you to take some of the pressure off your putting and identify other areas of your game that could use improvement.
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