Major championship golf is here once again. As the top golfers in the world compete at Oak Hill Country Club this week at the PGA Championship, everything will be a little bit bigger. The rough will be longer, the grandstands taller and the stakes larger. Every shot will be magnified as all eyes in the world of golf turn to Rochester, N.Y.
With the major championship setup players will face, mistakes will be amplified, too. Errant shots will be punished, and even so-so strikes could get the players into some trouble.
With the razor thin margin for error of the punishing setup, players will have to be smart about how they tackle the course. Flag hunting — even with a wedge in hand — will rarely be the correct play.
The weekend warrior can learn a little something watching the pros play this way. All too often, recreational players will aim at the flagstick with reckless abandon, ignoring the punishment that comes from hitting a shot that is anything less than perfect.
According to GOLF Top 100 Teacher Tony Ruggiero, this is one of the biggest mistakes amateurs make on the course. And it’s one that, if corrected, can save several strokes per round.
“They aim at the flag on every shot — especially wedges,” Ruggiero says. “They don’t take into account where they should leave it at all.”
You’ll often hear pros talk about leaving themselves in the right places when they miss, and that comes from knowing how to attack the golf course. Instead of just looking at the flagstick and aiming toward it, they consider where the smartest place to aim is and go from there.
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Focusing on the flagstick is an easy trap to fall in to. After all, it is placed in the cup so you can see where the hole is cut. But just looking at the flag is a crucial misstep — and that includes when getting the correct yardage.
“Recreational players just shoot the flag,” Ruggiero says. “They don’t take into account how far they need to carry the ball and things like that. They need to be smarter about their targets as opposed to just looking at the flag and hitting at it.”
When watching the PGA Championship this week, try to get a feel for how the players think their way around the course. Listen to the conversations they have with their caddies and try to figure out what their yardages and targets are. Most of the time, you’ll find that the flagstick is only one part of the equation when deciding what shot they want to hit.
If you can take that sort of thinking into your own rounds, you’re sure to save some shots.