We have spoken about job 1. Now its time to figure out how to do that for 18 holes at Sheshan.
Job 1 is "Get it in Play". If you do that 18 times in a round of golf, chances are that you will be able to get into some rhythm of "Fairways and Greens" because you will be playing from the short grass.
What is the architect trying to make me do?
Golf course architects have a considerable bag of tricks available to them in designing holes that can present a variety of challenges to players. Most of these challenges are visual, using illusions and penalty areas to effectively "mess with your head" and influence your shotmaking decisions and ability to execute.
Every layout comes with the a range of design features meant to put some questions in your head. Some of those questions are "can I stop the ball in there?", "can I carry it that far?", "where is the landing area?", etc.
Game Plan Development for Sheshan GC
Sheshan is known as a long course that puts a demand on your ability to get the ball in play. Accordingly, you know that your tee-shot game is going to be tested over the 4 days at the Asia-Pacific Championship. You will be playing some strong tee shots, but you will need a plan that includes club, shot shape, starting line, landing area and best place to miss. These plans may be very different based on the wind directions and strengths that you encounter over the 4 days.
We will talk more about approach shots and green complexes in later blogs, but for now we want to focus on getting the ball in play 18 times each round without putting maximum pressure on your game. There is no need to be swinging "out of your socks" on every shot, particularly if you know that some of your most efficient swing, contact & flight numbers come from a sub-max swing speed.
Plan A & Plan B Tee Shots
You need a Plan A and a Plan B Tee Shot for each of the wind conditions at Sheshan Golf Course. This is essential to putting together a high quality Game Plan for the course.
A "Plan A" tee shot is the highest percentage swing, club, trajectory and shape in your bag to get the ball to land and finish "in play" given the challenges built into that hole by the architect. In some situations a Plan A tee shot may be related to your standard game and normal ability to control the ball flight and landing characteristics. In other cases it may be related to your technique and rhythm control - for example, if I am swinging well and controlling the movement of my draw well, then my Plan A tee shot is to be aggressive and get the ball in the left half of the fairway.
A Plan B tee shot can relate to perhaps a more conservative target, a more appropriate target for the wind conditions blowing that day, or a swing feel that while not being your first choice for the shot allows you to swing away knowing that the ball will react in a predictable fashion. For example, you may have a swing that will flight the ball down and move just 5-10 yards left to right. This kind of "go to" shot may well be a good choice when you are a little nervous, or perhaps when you are wondering whether you can carry a bunker, etc.
Remember, you are playing a 4 round stroke play event, not the World Championship Wrestling version of the Long Drive Championship!
What We Are Going To Do Next
We are going to make a study of each of the 18 tee shots at Sheshan GC, and figure a way to settle on the best place for you to aim at, the line to start the ball on, the best way for you to move the shot, the best set of feels to use to produce the shot, and the best rhythm to use when you are over the ball.
What do you think would be a realistic goal for Sheshan for your game? How about getting the ball in play using your Plan A or Plan B tee shot on 75% of the holes each day? That would mean 13-14 tee shots flying and stopping as predicted, made with swings that you could feel before you even teed the ball up. This is the stuff of confidence building and momentum development. It is what "executing" refers to. Why try to play a shot that is not even in your bag? Ray Floyd would call this stuff "playing golf".
JC
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