Choose the Boring Shot More Often

Plan From the Trouble Backward

Before choosing a club, identify where you cannot afford to finish. Water, out-of-bounds and dense trees should shape your target more than the flag does. Aim for an area that accommodates your normal shot pattern, not a line that requires your best swing of the month.

On the tee, ask whether driver offers a useful advantage on this hole. A shorter club is not automatically safer; it still needs a sensible landing area. Choose the club and target together, considering distance, hazards and the approach you will leave.

Play Your Real Distances

Use the carry you normally produce with solid contact, rather than the longest shot you remember. Allow for wind, elevation and temperature without pretending every adjustment can be exact. If you are unsure whether a hazard is reachable, get reliable distance information before committing.

For approaches, a broad section of green is often a better target than a tucked flag. Your goal is to leave a manageable next shot even when contact is imperfect. Notice where short, long and sideways misses finish; the safest choice changes from hole to hole.

• Identify the expensive miss before selecting a target.
• Check both carry distance and the likely landing area.
• After trouble, choose the clearest route back into play.

Let One Mistake Stay One

After a poor shot, reassess from the new position. Do not select a risky recovery merely because you feel owed a good result. If a low punch back into play is the shot you can execute reliably, take it and rebuild the hole from there.

Around the green, choose a simple route when the lie and available space allow it. Afterward, record a decision you would repeat and one you would change. Keep that review separate from the score: a sensible choice can still produce a bad bounce, and a reckless one can occasionally work.

You do not need a heroic recovery to prove you belong on the course.