Have you ever addressed your ball only to ask yourself if you have the right club for the shot? There should have been some process that you had gone through to get to that point. But, did you just walk up to the ball thinking only about the distance that you have in between us in the hole? Or was there a process to determine what club you selected. Let’s take a look at a pre-shot checklist for approach shots that could lead to better club selections, hitting more greens and thus leading to lower scores.

The first thing you should find for the shot is the correct distance to the hole. This may mean taking a walk around your golf ball to find the closest sprinkler head indicating the distance to the hole. Many of these yardages are representative of the distance to the middle of the green. Many courses also have yardage stakes indicating 100, 150, and 200 yards to the green. The next distance consideration needs to be the pin placement on the green. Is it front, middle or back? Taking into account how much distance needs to be added or subtracted from your original distance will result in closer approaches and closer putts.

Once the yardage has been determined between you and the hole, take into account where the wind is coming from and how hard it is blowing. Go ahead and pull some blades of grass from the ground throwing them straight up, allowing the grass to fully disperse. Now pay close attention to what direction the blades of grass have flown and how fast they are being pushed to the ground. By way of this exercise, you can more easily decide how many extra clubs the wind may be hurting or helping you. Selecting the right club for the wind condition will allow you a better chance of hitting more greens.

Brett Bennett