Mike Clayton's Pro Tips
How to use a Laser Rangefinder and improve your golf!
Players need to have a reasonable understanding of how far they hit each club. There are a couple of ways to measure how far you fly each club. You can measure the clubs individually or you can simply do what I did a long time ago and measure how far the nine iron flies then the six and the three iron or the hybrid. You can work out the rest from there. My nine is around 123 meters, the six is between 150 and 155 meters. The three iron is a little more varied depending on the conditions but 175 meters is around the mark. The 3 or 4 degrees loft between clubs equates to about ten meters – making my 8 iron a 133m club.
It is only worth measuring the distance the ball flies – and not where it finishes. The easiest way to do that is to go onto the course because you can easily find the pitch mark on the green and determine the exact carry. It is also well worth measuring the wedges because the shorter the club the more important it becomes to get the right length on the shots. My wedge is right on 105 meters. The 54 degree club flies around 90 meters. It is important to measure the shots using the same type of ball you use on the course. Using a low quality range ball is not that helpful. It is useful to write the distances down initially but in no time you should have them imprinted in your brain.
Pros know the distances
They fly the short clubs exactly the distance they know and that is where they save most shots. When you are playing well the difference bewteen 102 metres and 110 is important. I know I can fly a slightly less than full wedge 102 but that I cannot get one to fly 110 unless I thrash it and that is no way to hit decent wedges. For me that is a little nine iron pitch – or I know that if I take the wedge I am going to have a four or five metre putt up to the hole and there are times when that is no disaster. If there is trouble over the back of the green you may be better off with the longer putt.
Peter Fowler is one pro with a terrific feel for the pitch shots and often I see him on tour practicing shots from, say, 89 meters. Perhaps you don’t need to go to that obsessive length but having a feel for 85,90,95 and 100 metre shots will help you score better. Learn how to make the strength of swing you need to propel the ball a certain distance by making quarter,half and full swings with each of your pitching clubs.
Course Management
Par five holes are often best played with a club less than a driver off the tee. Determine if you have a chance to reach the green in two shots on the tee. If it is within reach by all means take the driver and then the three wood. If you are playing it as a three shot hole it is often better to take a three wood or even a hybrid club off the tee, plot your way along and rely on an accurate short iron. If I drive into trouble on a par five and have no chance to reach the green I still like to know the yardage to the green so I can work out how far I need to go with the second shot in order to get a reasonable distance for the third shot. If, for example, I am 270 metres from the hole I would ideally like to get at least 120 meters out of the second shot in order to leave a reasonable third. If I was 240 from the hole I would take less of a risk with the second shot because 140 meters is a way more manageable number than 170. 170 is fine if that is all I can do but I would much rather have 140.
