Virginia Golfer November / December 2014 | Page 10

Your Game
by DAVE PELZ
with JAMES A. FRANK

Choose

Your Side

I

I’m best known for teaching the short game
and putting. So why am I writing about tee
shots? Just as mastering the short game will
help you shoot low numbers, a sound strategy
from the tee sets up the rest of the hole, which
also leads to good scores. Plus, as I’ve watched
golfers at our schools, clinics or wherever I
happen to be, I’m constantly amazed by how
cavalierly some average amateur golfers approach the opening shot on every hole.
FIT TO A TEE
Most courses set tee markers fairly far apart,
usually 15 to 20 feet side to side. That gives
you a very big space in which to tee the ball.
Golfers don’t seem to realize that moving
from the left side of the tee to the right signifi-

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cantly changes the angle of their ideal tee shot.
If the width of the teeing area is 15 feet,
moving from one side to the other and aiming
in the correct direction can produce a margin
of error of 40, 50 or even 60 feet across the
width of the fairway. Ultimately, that can easily
be the determining factor between hitting and
missing the fairway—as well as the difference
between being in play—or in bad country.
It’s been my experience that one of the
worst things you can do is stand in the center of the tee and try to hit the ball down
the middle of the fairway. I don’t know of
any golfers who hit it dead straight on a
consistent basis. Watch tour professionals
and you’ll see that they rarely aim down
the center from the middle. They know

VIRGINIA GOLFER | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

their most consistent shot pattern and play
it, a practice amateurs should pay attention
to and adopt.
SHORT GRASS SOLUTIONS
There is not a recipe for perfect driving, but
if you typically hit the ball to the right off
the tee, you should tee the ball as far to the
right as the markers allow and aim to the left,
favoring the left edge of the fairway. If you
hit your usual fade or slice, you’re still likely
to find the right side of the fairway because
you’ve widened the landing area. If you happen to hit the ball straight, it will find the left
side of the fairway or come to rest just into
the left rough. Whatever the case may be, it’s
likely findable and still in play.

w w w. v s g a . o r g

PELZ: CLEVELAND GOLF; JOHNSON: WARREN LITTLE/R&A/GETTY
IMAGES; FURYK: KEVIN C. COX/GETTY IMAGES

The secret to finding the fairway with your
tee shot begins with knowing your tendencies