Tips and Strategy

Tips for Beginning Links Golfers

Part 1: Risk Versus Reward

By Alex McLain

Golf is a game of environment and self.  While you can, and often do, play against opponents, golf remains one of the few competitive sports in which your actions do not affect the other player (psychological impact notwithstanding). That is the beauty and frustration of golf. You have no one to blame but yourself and the course (although I find yelling at the ball helps). It is for that very reason that you will find the occasional club snapped angrily in two, lying discarded next to the trash. The upside is that you have no one but yourself to congratulate when the line of your putt is so true and your stroke so smooth that even forty feet of a radical S-curved break can't stop your ball from dropping into the middle of the cup.  Such is the agony and ecstasy of the game.

Links, in all its incarnations, simulates golf in every way that it can, and so it too becomes a game that involves your better judgment as well as the subtle perils of your chosen course.  Links is so true to life that you can successfully translate your real-life golfing strategy directly to the computer.  This article, then, does not offer the technical strategy for the Real Time Swing, or tips on how to properly decipher the putting grid.  Instead, you'll find some basic tips for beginning golfers along with some warnings against typical pitfalls that threaten good solid strategy.  If you're a veteran of Links, or golf in general, you'll probably not learn anything new, but a refresher never hurts.

Rarely in golf, or any sport for that matter, does a rash choice net you any great gain.  Instead, an impulsive decision will most likely bury you in the mud, or get your ball swallowed by a hungry water hazard. The careful balancing act between risk and reward is something that will come into play on every shot. A good rule of the thumb for those taking their first strides out onto the course is, "the safe shot is the right shot."

Here are a few examples:

• Should I or should I not hit the driver? This is a battle of willpower you'll face on every par 4 or par 5 hole. Until you have precision control, though, I suggest only using your driver on long par-5 holes with a fairway as wide as a pasture. The driver may be long off the tee, but it's not very accurate. Instead, use a 3-wood or higher for more accuracy.
• The question of whether or not to "lay up" (that is, hit the ball safely in front of green, and don't try to strike it directly onto the green) on the second shot of a par-5 is one of the most common dilemmas you'll find yourself in. The temptation of reaching the green in two with a shot at eagle and a virtual guarantee of a birdie is a burning one. However, most par-5s treacherously surround their greens with wicked bunkers and other hazards that simply wait to gobble up errant shots. My advice: you'd better lay up if it's going to take a wood to reach the green. A golf ball rolls hot off the face of a wood, and you're going to need some control in order to land it safely on the putting surface.
• Play the safe angles. Like everything else in golf, it's always the wrong angles that are the most attractive. Take the typical dog-leg hole for example: the safe shot will usually be to strike the ball into the fat part of the fairway just before the curve. However, the straight line over the rough and past the curve looks that much more attractive, as it gets you closer to the hole. I implore you though to go for the safe, wide fairways. Follow the natural "lines" of the hole.
• Yet another temptation is to believe your inner voice, the one that always seems to tell you that "longer is better." Ignore this sentiment—beat it back with the proverbial broom, or perhaps more appropriately, a golf club. If you're teeing up on a 410-yard, par-4, and you're choosing between your driver (275 yards) and your 3-wood (250 yards), the 25-yard difference is not going to be significant; what will be significant, however, is your sacrifice in accuracy if you choose the higher distance club.

These are just a few short examples of the kinds of dilemmas you'll face out on the course.  Like the title says, it all comes down to risk versus reward.  There's never a cut and dried answer—that's part of what makes the game great— but I urge you begin with a conservative strategy, and move toward edgier shot selection as your skills strengthen and your confidence grows.  Look again soon for further tips and insights for the beginning player.  Until next time, this is Insider, out!