Hello Golfers. I hope everyone is enjoying our weather. It looks like Mother Nature decided to give us a summer.

This week we have a question from Jason in Edmonds. He said that he is a 10-handicap and plays about once a week. He is looking to lower his handicap and says that he is a decent ball striker and has an above average short game.

His assessment of his game is that he should be scoring better than he does given his ball striking. Given these comments I am thinking that help with course management will help him get more out of his game.

My first comment regarding course management is that it is not just for better players. Even the beginning/high handicap player can benefit from working on course management. There are numerous aspects of course management that needs to be addressed, however for this article we will focus on just a couple.

First there is the concept of risk/reward. Simply, this means the higher the risk generally the higher the reward. Where players get in trouble is when they don’t objectively know their strengths and weaknesses. Everyone hits that flop shot over the bunker and wants it to stop on a dime. However, very few are proficient enough with that shot to even make an attempt during a round.

For most players risk/reward should refer to this thought: “What chance do I have to pull this off?” If the answer is anything less than darn good, then don’t try it. Maybe hit the flop but try and get the ball to the middle of the green.

This more conservative target will give the player a margin for error that complements the player’s abilities. Using this rationale will turn triple bogeys into double bogeys or even bogeys.

The second course management concept is approach shots to the green. Hitting approach shots to the green seems to be a very straightforward concept. Take a club that you can hit to the flag, aim and fire away. Unfortunately this attitude can have disastrous results.

Think about this: if your ball was in the center of any green you play, what would be the farthest putt you could have? For most greens that would be 45 feet or so — not a bad place to be.

The first consideration is club selection. It is my experience that you can stand at the back of the green all day at your local public course and hardly ever come close to getting hit by a ball and that is because most players don’t take enough club. More accurately they overestimate their ability to consistently hit a club a certain distance. Just because you hit 7-iron 165 yards once doesn’t mean that is the distance for your 7-iron.

Think about this, you hit 100 balls in an open field making good, average swings with a 7 iron. You step off the yardage from where you hit the balls to the landing area with the first ball at 140 yards and the farthest ball at 160 yards. Your yardage for your 7-iron is 150 yards.

When playing an approach shot, always plan for your misses to be to the wide side of the green or the side of the green away from trouble. If the pin is in left side of the green, play your shot to the middle of the green and allow for your miss to be to the right side of the green.

If the pin is in the back of the green, play towards the front. This will allow easy recovery shots and reduce your scores.

Send your questions to tyroneh@ballingerlakegolf.com. Tyrone Hardy is a Class A PGA member and is the director of golf at Ballinger Lake Golf Course. For more information about the course, see www.ballingerlakegolf.com and “friend” us on Facebook.