So, when you play golf do you just grab your driver on every hole, walk to the tee and let it rip? Or when you need to make a miracle shot over the water, you just go for it and then complain later when you have an 8 staring at you on your scorecard? How about when you slice one in the trees, do you just try and hack it out through any opening you can making sure it is going forward?

If so, you have probably experienced what all golfers experience. Golfing remorse. That's right, golfing remorse. You go out to play a good round and then all of a sudden you have to make a miracle shot to try and save a hole. You have to hit it 180 over water to get to the green and you go for it. Then, when you see your ball go into the water, you get remorseful because you knew deep down that you couldn't make it anyway.

There is no way a pro would do that. You know why? They always eliminate the worst score they can shoot. They take danger out of play. They play to their strengths not their weaknesses. Instead of taking risky shots they aren't sure they can execute, (with exception of Tiger), they take shots they know are higher percentage and execute those.

So, how do you think your way around a course or manage it better? First of all it starts on the tee box. Look at the shape of the hole. Realizing how you normally hit the ball will determine where you should tee your ball from. For example, if it is a dogleg right and you tend to slice the ball, then you should tee your ball in the extreme right corner of the tee box. Why? Well, you will more than likely start your ball down the left side of the fairway and if it slices, it will slice into the fairway. A much better place to be than in the rough wouldn't you agree? Another example is you do slice it into the woods, you have a shot that would required you to slice it around trees to get to the green. Instead of trying the miracle shot, why not punch it out so you have a clear shot to the green on your third shot. Chances are you can get it on from there and if you are close enough still can make a par. Worst case scenario is you bogey. What I am trying to say here is, when you can eliminate making a big number, you should try it.

Let's say you normally hit your 7 iron 145 yards in the air. You are facing an uphill approach shot with a sandtrap in front. The yardage is 146. Would you take out your 7 iron and need to nail it exactly to clear the trap? Probably, so why not take out a 6 iron, take a nice smooth swing and take the trap out of play? Now, you are putting instead of trying to blast out of the sand, (another weak part of your game) and make par that way.

You see the game can be a lot more fun and you can shoot a lot lower scores if you just take a few minutes and think about what you are doing. If you read one of my other articles, I talked about not worrying about things in between shots and that still holds true here. All you are doing though is thinking about what is your best opportunity for execution. In some cases, you may even have to go away from the hole to give you the advantage you need.

Here's the bottomline. The next time you go out and play, instead of just teeing it up, hitting it as far as it can go and then just hacking it from everywhere it lands, think about how you can maximize your strengths on every shot. I know you will shoot a better round because everyone I talk to about this and does it has the same experience. They can't believe how easy it was and how much better they played. I am sure if you do this, you will experience the same thing. So, what do you have to lose? Maybe a few strokes and you will probably win all three sides of your Nassau bet.