Golf Tips: Choose Clubs to Match the Course

Phil Mickelson does some seemingly crazy things with his golf equipment setup.  A couple of years ago he put two drivers in the bag for the Masters.  One driver was draw biased and one was fade biased.  During the U.S. Open Phil opted to swap his driver for a strong 3-wood.  Most notably, Phil won the British Open this past week with no driver in the bag and five wedges.  What can we learn from Phil? Club The Course Phil Mickelson pulled the driver out of his bag for Muirfield because the club, for him, was not a good choice.  Driver for Phil brought more trouble into play.  Plus the hard fairways meant that woods or long irons would produce tee shots which were plenty long, but would be more accurate.  In this Open in particular, accuracy was paramount to blasting driver. The next time you play a course, try to choose a club setup which matches what the course favors.  If you are playing a short and tight course, perhaps having more long irons or hybrids in the bag is better than having a driver in the bag.  If you are playing a long course, a driver and more fairway woods may be better choices in leu of carrying multiple wedges. If the course is familiar, think about previous rounds and the shots/clubs you usually use.  Think about clubs you rarely use and pull them from the bag in favor of a club you may use more. If the course is unfamiliar, research online or get ahold of a scorecard.  Analyze the yardages from the tee set you'll be playing and play a virtual round in your head.  Pick clubs for yardages you expect to be playing.