With the winter winds coming in and our greens starting to quicken up, where you leave the ball relative to the pin position will become very important for scoring.

If pin positions are tucked tight and a perfect shot required to stay under the flag giving an uphill putt on the very slick greens, it is just not smart to gamble and risk having a three putt after nearly pulling off the perfect chip or pitch.

When the surfaces get very slick, it is smart to go and look at the green and start planning not only your next shot but where you should leave the ball to make the next one a high percentage chance. Even if you have to leave the ball a few paces away, but have an uphill or level putt, this is better than a crazy two/ three meter putt downhill / side hill, that the ball can get out of control with it missing at the first attempt .

This is one of the reasons why many players struggle at US Opens because they don’t treat the course setup with respect and play positional golf, they just continue to gamble and try to out muscle/ play the course. This behaviour of play has certainly increased through the advances in technology of equipment and the perfection in course maintenance and the way they play regular Tour events.

So when the conditions and course setup are tough, if we play smart, a great deal of fun can be had in creating a quality score through positional play and not gambling and hoping.

Enjoy getting yourself into good position around those greens and saving that extra shot again and again. Have fun and enjoy your golf.