THE WORLD IS BEAUTIFUL

by **Paul** Tue 06 Jun 2017, 5:53 pm

27 Feb 2012 at 10:37 AM

Rather than write this 14 times throughout the walk through, I'll just say it once at the beginning. Putting backspin on the ball amplifies the effects of a mishit and it amplifies the effect of the wind, even on dinged shots. When dealing with heavy crosswinds on links courses, it's generally a good idea to keep backspin to a minimum unless you need to carry some sort of danger.

Lastly, the greens at RSG are a little slower than the other courses, enough to leave a higher percentage of good putts sitting on the lip . It's generally a good idea to give your putts a hair more power than you usually would.

by **Paul** Tue 06 Jun 2017, 5:54 pm

Hole 1

The first hole eases you into RSG. It's fairly straight forward without a lot of local knowledge to be had. It's wide, it's flat (ish), and there's not a lot of danger to avoid.

With the wind in your face or at your back, you can cheat the fairway by playing to one side or the other to minimize the amount of crosswind on your approach shot.

Drives that skirt the edges of the fairway are likely to come to rest in the rough, so try to stay at least five yards from the edges.

The Approach

The three bunkers in front of the green only come into play when there is a strong tailwind and you have to play for extra roll. With no wind or a headwind you'll fly over them.

The center pin location gives you a lot of green to work with from all directions. With a strong crosswind, play a center ball shot and try to land the ball short enough and windward enough to roll to the hole. Unless you misjudge the effect of the wind or grossly mishit your shot, you should end up close enough for a good chance at birdie.

With a strong tailwind or headwind, you should put backspin on the ball. With a headwind, you can throw a dart at this pin and have a very good chance at ending up inside 1 yard.

With a tailwind, the backspin is used to control the roll after the ball lands. Just remember that the ball will have considerably more carry with a tailwind. When allowing for the roll, aim about a yard left of the pin. The final few yards to the pin (on the left side) has a downward and to the right slope. If you get your distance correct, this ball can end up very close.

Hole 2

This is one of the few exceptions at RSG to the "no backspin from the tee" rule of thumb. The two bunkers that jut into the fairway, almost amputating the dog's leg on this dogleg left, can almost always be carried without backspin. The problem with a center ball shot from this tee is, if you carry the bunkers, you're likely to roll through the fairway and into the right side rough. Backspin will keep the ball in the fairway and help carry the bunkers, but it comes at a price.

High trajectory drivers using backspin in strong crosswinds should allow for double the effect of the wind. This may put your aiming point over the rough. I think most golfers have a mental block about aiming for rough, but if you want to score on a links course, you better get used to it.

The Approach

The green is above you 2'-14' and it's domed. Missing to the right is usually safe - you'll probably hold the green and have a difficult birdie putt or an easy two putt for par. If you miss left though, you're likely to roll off the green and down the hill, leaving a much trickier pitch to the hole.

The real danger of this green is being long (see my replay "Upslope of RSG 2 green" for a demonstration). Missing long can easily result in a 3 putt because of the severe slope. If you miss long and off line, you will almost certainly 3 putt.

(A fun shot when the opportunity presents itself, is a center ball wedge 5 yards past the hole that will roll back down to within a yard of the hole. Gimmicky, but fun).

Hole 3

A difficult, but also sometimes spectacular par 3

The dangers

Usually a long iron, or in some cases, a 3w (and for me, from the back tees, with a headwind, sometimes it's even a driver). This is very similar to the back side par 3 in that they are both two tiered greens with the pin at the front edge of the upper tier.

The most common shot is one that faceplants into the rise between the two tiers, then rolls back down the hill leaving a difficult to read 20'-30' putt that rises several feet. If you find yourself in this position, par is a good score.

With a strong tailwind, there is just as much chance of blasting right through the green and ending up in the back side rough. It's pretty easy to save par from there with a decent chip or pitch and you might even hole it out for a neato birdie. The danger is chipping too far and rolling off the upper tier. Don't hit this chip with too much power.

The tricks

There are many ways to get close to this pin and not all of them are intuitive.

The left side rough. Intentionally hanging your your ball up in the left side rough, pin high, will leave you with an entirely makeable short pitch shot to the pin. This is a good lie for strong crosswinds.

The right side bump and run. At 239 yard from the black tees, my 225 yard 3w can reach the pin with a moderate right to left tailwind. The upslope between the upper and lower portions of the green is much less pronounced on the right side. Shots to this side can reach the upper tier when shots at the pin will roll back. (see my replay "Rightside approach RSG 3")

The right side carom shot. I discovered this shot by accident one day, but now it's part of my repertoire and it's the only shot I can get close with a strong tailwind. (I'll post a replay of this shot the next time the situation comes up). With a 20+ mph tailwind and 239 yards away, I can still get within 5 yards of the pin. The green is bordered on the right side by a mini mountain range. Using a 3w and no backspin to keep it low, I aim for the face of the hill that's about pin high. The result is a shot the bounces left and rolls along the front edge of the upper tier toward the pin.

Disclaimer: This ^^^ is a low percentage shot, but pretty cool when it works.

Hole 4

A long and difficult par 4

There are tricks to this hole too.

With a tailwind, it's a grip it and rip it drive. The fairway is a little bit above you so you're going to get some extra roll. This can result in some monster drives. Allow for this when aiming because drives that are too long can easily end up in the rough.

With a headwind, you can some extra yardage off this tee by playing for the far side of this hill on the right hand corner of the fairway. When I was at Master/Tour Master with a K15 driver (250 yards), I used this shot regularly. As a legend with a G10 driver, I still use this shot. The ball will hit the far side of the hill on the downslope, then kick forward another 20 yards. This shot is so effective, forgiving, and repeatable that there are times when I will use less than full power just to get the bonus yards.

A variation on this trick shot, is playing for the inside corner of the same hill. It will also kick your ball forward, but at a slightly different angle. This shot comes into play when the headwind is so strong that you can't even reach the far side of the hill. It also comes into play when the headwind is from left to right so as to keep your ball closer to the center of the fairway.

The approach

If you had a small flat circle of modeling clay and then pinched the left side of the circle with your thumb and index finger, you would a reasonable facsimile of what this green is shaped like. This oddly shaped green leads to some interesting and creative approach shots.

Don't be short. That's the key.

The tricks

Top left corner. Hit the ridge at the highest point on the left side and it will trickle toward the hole.

Laying up right. The green has almost no slope on the right hand side, and sometimes the pin is out of reach. In these situations, playing to right will leave you a long, but entirely makeable long birdie putt.

Using the ridge. You can land your ball just short of the top of the ridge in front of the pin, then slow roll down to the hole. It will probably keep rolling past the hole, but it's pretty much what everyone tries to do anyway.

Being long. You can just say screw it, plan on being long, and end up in the far side 20-25% rough with a chip or pitch for birdie. When I birdie this hole, it's almost always from this position.

Hole 5

A lay up par 4. Local knowledge is very important to this hole.

Put it in the fairway. Seriously. If that means teeing off with a three wood, so be it. Don't try to cheat this fairway either. If you end up at the closest corner to the green, short of the rough and right of the bunkers, you know, the perfect drive, you are only slightly better off than if you played safe and hit for the smack dab center of the fairway. My advice is not to cheat this fairway, the risks outweigh the reward.

It is possible to use driver and, through dumb luck only, end up with a wedge shot to the green from 20% rough. It's possible, but not very likely. Going for this drive is a fool's errand, like not laying up on Oakmont 9. There's a 90% chance you'll be better off with 150 yards from the fairway.

The approach

This hole plays long. This hole plays long. This hole plays long. About 5% longer than what you think. Club appropriately and trust that this is the truth.

This hole punishes missing left. You can miss right and miss long by a mile and still have a long, but birdiable putt. If you miss left however, you will run off the green and have a tricky pitch back up the hill to save par. If you miss short, there is a chance your chip to the pin will also trickle off to the left and down the hill. Miss long and miss right.

Hole 6

A birdiable par 3.

There is a ton of room in front of this pin to play a bump and run with a tailwind. There is also a good chance of sticking this green close with a headwind.

The most common problem on this hole is being long. The green is below you so shots carry more than expected whether running it up to the pin or trying to throw a dart. From behind the pin, you will have a right to left breaking putt with some forgiveness built in. The break gets more severe the further right you hit your putt, so you're likely to end up at the same place even if you mishit. The trick to making this putt is speed control.

Tee shots that end up short will have to deal with the steep rise before the pin and a left to right break. Get your speed right and you should have an easy par, but don't expect to hole this putt, it's a lag.

Shots that miss left in the rough or the bunker are in the hardest position. There is no room in front of the pin and a steep downhill slope. Any shot from the bunker, or any shot from the rough greater than 10 yards is probably going to be a bogey. Avoid missing left from the tee.

Hole 7

A three shot par 5

At 573 yards from the tips, expect to have a wedge into this green. With a good tailwind, closer tee boxes, and a long driver, you can reach this in two and also hit some monster drives. Most likely though, you'll be on in three.

There's not much to this tee shot, just aim for the center. If the wind is coming from 7-8 O'clock, You can put backspin on the ball. This will give you more carry and hopefully fly the ridiculous drive-killing lumps in the fairway.

Regardless of where your tee shot goes, the second shot is the most important of also the most unassuming. Play this shot to your strengths. There aren't many opportunities at RSG to have a short wedge into a green for birdie, so don't waste this one. Plan your shot to end up at you favorite wedge distance to the pin. The fairway is wide and flat so there's no excuse for an awkward 35 yard shot at the pin.

The green is hard as a rock, so getting a long iron or fw wood to bite is unlikely. You can roll it up to the pin, but the green wants to funnel those shots left into the greenside rough, or through the green entirely.

With a 50-60 yard wedge, it's just target practice for a tidy birdie.

Hole 8

A difficult par 4

There are a lot of ways to inadvertently screw up this hole. Depending on your tee box and the wind, you can easily drive right through the end of the fairway and into 40% rough. The fairway slopes up hill for two thirds of its length, the starts sloping down hill. Even with a light headwind, it's possible to fly the crest of the fairway and land your drive on the downslope causing it to kick forward and through the end of the fairway. This is the other exception to the "no backspin from the tee" rule. Backspin here will cause your ball to land softer and roll less.

The fairway also slopes from right to left, so hug the right side as much as you safely can because you can easily roll off the left side of the fairway.

The approach

It looks simple enough. Land the ball on the ridge in the center of the green and let it roll down to the hole. It rarely works out that way.

This approach is a wind multiplier. Whatever the strength, and from whichever direction it's blowing, the wind always seems to have a greater effect than expected. This is because the green is 10'-12' below you, but strangely, doesn't really give you the extra yardage you'd expect. The wind is the driving factor on this approach.

Hole 9

From the back tees, you have to come at this fairway from an angle. From the front tees, it fairly straight on. Either way, this is a tight fairway and accuracy is the key.

The fairway predominately slopes up (allowing for the hills and lumps that comprise RSG) so don't expect any huge drives even with a strong tailwind. Just be conservative and aim for the middle.

The approach

This is the hardest shot at Royal St. George's. In order to have a good birdie chance, you have to stick this shot within 3' of the pin. Anywhere else and it's going to roll downhill somewhere. If you miss right, it's going to roll off the green leaving you with the most unforgiving pitch shot imaginable. If you miss left it's going to roll down to the center of the green after it wanders around like a drunk for a while. If you miss short or long, it will end up in one of the two positions just mentioned. Throw a 20 mph crosswind into the mix and your looking at an exciting shot.

Miss left. If you're going to miss, par is salvageable no matter where you are, but birdie is more likely from on the green than off. You'll be putting uphill no matter where you are. As long as you get your speed right, you have a chance. Hit it too hard and you'll find out what it was like from the other side. Hit it too soft and you might get to try again.

From the right, off the green.

So many shots end up here, it's worth describing this shot specifically. You're probably around 10-15 yards from the pin, on a fairway lie, and 3' below the hole. For this shot, you need a ball with some bite. I can't imagine this shot with a free wgt ball. For me, it's a pitch shot with full backspin. Add the distance and half the elevation (in yards). In other words, 14 yards out, 3' up means I'm hitting 14 + 1.5 = 15 1/2 yard pitch. With this formula, I expect to be within a yard of the hole to save par.

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