Interesting questions from readers

John from Elephant Butte has a “risky” question: “The golf commentators on television often talk about a “risk-reward” on certain holes. Even guys I play with use that jargon on one hole in particular which I don’t play very well.  I guess I’m struggling with the idea of trying to figure out the risks and the best way to play it.”

Dr. Golf: A typical risk-reward golf hole involves a carry over a pond or ravine, or a dogleg around a lake or some other hazard bunkers or out-of-bounds. Sometimes there’s a tempting shortcut over the trouble, but it is usually fraught with danger.

The more of the shortcut you bite off, or the farther you must carry your ball, the more you risk failure and a high score on the hole. The part of the risk-reward equation that most golfers don’t fully comprehend is the tendency to overvalue the potential reward.

Just because you clear the hazard doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed an easy birdie or eagle attempt. You may find yourself with your ball in a very awkward position or a troubled lie. The second shot on the Par-5 No. 10 at your home course, Turtleback Mountain Resort (formerly Sierra Del Rio) presented you with that very dilemma: do you try to carry the pond on the lift or lay up well to the right?

Hole No. 3, also a par 5, that goes 90 degrees right, presents long hitters with the chance of carrying their tee shot over an arroyo and getting close to the green, but at the risk of losing their ball in the hazard covered by dense thorny bushes.

The par 5 No. 9 at Picacho Hills CC and par 5 18th at Sonoma Ranch are designed with the same risk-reward situation when a player hits their tee shot is a spot with less than 250 yards to the green. Both holes, built 20 years apart, feature a pond to the left of the green, and both are very tricky.

Shots over water to a green can result in a high number even if you don’t hit it in the water, since there is often out-of-bounds, difficult bunkers, slopes and moguls around the greens and the chance of bad lies.

Golf course architects believe that what they’re doing is “protecting the golf course from par.” So, ask yourself exactly what shot you are capable of hitting quite well nine out of ten times. Hit that shot.

Linda B. from Las Cruces wonders about a slow start to a round: “How do you recover from a horrible start? This happens to me once a week. I start making a snowman and a quad and then start three-putting and I want to quit. The awful play seems to go away in several holes, but the damage is already done. How does one have fun when that happens?”

Dr. Golf: I feel your pain. What you describe is more than a “slow” start, it’s a mentally disturbing period where you are thrown into a fit of completely doubting yourself and drained of confidence. What to do?

First, you can’t undo your miserable play for the first several holes. What’s done is done. What you can do is start over again. Not in terms of score, per se, but in terms of how you are able to approach your normal ability of play. You may find that you are able to hit extraordinary shots and make a lot of putts once you settle down and get the demons out of your head.

It’s not good to think about money or win or lose. Even the best players in the world have off days and miss cuts in important tournaments. One pro once told me that I should forget the awful shots but remember the lessons that I learned from them.

Looking back at your slow starts, you might think of how you go through your warm-up routine prior to the round. You may be falling victim to focusing more on the outcome of each shot, rather than the process of playing golf. That’s how mentally tough golfers play. A lot of every-day golfers fail to play “one shot at a time,” while letting their mind wander.