Welcome to Maddi’s Caddy, a new teaching series from Golf.com. Here, the goal is to get Tour players and top coach Caddy and coach me Maddi MacClurg to score or higher. Thanks to their expert tips and tricks, we can all improve our golf IQ and lower our obstacles in the process. Make sure to view the included video at the top of this article as well.
Caddy: Keith Bennett
Bennett is the PGA Professional McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. You can follow him on Instagram.
hole:
On the Karoo route of Cabot Citrus Farms in Brooksville, Florida, the long 471-yard Par-4 1st hole.
Provided by Citrus Citrus Farm
challenge:
How to best attack a long-term, playoff 4 shots
summary:
Standing on the T-shirt box, it’s clear that the powerful headwind will make this long No. 5 more challenging. But it really excites me. I thought about kicking down, hoping my shot would ride in the wind and then go into the short grass.
As you can see in the video above, Bennett got me out of the safe game and shared some reasonable suggestions along the way.
“The bunkers in the middle will certainly get your attention,” he said. “But they do form a small part of the final left and right width we have on this fairway. With the wind’s face, I think we have to hit the ball as much as possible.”
After hitting the fairway, I was still about 200 yards away from the pin. I’ve gone a long way, a tricky downhill lie, and there’s still a lot of wind on my face. Normally, I would avoid hitting high pressure shots like fairway wood from this lie, but Bennett changed my mind.
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“We’re going to go downhill here, so the ball will be lowered,” he said. “But we do have headwinds, which will add some lifts. So, these are going to be cancelled a little.”
Knowing that the wind is about to offset the downhill lie has disturbed me and has given me confidence in fairway wood. I played well and found the green corner. From there, all I’m left with is a simple two shot – or I think.
“In the PGA Tour, [the pros] Average two putters from 33 feet. ” Bennett said.
Knowing that my goal was to get it close, I got a good book and hit a putt. Unfortunately, I didn’t use force enough – the ball was fixed a few feet from the hole and I left a hard side hill slider. Bennett and I agree that for this putter, it does lower.
While my first putt lacks distance control, thankfully it went on my second putt and I drained it.
3 things I learned:
1. Don’t drive for you: As Bennett explains, your driver is a huge asset in the course. It will give you the longest tee and give you the best chance to hit the green.
2. When choosing a club, consider elements: In my goal, Bennett explained how the headwind would offset the downhill lie, essentially canceling both factors and causing me to hit a fairly normal shot, a seemingly tricky lie. Knowing how conditions like wind or temperature affect the ball is the key to getting the club to choose the right one.
3. Manage green expectations: Two shots from 30 feet may seem like an easy task, but that’s not the case. Since we are not tour professionals, we are sure that we often make three shots from this distance, which is OK. Managing your expectations from this distance will allow you to take some stress and determine other areas of the game can use improvements.
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