Although everyone will tell you that the short game is the most important, you still want to hit the ball longer. I can understand that.

The idea is that if you want to make a par on a 380-meters hole, you have to be able to hit the first shot at least 220 meters. That still leaves you with 160 meters, which is pretty far to be able to hit a green that is only 30 or 40 meters wide. And you do not only want to hit the green, you want the ball to land close enough to the pin. A very difficult task.

So, you take out your driver and concentrate on hitting the shot as hard as you can. And the result is that you either top the ball so that it ends up a few meters ahead of your feet, or it slices off into the deep bushes, never to be found again. If you are lucky you now have one attempt to let the ball fly some 360 meters, over the trees, clear the sand trap and land on the green. It is hopeless!

Here is what I did. First of all, my handicap was not so low that I had to play pars. Bogeys and Double Bogeys were enough to give me 3 or 2 Stableford points on most holes. So I played carefully. I picked the club that, if I was only able to hit the ball straight, would not get me into trouble. My shots would not reach the sand trap or the water. I positioned the ball in front of the hazards and with one or two more easy shots I was on the green. And the good part is that with an easy shot to the green, the ball is usually lying much closer to the hole so the chances are quite good that I may use only one putt to make up for the extra shot on the fairway.