Course Management Basics: The hidden fundamental

September 15, 2025 · ByCorbs

Course management is the hidden skill that can save you many shots per round. We spend countless hours on the driving range trying to perfect our swing. We chase that feeling of a pure strike, convinced that a better swing is the only path to lower scores. But what if I told you that the fastest way to shave 5, 7, even 10 strokes off your handicap has almost nothing to do with your swing mechanics?

Welcome to the world of course management. It's the art of thinking your way around the golf course. It's about playing a strategic game, like chess, where you're always thinking one or two shots ahead. It's the skill that turns a potential 92 into a solid 88, or an 85 into a 79, simply by making smarter decisions.

Good course management is about raising the floor of your bad shots, not just chasing the ceiling of your great ones. Let's look at the core principles.

Principle #1: Play the Percentage Play, Not the Hero Shot

We've all been tempted by the "hero shot." It's that one-in-a-hundred shot: the high cut with a 3-wood through a tiny gap in the trees; the 240-metre carry over water to a par 5. Pulling it off feels incredible, but the other 99 times, it leads to a triple bogey and a ruined hole.

Smart golf is about playing the percentages. Instead of the high-risk hero shot, you choose the boring, sensible option that almost guarantees a decent outcome.

In the trees? Don't look for the miracle gap. Find the biggest opening back to the fairway, even if it's sideways or slightly backwards. Take your medicine, chip it out, and give yourself a chance to save par or bogey.
Long carry over water? Unless you are absolutely certain you can make it, lay up to a comfortable wedge distance. A good wedge shot and one putt is a par. A ball in the water is a guaranteed double bogey.

The goal of course management is to eliminate the big numbers. A bogey won't kill your round. A string of doubles and triples will.

Principle #2: Know Your Stock Shot (and Your Miss)

You need to be honest with yourself about your game. What is your reliable, go-to shot shape under pressure? For 90% of amateur golfers, this should be a gentle fade. It's a more controllable and predictable shot than a draw.

Just as important is knowing your "miss." When your swing is a little off, where does the ball tend to go? A bigger fade? A pull? If you have a two-way miss (both a slice and a hook are in play), that is the number one thing you need to fix with your swing.

Once you have a predictable one-way miss, you can use it to your advantage.- - If your stock shot is a fade, you should almost never aim down the right side of a hole. Aim down the left-centre of the fairway. If you hit your stock shot, it drifts back to the middle. If you hit your miss (a bigger fade), you're in the right rough but still in play. You've used your shot shape to take the trouble on the right side completely out of the equation.

Principle #3: The Middle of the Green is Your Best Friend

Amateur golfers are obsessed with "pin hunting." They see a flag and they aim at it, no matter how dangerous the location. Pros, on the other hand, aim for the middle of the green far more often than you think.

Learn to identify the "sucker pin." This is a pin position tucked just over a deep bunker, right next to a water hazard, or on a tiny shelf at the edge of the green. Aiming at this pin brings double bogey directly into play. A slight miss leaves you in an impossible spot.

The strategy is simple: aim for the fat part of the green.

Imagine a pin cut on the front-right of the green, just over a bunker. The smart play is to aim for the centre of the green. * If you pull it slightly, you're on the left side of the green with a long birdie putt. * If you hit it dead straight, you're in the middle of the green with a 25-foot birdie putt. * If you hit your stock fade, you'll end up right next to the pin.

By aiming for the middle, you've given yourself a huge margin for error and all but guaranteed a putt for birdie, or at worst, an easy two-putt par.

Start thinking like this on the course. Manage your misses, eliminate the big numbers, and play the percentages. It's the most rewarding and least frustrating way to play this game, and your scores will drop without you ever having to change your swing.

Course Management Basics Recap

Smart golf isn't about hero shots - it's about stacking odds. Course management starts on the tee but leans heavily on knowing your stock patterns and respecting your best-miss.

Simple rules of thumb
Favour the wide side of fairways and greens.
Take more club into wind; don't hit it harder.
Avoid bringing the big number into play - if water guards left and your big miss is a pull, aim right and accept the long putt.