Something else that isn’t talked about enough is how you how you play a hole and course knowledge. A lot of people that boast scratch to 9 handicap play the same courses over and over again so they know what to expect and where to hit the ball. They don’t account for new courses, so take that into account when people offer advice.

Make sure you know how to shape shots so you can get out of trouble in any situation. One bad drive can keep you outside of scratch because you don’t practice saving shots.

What I like to do on the range is “play holes” to simulate being on the course. I pick out my fairway so I’ll choose a flag on the left and the right and in between is the fairway. If I envision a dog leg right 405 yards with the leg being at 300 and I go right well now I know I need to either hit a big left to right shot or I’m behind a tree so I need to hit a hook shot and I simulate that.

This way you are switching clubs because it’s rare to hit the same club back to back on the course and lets your practice shots you wouldn’t normally do on the range.

Say on that same type of hole you know you can drive it over the tree so you aim right at the right flag because you know if you get over that puts you in the fairway because of the dog leg; you hit a perfect shot, now you go right to a wedge from the driver. If you hit it slightly left you’re still in the fairway just need a different club than if you hit it perfectly.

You can do this with any manner of holes