Are you familiar with the anxiety of hole number 1, especially in competition ?

Hole number 1 is usually a par 4 or par 5, and despite the inevitable pressure we feel when teeing off for the first time, we have to take the driver out of the bag.

We know that this pressure is unnecessary, but how can we avoid feeling it ? We want so badly to get off to a good start in the competition.

Yet for many players, the driver is not the most reliable club in the bag. We know we are capable of hitting a beautiful, straight drive, and we often do so on the driving range and on the course.

But this is the first hole, and with that pesky pressure, we still have to hit that near-perfect drive.

Did you read what I wrote ?

You have to take out the driver

But why ?

Can we leave it in the bag for this nerve-wracking hole ?

Let’s take the example of my competition today.

I am what is known as a bogey player. I am supposed to play bogey on every hole on average.

And I am at the tee of hole number 1 at Royal Golf Hua Hin, a par 5 that offers 545 metres from the yellow tees (which are white here).

What if we looked at this hole backwards ?

As a bogey player, I can count on my current good putting to play only two putts once on the green.

To achieve my bogey goal, I must therefore reach this green in four strokes.

My favourite club for placing the ball on the green is the pitching wedge, which I can play with a good release between 100 and 110 metres.

So I need to play my fourth shot from about 105 metres from the green.

Reminder : Par 5 of 545 metres

Shot 4 : 440 metres + 105 metres = 545 metres

So before this last shot, I had covered 440 metres in 3 shots. My third shot could have been a 7-iron or 6-iron played gently, with which I cover about 140 metres without straining.

Shot 3 : 300 metres + 140 metres = 440 metres

So I played this third shot when I had already covered about 300 metres on this fairway.

To reach these 300 metres, I may have previously played another 7-iron or 6-iron shot of about 140 metres. This was my second shot, which I played after already covering about 160 metres with my first shot.

Shot 2 : 160 metres + 140 metres = 300 metres

But to cover 160 metres from the tee, I didn’t choose my driver. When I hit a good drive, I cover about 190 to 200 metres, but as I said at the beginning, the driver is not my most reliable club.

And here, to reach my goal of 160 metres, I just need to play a very steady 3-iron, or even a well-timed 5-iron (I don’t have a 4-iron).

I could also opt for a 5-wood, which is less prone to major mishaps than my driver. And there you have it, my tee shot is ready and there’s no pressure.

Shot 1 : 160 metres

That’s how I played hole number 1 today. The two putts were on target, with an approach shot about 10 metres from the flag and a second putt from 50 cm.

I was playing with three friends who had chosen to use drivers. One of them hit a magnificent drive and ended up with a bogey.

The other two strayed into the trees and finished with a 7.

Hole number 1 isn’t that complicated when you take the pressure off.

On hole number 2, I took the driver out of my bag for a good, stress-free drive.

The scorecard at the end of the round wasn’t very good, but that’s another story.