New Courses... Advice?

[Scotty01292]

Guys... I need help... I've signed up to play in 8 Junior Open Competitions this season, and 5 of them are on courses i've never played before. Even 2 of the others, are on courses I don't regularly play and haven't for a while. Have you any advice for someone who steps onto the first tee and hasn't a clue where the green is? Steps onto the second tee and hasn't a clue where the green is? Steps onto the third tee and hasn't a clue where the green is? Steps onto... well... you get the point... Just try and not do anything stupid? I played a new course today, and even playing like a hacker, I still managed to play below my handicap...

[Highdraw34]

Play as many course as possible to improve your overall game. My advice for tournament play is try and play the course once before the event and take notes on every hole. Don't so much worry about score but worry more about noting possibly tough pin placements and putting intricacies.

[chollyred]

So many courses have pictures of each hole on the web now. Look around and see if you can find them. Not as good as playing, but sometimes come with reviews and hints for each hole.

[JEFF4i]

If you can't get out to the course before the tournament, something I did when I played in my Junior golf, is buy a yardage book. They rarely are no more than 8 dollars, give you tips and advice for each hole, and specific distances like how far a fairway bunker is from a tee, and how far the hole is from that bunker. It really helped me when I had to first try out a course.

[mediaguru]

Fairways and greens. Mainly forget the flag and aim for the middle of the greens...

[cabinessence]

In addition to the other advice here, make sure to watch the other players in your group closely. The two easiest way to crap away shots on a new course are 1) messing up yardages and 2) putting. There isn't much you can do about the first one except on par 3's, but you can definitely learn a lot just by studying how your opponents' putts react around the hole. Don't be embarrassed to jump behind your fellow competitor's putt to get a read.

I have trouble recommending a totally middle of the green game -- no good rounds are played that defensively, unless you're at a US Open -- but if you can't see all the trouble around a green or you have any kind of blind shot, the conservative shot is always a good option.

[Witmaster]

I like John Daly's approach...

Hit the ball as hard as you can. If you can find it... hit it again

Good luck to you. New (unfamiliar) courses are always a unique challenge. Especially when facing them in competitive play.

[Scotty01292]

Played one today... I played bad. Put my tee shot on the 1st OB, and just kept playing bad from there. NRed...