Tour players aim at the flag less often than you'd think. Club golfers aim at it almost every time. That's backwards, because the bigger your spread of shots, the more it pays to aim away from trouble.
Your shots are a pattern, not a point
Hit ten 5 irons and they won't all finish in the same place. For a typical 15 handicap they'll spread across an area wider than most greens. When you aim at the flag, you're putting the middle of that pattern on the flag, and half of it goes wherever the trouble is.
So the question isn't "where's the flag?" It's "where can I put the middle of my pattern so the fewest shots finish in trouble?"
A real example: the 7th on the Brabazon
The 7th at The Belfry is a 171-yard par 3 from the white tees. A lake fills the ground between the tee and the green, short and right of it, with bunkers around the green.
For a 15 handicap, our plan is a 5 iron aimed 24 yards left of the flag. That sounds a long way left. But a shot aimed at the flag brings the whole right side of the pattern over the water. Aimed left, most misses finish in the rough left of the green, where a chip and two putts still makes four.
How far away should you aim?
- Water or out of bounds on one side: aim so the edge of your normal pattern just reaches the trouble. For most club golfers that's 10 to 25 yards away from it.
- Bunkers only: aim less far away. A bunker costs you about half a shot; water costs you a full shot or more.
- Trouble on both sides: aim at the middle of the green, and take a club that's easy to control.
- No trouble: now aim at the flag.
See it on your course
Bag to Flag works this out for every shot. It simulates your pattern, from your handicap or your own shot spread, and finds the target that costs the fewest shots. Then it shows you exactly how far to aim from the flag.
