Every golf course has them – at least one short and seemingly easy par 4. A short par 4 adds a lot of excitement to your average golf course. At my course there are two easy par 4′s. There’s always at least one trick to the easy par 4 if they are well-designed. On both the short par 4′s, the greens are lightning fast. So even if you are left with a 50 yard approach after your drive, leave it below the hole or putting could be a many-stroked nightmare.
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If you want to break 80 and can’t seem to break away from your fixation on shooting par for each hole, then create your own personal par. Let’s face it, we are all so wrapped up in the idea of par that, by default, it becomes our goal for the hole as soon as we step on the tee box. Usually, this fixation on scoring par is our downfall in breaking 80.

If you shoot around 80 or break 90 on a regular basis then you can score a par on every hole on the golf course. At one time or another, you have parred every hole on your home course if you have played it enough. I’ll even venture to say that you’ve probably birdied almost every hole on that course at one time or another. I’ve birdied every hole on my home course multiple times. Unfortunately, these experiences lead us to falsely believe that we can par all the holes in a given round. You may not start with the expectation that you will shoot 72 but as you get to each tee box your goal becomes par for that particular hole. You might as well have set out to shoot 72 from the very get-go.
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If you have ever come close to breaking 80 then you know what playing under pressure is like. Let’s say you get through fifteen holes and realize that you need to par the last three holes in order to break 80. All of a sudden the throat gets a little tight, the mouth gets a little dry and the swing gets a little loose.

For me, the most similar recent experience that comes to mind was when I was trying to par the back nine at a golf league outing. I was one under par with two holes to go. I bogeyed the 17th hole and had to par the last to shoot 35 (even par for the back). I hit my approach over the green and I had a tough downhill chip out of deep rough that I had to hit with perfect touch to get it close. I got it to about six feet from the hole. As you can see, there was no relief as the pressure built on each shot. I somehow sank the putt and shot 35. Just like when you are trying to break 80, the pressure can build on each shot.
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When I look over some of my best scoring rounds, I realize that one thing they all have in common is I rarely used the driver. In fact, sometimes I didn’t use my driver at all and still shot one of my best rounds. This is because it is more important to keep the ball in play than to hit it far.

I’ll repeat that point just in case you didn’t get it the first time: IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO KEEP THE BALL IN PLAY THAN TO HIT IT FAR.
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