Practice rounds are extremely important! Many don’t understand why and think they are a drag because they always take so long. But a practice round is important enough that they are built into the schedule for professional golfers. We all just plan on adding an addition 1-2 days onto our tournament days to account for these rounds.
Here’s why practice rounds are this important:
- It gives you and your caddy time to get familiar with the course layout. If you are familiar with the course it will take some pressure off, allowing you to be free and committed to your shots.
- It’s a time to mark up your yardage book. In case you missed our yardage book post, here’s a look at what a pro yardage book looks like and why pros use them.
- Time to strategize! For example: Figure out what clubs you are going to hit on par 3s, short par 4s and strategize how you are going to play the par 5.
- It also gets your body lose and mind set to compete. Take what you have been working on on the range to the course and work out those final kinks.
- It helps you get a good feel for the conditions of the course, speed of the greens, how thick the ruff is, the sand in the bunkers and how the ball will react from those different lies.
Everyone plays their practice round differently but remember you always need to play with a purpose. Figure out what your strategy is, play your game and do it with confidence! A practice round is always a good idea!