With the par-5 8th hole at Caledonia as the setting, Charlie Rymer’s here to show us how laying up isn’t just the “easy way out.” In this case, as he demonstrates the options, the layup shot can put you in the best position for carding a red number.
So I’ve hit a good drive here and I’ve left myself with 235 yards over water, and I’m a little too old and a little too fat to be going for that, especially this morning. So what I’m going to do is lay up. Now a layup shot is something that a lot of people don’t give much thought to, and that’s a mistake. Because if you’re smart with how you lay up, you can create a ton of opportunity during the course of the round.
Now I happen to know exactly how far I hit my wedges, I’ve got four wedges. I had them 80, 95, 110, and 125. And I’m really comfortable with the full swing hitting all four of those wedges those distances. So at 235 here becomes a little bit of an exercise in math. I want to have 80 left. 80, 155 is 235. So if I’ve done my math correct and I hit my eight iron, and don’t forget to pick out a target, in this case, I’m going to go right at the flagstick.
If I hit my eight iron, nice and standard 155, that’s going to leave me a really comfortable third shot at 80 yards. And 9 times out of 10, or 6 times out of 10, or every now and then, from 80 yards I’m going to hit it really close to the hole, and you will too.