Approach strategy

Aim at the middle, almost always

The single most reliable stroke saver in golf is aiming at the centre of the green instead of the flag. It is also the hardest advice to follow, because a pin tucked behind a bunker looks like an opportunity rather than a trap.

The argument is geometric. Your shots land in a pattern around your aim point. Move that pattern toward an edge and you move part of it off the green, into the exact trouble the pin was tucked behind.

Your pattern is wider than the green is deep

Handicap	100 yd	150 yd	220 yd
5	13 yd	20 yd	30 yd
15	28 yd	42 yd	61 yd

At 150 yards a 15 handicap has a 90% radius of 42 yards. A green is rarely more than 35 yards deep. That is the whole argument. When the pattern is wider than the target, the only aim point that maximises the shots finishing on the putting surface is the middle of it.

What the miss costs from each lie

Yards to the pin	From the fairway	From the rough	What the miss costs
100	3.08	3.40	0.32
140	3.28	3.70	0.42
180	3.52	4.02	0.50
220	3.82	4.40	0.58

These are the numbers that make short-siding expensive. The penalty is not just missing the green. It is missing it on the side with no room to land the next one.

The practical version

Take the yardage to the centre, not the flag. Pick the club that carries that number with a normal swing, not your best one. Aim at the fat part of the green and accept a 30 foot putt as a good outcome.

Attack the flag when the pattern fits: a short club, a pin with room around it, and no penalty on the miss side. Yards prices that decision per hole rather than leaving it to how you feel standing over the ball.

More strategy guides

When to Hit Driver (and When Not To)Driver or 3 wood? The trade between distance and fairways, priced in strokes from the same expected-strokes model the PGA Tour uses. The answer surprises most golfers.When to Play It Safe Off the TeeLaying up feels free and is not. What 20 yards is worth in strokes, when playing safe is right, and how to tell whether the trouble you are avoiding is inside your pattern.Pre-Round Golf Strategy: A Plan for Every HoleWhat a pre-round plan contains, how to prepare for a tournament or a course you have never played, and why a plan beats practice for golfers short on time.How to Lower Your Handicap Without Practising MoreThe strokes most golfers lose are decisions, not swings. Three habits that cost more than your technique, and how to improve when you cannot get to the range.

Every figure on this page is read at build time from the same expected-strokes and dispersion tables the Yards engine runs on, for a mid handicap. Your own numbers will differ, which is the point.