Please leave a Comment, Like and Subscribe for more stories and lessons to help YOU improve your Golf Game.

Links to all my socials:
https://www.facebook.com/JimVenetosGolfAcademy

http://instagram.com/jimvenetosgolfacademy

Visit our School: https://jimvenetosgolfacademy.com/

Learn this skill and more with personalized instruction at the Jim Venetos Golf Academy. Your subscription includes access to hours of organized comprehensive golf instructional content, unlimited swing video analysis and unlimited communication with Jim. Learn the simplest swing in golf and improve your game today!

Read about all things golf on Jim’s free BLOG !
http://bit.ly/BlogJimVenetosGolfAcademy

SUBSCRIBE to Jim Venetos Golf Academy on YouTube:
http://bit.ly/YouTubeJVGA

Sign up for the JVGA Newsletter HERE:
http://bit.ly/NewsletterJVGA

[Music] okay this is point Tobago golf course which for the area is really a nice track was built in the ’90s it’s kind of a modern course one of the more modern courses in Maine reminds me of a oh just a nice shop maker course with Tree Line Fairways okay 533 par five I got driver just looking to hit a draw up the right center that’ll do all right so as we head down the Fairway here it’s really a very simple hole primarily it’s a three shot hole but you can go for it in two we’ll see what my lie is like okay I’m going to play this as a three shot hole I got this hanging lie here and I could try to go for it but I’d rather just have a wedge in my hand from about 90 yards let’s see what I do that’ll do so I hit four iron there and you’ll see once we get over this hill why it’s not particularly advantageous to go for this green and two if you’re familiar with economy or economics if you’re familiar with economics it’s about opportunity cost okay so the first thing I do when I get to my ball is I check my lie Li’s decent for not being in the Fairway I’m in the first cut here Ball’s sitting down a little bit I can expect the ball to jump jump maybe a little bit more than it would if it was just off the Fairway it’s going to have a little less spin on it then I check the wind and this wind here is what traditionally you might call about a club and a half wind I would call this a size seven wind that means I don’t want to make any swings over the length of a size seven for all of my irons today especially mid irons and short irons and it’s because I have a yardage card I can use that yardage card 131 I look at my yardage card hey guys sorry to pause a video like this but I thought I’d quickly explain to you what Jim’s yardage card is essentially Jim has taken every iron he uses and assign different Siz back swings from 1 to 10 one being shortest 10 being longest so for example by hitting a size 7 five iron he will be getting the distance of 180 yard each size produces different lengths of yardage I don’t want to make anything over a size seven and particularly on this shot I’d like to make a size six swing it’s a little downhill 131 I got a size 69 iron that goes 120 it’s a little downhill little flyer lie 130 just over 130 to the stick I think a size 69 iron the play and then I stand behind the ball always three Paces behind the ball I see the shot I feel the shot and I commit to the shot I find the length of swing back here that I want to have size six then I commit to it I’m looking to leave this ball under the hole not trying to get cute here it’s pretty vulnerable pin it’s right at it let’s see if it’s the right length oh that’ll do just what I wanted to do just under the hole leaves me a nice putt at birdie okay looks like I’m probably 12 13 ft there right under the hole so as you can see it’s the right trajectory it was the right play coming into this slope it oh I’m pleasantly surprised with the condition of the course okay when I read my putts first I get a look at it from behind and then from there I do a little lap around it I see inside left Edge when I first look at it plus I see a pretty big slope now I look around the green I look for some telltale signs that might reveal where the low point is and you know that’s the fun of reading greens you basically become an amateur land surveyor you try to figure it out okay so initially I saw it going right I don’t think it’s going to go right I’m going to hit this thing straight it’s up a pretty steep hill yeah now I see it going right a little bit so here’s the point where I have to commit to something I’m not sure if it’s straight or if it’s going to go a little right so I’m going to hit it inside left Edge and take my chances right now I’m seeing the putt roll inside left Edge and go in see the shot I feel the shot then I commit to the line I commit to my speed and then I accept the consequences that I get no so it looked like it was going to come left a little bit and that hill was pretty steep but hard is okay it’s a little par three 155 yds to the stick we got that size seven wind into us and the pin’s right center so I’m looking to hit a little Fade Into the pin there’s trouble right there’s no trouble left so I’d rather miss the ball left before I miss it right and I look at my yardage card and because of this wind I’m going to hit six iron I’m going to hit a size six six iron I’m going to fade it start at the center of the green ideally let it move just a little bit right so I find my length of Swing I get my sense for hitting the fade which is all explained in my school then I commit to the shot I see the shot I commit to it I believe I’m going to hit it and then I accept the consequences as I look at the green there’s trouble right all I see is the left Center and the center of the green that’s where I’m looking I’m going to feed the ball into the pin ideally I hit my little fade it’s a little right of the stick so that’s a bummer but looks like the right distance so not a bad shot you know one thing is this pin high is always closer than it looks so if you can hit it the right distance even if it’s offline it’s usually a pretty good shot yeah looks like I’m just shy of pin high or pin high so my Club selection was good size 6 six iron yeah that’ll do we got to look at it okay left myself with a good birdie opportunity and my experience as a player is telling me take advantage of this you know this course is not easy it’s demanding but if you hit good shots you can make birdies okay I see this going right to left about two cups do a little lap around it and remember when you’re playing with other people you get a chance to see how their putts roll you get a chance to poach some information off of their putts even if they’re not on the same line as you let’s say somebody’s hitting a putt from over there and I see the ball roll into the hole and from my right to left it releases quite a bit at the end that tells me that it’s downhill and my putts going to break right to left try to pay attention to what other people’s putts do see if you can’t learn something if you’re first to go then you got to figure it out but it’s kind of one of the benefits of hitting it close other people go before you and you get to learn a little something so I like two cups now I’m just trying to figure out my speed committing to my line now I’m seeing the ball roll in the hole I see the speed I see the line see what I get short shorten in the heart okay so I’m learning learning these greens and as I learn if I’m making pars my life isn’t so bad so I’m even through two and as much as kind of feel like I missed an opportunity there I’m going to put it in the past and focus on the future nothing I can do about it good or bad there’s nothing I can do about it so just carry on and give my best attention to the next hole all right next hole 410 y par 4 they got a sign here 250 to the hazard so I’m going to be laying up which will be a three iron okay I’ve thought it through and I’m going to hit one iron just because of all this wind got enough room to hit my draw just inside the tree line I see it I feel it I commit to it well it’s a little more left than I wanted but I think it’s going to do just fine hit it find it and go hit it again all right let’s find out what happened like I said it’s a little more left than I wanted to be and I see this bunker down here here we go great I’ll take it okay first thing I do is check my lie you know it’s not bad for being in the rough it’s sitting down a little bit what that does is it means I can’t hit as many of the shots as I could hit from the Fairway and you know I really played this hole properly here I’d like to be further down I’m 196 stick into the wind that’s a size eight four iron now once you get up into the longer irons I’m not too concerned about the wind because coming out of the rough and hitting a longer iron this ball isn’t going to be spinning much anyway you know from that lie for iron looks like it’s going to be a little tricky cuz cuz it’s kind of a hanging lie running down this hill so I’m going to hit five iron I’m in a size nine five iron and just commit to it I’m really not in a good position here on this hole I don’t want to compound the problem if I could be on or front left short of the green I’m stoked good opportunity to make par and even birdie I see the shot still going to be hitting a tight little draw but off of this lie it’s not going to want to draw as much so I’ll just anticipate that oh it’s well struck but it’s short and left is what it is time to go get up and down I’m going to have to open the face just trying to land Something On The Fringe and let it release on but out of this lie I’ll take anything it gives me a putt at it yeah not my best keep your eye on the prize so during your round momentum is a big thing I play the first couple holes well you know doing what I want to do just miss a few putts now this one this is important for momentum I make this putt it’s almost like putting wind in your sails okay see it inside right Edge see if I’ve learned something about the speed of these greens o that’s a good part okay so I really didn’t hit any good shots on that hole except for that putt I still make par okay that last hole was the number one handicap hole so I made a good par I’ll learn how to play that hole better as I continue to play this course this here is a 404 par 4 pretty basic not a whole lot of trouble bunker on the right is reachable Bunker on the left not really I’m just looking to hit a tight draw off the right center of the Fairway see the shot feel the shot commit to the shot well it’s started on the right rough it’s turning come on honey looks like it’s a yard into the right rough such a pretty track this point Tobago golf course it’s really a gem Inland Southern Maine okay first thing I check my lie Ball’s sitting down and the grass is growing over the top of it which means I’m likely going to get a flyer lie and this isn’t a very difficult shot but with that lie it complicates things I got 144 stick wind’s still hurting and from the right a little bit but the wind is calming down a little bit so that changes my ability to play a longer size swing so 144 and I basically have to gauge how much this ball is going to jump out of the rough going a size 79 iron I’m just going to trust it it is what it is when you’re in deep Ru the ball’s not going to move as much from right to left or left to right so I’m going to to play Just Right of the hole and see what I get it’s right at it but it didn’t come out the way I wanted it to Yeah couple yards short of the green that’s what happens when you’re dealing with rough you never know how it’s going to come out so you got to be thought F when you’re playing shots out of the rough okay it’s time for a shot consultant play I’m going to play the first shot the way that I would play it and I’m going to show you two other ways that you can play this shot one that’s a little more difficult one that’s a little bit easier I don’t have any green to work with here and I need to make sure if I land it short of the green the ball the the the screen is also so sloping away from me too I need to make sure that if I land it short of the green it’s got enough to get onto the green and feed down to the hole and this is where you go into your bag of tricks you know what shots are you comfortable with and then what shot would be best for here I could land it on the green and try to stop it I could land it short of the green or I could putt it I’m going to land it short of the green with a 52 degree and I’m seeing it here this is a pretty flat spot right here I feel like if I 2 degree right in here maybe a little further it’s right about here it should feed on and down let’s see what happens [Music] not bad 4 and 1 half ft by all right now there’s two other ways that you can play the shot one is more for beginners you can putt it now when you’re putting from off the green you’re basically saying that you’re not trying to make it you’re just trying to get it on the Green and probably within 10 ft would be great now it doesn’t mean you can’t make it but when you include this variable of all this longer grass here and trying to figure out how to roll the ball through it it’s going to be a little bit different difficult to gauge speed but the reason why putter is good choice for a beginner is it’s very easy to make solid contact so now I’m trying to gauge the speed and basically I just want to be on the Green green not bad now a more advanced play would be to take a 60° landed on the green hit a very soft shot now it’s a more difficult shot for sure but then I take this variable of this Fairway cut out of play and now I’m just dealing with the green so I use my 60° I open the face I put it in the front of my stance I’m just going to hit a little small lob trying to land it just on the green little bit shy yeah and it grabbed a little bit if I had landed that on it probably would have been perfect so you can see there there’s three different plays one’s a more expert play one is a beginner play and one was the thing the play that I thought was best suited for the shot you can see all the shots are fairly close now in order to be able to do this for yourself develop all three of those shots and then when you get into this situation you can choose what you feel most comfortable with okay after that last good par save I made I definitely don’t want to let this one slip away this one’s inside right Edge I’m going to trust and commit to my line to my stroke I see it going in I feel it going in okay this one’s 380 387 simple par 4 Winds left to right I just made a couple good par saves now would be a good time hit a good t- shot give myself a chance to make birdie capitalize on those par saves looking they to draw up the right center little low but that’ll play okay I got an excellent lie dead center of the Fairway got 104 stick and here’s the thing the wind is calming down a little bit so I could start making some Fuller swings I can hit a size 956 and fly it all the way back to the top tier I got that at 102 but I’d actually rather land the ball more in the center of the green let it take a hop and Chase up that hill so so that’s a size five pitching wedge and I like that play I don’t like flying balls all the way back to a back pin because if you go a little bit long you’re now short sighting yourself and short sighting yourself is no way to play this game if I hit the size five pitching wedge and it doesn’t Chase up that hill still in the center of the green if it does I got a good chance for birdie I practice this shot I’m comfortable with this shot so I’m going to hit a size five pitching wedge which I have booked at 104 so it should be a really good yardage for me I see the shot I feel the shot I commit to the shot that’s the way I wanted to hit it I think that’s kind of nifty I like that play I took long out of play I took trouble out of Play Let’s see what I gave left myself up on the green so not bad you know you can see how that how this mound is here in the back of the green it’s really just like a pimple and I’m about 35t past it this is really way to go Maine way to go point seago this is a good demanding pin position always remember when you pull the pin out lay it down gently so that you don’t drop it on the green and essentially what you do is you you Dent the green for other players you leave a little depression it comes that depression comes back but okay so here’s where I landed about 10 ft short of the hole could have made that swing a little smaller and I think it would have worked out nice I like my play though and I like my execution I did what I intended to do but in hindsight it wasn’t the best shot wasn’t the correct shot to play but I got an uphill putt really good pin position there’s really only a small area around the hole that is flat enough to hold your shot I’ll learn from it if I come across this pin position again I’ll remember how that shot went and possibly adjust this is not a putt to be greedy on of course I can make it but i’ take a simple two putt from here it’s going right to left uphill and it’s going to flatten out on top I’m going to play it about two cups right and now I’m just focused on speed this part is all about good speed well speed was good making pars okay we got 384 little par 4 wind coming in right to left you know I’m even par this is a good chance to hit a good t-shot and start attacking some pins here get it under par I’m looking to hit a draw basically just off the inside of my golf cart right off that big hill in the distance yeah that’ll do a pretty little Golf Course way to go main all right yeah this is a good spot to be [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] we got 217 right here 216 Center let’s see if I can get a shot at the pin 214 first try so 214 finally this is the first hole where the wind’s going to help a little bit feels like it’s helping and pushing a little bit to the right which I have to remember from my draw that’s not entirely a helping wind it’s not a hurting wind but when the wind is pushing this way and you hit a draw it’s not as helpful as if you hit a fade now I could hit a fade here but it’s not the shot I’m looking at the green and I want to come into the pin with a draw because the pin is left left Center on the green so 213 I like four iron let’s just make sure what size it is yeah it’s between a size N9 and a size 10 four iron all right Maine even par and this sure would be good time to stuff one so I was able to see the shot tracer on the shot and it looked like what it felt like looked like I hit a draw off the right edge of the green and see how it worked out ah ended up just shy of pin High and a few yards off the green on the right I tell you what that’s a pretty good opportunity to make a chip okay so here’s a little Pro tip for you I don’t have my bag I’m playing Resort type golf where I’m in a cart so I don’t just bring one Club over for the shot I’m going to hit I got four I got 52 de pitching wedge nine iron and eight iron and that’s because I want to be able to have option here there’s nothing nothing worse than playing a shot and wishing you had a different club and then being either lazy or thinking that it’s not okay to just go back and get the right Club so bring enough so that you can have the right Club in your hands sometimes I’ll just bring my whole bag okay the ball’s sitting down a little bit in The Fringe which means it’s going to release more so I can immediately eliminate the eight iron and the nine iron it’s either pitching wedge or gap wedge and I’m going to go with gap wedge just cuz the ball’s sitting down now once I decide which club I’m going with I commit to it entirely I’m looking to land this couple feet on the green it’s going to break a little right to left so I’m playing this to move about a foot right to left you know it didn’t move as much as I thought it would okay even par through eight what a Charming track this is through the woods of Maine oh I remember this hole okay I remember this hole okay this is a fun hole I remember this hole so it’s a sharp dog leg right it’s 262 to hit it straight through the Fairway and into the trees so you can either hit it 250 right dead ahead of you or I’m going to look to cut one cuz it’s pretty much a 90° turn so if I can hit a cut just left of the Tall Tree in front of me and let it move a little bit right I’ll probably have about 40 yards less into the green now to hit a fade it’s all explained in my school but it’s actually quite simple because when you have a good swing path it’s hard to fade the ball it’s hard to slice the ball so what I get to do is exaggerate the sense of slicing the ball to just hit a little three four yard fade right up over the top of the tree with about a four yard fade let’s go see so here I am with eight pars coming into my final hole of the day yeah I like how I hit it let’s see I definitely don’t have the coarse knowledge to be confident that that shot was the correct shot but I hit what I was int tending to hit I’m glad it was high so I can carry those trees at the end there of the dog leg now let’s see there’s a good shot all right there we are there’s the 150 looks like I’m at about one just over 1 30 and you can see back here The Perils of the t-shot that Tall Tree in the distance was the one that I hit it over the top of with the fade and it ends up there pins back it’s been at least 15 years since I’ve played this course but I do remember that long is death 140 2 stick so I’m about 135 Center of the green 142 stick winds helping my draw a little bit I’d like to make like a size seven swing I think that would be ideal for this so I look at my size sevens I go across I got a size 78 iron at 140 oh yeah and I got a size 8 n iron at 140 so it’s either seven or an eight I brought wedge 98 and now I got a good number I have to determine whether or not I want a size seven trajectory or size eight trajectory and that has a lot to do with the wind and the pin placement since the pin’s in the back I’d rather come in with a lower trajectory so I’m going to go with that size seven eight iron sets up nice for the draw find my seven see the shot feel the shot commit to the shot oh wind’s helping now oh we’ll see it’s kind of hard to see the depth perception the Green’s a little bit elevated but we will see okay oh right on just a little bit behind the stick wow look at that hump in the middle of the green way that worked out quite nicely and I can’t say I knew how difficult that pin position was with that hump right there well as good of an opportunity as any yeah it’s a good thing I came in with that size seven trajectory here’s where it landed about 30 ft 25 ft short of the hole must have fed down there I believe it took a look at going in that’s fun all right you know sometimes you make birdies late sometimes we make birdies early as long as you don’t make a lot of bogeys those birdies can be very impactful on your score yeah it’s not a long putt but it’s doing it’s doing some stuff it’s kind of going up the sale it’s going to move a little left yeah I could feel this the break coming down as I walked under it there it’s a little downhill to begin then a little uphill at the end little mover left I think it’s a half a cup I think it’s a half a cup with good pace [Music] well nine pars can’t complain no Bogies no bird thanks for coming along join the academy and start improving your golf game today [Music]

32 Comments

  1. Thank you Jim for using the term “Pin position” instead of “Hole location” which I hate. If I’m playing the 3rd hole, I know the hole location because it’s the hole I’m currently playing

  2. So Jim, most of your videos seem to be in the Southwestern desert, and now you are in Maine playing a course that " you will play better when you play it more". Have you relocated to Maine? Or are you just trying to get away from the desert heat?

  3. Love this video 10000000000 percent. We get to see his swing theory in action. He talks through club selections, lies putting. All of it coming together. How to focus on stillness and Living with the result move on. The yardage card just blows me away… This is best JV golf video ever.. Yes his other videos are great, but its mostly theory and a couple shots. I get it no one wants to just watch someone hit balls.. This gives a very solid course management plan I have seen to date on youtube, and its with his swing method, which for me is my reset method when it all goes bad… Now I have a solid plan with setup and execution for a whole round..Seeing now Im way off on my swing speed and yardages because of the card. The only thing I wish, he could play all 20 million courses in the world and I could have him caddie in my ear each shot… Keep it up! Love it!!

    Only thing to make the next one better is yes hit into bunkers up and down and how we deal with out of bounds management.. Not saying you have to loose a ball on purpose, but say hey so you didnt listen, got quick, here is what I see..

  4. Great production on this video, sound, music, etc. My question to you is your sneaks, Do they slide in wet conditions? Or are you playing like you did in Cali when it "never rained in southern California". Thanks and well done.

  5. Loved the club selection tips. It open my eyes to not be so single-minded on my choices.

  6. Good stuff. What is Jims technique for a fade since he always seems set up closed and swings to.1 Oclock?

  7. Great stuff Jim. Well planned strategy and smooth swing. It’s so encouraging to see a Pro Stand by his own method with proven results.

  8. Just curious on your choice of shoes. I know you preach stillness but wow… not even spikeless golf shoes? Do you wear golf shows if there is dew on the ground? If so, which ones?

  9. Played with your swing today and have been for a little while with great success. Kinda lost it today. Are you pushing off of your right foot as you press your hips forward?

  10. As a Pennsylvania resident, that tract reminds me of some of the courses in my area. Beautiful course and great talking us though your game. LOVE the vid, tx!!

  11. JV. I got more out of this video than most all of the rest. And I have watched them all. Especially set-up and feet position on various shots. Even par on a tight course wearing Chuck Taylor All-Star fisheads and corduroy slacks. More stuff like this. Maybe a match with your best student?

  12. wow Jim, you travel a lot to golf… I guess that's the closest we'll be from each other… I am from Quebec, Canada) next to Maine… come play in Canada, you'll save 25% in currency and we have nice golf courses as well ! I like your videos.

Write A Comment