Strategy and TroubleStrategy and TroubleAim: To make you think before you lash away in a tight spot, and to learn to accept that sometimes it is better to "take your medicine" and play for a safe bogey, or to give yourself a chance of a par, rather than try and chase a birdie that isn't there.
I dont want to repeat myself by going over course management / practice so I'll be brief here, and also I'll mention those troublesome areas and what to do.Don't have any preconceptions about your score,otherwise you'll end up forcing shots which is never good, a good example is the par5's. If you can get comfortably on in 2 then go for it, but if you are having to hit well over 12 o'clock or you are coming over hazards/bunkers with a long club then simply lay up, there is no reason not to hit to a nice full short iron distance (your stock shot) and then nailing that close for birdie, theres nothing worse than lashing to a par5, going astray and taking a 6 or worse ! There WILL be par5's you can easily reach so use those to go for the eagle, and play smart on the others.For the long par4's where you are coming in with a long iron it pays to be cautious, so if you have a line to the green that doesnt go over a hazard/bunker then take this option as opposed to shooting at a pin in the corner protected by trouble, there will be plenty of short par4's where you are coming in with a short club that you can take the pin on.For Par3's you should take aim and try to get the snap close, hopefully you wont be too far away, again for the longer par3's where you use a long iron or wood, then it pays to adjust your aim/line to come in safely even if that puts you further from the flag. Fairways and Greens is the name of the game, if you hit the short grass off the tee by playing smart ( drive with an iron where you can, dont hit big drives past 12 o'clock) then you should always have a shot to the green, and if you pick the club and distance and dont be too cute with the pins in the corners/near trouble then you should be hitting nearly all the greens, attack the pins you can with the short clubs and then it's a case of a few good putts=a good score, some more putts= a great score and a bad putting day=no worse then par. Sounds simple, but I know it isnt always, but always play smart and you shouldnt have too much trouble improving your scores. My final word here is regarding trouble.If you drive into the trees, rotate around until you find a clean line out to the fairway, dont try anything daft unless you really need to (matchplay), you should hit the fairway and make sure the worse you'll make is a bogey, and if you hit the green you'll even have a putt for par.Weigh up the risks of a shot, is it really worth taking on the water on a par5 for that eagle ? or will it more likely get wet and mean a 6 or 7? Be sensible, and if a pin is tucked away or a hazard is nearby consider aiming slightly away from it and taking a long putt for birdie or two for par. If you do hit a hazard, drop out and wipe it from your mind, concentrate on the next shot and think positively that you can still get close for par or bogey, but dont make the same mistake twice ! It's well worth taking a second to consider any obvious "hell-holes" you want to avoid and playing away from them , even at the cost of missing the fairway or green, and one thing I always do is imagine what the worst snap could do, if I think it could put the ball in a hazard I will consciously twitch my snap to make it go the other way, example: if I see water left I will ever so slightly hold off my snap to make sure I dont hook the ball but maybe I might slice it slightly to the right. This is a controversial method but sometimes it is good to tell yourself the direction of missed snap you most want to avoid and then focus on hitting the snap slightly to the other side either by twitching quickly or just holding off.I wouldnt do this a lot, but occasionally when there is a spot labelled "dead and buried" its often a good idea to make sure there is no way you can get there. I would say that in order to appreciate the sort of shots I tend to use in troublesome situations, you should take a look at the "half-shots" chapter and the "imagination" chapter.
Top Tips:
Do play smart at all times, weigh up the risks of all shots you take
Never force shots/escapes unless the situation demands it (ie matchplay)
Make your primary concern when in trouble to get out of trouble, forget going for glory
Adapt your game/shots to keep away from very bad spots, even at the cost of less than perfect position the other way
Make it your business to know the "blackspots" for any course you are about to play