Golf:

Many people resist the urge to play executive golf courses and I think that is a big mistake.

There are several advantages to those shorter courses that can help tremendously the next time you play a regulation course.

Still the negative connotation exists. Many golfers think those type of courses are beneath them and tag them with the derogatory term, pitch and putt. Those courses are for juniors and old women, they believe.

My friend is one of those people and I have tried countless times to get him over to Newport Beach Golf Course, but he has adamantly refused.

Finally in a moment of weakness, he relented and we headed over there. I told him on the way we weren’t going to play a regular round, that this would be a little different than the normal match we usually play.

I like the flexibility of executive golf because I’m not paying that much I don’t feel obligated to have to adhere to any formalities of the game.

Before we left I told him to bring no club more than an 7-iron. Even though there were seven holes 200 yards or longer, we weren’t going to overpower this course. This was going to be about finesse and creativity.

Hitting off mats is not my favorite way to play the sport, but the way we were playing it wasn’t going to matter much.

The gamesmanship began on the first hole. I began by telling my friend that he had to hit his ball to the right of the green. It couldn’t go on the green or you lost the hole. So we aimed right and that presented a difficult pitch shot with a short-sided second shot.

He of course balked at this but I told him it was for his own good. We got to our balls and we picked his lie because it was a little worse than mine. Then we had to rely on our short games to try and save our par. Neither of us did.

Off to the second hole, where we had a 110-yard shot downhill. “Take out your 8-iron,” I instructed. Now he was almost going to walk off as he protested but I explained to him he could choke down and hit a punch shot. Closest to the green won the hole.

Much to his surprise he hit it to about 10 feet. I hit mine too hard and went over the green.

On the third hole, the shortest one on the course at 89 yards, we dropped balls about halfway to the hole and tried to see how close we could hit a sand wedge from 45 yards or so.

When we reached the fourth hole, which is 291 yards, I told him to take his 7-iron and the one who was closest to the middle of the fairway won the hole. Now he was starting to get into the competition.

We picked a spot in the fairway as the middle and then aimed for it. This one I managed to win.

We did the same competition on the seventh hole, which is 276 yards. On the following hole, a 130-yard par three, there are trees on the left side of the hole. We went over there, dropped balls and then tried to hit low shots through the trees and onto the green.

The ninth hole was played normally to the green, but then we picked a spot off the apron, dropped our balls there and then tried to see who could get the closest to the hole. The only stipulation was if you were short, it didn’t count.

We finished our round in about 90 minutes and retreated to the lounge for a little post-round celebration.

I got a phone call a couple of weeks later from my friend who had just finished playing Dove Canyon Country Club and told me that he shot one of his lowest rounds of the year. One shot he recalled was a 45-yard pitch shot that he put to about three feet to save his par.

Playing an executive course is a great way to hone shots that you will definitely use when you play other courses. You may just see your score come down a couple of strokes because of it.

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays. He may be reached by e-mail at nolimepublishing@aol.com.