Yesterday I went out to play nine holes and found when I got to the course that I had left my rangefinder at home. And this is a course that doesn’t have yardages on the sprinkler heads.

So after a few holes of getting my eye for distance adjusted, I found that I ended up taking more club than usual, thus hitting more greens instead of being short, and was passing the flag.

When you have a rangefinder, you try to match the yardage to the distances you hit your irons on paper, but that only works if the shot you actually hit goes that far. Most of the time it doesn’t.

Try it sometime. Leave your rangefinder at home and pick your club according to your eye. You might well get conservative in your club selection and end up picking the right club more often than you usually do.

When I play a round of golf, I always learn something or remind myself of what’s important. This is what came up today.

Swing. Don’t try to hit the ball hard. Just put a swing on it and take what you get. Trying to hit hard just ruins everything unless you are a very talented golfer and your name is Bryson.

Professionals golfers live on the center of the clubface. You can, too. Before you take the club away, say to yourself, “Center hit” and carry that thought with you. Uncanny how this works if you trust it.

Trying to reach every par 4 in two and every par 5 in three is sometimes too much, especially the par 4s. On those holes, back off. Plan the hole so you end up near the green in regulation for an easy pitch and maybe a putt, but no more than two. Trying too hard is what gets you doubles and triples.

When you’re close in, say 80 yards or under (you pick the distance), just get the ball on the green. A putting green is a huge target. Just hit that target so you can start putting.

Chunking or topping pitch shots? Odds are that your stroke is all arms, with no lower body movement. You have to turn your hips as you swing back, and turn your hips as you swing through.

If you have a really short putt, say two feet, that has break in it, ignore the break. Aim for the center of the hole and hit the ball hard enough (but no harder) that it runs straight through the break. Practice this before you try it on the course so that you see that it really is a better way.

1. If you’re trying to break 90, play 90 golf. Add one stroke to par and play for that. Playing for pars is how you lose that one or two shots that keeps you from breaking the barrier. You will get more pars this way, and fewer doubles and triples.

2. If you’re trying to shoot something lower, don’t even look at par. When par is rattling around in your head, you tend to take risks that end up biting you. Just keep hitting the ball and add it all up when the round is over.

3. If you have a shot that is working today, ride it for all it’s worth. Hit it as often as you can even if you would normally do something else. Confidence is everything.

Just sayin’.

Golf is a game you play. Given two golfers of equal ability, the one who knows more about how to play the game will win much more often.

You could write a whole book about that, and Raymond Floyd did just that in his book, The Elements of Scoring.

These four considerations need to be a part of your pre-shot checklist.

1. Where do you want the ball to go? Pick a place where you can reliably get the ball to, and will make your next shot easy.

2. What shot do you have in your skill set that will get the ball there? You often have choices.

3. What club will you use to hit that shot? There will often be more than one.

4. How will you hit the shot? This is about making the ball do what you want it to do.

The more options you have to answer each of these questions, the more fun golf is, and the better player you will be, given your skills.