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.