Hole Breakdowns  ›  How to Play a Dogleg Left
Hole breakdown #2

How to Play a Dogleg Left (Especially If You Slice)

A left bend is brutal on a slice. Match your aim to your shape and the fairway gets a lot wider.

Hole type · Dogleg left, par 4

“The one that eats slicers alive.”

⛳ Green: set around the left bend
↖ Trees guard the inside corner
● Ideal tee target: up the left/inside edge
✕ Common aim: straight down the middle
The mistake

Aiming straight down the middle. A fade or slice then leaks through the fairway into the right rough or trees, and a hook runs clean through the corner.

The math

Match your aim to your shot shape and you pick up ~8-10 yards of usable fairway width. Width saves this stroke, not distance.

The correct target

Aim up the left/inside edge and let your ball shape work back to center. If you don't shape it, favor the side that keeps your miss in play.

Strokes saved

≈ 0.3-0.4 strokes per hole by turning a rough/recovery start into a fairway start.

“Aim where a good miss still finds grass.”

Strokes-saved figures are approximate, based on expected-value (strokes-gained) course management for a mid-handicap golfer (roughly 8-18). These are real ranges, not guarantees.

More hole breakdowns

The Short Par 4 Reachable Par 5 The Long Par 3 The Fairway Bunker In the Trees? The Punch-Out Almost Always Wins How to Play a Dogleg Right
The rest of the picture

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