Golf Digest’s YouTube Channel has a series called “The Game Plan” and all the videos are interesting for anyone that is interested in the technical side of golf strategy.

I watched a video that was really fascinating to me because as an amateur golfer I’ve always been told to aim at the center of the green. Yes, most times this makes sense but I watched a video on how Pro Golfers focus on carry number.

Basically, they look for the worst possible place to miss on the green and make sure they “cover” that place. The other number mentioned by the PGA Tour Caddie is “run out number” or what is long.

At 3:30 mins in the Golf Digest video they talk about dispersion and it was very interesting. Also, I like that they give specific examples of different shapes of greens. They explain why August Nationals 12 hole is one of the most difficult shapes and why the cover number is so critical.

Here is the video from Golf Digest video from the series “The Game Plan”: The Critical Number Pros Use That Amateurs Don’t

I do often think about what it is to carry a bunker or water. If I know trouble is long I do try to get that number too but I never really thought about it the way it is explained in the video with green shapes and a golfer’s specific dispersion pattern.