Players need to take different approach at q-school

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Willie Wood, the medalist at the 1983 q-school tournament, will try to apply his veteran knowledge this week at PGA West. (Badz/PGA TOUR)

Getting through q-school is a dream come true -- the first time. After that, it is a tremendous relief. I ran the q-school finals marathon six times in my career and was successful three of those. In fact, I was three for four late in my career.

What I learned along the way in this six-day journey to the PGA TOUR just may help someone else this week. Q-school is not just golf. It is not like any other tournament. In a 108-hole event with five-plus hour rounds you are going to make mistakes. As a matter of fact, you are going to make a lot of them. What is important to remember, though, is that you don't have to play your best golf to advance to the TOUR.

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Most of the players there this week have had success at some level of the game whether it is in the collegiate ranks, the mini-tours, Nationwide Tour or even the PGA TOUR. They know what it feels like to perform at the top of their games. It is the guys who know how to handle themselves and manage their games that will have the most success.

I rarely recommend that players ever have a target score in mind. This week I think that you should pay close attention to what has happened in the past at PGA West. People live in the desert because the weather is predictable and pleasant. With that in mind, the scoring should be pretty similar to previous years. The Stadium Course is slightly harder than the Nicklaus Course. When I managed my way through here six years ago, the plan was to break par all three days on the Stadium Course and break 70 every day on the Nicklaus Course.

The truth is that I don't remember what I shot each round but I finished fifth. These two golf courses are interesting choices for q-school because they are so demanding in spots that you can't bail out. There are water hazards on so many holes that you lose count. If you manage to keep your balls dry all six days, you have accomplished quite a feat. The courses are also narrow and don't require a great deal of length for players today. Keeping your ball between the white stakes can become a bit challenging, as well.

As tough as these course are in spots, there are plenty of birdie holes. The Nicklaus Course has several par 5s that can be reached in two and a handful of par 4s where today's players can flip wedges to the green. Take advantage of those holes. The hard par 4s and the tough little par 3s are not to be trifled with. On holes like Nos. 9 and 18 that share a green, find the middle or bail out and make no worse than 5.

One of the other things I would recommend is not to look at the scoreboard after each round. Since each player plays the two courses three times, the first time you can get an accurate reading of the results is after 36 holes. That's when you should take your first look. If you are falling behind the eight-ball, decide to be a little more aggressive -- and then forget about it. Look again after 72 holes and make another adjustment if need be.

By the time four rounds are complete, it should be pretty easy to guess what it will take to get through q-school. If you are in the top half of the field, you will play the fifth round at the Nicklaus Course and the final round at the Stadium Course. Be a bit more aggressive at the Nicklaus Course because it will be tougher to make up shots at the Stadium.

The final thing to remember at q-school is that there are 25 winners. The higher you finish, the better your number for 2009 and the more opportunities you will have to play on the West Coast. But I will tell you that today -- the Monday before the fun starts -- there isn't a player in the field who wouldn't take 25th place right now and sit out the rest of the tournament. If you can remember that you are in a pass-fail situation, not a win-lose situation, it may ease your mind a bit and help when things start to get tough.

Some players are better at q-school than others and I think the players who are successful know that they can get through without playing their best. We all know people we thought were good enough to play the TOUR but couldn't navigate q-school's turbulent waters.

The ability to put the week in perspective may be part of the reason. There is no more nervous week of the year for most players. Knowing that there is plenty of time to make up for mistakes may just make all the difference.