Tiger Woods can hit a golf ball 300 yards with his 3-wood, but he doesn't do it that often, because he plays percentages.

During a recent outing with a few friends on the golf course, I noticed one of my playing partners made a lot of mistakes on the course because he did not play percentages.

I pulled him aside after he hit a 3-wood into the water on hole 13 of the Links at Cotton Valley.

I asked him how many times he thought he would hit the green from 275 yards away.

The look on his face gave away that he probably would never hit that green from that far away. I told him about playing percentages.

One of the last things I do during my warm-up on the driving range now is hit 10 balls with my 3-wood.

I try to hit a 250- to 260-yard shot to where I'm aiming.

If I hit this shot seven out of 10 times or more then I will go for the green on a par 5 if I'm close enough.

If I don't hit the shot seven out of 10 times then I lay up on a par 5.

This has greatly reduced the amount of double bogeys I end up with on a par 5.

On the next hole, my friend hit a lay up shot, hit his next shot onto the green and then two-putted for a standard par.

This was a vast improvement on the double bogey he had just carded on the hole before.

Now, if I can only convince myself to play the percentages every round, I'm sure I'll shave a couple of strokes off my handicap.

Red, white and blue (and yellow)

Red, white and blue represent the colors of the United States, and they also represent the yards from the center of the green on a golf course.

From the center of the green: Red is 100 yards away.

White plays 150 yards. Blue is 200 yards away. Yellow plays 250 yards.

Most courses have other yardage markers on the fairway, but those four blocks can be found on just about every golf course.

Need some help with your swing?

Have a slice that turns 90 degrees off the tee? Have a duck hook that you can't seem to fix?

Send me an e-mail and I will try to fix your problems in an upcoming golf column.

To submit golf news to Telegram golf columnist Trevor Seibert, contact him at tseibert@coxnc.com. Holes-in-one must be submitted by the course pro.