Where to stand on a par five

Most spectators walk a par five the way the players do: tee, fairway, green, in that order, arriving everywhere slightly too late. It is the natural instinct and it is the wrong one. A par five is the longest hole on the course and the only one where you can genuinely outmanoeuvre the group you are following. Pick two positions, get there first, and let the players come to you.

Why the par five is different

On a par three, everyone watches the same thing from the same place. On a par four, the tee shot and the approach happen close enough together that you can see both from one spot if you choose well. A par five spreads across five hundred metres and contains three distinct decisions, each interesting for a different reason.

It is also the hole where scores separate. The field will make everything from eagle to seven on the same piece of grass in the same afternoon, and almost all of that variance comes from the second shot. Which is the shot nobody watches.

The six positions, in order of value

1. Behind the tee

You see the shape of the drive and the players' body language, and you hear the strike, which tells you more than the ball flight does. What you do not see is where it lands. This position is good for the first group you follow and unnecessary after that.

2. Two hundred metres down the left

This is the position most people skip and the one that repays most. From here you see the landing area, you see the lie, and you see the second shot: whether they are going for the green, laying up, or being forced sideways by a bunker they did not expect to reach.

You also see the conversation. A caddie and a player discussing a two hundred and forty metre carry over water is the most honest moment of the round, and it happens entirely out of sight of the crowd at the green.

3. The lay-up zone

The quietest place on the hole. Everyone has walked past on their way to the green, and what is left is a hundred metres of fairway where the players who did not go for it are working out their third shot. It is unglamorous and it is where a lot of birdies get set up.

4. The approach, short and right

Standing short of the green on the side the ball is not coming from gives you the flight, the bounce and the reaction all at once. Short and right for a right-to-left approach, short and left for the opposite. Get this wrong and you spend the shot looking at the back of someone's head.

5. Behind the green

The classic position, and the most crowded. Worth it on the final holes of a tournament, rarely worth it at ten in the morning on a Thursday. You see putts break towards you, which is the easiest angle to read, and you are perfectly placed to be in everybody's way if you stand up at the wrong moment.

6. Walking between two and four

Not a position so much as a decision. If you only take two of the six, take the second shot and the approach, and walk directly between them. You will see the two shots that decide the hole and you will arrive before the group both times.

Arriving before the group

The whole method depends on being early, and being early depends on not carrying too much. A spectator with a heavy chair and a full bag moves at the speed of the crowd. A spectator carrying nothing but a light seat can cut across a fairway gap, get to position four, sit down and be settled before the group has finished its second shot.

That is the real argument for travelling light at a tournament. It is not about comfort, it is about choice. Every kilo you carry removes a position from your list.

The second shot decides the hole. Almost nobody watches it.

The etiquette that makes it work

Moving around a hole means crossing crowds, and crossing crowds means being invisible. Move between shots, never during one. Take the long way behind the gallery rather than the short way through it. And when you settle, settle low.

Sitting at the rope line is the single most considerate thing a spectator can do. You occupy the same ground you would standing, you block nobody, and you can stay in position for three groups instead of one. The people who see the most golf at a tournament are almost always the ones sitting down.