The quickest and easiest way to reduce your score has always been to reduce the number of 3 putts you have in any round of golf. This requires the least amount of practice and will give you the biggest return on the time you invest. Yet so few players want to work on this part of their game.
I have heard from players that working on their putting can be boring. But that does not have to be the case. There are plenty of games and drills you can do to keep things interesting and help you get better at the same time.
In this video I share with you a distance control putting drill that I have used with new golfers to College players and all have found it extremely helpful in improving their distance control. Thus they reduce the number of 3 putts they make and at the same time reduce their overall score.
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Now that you can get the ball closer to the hole from distance, you may need to some help making those short putts. This video will help you to do just that – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4UlXegvk7Q
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I hope you enjoyed this post. As always comments are welcome and appreciated
Good Golfing
2 Responses
It’s actually quite simple why putting is neglected by us amateurs. Yes, 3 putts consistently can wreck your score and it is definitely an easy way to improve your score by eliminating these. However, it’s not a normal situation to say, ” Gosh, if I hadn’t six putted I would’ve made birdie”. It is however quite common to take 6-7 shots to just get on the green. And, nobody prefers to say they hit shanks and slices all day…but boy was their putting good!
For those of us who shoot 76-84, it’s not our putting that will drop those scores, It’s eliminating the disaster holes where we didn’t even have a chance at par. Or perhaps that one triple bogey that came from a shank.
You don’t hit putts out of bounds. You don’t get a penalty stroke for missing the hole. I recently was playing and was so excited to be -1 after the first 4 holes. What happened? I hit a shank on my 3rd shot on a par five out to the woods. Ended with a double bogey. I proceeded to make 3 bogeys after that. All the while I two putted every hole.
It’s not realistic to expect to make 20 footers consistently. Even tour pros average only 50% of putts outside 10ft. However it is very realistic to expect to make a green in two on par 4’s and many par 5’s.
In summary, it doesn’t make any difference if you’re the best putter in the world if it takes you par or worse just to get to the putting surface. You can’t say, “well it doesn’t matter how well you hit your irons if you 5 putt”..because that’s not a normal finding. Even horrible putters don’t usually 4 putt. But you can find millions of golfers who struggle to make it to the green in 3 or less shots.
Hi Kevin
Thanks for the comments. There are a variety of ways that any player can lower their scores and although putting is one of them it is not the only one. I would never suggest to anyone that improved putting is the answer to a their scoring issues without a thorough assessment of their game and a discussion about their goals.
I agree with you that often there are issues with ball striking that will help players shoot lower scores, but it can also be course management and other areas of the short game. Improved putting could also be the answer.
The key is to get an accurate assessment of your golf skills and form an appropriate plan to ensure you improvement.
All the best and good golfing
Derek