Scoring Tips

As the Club Championship nears for some and the fall approaches for all, it is a good time to consider golf’s most important challenge: SCORING! Here are some simple drills and thoughts to lower your golf scores.

1) Practice on the Putting Green: practice distance control - place a tee two feet past the hole. Using five balls, try to roll them so they finish past the hole, but not past the tee. Once you can stop 5 balls between the front of the cup but not past the tee choose another putt as a reward. With a little practice you will find yourself imagining the tee on all you putts and your distance control will improve!

2) Work on wedge play: From 100 yards and in, practice distance control. Aim each practice shot a different ball out on the range. Set up with 60% and 70% of your weight on your forward side, do not shift your weight to your back foot. Use your body turn to vary distance- not your arm speed! Try to hit all wedge shots as low as possible, unless you have something to hit over!

3) Work on the driver contact: Hitting fairways is important, but the most important thing when hitting a driver is solid contact, which increases distance and helps your direction. Focus on contact between the ball and the club face. For both practice and play, “hover” the driver as close to the ball as possible.
“See” the club hitting the sweet spot as you swing through the ball. Another great swing “image” is to “clip” the tee that is underneath the ball. A coincidence or not, but most good drives are ones where the player breaks their tee, vs. missing it entirely.

4) When playing the course or a match focus on playing your game. Choose the shot you know you can hit, and don’t worry if you hit a shot that is not “perfect.” Golf’s greatest challenge is getting a better score than seems probable. If you do so you will enjoy the game more and likely win more matches!