Golfdirt

Putt Your Way to a Lower Score

April 8, 2008 – 6:41 pm | by Golfdirt

By Jonathan S. Prentiss

Golf is a game that requires skill, mental discipline, the desire to have fun, and a little luck. The purpose of this article is to focus on a key skill — Putting Percentage — that will allow you to better your game, have more fun, and more importantly, knock a few strokes off your total score. You don’t have to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to improve; you just need to understand where your game needs improvement and how to improve it.

I believe the trouble most bogey golfers have is that they overprepare their swing, their setup, their delivery, their “mental game” and not spend enough time on having fun and improving specific areas of their game. We all spend countless hours working on our swings, chips, and putts at the driving range, yet how many of us know how to apply what we’ve learned out on the course?

Putts Per Round

While it may sound like a simple and obvious skill, sinking the ball in less putts is a way to significantly improve your overall game. How many times have you had a great drive, amazing approach shot, then — ”poof!” all is lost on your short game — you add 3 more strokes on the green?

For a point of reference, as I write this, the top 5 PGA Tour pro’s average 27.50 putts per round. The Tour average is 29.30. That is less than 2 putts/strokes per hole on the green.

How to Lower Putts/Round — Set Goals

During your next round, keep track of your putts by writing the number of putts on your scorecard next to the hole played. Divide the total number of putts by the total number of holes played to obtain putts/hole. Use these figures to set a baseline putts/round/hole goal.

As an example, pretend that during a recent 18-hole round you had 48 putts. That’s 48 putts per round and 2.7 putts per hole. Use these numbers as your initial goal. Keep this goal until you consistently achieve or beat it over several (3-5) rounds. Then you’ll be ready to set a new goal.

Before you know it, you will be on your way to a lower score. Think about it: Only one or two putts less per round gives you an immediate improvement in your scores.

Jonathan Prentiss writes articles about golf, focusing on strategies to help you apply what you practice, give you specific skills to practice, and how to identify goals that will help better your game. He publishes the golf site Pasture Pool.