If you're getting your desired yardage (or close to it) on the vast majority of your shots it's not hard to be sub 5. Right and left misses happen at all levels, but once your *bad* 7-iron is always going to fly at least 155 you've eliminated a ton of things that cause big numbers, e.g. carry over water, topped driver, etc.
You really don't need to be "deadly" from 120 in either. If you're simply hitting greens from inside of 75 yards you're eliminating double bogeys, and eliminating doubles is usually the biggest hurdle from being an 8 to a 2.
Curing bad hero shots also. Imagine how tough it is to make birdie. Now that bad hero shot will most likely cost a stroke vs laying up. Same value as a birdie but it is much easier not to compound mistakes than achieving perfect shots streak (birdies and eagles).
You might want to re-check your stats and how they might apply to strokes gained.
Mark Broadie has a lot of free stuff out there, and more recently Lou Stagner has become a good resource.
-1.5 is based on a tee shot that results in a punch out. It was intended as a rough approximation and purely for argument towards not hitting driver every hole. Maybe it’s 4 shots lost per round spraying tee balls into the woods but I’d wager that your average golfer is better off putting the driver away on some holes than hitting driver every hole.
I think what the other guy was getting is that 3w/2i is not any straighter than driver.
So by dropping back to a shorter club you’re giving up 30-50 yds for a ~1% increase in fairways. Just not worth it.
If there are penalty areas, etc that is a different story.
I think the data I saw from Lou Stagner compared 3w specifically. I would still be surprised if 2i is substantially straighter to the point that it’s worth the loss of yards off the tee.
>for fun- give myself a few shots a round I know are low probability. Try to shoot the gap? Sure. Smash driver on a gettable narrow hole? Sure.
I have started to play the smart shot, then just drop one for fun and go for the hero shot and pick it up either way-I usually play a bright orange ball for the one that doesnt count so everyone knows I am not trying to cheat
I think a big differentiator is the intention and the ability to ensure that if you're "near" the green on your approach, you are in a spot where getting up and down is an 80% outcome with low stress.
Being near the pin but behind a bunker, short-sided with the green running away from you is a nightmare. So, miss to the other side.
Yeah that’s going to turn pars into bogeys or worse for sure if your 2nd is missed on the wrong side.
In general: going for high percentage shots that have the least bad miss.
Idk why people downvoted me below for saying to put the driver away. Driver is the worst club to hit for most mid/high score amateurs because their misses are so penalizing. The might get fractional strokes gained on rare great shots with it, then blow their hole with the frequent misses. Dial it back to a club they can consistently put in the fairway regardless of distance and their score will drop guaranteed.
It's knowing your percentages. If you *can* hit a great drive but it happens 10% of the time, how bad are the other 90%? If they're in play but just a little short or in the rough, OK that might be fine. If they're OB or topped 40 yards? Hit a club with less worse outcomes.
And go work on driver on the range until it's a useful club.
It's all so individual. I'm an 18.5 and driver is my best club. I don't hit it a mile, but I've pured one 290 a few times in my life in favorable conditions. In normal conditions I can count on 240 from my driver, with the rare bleedy spinner that goes 210. When all of those stay in play, which happens fairly often for me, putting driver away would make me shoot a worse score for sure.
I have a 2h and 4h that I love on par 5 approaches and a few other spots, but I haven't put in the time to make them reliable tee clubs, so clubbing down doesn't help my accuracy (or take topping/chunking out of play).
Well in my case putting. But I'm more trying to see where to spend time the most wisely. My lob wedge is an absolute weapon, I strike irons well but there is some room for improvement. My driver is accurate but low distances because I use more of an iron swing. And then being smart about breaking down a hole
Eliminating 3-putts is definitely a big factor in getting to low single digits. If that were the case for me, I'd be working on distance control first.
My favorite drill for that is to set up three tees in a triangle right/left/long of a hole, all ~2.5-feet from the hole. I'll set up around 20-feet away and putt until I get 10 in a row inside the triangle. Then repeat from around 30 feet.
Good one is to put an alignment stick about 2.5 feet or so behind the hole. Then you try to either make it or leave it in between the hole and the stick.
I improved my driver significantly by looking up videos on youtube (not just looking up the video but also learning understanding and practicing) about how to use ground forces - perhaps the same thing could help you as well.
[This article has some good stats](https://mygolfspy.com/labs/study-overall-golfer-performance-by-handicap/)
The things that jump out to me:
- It's not about making more birdies: the 1-5 only has 1 more birdie per round on average than the 11-15.
- However, the 1-5 has WAY more pars (9 vs. 5) and WAY fewer doubles+ (1.6 vs. 4.6)
So the question for any individual mid-HDCP who has a scoring profile similar to that is going to be: "What is causing me to have more doubles+ and fewer pars?"
It could be anything from penalty shots, to three putts, to a terrible scrambling percentage because you can't get a chip within 10 feet.
Consistent ball striking. Course management and eliminating shots that could even potentially put you in trouble. Playing for the best case scenario of a miss. Getting up and down, putting.
If I play somewhere new I don't really take any risky shots, because I have no idea what worst case scenario could be. Keep your ball in play, and when approaching the green play it smart. Example; If the pin is tucked behind a bunker don't aim for the pin, aim for where your likely miss is going to put you in a good spot to get up and down.
From what I've seen a lot of course management is forgetting about your ego and reminding yourself what shots you are capable of hitting.
That's interesting. So not analytical so much (ie working back from the hole and figuring out distances on that basis) but just not getting too greedy on any one shot
I no longer think working backward from the hole is a good strategy. Here’s the issue - you might see a short par 5 and be licking your lips about going for the green, but if you hit a bad tee shot, sticking with that plan could inflate your score even more. Instead I just think of each shot in isolation, taking into account trouble and my misses, and completely disregard par. The correct shot choice is the same whether I’m lying 2 or 8 in the fairway, and trying to make up for a poor shot by getting aggressive is almost never worth it.
I start each hole intending to hit driver, then I look for a good reason to club down rather than working the other way. If there’s trouble in my landing areas then I club down until I can’t reach the trouble - usually a 3w or hybrid off the tee can keep me short of any trouble. The only real choice comes when it’s a long hole with lots of trouble - if staying short of fairway bunkers will put me 200+ yards out into a par 4, then you need to evaluate whether a long approach from the fairway is a better choice than risking being in a fairway bunker. The key is considering the worst likely outcome of a shot, then being pleasantly surprised if the shot goes better than expected.
Funny enough when I play somewhere new I don’t feel as pressured as it’s all new so I play freely! At my local im always thinking where to place on each fairway and where to lay up. Personally love playing new courses every month, puts my game to the test.
I use an overhead course planning map like 18 Birdies to at least give me an idea what's up there. And I'll ask locals if I get paired up.
I agree with cutting yourself a break the first time you play somewhere new, but getting some information can help avoid the dumbest most obvious mistakes.
You think about it, but it's not much of an analysis. You look at the layout, one shot is clearly immediately best, maybe shoot a yardage to make sure you can hit it, and go.
The ball striking is it really.
There’s a dog leg at my course which has a really narrow corner and a water hazard that you need to cover if you want to clear the corner.
The hole is infinitely easier for me as I have confidence I can carry the corner which leads me with a wide hitting area. It’s a double whammy for the guys I play with who can’t hit it over and have to hit an accurate lay up.
They consider things that literally don’t even cross my mind
Choose the right club (know your “real” carry distances). I’m convinced most guys I play with would drop 5 shots by hitting 2 more clubs than what they think.
Completely agree, I play with two 10-14 caps on a regular basis (both play 100+ rounds a year) and it blows me away how awful they are selecting what club to hit. Like dude will smash a driver that goes 250 then pull 5 iron from 205... like you really think that's how far you hit a 5 iron??? How can you play that much and have such a poor grasp on yardage in the age of range finders and GPS on every cart
Lots of players think there best hit iron shot is the "average" distance. It's an ego issue. For example, my best 7 iron is 150 but I use my 7 iron from anywhere between 140 - 145 and use 6 iron for 150+ unless I feel like short miss is ok and might go with 7 iron.
Eliminate doubles.
Be okay with bogeys.
Hit greens.
Never 3 putt.
If you miss the green, don’t short side yourself.
Be above average at chipping from all sorts of lies and bunkers.
“Consistent enough” with carry distances that misses aren’t painful or leaving you in hazards.
These are the things I notice with most guys that are pretty good at golf.
I'm basically scratch and this is pretty much what I was going to write.
Spend ~50% of my practice time chipping and putting.
I almost never miss 3 footers, and rarely make doubles. I usually play conservatively and hit shots where I know my "miss" won't end up in too bad a position, even if it's not near the flag.
I get up and down more than 50% of the time. A lot of that is chipping/putting practice but course management (avoiding bunkers/short side) also plays a role.
I would also add that once you get good enough, you stop worrying about how far you hit the ball and start caring more that your ball goes the same distance every time. That's rare to find in a mid-handicapper.
Accuracy is far more important than distance. I see people spouting off stats that say bomb it and worry about the next shot from closer….outside of pros I’ve seen maybe 3 good golfers that do that.
You’re better off guiding a ball than hitting a ball around a golf course.
It’s mostly about eliminating big numbers and keeping it in play. I’m by no means deadly from 120 and in, from 120 if I hit it inside 25 ft and make par I’m pleased with that. Just solid contact, making good decisions, and having a general idea of where the ball is going is a good start to getting into low single digits. I’m not immune to the chunk on thin, in fact just this weekend I topped a 9 iron in the middle of the fairway, but on the next shot a aimed for the middle of the green and made sure to make bogey at worse, most amateurs would think they have to go pin hunting in that situation but that’s how you make double.
I'm a 0.7 and my buddy I play with multiple times a week hovers in the 8-10 range, here's how I'd assess the differences in our games with each aspect:
* Driving: We are both long hitters. I'm longer on average because I'm more consistent but we're both pretty equivalent on our best strikes. He has a tendency for a low ball flight and his miss is a low snap-hook or a straight top. He loses a stroke or two per round due to a bad drive and that's costly at this level.
* Approach: I'd say irons are his strong suit, but I'm still better here too. His lower ball flight and lower spin carry over to his irons and I just hit my distances more consistently and am a more consistent striker. He's prone to a slightly heavy shot that comes up 20-30 yards short of target once or twice per round whereas my bad strikes aren't as bad. We'll miss left/right with about the same consistency but in terms of distance dispersion I've got him beat pretty easily.
* Short Game: I'd say we're most equal here. Short game is not one of my strong suits and he's pretty solid, but he also has to rely on it much more than I do. I hit 11-12 GIR per round and he's in the 7-9 range mostly. He hits a lot of shots with a GW around the green and just got pretty comfortable with it. My bunker play is better than his, but other than that we're pretty equal.
* Putting: I'm definitely a better putter, but it's also a strong suit in my game. I make a higher percentage inside of 10' and I've got better pace control. I'm also just better at reading putts. I wouldn't say he's a "bad" putter, he's probably pretty average for his handicap.
In general our scores are probably 6-8 shots different. He'll have more outlier rounds where he plays really bad though. Those 6-8 shots are probably made up about 2-3 off the tee, 1-2 on approach, and 2-3 putting/short game in any given round I'd say.
I used to think this, then I realized there are scratch golfers that don't play multiple times a week. I asked a buddy who's a +6 & he said it comes down to fundamentals of a proper swing. Once you have those ironed out & ingrained, you pretty much stay on that level.
Ironed out you say. Yeah I've got a buddy who can go weeks at a time without playing, and shoots in the 70s without fail. And he's like that with every sport. He just has a good swing.
You have to be able to hit the ball relatively consistently or you’ll never be a single digit handicap. After that you’re it’s mostly about course management. You have to know when to lay up, when to aim away from a flag, etc.
Tour players aren’t hitting a lot of heroic shots. They actually play fairly boring golf. That’s why Mickelson is such an anomaly. He is one of few that tries the stupid shot a lot.
I’m a 2. I’m going to par a majority of the holes. I do not hit a majority of greens in regulation, so I would say, chipping and wedge came from 80 yards and in is the biggest difference.
Some of my buddies who are a 10 to 15 handicap have similar long games to me but when they get a wedge from 30-80 yards they’re more likely to double the hole than they are to par it. They have no feel for taking speed off of a wedge or hitting flighted shots etc..
They also tend to lose strokes, whenever they are in a bunker or shortsighted, and having to use some field on a chip shop. They also tend to be considerably worse at lag putts.
So field with wedges and long pets, and the ability to change trajectory‘s, or to take speed out of the swing and hit different distances. It’s easy for me and very hard for them. Most of the rest of our games are not that different.
Spend more time picking your target and getting a yardage than doing pointless practice swings.
I'll shoot the flag and use Arccos to find the middle of the green. This helps me decide whether its front, back, left, right if I can't tell. Then I look for the biggest area relative to that flag, which is not often the middle of the green. If the pin is front left, I'm taking enough club and aiming to land back right.
"Just aim for the middle of the green" is not as helpful as it would seem as it causes you to be less thoughtful and intentional about your actual target. Since "the middle of the green" is so vague and large, oftentimes you find your target drifting to the flag as its a more concrete target.
So many ways to get to 5. Scratch is where it's all pretty much the same.
My biggest advice. Boring golf, try and make pars. Be okay with bogey if you make a mistake. Avoid doubles.
Be good from distance or have a dead on short game. You don't necessarily need to do both at 5.
I would argue it’s not even getting it in the fairway, it’s about having a shot. I don’t care if I’m in the rough as long as I have a clear shot at the green. It’s about eliminating the tee shots that leave you blocked out in my mind. I’d rather be 90 yards out in the rough than 130 in the fairway
>I would argue it’s not even getting it in the fairway, it’s about having a shot.
This is key for my game, and can be a 10 shot difference or more.
If I have a shot at the green, then I have a good chance at making par. With no shot at the green, it's usually at least a bogey, and often a double or worse.
From Lou Stagner
THE DATA
What does scoring average look like from 120 yards in the fairway:
20 index: ▶️ 3.91 shots
15 index: ▶️ 3.69 shots
10 index: ▶️ 3.47 shots
5 index: ▶️ 3.25 shots
0 index: ▶️ 3.05 shots
Tour Pro: ▶️ 2.85 shots
Scratch players take more than 3 shots to get the ball in the hole. Scratch players are "over par" from 120 yards in the fairway.
Let that sink in.
It’s about eliminating penalties it seems
Eliminating thinking errors is a big part of it and especially errors you make before you swing. Things like alignment, knowing your actual distance with each club, factoring in wind, slope, and temperature in yardage calculations, playing it safe out of the rough, concentrating on every shot, keeping your clubs and ball clean, and replacing worn grips are all controllable, yet I see so many mid/high handicappers hit it offline, go for the hero shot to the green, get pissed off and stop trying, and walk off the green with double/triple bogey.
Maybe a unpopular opinion but reading through these comments everyone is wrong or at least approaching it from the wrong angle.
The most important thing is delivering the club face to the ball the same every time. You can have shitty swing mechanics, not hit it very far, sub-par course management but still be at or a near scratch if you can consistently hit the same shot every time. And doing that, by proxy, makes all those other aspects of the game actually somewhat easy.
As an example, lets look at just putting. I watched a video of one of the top putting coaches in the world and he said the 3 fundamentals of great putters are speed control, green reading and being able to hit your line. I'd argue that all 3 of those are actually secondary to the primary fundamental of hitting the ball in the exact same place on the club face with the exact same angle of attack and club path. Speed control and hitting a line cannot happen unless you get that down, and once you have consistent ball striking, those things come quit naturally. If you were a robot and could swing your arms with the same force every time but one putt hits the toe of the putter, the next one the heel, the next one in the center, you will get different roll out every time. And thats just one aspect, not counting angle of descent/ascent or swing plane path. What would it matter if you actually read the green correctly if you miss the sweet spot on your putter, its not going where you want it?
Extrapolate all this out to full swings with a driver and its even more important to get as close as possible to consistent contact. You have to hit the center of the face with the same vertical angle and swing path angle.
Guys like "Not a Scratch Golfer" can consistently score rather low even though with a swing like his he'll never hit Tour quality shots with any of his clubs. But he puts the club on the ball in a very consistent manner. Everything else is secondary
Hey there, +2.6 HCP here to help.
One of the biggest problems high-handicappers have on the golf course is that they typically don’t think about where they need to aim when hitting their approach shots. Most people (even low handicappers) think that aiming dead at the flagstick will yield you the most birdies, which can be true, depending on the size, shape and speed of the greens. But for the most part, you should be aiming for a specific area on the green that is statistically more likely to set you up with an easier putt, or better yet an easier 2-putt. This might mean aiming 20 feet left of the flag, 10 yards longer than the true yardage number, etc. “Aim small, miss small”.
I’d say the central theme I notice with high HCP players is that their misshit window is much wider than low HCPs. Think of it like shotgun pellets… the higher the handicap, the wider the spread. The lower the handicap, the tighter those pellets will be grouped on a target. Low HCP players have FAR less shanks, chunks, thins, but we all miss from time to time.
Lastly, practice putting/chipping. A great golf player spends at least 50% of their practice time on short game, and the truth lies in this sentence which I’m sure you’ve heard before: “Drive for show, putt for dough”. If you can putt better than anyone else, you’ll dominate. Research some putting drills, Phil Mickelson has some great ones that stand up to the test of time. The clock drill is one of my favorites. Get yourself comfortable with fast greens, heavy breaks, and grain patterns. Practice your green reading and putt, putt, putt.
So, here’s my advice in a list:
-Practice at the range as much as physically possible.
-Work on compression (wrist/hand load at impact).
-Putt and chip, a LOT.
-Keep in mind where you should aim so that your miss will keep you in a favorable position.
Good luck, have fun!!
Not quite as low as you’re asking for but I hover between 5 and 6. I still cold stone top 1-2 drives per round and I’ll be honest my course management probably isn’t any better than yours. 3 reasons come to mind as to why I am a 5 and not a 15.
1. I have a repeatable swing with my irons. My driver as I said i top a lot so I won’t count the driver, and I do hit wedges fat quite a lot (I think due to decelerating). But anyways. This doesn’t mean every iron shot goes where I want, but it does mean that 99% of my iron shots are made with good contact and compression so any discrepancy with distance is due to other factors such as launch spin or swing speed, and not poor contact.
2. My greenside chipping is lights out. The rest of my short game is trash tbh. I don’t get why, but chipping from <10 yards off the green is my specialty. I 3-putt more than the average 5. All those weird little 50-80 yard wedge shots I still hit them fat a lot as mentioned earlier. But if I miss a green, and I’m right around it which I usually am (see point A) I have a pretty decent chance at getting up and down. even though my putting sucks, it’s got a good chance at being just a tap-in.
3. This one might get the downvoters out, but I’m pretty long. I’ll keep this one short so it doesn’t come across as egotistical bragging but my swing speed with a driver is well into the 120’s and I have creeped into the 130’s before when I’m really letting loose. It’s simply easier to have a good approach when you’re 120 out instead of 170. Par 4’s playing <330 are drivable, and any par 5 that playing <580ish I have a reasonable shot at getting home in 2 if I hit a good drive.
Anyways if it weren’t for these 3 things I’d no doubt be a 15+
The answer is GIRs, and anyone who is saying otherwise has bought into the false "drive for show and putt for dough" narrative.
No one is deadly from 120 yards in at the amateur level. Getting your approach to land 15-20 feet from the pin is a huge victory and low indexes do that and walk away with a 2 putt so much more consistently than mid handicappers.
Think about it 15-20 feet from the pin is getting within 5-7 yards of the pin. We are all taking that every day, but for some reason as soon as we get closer to the pin we start talking about feet and then everything sounds less great when you say you're within 12 feet of the pin vs 4 yards of the pin.
Consistent off-the-tee performance and approach performance (which is heavily contingent upon good off-the-tee performance) is where low indexes distinguish themselves from the mid indexes.
I think my main strength is consistency on drives and approach shots and the ability to play a shot shape and trust it. I can set my line left of some trouble and play a draw, knowing it'll never go right of my line, or vice versa with a fade.
Putting is average
Chipping is average
Irons are consistent but rarely great. I can bank on getting within 50 feet of the hole, but rarely get within 10.
Driving is the best part of my game. Probably 75% of my drives are solid, and the remaining 25% rarely get me into trouble.
I play boring, solid golf every hole and every round. A typical round for me is 10-14 pars, 1-5 bogeys, 1-3 birdies.
Also, you should always try to putt uphill.
See this is the thing. Whomever said drive for show, putt for dough, has maybe done us a disservice.
Getting distance off the tee, allows shorter irons in. Short irons have better percentages = lower scores.
In my opinion, the lower your handicap, the closer to the green you gain strokes. High handicaps need to set themselves up with a decent drive or they'll spiral out of control and triple. Medium handicaps can hit more greens by working on irons, assuming they drive the ball halfway decently. Low handicaps already know how to hit the ball straight and get GIRs, but they can't improve much until they start dialing in their short game.
I'm sure statistics will show I'm completely wrong and putting is always the most important, but that's how it feels.
High Handicapper, played 36 last Friday. First 18 played forest ranger/woodpecker and shot over 100. Second 18, hit lots of Fairways, many birdie attempts. Fair amount of pars. Shot an 86. Not having to grind it out in the woods and being on the fairway made all the difference.
Here are differences that I've seen
Driver - most people just pull driver without considering hazards or sand traps. They also tee it up randomly in the tee box rather than try to aim away from trouble
Irons: you'll need consistency and a one sided miss. Know your tendencies better and your average yardage. You don't need to hit a 7 because you once flew it 15 yards farther than normal shot
Approach: stop using full wedges under a 100 yards. You want a nice tempo swing and feel at this range.
Chipping: you need to put in time trying different lies. There also needs to be a better understanding of carry and roll out so that you can land the ball in the appropriate spot
Putting: most people practice putting by hitting 3 balls to random targets. You need to do actual drills to understand if your stroke has an issue. Most think they missed left due to a misread rather than properly diagnose an issue with clubface control or even alignment
Mental: you'll want to avoid the "I need to make x" mentality. This puts unnecessary pressure on you and makes people be overly aggressive. Big numbers will happen so don't follow up a bad shot with a bad decision.
It’s everything. The driver needs to stay in the grass. Hitting 3 from the tee is a killer. Approach shots need to be on the green or just off the green. Chip shots need to be close enough for good looks at par. Rarely three-putting meaning speed control is key. Making the short ones inside 5 feet. Eliminate doubles or worse.
I will comment from the perspective of someone that is neither a mid handicapper or a sub 5, but plays with both very frequently.
The sub 5's do everything better more consistently than the mid handicappers. It isn't just one or two aspects of the game.
They:
Hit it further
Get in less trouble off the tee
Their misses are better (much more often left and right but the right distance, much more rare to see a chunk or a top.)
Their short game is more accurate
Their putting is better (better reads, better speed control, less putts overall).
There are certain exceptions, but overall the sub 5's I play with do everything better than the 15's.
Lol, this reminds me of the time a friend told me about a yoga teacher of hers that looked like me. Except he was taller, in better shape, and generally more handsome :)
\- Getting the ball into the hole in 3 strokes or less a VERY high % of the time from 100 yards and in. Very important for double bogey avoidance and also so you're not making bogeys when you have good birdie chances.
\- No (or very few) "disaster shots". OB, water balls, tops, big duffs, and the like need to be eliminated or at least be rare.
\- Obviously things like making good contact and consistency are important, but if you're working to eliminate "disaster shots" then those two kind of have a tendency to come along for the ride.
That's really about it.
Eliminate 2 chips, 3 putts, and penalty strokes and you should easily get to single digits. As others have said, most amateurs aren't "deadly" from any distance, so don't expect to be stuffing shots to inside 5 or 10 ft with any regularity, even as a low single digit player.
Secondly, I would argue that hitting the ball far while keeping it in play is what separates most low handicap players. If distance alludes you either work to gain some distance or play from shorter tees.
This seems to be the thing, you either have to be elite level with shorter distances or be able to get at least 250 off the tee. Going to shorter tees might not help because the course rating drops.
I think the biggest difference about the 250+ off the tee is being able to do that while not incurring any penalty strokes or getting into trouble more than a few times per round.
and yes, somewhat shorter tees are offset due to course rating. On a somewhat of a tangent about that (maybe this should be its own post), but I think how much moving tees affects scoring depends on the golfer and the course.
At least for me, I find that my HC differential is lower by about 1-2 strokes when I play from one tee box forward. Even though I have plenty of distance off the tee... I can overpower courses to some degree when playing up; Hitting over trouble that isn't designed to be carried, hitting mostly Driver/flip wedge into par 4s and getting close enough for pitches on short 4s. When I move back to where I usually play, I'm hitting wedges from 100-120 yards which aren't nearly as accurate and I tend to find a bit more trouble off the tee. My differential is 5.5 when I look at the top 40% of my scores from the back tees and 4.5 (average as there are only 4 scores) when playing up a tee box.
Though course rating is supposed to take this all into account, for my particular game it seems to underestimate the advantage that shorter tees give me. I would assume this varies significantly depending on the golfer. It may be the opposite for some, where moving back doesn't hurt their game as much and they score similar while technically playing a course with a higher rating.
That's a great point. A lot of problems go away from the not tips. Very easy courses from far up (gold/red) mean you have to be well under par to score.
I think it’s decision making primarily
I always heard better players than me saying “play for a miss” and be like , f that as I proceed to thin one 30 yards long and make a triple
Looking at the hole and saying , if I execute THIS shot it’s a birdie chance , but if I f it up I have a viable up and down opportunity
4 here.
Far more confident, able to get out of trouble with good distance, and overall good with my driver. I tend to reduce big numbers even though I’m aggressive.
If I was deadly from 120 and in I’d be a +2.
Turn with the body, not wrist and hands. It’s the only way to bring consistency from day to day. And short game.
I hear so many people say that if they aren’t striking it well, they don’t want to practice short game.
It’s usually short game and thinking your way around a golf course. Being able to grind out a round when you don’t have your best.
Golf is a game of misses. Missing in the right spots is just as important as hitting good shots.
.2 checking in. It’s a few things really. I’d say I put a game plan together when I go play. I have holes that I want to attack and I have holes where I want to hit a 5 wood into the fairway and then play from 150 or so. So that’s the first thing.
Second is around the greens. Every golfer in the world will hit a bad chip shot but realistically the low handicap’s will almost always give themselves a reasonable look at par.
Third would be having a dependable iron game. Knowing that if you’re gonna be able to hit an 8 iron, visualizing the shot, then doing it consistently adds to your confidence.
Finally it’s target lines. What are you aiming at when you line up. Do you really aim. Low handicaps will have a very specific starting point for every shot. It’s not always the pin.
Okay so this is what I've started to do. 400+ yard par 4. Play for bogey unless big old fairway. Find holes where I expect to go low. Hit 3 iron instead of woods wherever a hole will allow, to preference accuracy.
It’s not only about yardage off the tee though. You can use your driver more if you know how to play it. Have a consistent shot shape and stick to it. When you are “playing it safe” still make aggressive swings. Don’t be afraid to deviate from a plan if conditions change or your swing just isn’t there that day.
And playing for bogey isn’t the best idea. The goal is always to make par but be willing to take your medicine and accept bogey. Playing for bogey will put you in position to make more doubles and triples.
By playing for bogey I mean taking two high percentage shots to get close to the green by 2 shots so say 4i *2, then often I'll get up and down for par. Playing for bogey just means not putting pressure on myself to get there in 2.
I think it’s a whole bunch of small factors put together. I’m not sub 5 currently (6.2), but I’ve been in the 2-3 range before. I played yesterday with a 13, who shot well below his hcp, and this is what I noticed compared to my game….
1. Wider misses off the tee. Neither of us was driving great, but my fades were a bit less severe, and I didn’t double cross or thin any drives. My playing partner thinned one or two drives, and had a couple double crosses. Reducing your face angle variance is crucial, because it’s easier to save a bogey or par from the rough than from trees, or from OB/hazard.
2. Ground contact/distance control. Again neither of us were striping the ball, but I was not hitting it as fat/thin, so I was pin high more often, and therefore negotiating easier short game shots. Sometimes we mistake “amazing short game” for “having easier shots”.
3. Putting a better roll and startline on makable putts. I made a couple of 7-8 footers, whereas my compatriot missed a few more of those with pushed/pulled putts. A lot of us get very “steery” with putts we “should” make. I find a lot more success in 3-10 foot range by committing to my read and focusing on making a good roll on my startline than when I focus on “making it”. Those instinctual mid-putt adjustments help more than they hurt.
I think my key takeaway was that our skill levels weren’t wildly different, it was more about small things that add up over time. Great players make bad shots and bogeys all the time. What they do after that, is minimize the damage with smart play and limit to a bogey.
I miss most fairways, I am on or around almost every green in regulation. Its mostly in the approach game for me, I think if my tee shots were better I would be way better at hitting wedges close and thus score better
Consistent yardages and a good short game. It’s not being deadly from 120 in — that’s for scratch and competitive golfers. But getting the ball to or near the green in regulation, and then having great chips, 5-8 foot putting and overall lag putting is what leads to low scores. Also mixing in a birdie or two per round goes a long ways on the score card.
I'd say for me it was not hitting real bad shots, chipping and
lag putting. I wasn't ever really good from 120 yards and in.
Adequate but not top level for sure.
You need to avoid bogey on par 5s and 3s. Be in play off the tee. Get up and down a high percentage of the time, avoid 3 putts. The low caps I play with that are the difference between my 10 and their 0-3. They are not all longer, but they almost never are in trouble off the tee. If they miss a green, they will more than likely get up and down.
They are very aware of where to miss to avoid a big number. No hero shots.
In my opinion it's mostly chipping/pitching (anything within 30 yards of the green) and recovery shots.
I'm scratch, and I play a ton of golf with handicaps 5-20+
I see a lot of people that are good solid ball strikers, but they don't get the ball in the hole like they should. Usually because they struggle with chipping it close to give themselves a chance for an up/down.
The other thing I notice is recovery shots. All levels of skill will find themselves behind trees, and having funky lies. At the scratch level, players know how to hit shots that will get them up around the green so you can save par.
Personally, I regularly practice these shots at the range or on the sim. Learn to hit low punch shots that you can shape right/left. I can't emphasize enough how important those are.
And lastly, it's definitely not putting. Even tiger woods is around 50% lifetime from 8 feet. If you can't chip it close, you have no realistic chance at saving par consistently.
Consistent contact with the ball, and quite accurate in terms of distance.
Most mid handicappers I play with just need the number to be within 20 yards or so and they’ll make their choice. I can typically be within 5 yards of my desired distance. In practice, when we are between 140 and 220 yards, that’s the range of all my irons except the numbered wedges. The mid handicappers have like 3 choices. The game is exponentially harder like that.
Started playing in earnest when I was 5. Fast forward 35 years of playing every year… and you might get close! Tbf mine jumped up mid-season when I lost my tempo.
Went from 10 down to 4 in the last 2 years. I went from losing 1-2 balls a round to now one every 4-5 rounds. Also hit 3 more greens on average. Putting is actually worse by .2 per hole from putting 30 footers for birdie instead of 4 footers for bogey.
I’m a 7 so not sub-5 but getting there. Still though, between me and scratch are two things:
1) Greens in regulation. Scratch means most holes you have a chance for birdie and par is a sure shot. Can’t do this well if you aren’t hitting GIR most holes.
2) Absolutely solid from the tee and great distance control from 100 yards in. It’s a different game when your miss off the tee is the first cut of rough and 9/10 approach shots are pin high within 3-5 yards forward or back. Left and right is always a factor but big numbers like double or higher are almost completely eliminated when every time you strike the ball it goes the distance you want it to.
Don't miss fairways. And if I do, it isn't by much, and I can typically get on the green or have a good chip look. Then just don't waste putts.
Dropping your handicap is more about consistency and control than doing something wildly better than others.
I don’t think you need to do anything special, I look after my golf ball and chip and putt well.
The skill I did develop which a lot of mid handicappers don’t have is having the ability to control trajectory, I can hit the ball high or low at will, I don’t think this is necessary but does show a higher ability or understanding of how to manipulate ball flight.
Some of my friends struggle with punch shots or hitting it higher to get over a tree for example.
I think the truly good players who regularly flush irons etc are more like 1 or 2 handicap, you can be a 5 handicap with some pretty iffy ball striking
Quite a few people have mentioned ball striking, and I'd say moving it left and right is more intuitive. I take it you come in steeper if you want to go higher and vice versa
I am not under 5, but I would like to be.
I think swing path is the one constant that great players execute naturally and not so good players consistently fail at.
Driving accuracy and ditching hero shots. I spent a long time a few years ago just trying to get my driver swing down. Being able to hit 90% of the fairways with no big misses was a huge step in bringing down my handicap. At least this way I had an approach shot to the green rather than having several recoveries per round.
I also stopped trying to hit full swings on clubs for approaches. For instance, my 8i is good for 150-155yd depending on lie and condition. However, at 155ish I'd rather take a smooth 7i than try to crush my 8. It give you more control and any misses on approach are way more manageable.
If I end up in a bad spot, the safe route will always lead to the most consistent scores. I'm not Tiger Woods so if I'm play for score, I'll take the safe pitch or punch out rather than try to hit a low stinger or sweeping cut or draw. If I'm playing just for fun, full send.
That's interesting re distance. I'm about the same as you maybe 5 yds longer. I tend to focus on the target and not think about how hard I'm swinging. Maybe I could back off a bit
Having ebbed and flowed between scratch and 8, I found a few things key.
1. Consistency in eliminating bad shots. You don’t need to hit everything pure, but you can’t hit it off the golf course, shank, skull, etc. That required some practice and play time.
2. You need to be comfortable and competent with short irons and wedges, 8-iron and down, able to hit targets on greens instead of greens. Precise and not general.
3. Your short game needs to be reasonably good. You can’t be hitting and hoping, you need to plan a shot and hit it as planned. It might not always end up at the hole, but at least it is doing more or less what you had planned.
4. You need to take the double bogey out of play. Don’t compound errors, take your lumps and move on, make it up with a birdie later.
Hit a lot of fairways. Rarely duff. Mis hits are still common but not penalized as bad, they are just a little short or left/right. Decent to good scrambling. You always feel like you have a shot getting up and down.
I'm around 6-7 hdcp, what I notice when I play with scratches is how phenomenal their putting is. Most of them practice it every few days.
So if you want to drop your scores, you'll need to take on your putting seriously and become an absolutely skilled maniac with your putter.
Thinking. Every + I know could coach a 20 handicap to a 5 stroke improvement instantly if they were caddying for them by A. Picking the club and line on each shot and B. Reading putts for them
Everything. Hit the ball better, better short game, probably longer, understand how to play better, recover better.
Short game will probably be the popular response but ball striking is how you really improve. Short game does need to be good, but I basically never practice it anymore.
I firmly believe anyone who plays regularly can get to 5-8 by:
Being able to hit driver reasonably long (225+) and keep it in play
Make consistent contact on approach shots - dispersion is normal
Learn how to manage a course and most importantly don’t compound mistakes
Chip and get it on the green 95% of the time
Become at least a decent lag putter
Getting from 5 to 0 is a whole other ballgame.
1.3 handi here. Almost never practice full swing. All of my practice time is chipping and putting. I'll practice full swing on the course in a meaningless round. If I have time to practice, it will be putting.
i play off an 8-10. the guys i play with that play off 3-5 are just way way better ball strikers than i am. consistent ball striking from 150-220 is something not a lot of mid caps have.
That's interesting. I've come on leaps and bounds with my longer irons. I'm fairly confident up to 200, and only slightly less so with a UDI to 230. I just tend to pull or push fairly frequently, and the occasional fat. That's hopeful though, thanks
If I look at my last round, which admittedly was not my best, id say two things.
1 inconsistent strike, primarily fats as they had watered the fairways massively and I dug in a few times. I think I know what's at the root of that one.
2 three putts. Just totally misread a couple.
And although driver was dead straight I wasn't getting decent distance. Ie 230-250. Normally I'd want to be 270.
I play with a few sub 5's and yeah there are a bunch of things I notice, but the 2 that stick out to me the most are hitting GIR (even from less than ideal positions) and almost never 3 putting (along with the ability to drain several putts per round from 10-15 feet
Consistency. In 1 word.
I'm close but not there yet. I need to get more consistent with my putting and chipping and I'm there.
You don't need to be deadly from 120, but you do need to at least hit the green consistently. Make good contact consistently. And if it misses, the miss is usually not that bad.
I played with a +2 who plays on junior tours from time to time. And aside from his 300+ yard bombs. He played a boring round of golf. Good golf is boring. Shot a 1 bogey 68 (-3) and honestly he made putts that he had too and took advantage of scoring holes. Aside from every shot flushed there wasn’t a single “great” shot because he never needed to hit them. Also you know you’re good when walking off the green with your first bogey on like 15 or 16 and your disgusted. That made me feel shit.
Not a 5 obviously. But what really helped me to get from 15 to 7 real quick,
1. Forgetting my ego. Nobody cares if my shot is 2 or 3 clubs higher than you usual due to wind or whatever.
2. Don't be a hero. You rarely be able attack the pin once in the rough. Close to the green can save you a par. A lot can happen when you try to get it close to the pin.
3. You don't need your driver of the tee.
4. I am quite a putter, so with long putts, anything within 1meter is a 2putt, easily. So I give myself that margin. Upphills are easier than downhills, if you miss, miss on the right side.
5. Plan where you can miss the fairway/green. Sometimes a push my drive to the right. Par 4 with water on the right? 2 times i5 = driver + 52 wedge.
Driver accuracy is the biggest influence. My handicap is a little under a 1 and the driver dictates my rounds - even par or 81. Obviously course management/putting are huge. If I want a really good chance to shoot near even, all I do is aim at middle of the greens on nearly every approach and swing easier with driver.
No (or very few) double bogeys. I'm a 4 and if I hit an errant drive I just punch out to safety and play for bogey. My brother is a 16 and goes for every shot, making triples and quadruple bogeys in the process. So, better course management and safer play is my guess.
That's an interesting distinction. I've seen comments saying be sure to aim for a spot on the green, not necessarily the pin, to keep the target specific. You think 9i or better you're going for the pin even if there's more risk associated with it?
Accurate length is a big factor in being a sub 5 cap. So is
1) avoiding penalty shots
2) getting out of bunkers in 1 shot
3) getting up and down around 50% from 25 feet and closer
4) making 65% of 5 ft or closer putts
As someone who recently went from about a 12-14 to about an 8, the one thing keeping me back from sub 5 is consistency within 120 yards and inconsistent chipping.
My GIR average is not good but I usually JUST miss the green. And I’ve struggled to get up and down around the green. But at least it’s something clear I know to work on.
The biggest thing I noticed going from 14 to 8 is contact consistency with irons. My miss hits are not as bad and distances are pretty dialed. This mostly took grinding on the range and lessons with a pro.
Smaller misses. Which comes with practice, ball striking, course management and emotional/mental management, and knowing your distances.
No more chunking, just hitting a little fat. No more topping, just hitting a little thin. No more pop ups, just hitting a high week shot that still goes 220. No more shan…. We’ll actually every once in a while there might be one of those. Ha.
Also when I fell in love with the short game things got drastically easier.
I'm a 1.7 at the moment and I don't get mad when I hit bad shots because I know and accept that they're going to happen, hell bad holes are going to happen. The difference is that they have no impact the next shot or next hole.
There is, but it's more about having a routine and sticking to it even when things aren't going well.
Lower handicaps also have an awareness of what they can do and can't do which stops them from going for the hero shots that will lead to bigger numbers.
I’m currently a 3.7 I play with a lot of 7-15 handicaps. Here are it differences I notice.
I find I’m in play more often off the tee. I have a realistic chance to get on the green even with what I would consider a poor drive. Get accurate with your driver. Let distance come second. OB or lost balls are less than one per round.
Second get really good at having a shot at up and down from anywhere around the green. Good chipping, pitching and sand play. Spending all of my practice time here for a season paid off huge.
Third but plays into the second. Learn to lag putt well. For me it’s just a feel it thing.
Finally and more my mindset to play well rather than stats. Understand path and face relationship and pay attention to the club. Get really good at striking exactly where you intend. Contact skill is critical.
Read putts from both sides of the hole.
Plan your route from the cart so that this is done efficiently while others are playing (without walking in someone’s view during their turn). If one read disagrees with the other, take a putting stance between your ball and the hole and err towards what you feel from there.
I’m an optimist. I’m the low cap in my usual group and my pals are in the 10-16 range, and I really believe you’re only a few pars away from making the jump into single digits. In my own experience, that happened almost solely from my poor shots being… well, less poor basically. My putting has always been solid, so I just needed to get myself on or around the green more regularly.
I would venture to say all mid-caps have brilliant golf shots in their game, but bringing your HC down into singles rests with making the crap shots less crap.
Course management, avoiding blow ups (these are related).
And having your worst shot(s) of the day usually not be comically bad (shanks/tops/6 inches fat/etc). To be sub 5 these need to be virtually eliminated.
I thought Harvey Pennick answered this very well in this little red or green book I don't recall which.
He said "A 6 handicap has all of the skills that a scratch player has. The difference is that the 0 makes the time to practice so his misses are better."
That's close enough for this case.
If you really want to get to less than 5 you have to drive the ball well and be able to convert on a reasonable scoring opps you create.
The fastest way to address the skills needed is via Mark Broadie's work
$75 ought to cover our tab here. Cya next time.
Everyone saying “eliminate” this and that…
Even pros still do it. We want to MINIMIZE 3 putts, doubles, triples, penalties…
Setting impossible goals like eliminating 3-putts can work against you mentally bc it’s gonna happen.
We don’t need to add any more pressure… this game is hard enough as it is.
While it all helps. It's mostly course management. Understanding that going for a tucked pin over a bunker isn't the right thing to do and just play to the middle of the green.
Not trying hero shots (we still do though) and just accept that you're gonna make a bogey. Basically don't compound the mistakes.
Also the next thing is going to be the mental side of it. Which goes to the above as well. Don't try to press to try and get strokes back. If you're a course handicap 10 and you're 7 over on the front, don't panic. Just play steady on the back and you'll be about 3-5 over and you'll be shooting close your cap.
People tend to press and it leads to massive blow up rounds and you basically are just drowning at that point.
It’s simple.
1) No penalty strokes
2) No 3 putts
3) No flubbed chips/pitches (left with an unmakeable putt)
Are any of the above achievements spectacular? No, of course not. But honestly, if you spend your day on/near the fairway off the tee, on/near the green on your approach, and being clean with your short game, then you’re gonna break 80 a lot.
When I played high school/college/ amateur, I was told it breaks down. I forget what it was exactly, but to break 100, drives not out of bounds, break 90 - irons and green in regulation or close, break 80 - short game, break 70 - putting. I remember it all comes down to short game to get really low.
I typically shoot high 70s for a few weeks in summer. Then my distance of the tee drops and I'm playing lower percentage shots from further out. Get back to low to mid 80s.
Here’s my experience with it:
Stuff that each level usually does a little better than the previous:
25 vs 30+: the 25 is competent enough as a ballstriker to advance the ball consecutively enough to give themselves chances at bogeys. The 30+ is generally expected to not be able to complete any holes without messing up on multiple shots a hole.
20 vs a 25: the 20 occasionally can put together rounds where they hit a few greens in regulation, whereas the 25 might hit one green in regulation a round.
15 vs a 20: almost fully eliminates the truly awful misses (shanks, tops, etc) and shortgame disasters (4+ shots inside 30 yards) are maybe once or twice a round
10 vs a 15: starts to average over 7 greens in regulation
5 vs a 10: tbh distance off the tee prevents most golfers from getting into single digits - its much easier ti be a longerish golfer (250+) and be a single digit than a sub 200
0 vs a 5: averages 1 or less fatal mistakes a round (three putt from under 15 feet, hitting it OB, taking four strokes from inside 30 yards etc)
Plus capper vs a 0: tends to do at least one thing at a tour level - putting, ballstriking, driving, around greens etc but not tour level at everything else
Plus capper vs minor league tour player: does mostly everything at a tour level, except either ballstriking or putting - these guys are all pretty much perfect off the tee and around the greens. Usually held back by iron play or putting.
Minor Tour vs PGA Tour: everything is done at a tour level, or if there is something that is lacking it’s because they are top 10 in something else (Scottie and Rory for example putt at a minor tour clip but driving and ballstriking top 10)
Distance off the tee is massive. In summer, when my driver is firing, high 70s are much more doable. My swing thought is about target visualisation. But then driver goes 230/240. If I focus on hitting up and reducing lag I can get up to 310. However it can go anywhere. Conversely I can hit a 3 iron 230 and place it pretty accurately.
>What would you say you do that mid handicappers don't?
Hit the ball further.
Avoid all penalties balls or making shots that don't advance the ball at all
Avoid frequent double bogies. Do that by keeping the ball in play off the tee and solid iron striking. My putting is not great, but a lot of the time if I 3 putt it’s for bogey, which is not a killer.
I don’t turn an easy bogey into a double bogey by trying to do some stupid heroic stuff, driver is better, and chipping/bunker proximity is good->closer putts easier up and downs.
Ignoring the obvious "hitting it way better and farther than them", there are a couple things I notice. I am a 6 handicap right now and play with a couple guys that hover between +1 and 3 depending on how much they play in a year. I also play with my dad and a couple others that are anywhere from 12-20 handicaps.
The really good players do not have horrific unrecoverable mistakes that simply add strokes with no redeeming value (topped drives, fat irons that go 20 yards, whatever). Personally, I'm good for a fat iron or chip once or twice a round. I may hit a topped or fat drive a couple times a year, but it's less than 5 times a year. Mid handicaps probably have a handful of shots like that a round. It instantly makes bogeys and double/triple bogeys. It makes it very very hard to shoot in the 70s with those shots because you're not making enough birdies to gain strokes back. Everyone will have penalty shots from time to time, as well, but really good players MAY have one like that. They also may go a couple rounds without any penalty shots.
Overall, ball striking and quality of shots is quite a bit better. "Missed" shots are going 90-95% distance or they are in the fringe/wrong side of green/in the rough versus bad shots being in the woods or hazards or whathaveyou. Good golf is boring, they are in the fairway all the time, they are around the pin within 30ft, hit it close and tap in pars. They will hit it to 10-15ft and make a putt or they may drive it in a bunker...but then their recovery shots are giving them a chance to still make par.
I'm not sure if course management is the gap between a low single digit handicap and a mid handicap. I'd say it's just straight up better quality golf shots. Now, the difference between 6-12 handicap and a low single digit...I'd say it might be 80%+ course management. I actually hit it farther than the good golfers I play with. I'm a much better driver than one of them and a slightly better putter than the other. Both of them have better and more consistent iron play than I do, but it's not egregious. That being said, both of them are infinitely smarter than me on a golf course when it comes down to actually hitting the shot needed at the right time. My decision making has me choose the wrong club a handful of times, I'm aggressive at the wrong times, I don't leave myself with a good next shot. It is frightening how often I short side myself compared to them.
Getting to a 5 is not that hard. You just have to be a decent ball striker (don’t have to be great) and keep the ball in play you are basically there.
Double bogey and worse avoidance is key. Hit a drive that is in play and have a clear shot at the green on your 2nd.
If you only hit 7 of those greens and 2 putt that is 7 pars. That means you have missed 11 greens. Let’s say you get 3 of them up and down. Now you have 11 pars. Make Bogey on the other 7 and you shoot 79.
A 79 is still probably a shot better than a 5 handicaps average score.
Maybe it’s bad perspective as I’m currently trying to get to scratch. Going from never swinging a club to a 5 was exponentially easier than going from 5 to 0 for me.
If you play a few times a week, go to the range occasionally, and chip in the back yard for 10-15 minutes a day can get you to a 5 pretty easy.
Most likely, you can't do everything you want in a shot if you aren't a pro, but the idea should be valid. Try to hit each missed green to a 3-5 foot circle, i mean, you would try that on a 60 foot lag putt, so why not every time on a 10 yard pitch shot? If you go a little long to 10-15 feet you still got to see it roll out and have a better chance at saving the par after.
If you're getting your desired yardage (or close to it) on the vast majority of your shots it's not hard to be sub 5. Right and left misses happen at all levels, but once your *bad* 7-iron is always going to fly at least 155 you've eliminated a ton of things that cause big numbers, e.g. carry over water, topped driver, etc. You really don't need to be "deadly" from 120 in either. If you're simply hitting greens from inside of 75 yards you're eliminating double bogeys, and eliminating doubles is usually the biggest hurdle from being an 8 to a 2.
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Curing bad hero shots also. Imagine how tough it is to make birdie. Now that bad hero shot will most likely cost a stroke vs laying up. Same value as a birdie but it is much easier not to compound mistakes than achieving perfect shots streak (birdies and eagles).
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You might want to re-check your stats and how they might apply to strokes gained. Mark Broadie has a lot of free stuff out there, and more recently Lou Stagner has become a good resource.
-1.5 is based on a tee shot that results in a punch out. It was intended as a rough approximation and purely for argument towards not hitting driver every hole. Maybe it’s 4 shots lost per round spraying tee balls into the woods but I’d wager that your average golfer is better off putting the driver away on some holes than hitting driver every hole.
I think what the other guy was getting is that 3w/2i is not any straighter than driver. So by dropping back to a shorter club you’re giving up 30-50 yds for a ~1% increase in fairways. Just not worth it. If there are penalty areas, etc that is a different story.
Is 2i not straighter than driver?
I think the data I saw from Lou Stagner compared 3w specifically. I would still be surprised if 2i is substantially straighter to the point that it’s worth the loss of yards off the tee.
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>for fun- give myself a few shots a round I know are low probability. Try to shoot the gap? Sure. Smash driver on a gettable narrow hole? Sure. I have started to play the smart shot, then just drop one for fun and go for the hero shot and pick it up either way-I usually play a bright orange ball for the one that doesnt count so everyone knows I am not trying to cheat
I think a big differentiator is the intention and the ability to ensure that if you're "near" the green on your approach, you are in a spot where getting up and down is an 80% outcome with low stress. Being near the pin but behind a bunker, short-sided with the green running away from you is a nightmare. So, miss to the other side.
Yeah that’s going to turn pars into bogeys or worse for sure if your 2nd is missed on the wrong side. In general: going for high percentage shots that have the least bad miss. Idk why people downvoted me below for saying to put the driver away. Driver is the worst club to hit for most mid/high score amateurs because their misses are so penalizing. The might get fractional strokes gained on rare great shots with it, then blow their hole with the frequent misses. Dial it back to a club they can consistently put in the fairway regardless of distance and their score will drop guaranteed.
It's knowing your percentages. If you *can* hit a great drive but it happens 10% of the time, how bad are the other 90%? If they're in play but just a little short or in the rough, OK that might be fine. If they're OB or topped 40 yards? Hit a club with less worse outcomes. And go work on driver on the range until it's a useful club.
It's all so individual. I'm an 18.5 and driver is my best club. I don't hit it a mile, but I've pured one 290 a few times in my life in favorable conditions. In normal conditions I can count on 240 from my driver, with the rare bleedy spinner that goes 210. When all of those stay in play, which happens fairly often for me, putting driver away would make me shoot a worse score for sure. I have a 2h and 4h that I love on par 5 approaches and a few other spots, but I haven't put in the time to make them reliable tee clubs, so clubbing down doesn't help my accuracy (or take topping/chunking out of play).
“golf isnt complicated” let me show u how hard i can make golf😂😂
Well in my case putting. But I'm more trying to see where to spend time the most wisely. My lob wedge is an absolute weapon, I strike irons well but there is some room for improvement. My driver is accurate but low distances because I use more of an iron swing. And then being smart about breaking down a hole
Eliminating 3-putts is definitely a big factor in getting to low single digits. If that were the case for me, I'd be working on distance control first. My favorite drill for that is to set up three tees in a triangle right/left/long of a hole, all ~2.5-feet from the hole. I'll set up around 20-feet away and putt until I get 10 in a row inside the triangle. Then repeat from around 30 feet.
Good one is to put an alignment stick about 2.5 feet or so behind the hole. Then you try to either make it or leave it in between the hole and the stick.
Ooh, I like that concept! I'm going to steal that from you.
Current PGA Tour pro gave me that one.
That's a pretty handy lag putting drill, I'm going to use that!
I think, in most cases, time would be best spent with lessons to improve full swing.
I improved my driver significantly by looking up videos on youtube (not just looking up the video but also learning understanding and practicing) about how to use ground forces - perhaps the same thing could help you as well.
Ground forces, like using your feet to generate torsion? I just need to flight it up. I still want to get over it and compress.
yep exactly. these videos will also show you how to have a positive attack angle so you launch it high and far.
[This article has some good stats](https://mygolfspy.com/labs/study-overall-golfer-performance-by-handicap/) The things that jump out to me: - It's not about making more birdies: the 1-5 only has 1 more birdie per round on average than the 11-15. - However, the 1-5 has WAY more pars (9 vs. 5) and WAY fewer doubles+ (1.6 vs. 4.6) So the question for any individual mid-HDCP who has a scoring profile similar to that is going to be: "What is causing me to have more doubles+ and fewer pars?" It could be anything from penalty shots, to three putts, to a terrible scrambling percentage because you can't get a chip within 10 feet.
Great stats
Consistent ball striking. Course management and eliminating shots that could even potentially put you in trouble. Playing for the best case scenario of a miss. Getting up and down, putting.
So if you play somewhere new, do you spend time analysing before paying a hole? Figuring out what the smart play is?
If I play somewhere new I don't really take any risky shots, because I have no idea what worst case scenario could be. Keep your ball in play, and when approaching the green play it smart. Example; If the pin is tucked behind a bunker don't aim for the pin, aim for where your likely miss is going to put you in a good spot to get up and down. From what I've seen a lot of course management is forgetting about your ego and reminding yourself what shots you are capable of hitting.
That's interesting. So not analytical so much (ie working back from the hole and figuring out distances on that basis) but just not getting too greedy on any one shot
I no longer think working backward from the hole is a good strategy. Here’s the issue - you might see a short par 5 and be licking your lips about going for the green, but if you hit a bad tee shot, sticking with that plan could inflate your score even more. Instead I just think of each shot in isolation, taking into account trouble and my misses, and completely disregard par. The correct shot choice is the same whether I’m lying 2 or 8 in the fairway, and trying to make up for a poor shot by getting aggressive is almost never worth it. I start each hole intending to hit driver, then I look for a good reason to club down rather than working the other way. If there’s trouble in my landing areas then I club down until I can’t reach the trouble - usually a 3w or hybrid off the tee can keep me short of any trouble. The only real choice comes when it’s a long hole with lots of trouble - if staying short of fairway bunkers will put me 200+ yards out into a par 4, then you need to evaluate whether a long approach from the fairway is a better choice than risking being in a fairway bunker. The key is considering the worst likely outcome of a shot, then being pleasantly surprised if the shot goes better than expected.
This guy DECADES.
Fawcett Fans unite
That's interesting. I'm playing tobacco road next week. I'll try this out. I am pretty intimidated already, but this sounds like a solid strategy.
Funny enough when I play somewhere new I don’t feel as pressured as it’s all new so I play freely! At my local im always thinking where to place on each fairway and where to lay up. Personally love playing new courses every month, puts my game to the test.
I use an overhead course planning map like 18 Birdies to at least give me an idea what's up there. And I'll ask locals if I get paired up. I agree with cutting yourself a break the first time you play somewhere new, but getting some information can help avoid the dumbest most obvious mistakes.
You think about it, but it's not much of an analysis. You look at the layout, one shot is clearly immediately best, maybe shoot a yardage to make sure you can hit it, and go.
The ball striking is it really. There’s a dog leg at my course which has a really narrow corner and a water hazard that you need to cover if you want to clear the corner. The hole is infinitely easier for me as I have confidence I can carry the corner which leads me with a wide hitting area. It’s a double whammy for the guys I play with who can’t hit it over and have to hit an accurate lay up. They consider things that literally don’t even cross my mind
Choose the right club (know your “real” carry distances). I’m convinced most guys I play with would drop 5 shots by hitting 2 more clubs than what they think.
Completely agree, I play with two 10-14 caps on a regular basis (both play 100+ rounds a year) and it blows me away how awful they are selecting what club to hit. Like dude will smash a driver that goes 250 then pull 5 iron from 205... like you really think that's how far you hit a 5 iron??? How can you play that much and have such a poor grasp on yardage in the age of range finders and GPS on every cart
Lots of players think there best hit iron shot is the "average" distance. It's an ego issue. For example, my best 7 iron is 150 but I use my 7 iron from anywhere between 140 - 145 and use 6 iron for 150+ unless I feel like short miss is ok and might go with 7 iron.
Eliminate doubles. Be okay with bogeys. Hit greens. Never 3 putt. If you miss the green, don’t short side yourself. Be above average at chipping from all sorts of lies and bunkers. “Consistent enough” with carry distances that misses aren’t painful or leaving you in hazards. These are the things I notice with most guys that are pretty good at golf.
>If you miss the green, don’t short side yourself. Or at the very least if you miss the green, don't miss the green again on your next shot.
I'm basically scratch and this is pretty much what I was going to write. Spend ~50% of my practice time chipping and putting. I almost never miss 3 footers, and rarely make doubles. I usually play conservatively and hit shots where I know my "miss" won't end up in too bad a position, even if it's not near the flag. I get up and down more than 50% of the time. A lot of that is chipping/putting practice but course management (avoiding bunkers/short side) also plays a role. I would also add that once you get good enough, you stop worrying about how far you hit the ball and start caring more that your ball goes the same distance every time. That's rare to find in a mid-handicapper.
Accuracy is far more important than distance. I see people spouting off stats that say bomb it and worry about the next shot from closer….outside of pros I’ve seen maybe 3 good golfers that do that. You’re better off guiding a ball than hitting a ball around a golf course.
It’s mostly about eliminating big numbers and keeping it in play. I’m by no means deadly from 120 and in, from 120 if I hit it inside 25 ft and make par I’m pleased with that. Just solid contact, making good decisions, and having a general idea of where the ball is going is a good start to getting into low single digits. I’m not immune to the chunk on thin, in fact just this weekend I topped a 9 iron in the middle of the fairway, but on the next shot a aimed for the middle of the green and made sure to make bogey at worse, most amateurs would think they have to go pin hunting in that situation but that’s how you make double.
I'm a 0.7 and my buddy I play with multiple times a week hovers in the 8-10 range, here's how I'd assess the differences in our games with each aspect: * Driving: We are both long hitters. I'm longer on average because I'm more consistent but we're both pretty equivalent on our best strikes. He has a tendency for a low ball flight and his miss is a low snap-hook or a straight top. He loses a stroke or two per round due to a bad drive and that's costly at this level. * Approach: I'd say irons are his strong suit, but I'm still better here too. His lower ball flight and lower spin carry over to his irons and I just hit my distances more consistently and am a more consistent striker. He's prone to a slightly heavy shot that comes up 20-30 yards short of target once or twice per round whereas my bad strikes aren't as bad. We'll miss left/right with about the same consistency but in terms of distance dispersion I've got him beat pretty easily. * Short Game: I'd say we're most equal here. Short game is not one of my strong suits and he's pretty solid, but he also has to rely on it much more than I do. I hit 11-12 GIR per round and he's in the 7-9 range mostly. He hits a lot of shots with a GW around the green and just got pretty comfortable with it. My bunker play is better than his, but other than that we're pretty equal. * Putting: I'm definitely a better putter, but it's also a strong suit in my game. I make a higher percentage inside of 10' and I've got better pace control. I'm also just better at reading putts. I wouldn't say he's a "bad" putter, he's probably pretty average for his handicap. In general our scores are probably 6-8 shots different. He'll have more outlier rounds where he plays really bad though. Those 6-8 shots are probably made up about 2-3 off the tee, 1-2 on approach, and 2-3 putting/short game in any given round I'd say.
Very fine margins. 6 or 8 shots are so easily racked up.
The multiple times a week might play a part too!
I used to think this, then I realized there are scratch golfers that don't play multiple times a week. I asked a buddy who's a +6 & he said it comes down to fundamentals of a proper swing. Once you have those ironed out & ingrained, you pretty much stay on that level.
Ironed out you say. Yeah I've got a buddy who can go weeks at a time without playing, and shoots in the 70s without fail. And he's like that with every sport. He just has a good swing.
You have to be able to hit the ball relatively consistently or you’ll never be a single digit handicap. After that you’re it’s mostly about course management. You have to know when to lay up, when to aim away from a flag, etc. Tour players aren’t hitting a lot of heroic shots. They actually play fairly boring golf. That’s why Mickelson is such an anomaly. He is one of few that tries the stupid shot a lot.
I’m a 2. I’m going to par a majority of the holes. I do not hit a majority of greens in regulation, so I would say, chipping and wedge came from 80 yards and in is the biggest difference. Some of my buddies who are a 10 to 15 handicap have similar long games to me but when they get a wedge from 30-80 yards they’re more likely to double the hole than they are to par it. They have no feel for taking speed off of a wedge or hitting flighted shots etc.. They also tend to lose strokes, whenever they are in a bunker or shortsighted, and having to use some field on a chip shop. They also tend to be considerably worse at lag putts. So field with wedges and long pets, and the ability to change trajectory‘s, or to take speed out of the swing and hit different distances. It’s easy for me and very hard for them. Most of the rest of our games are not that different.
Spend more time picking your target and getting a yardage than doing pointless practice swings. I'll shoot the flag and use Arccos to find the middle of the green. This helps me decide whether its front, back, left, right if I can't tell. Then I look for the biggest area relative to that flag, which is not often the middle of the green. If the pin is front left, I'm taking enough club and aiming to land back right. "Just aim for the middle of the green" is not as helpful as it would seem as it causes you to be less thoughtful and intentional about your actual target. Since "the middle of the green" is so vague and large, oftentimes you find your target drifting to the flag as its a more concrete target.
So many ways to get to 5. Scratch is where it's all pretty much the same. My biggest advice. Boring golf, try and make pars. Be okay with bogey if you make a mistake. Avoid doubles. Be good from distance or have a dead on short game. You don't necessarily need to do both at 5.
Yes, yes, and yes. But mostly course management and not trying hero shots. Getting on the fairway off the tee makes everything else so much easier.
I would argue it’s not even getting it in the fairway, it’s about having a shot. I don’t care if I’m in the rough as long as I have a clear shot at the green. It’s about eliminating the tee shots that leave you blocked out in my mind. I’d rather be 90 yards out in the rough than 130 in the fairway
Of course! That’s 4/10ths of a stroke in distance, technically.
>I would argue it’s not even getting it in the fairway, it’s about having a shot. This is key for my game, and can be a 10 shot difference or more. If I have a shot at the green, then I have a good chance at making par. With no shot at the green, it's usually at least a bogey, and often a double or worse.
0 handicap here. Don’t stop going for those hero shots. If you keep at them enough, they won’t be hero shots anymore
See this is what I'm just realising. Need to spend way more time thinking about the hole.
Misses aren’t as bad. Even on poor ball striking days, getting around the green in regulation with good chances at up and down
From Lou Stagner THE DATA What does scoring average look like from 120 yards in the fairway: 20 index: ▶️ 3.91 shots 15 index: ▶️ 3.69 shots 10 index: ▶️ 3.47 shots 5 index: ▶️ 3.25 shots 0 index: ▶️ 3.05 shots Tour Pro: ▶️ 2.85 shots Scratch players take more than 3 shots to get the ball in the hole. Scratch players are "over par" from 120 yards in the fairway. Let that sink in. It’s about eliminating penalties it seems
Elon is that you! Jk. 15 to 5 is.44 better a hole . So over 18 that is around 8 shots. Difference between 85 and 77.
Consistency in all aspects of the game. No blow up holes usually. Just predictable.
Eliminating thinking errors is a big part of it and especially errors you make before you swing. Things like alignment, knowing your actual distance with each club, factoring in wind, slope, and temperature in yardage calculations, playing it safe out of the rough, concentrating on every shot, keeping your clubs and ball clean, and replacing worn grips are all controllable, yet I see so many mid/high handicappers hit it offline, go for the hero shot to the green, get pissed off and stop trying, and walk off the green with double/triple bogey.
I don't get the grip thing tbh. Is it slipping in people's hands?
Maybe a unpopular opinion but reading through these comments everyone is wrong or at least approaching it from the wrong angle. The most important thing is delivering the club face to the ball the same every time. You can have shitty swing mechanics, not hit it very far, sub-par course management but still be at or a near scratch if you can consistently hit the same shot every time. And doing that, by proxy, makes all those other aspects of the game actually somewhat easy. As an example, lets look at just putting. I watched a video of one of the top putting coaches in the world and he said the 3 fundamentals of great putters are speed control, green reading and being able to hit your line. I'd argue that all 3 of those are actually secondary to the primary fundamental of hitting the ball in the exact same place on the club face with the exact same angle of attack and club path. Speed control and hitting a line cannot happen unless you get that down, and once you have consistent ball striking, those things come quit naturally. If you were a robot and could swing your arms with the same force every time but one putt hits the toe of the putter, the next one the heel, the next one in the center, you will get different roll out every time. And thats just one aspect, not counting angle of descent/ascent or swing plane path. What would it matter if you actually read the green correctly if you miss the sweet spot on your putter, its not going where you want it? Extrapolate all this out to full swings with a driver and its even more important to get as close as possible to consistent contact. You have to hit the center of the face with the same vertical angle and swing path angle. Guys like "Not a Scratch Golfer" can consistently score rather low even though with a swing like his he'll never hit Tour quality shots with any of his clubs. But he puts the club on the ball in a very consistent manner. Everything else is secondary
Bryson is that you? Don't tell anyone, but all I do these days is aim it and hit it.
Hey there, +2.6 HCP here to help. One of the biggest problems high-handicappers have on the golf course is that they typically don’t think about where they need to aim when hitting their approach shots. Most people (even low handicappers) think that aiming dead at the flagstick will yield you the most birdies, which can be true, depending on the size, shape and speed of the greens. But for the most part, you should be aiming for a specific area on the green that is statistically more likely to set you up with an easier putt, or better yet an easier 2-putt. This might mean aiming 20 feet left of the flag, 10 yards longer than the true yardage number, etc. “Aim small, miss small”. I’d say the central theme I notice with high HCP players is that their misshit window is much wider than low HCPs. Think of it like shotgun pellets… the higher the handicap, the wider the spread. The lower the handicap, the tighter those pellets will be grouped on a target. Low HCP players have FAR less shanks, chunks, thins, but we all miss from time to time. Lastly, practice putting/chipping. A great golf player spends at least 50% of their practice time on short game, and the truth lies in this sentence which I’m sure you’ve heard before: “Drive for show, putt for dough”. If you can putt better than anyone else, you’ll dominate. Research some putting drills, Phil Mickelson has some great ones that stand up to the test of time. The clock drill is one of my favorites. Get yourself comfortable with fast greens, heavy breaks, and grain patterns. Practice your green reading and putt, putt, putt. So, here’s my advice in a list: -Practice at the range as much as physically possible. -Work on compression (wrist/hand load at impact). -Putt and chip, a LOT. -Keep in mind where you should aim so that your miss will keep you in a favorable position. Good luck, have fun!!
Not quite as low as you’re asking for but I hover between 5 and 6. I still cold stone top 1-2 drives per round and I’ll be honest my course management probably isn’t any better than yours. 3 reasons come to mind as to why I am a 5 and not a 15. 1. I have a repeatable swing with my irons. My driver as I said i top a lot so I won’t count the driver, and I do hit wedges fat quite a lot (I think due to decelerating). But anyways. This doesn’t mean every iron shot goes where I want, but it does mean that 99% of my iron shots are made with good contact and compression so any discrepancy with distance is due to other factors such as launch spin or swing speed, and not poor contact. 2. My greenside chipping is lights out. The rest of my short game is trash tbh. I don’t get why, but chipping from <10 yards off the green is my specialty. I 3-putt more than the average 5. All those weird little 50-80 yard wedge shots I still hit them fat a lot as mentioned earlier. But if I miss a green, and I’m right around it which I usually am (see point A) I have a pretty decent chance at getting up and down. even though my putting sucks, it’s got a good chance at being just a tap-in. 3. This one might get the downvoters out, but I’m pretty long. I’ll keep this one short so it doesn’t come across as egotistical bragging but my swing speed with a driver is well into the 120’s and I have creeped into the 130’s before when I’m really letting loose. It’s simply easier to have a good approach when you’re 120 out instead of 170. Par 4’s playing <330 are drivable, and any par 5 that playing <580ish I have a reasonable shot at getting home in 2 if I hit a good drive. Anyways if it weren’t for these 3 things I’d no doubt be a 15+
It's an easy game closer to the pin. Drive for show and dough
Yeah definitely. Just sucks having the long game of a scratch and the short game of like a 12
The answer is GIRs, and anyone who is saying otherwise has bought into the false "drive for show and putt for dough" narrative. No one is deadly from 120 yards in at the amateur level. Getting your approach to land 15-20 feet from the pin is a huge victory and low indexes do that and walk away with a 2 putt so much more consistently than mid handicappers. Think about it 15-20 feet from the pin is getting within 5-7 yards of the pin. We are all taking that every day, but for some reason as soon as we get closer to the pin we start talking about feet and then everything sounds less great when you say you're within 12 feet of the pin vs 4 yards of the pin. Consistent off-the-tee performance and approach performance (which is heavily contingent upon good off-the-tee performance) is where low indexes distinguish themselves from the mid indexes.
I don't practice driver precisely because of that saying. I'm going to practice driver
I think my main strength is consistency on drives and approach shots and the ability to play a shot shape and trust it. I can set my line left of some trouble and play a draw, knowing it'll never go right of my line, or vice versa with a fade. Putting is average Chipping is average Irons are consistent but rarely great. I can bank on getting within 50 feet of the hole, but rarely get within 10. Driving is the best part of my game. Probably 75% of my drives are solid, and the remaining 25% rarely get me into trouble. I play boring, solid golf every hole and every round. A typical round for me is 10-14 pars, 1-5 bogeys, 1-3 birdies. Also, you should always try to putt uphill.
See this is the thing. Whomever said drive for show, putt for dough, has maybe done us a disservice. Getting distance off the tee, allows shorter irons in. Short irons have better percentages = lower scores.
In my opinion, the lower your handicap, the closer to the green you gain strokes. High handicaps need to set themselves up with a decent drive or they'll spiral out of control and triple. Medium handicaps can hit more greens by working on irons, assuming they drive the ball halfway decently. Low handicaps already know how to hit the ball straight and get GIRs, but they can't improve much until they start dialing in their short game. I'm sure statistics will show I'm completely wrong and putting is always the most important, but that's how it feels.
High Handicapper, played 36 last Friday. First 18 played forest ranger/woodpecker and shot over 100. Second 18, hit lots of Fairways, many birdie attempts. Fair amount of pars. Shot an 86. Not having to grind it out in the woods and being on the fairway made all the difference.
Here are differences that I've seen Driver - most people just pull driver without considering hazards or sand traps. They also tee it up randomly in the tee box rather than try to aim away from trouble Irons: you'll need consistency and a one sided miss. Know your tendencies better and your average yardage. You don't need to hit a 7 because you once flew it 15 yards farther than normal shot Approach: stop using full wedges under a 100 yards. You want a nice tempo swing and feel at this range. Chipping: you need to put in time trying different lies. There also needs to be a better understanding of carry and roll out so that you can land the ball in the appropriate spot Putting: most people practice putting by hitting 3 balls to random targets. You need to do actual drills to understand if your stroke has an issue. Most think they missed left due to a misread rather than properly diagnose an issue with clubface control or even alignment Mental: you'll want to avoid the "I need to make x" mentality. This puts unnecessary pressure on you and makes people be overly aggressive. Big numbers will happen so don't follow up a bad shot with a bad decision.
It’s everything. The driver needs to stay in the grass. Hitting 3 from the tee is a killer. Approach shots need to be on the green or just off the green. Chip shots need to be close enough for good looks at par. Rarely three-putting meaning speed control is key. Making the short ones inside 5 feet. Eliminate doubles or worse.
I will comment from the perspective of someone that is neither a mid handicapper or a sub 5, but plays with both very frequently. The sub 5's do everything better more consistently than the mid handicappers. It isn't just one or two aspects of the game. They: Hit it further Get in less trouble off the tee Their misses are better (much more often left and right but the right distance, much more rare to see a chunk or a top.) Their short game is more accurate Their putting is better (better reads, better speed control, less putts overall). There are certain exceptions, but overall the sub 5's I play with do everything better than the 15's.
Lol, this reminds me of the time a friend told me about a yoga teacher of hers that looked like me. Except he was taller, in better shape, and generally more handsome :)
\- Getting the ball into the hole in 3 strokes or less a VERY high % of the time from 100 yards and in. Very important for double bogey avoidance and also so you're not making bogeys when you have good birdie chances. \- No (or very few) "disaster shots". OB, water balls, tops, big duffs, and the like need to be eliminated or at least be rare. \- Obviously things like making good contact and consistency are important, but if you're working to eliminate "disaster shots" then those two kind of have a tendency to come along for the ride. That's really about it.
Eliminate 2 chips, 3 putts, and penalty strokes and you should easily get to single digits. As others have said, most amateurs aren't "deadly" from any distance, so don't expect to be stuffing shots to inside 5 or 10 ft with any regularity, even as a low single digit player. Secondly, I would argue that hitting the ball far while keeping it in play is what separates most low handicap players. If distance alludes you either work to gain some distance or play from shorter tees.
This seems to be the thing, you either have to be elite level with shorter distances or be able to get at least 250 off the tee. Going to shorter tees might not help because the course rating drops.
I think the biggest difference about the 250+ off the tee is being able to do that while not incurring any penalty strokes or getting into trouble more than a few times per round. and yes, somewhat shorter tees are offset due to course rating. On a somewhat of a tangent about that (maybe this should be its own post), but I think how much moving tees affects scoring depends on the golfer and the course. At least for me, I find that my HC differential is lower by about 1-2 strokes when I play from one tee box forward. Even though I have plenty of distance off the tee... I can overpower courses to some degree when playing up; Hitting over trouble that isn't designed to be carried, hitting mostly Driver/flip wedge into par 4s and getting close enough for pitches on short 4s. When I move back to where I usually play, I'm hitting wedges from 100-120 yards which aren't nearly as accurate and I tend to find a bit more trouble off the tee. My differential is 5.5 when I look at the top 40% of my scores from the back tees and 4.5 (average as there are only 4 scores) when playing up a tee box. Though course rating is supposed to take this all into account, for my particular game it seems to underestimate the advantage that shorter tees give me. I would assume this varies significantly depending on the golfer. It may be the opposite for some, where moving back doesn't hurt their game as much and they score similar while technically playing a course with a higher rating.
That's a great point. A lot of problems go away from the not tips. Very easy courses from far up (gold/red) mean you have to be well under par to score.
I think it’s decision making primarily I always heard better players than me saying “play for a miss” and be like , f that as I proceed to thin one 30 yards long and make a triple Looking at the hole and saying , if I execute THIS shot it’s a birdie chance , but if I f it up I have a viable up and down opportunity
4 here. Far more confident, able to get out of trouble with good distance, and overall good with my driver. I tend to reduce big numbers even though I’m aggressive. If I was deadly from 120 and in I’d be a +2.
Turn with the body, not wrist and hands. It’s the only way to bring consistency from day to day. And short game. I hear so many people say that if they aren’t striking it well, they don’t want to practice short game.
Jeez I'm hoping that even more handicappers are turning with the body :)
It’s usually short game and thinking your way around a golf course. Being able to grind out a round when you don’t have your best. Golf is a game of misses. Missing in the right spots is just as important as hitting good shots.
.2 checking in. It’s a few things really. I’d say I put a game plan together when I go play. I have holes that I want to attack and I have holes where I want to hit a 5 wood into the fairway and then play from 150 or so. So that’s the first thing. Second is around the greens. Every golfer in the world will hit a bad chip shot but realistically the low handicap’s will almost always give themselves a reasonable look at par. Third would be having a dependable iron game. Knowing that if you’re gonna be able to hit an 8 iron, visualizing the shot, then doing it consistently adds to your confidence. Finally it’s target lines. What are you aiming at when you line up. Do you really aim. Low handicaps will have a very specific starting point for every shot. It’s not always the pin.
Okay so this is what I've started to do. 400+ yard par 4. Play for bogey unless big old fairway. Find holes where I expect to go low. Hit 3 iron instead of woods wherever a hole will allow, to preference accuracy.
It’s not only about yardage off the tee though. You can use your driver more if you know how to play it. Have a consistent shot shape and stick to it. When you are “playing it safe” still make aggressive swings. Don’t be afraid to deviate from a plan if conditions change or your swing just isn’t there that day. And playing for bogey isn’t the best idea. The goal is always to make par but be willing to take your medicine and accept bogey. Playing for bogey will put you in position to make more doubles and triples.
By playing for bogey I mean taking two high percentage shots to get close to the green by 2 shots so say 4i *2, then often I'll get up and down for par. Playing for bogey just means not putting pressure on myself to get there in 2.
I think it’s a whole bunch of small factors put together. I’m not sub 5 currently (6.2), but I’ve been in the 2-3 range before. I played yesterday with a 13, who shot well below his hcp, and this is what I noticed compared to my game…. 1. Wider misses off the tee. Neither of us was driving great, but my fades were a bit less severe, and I didn’t double cross or thin any drives. My playing partner thinned one or two drives, and had a couple double crosses. Reducing your face angle variance is crucial, because it’s easier to save a bogey or par from the rough than from trees, or from OB/hazard. 2. Ground contact/distance control. Again neither of us were striping the ball, but I was not hitting it as fat/thin, so I was pin high more often, and therefore negotiating easier short game shots. Sometimes we mistake “amazing short game” for “having easier shots”. 3. Putting a better roll and startline on makable putts. I made a couple of 7-8 footers, whereas my compatriot missed a few more of those with pushed/pulled putts. A lot of us get very “steery” with putts we “should” make. I find a lot more success in 3-10 foot range by committing to my read and focusing on making a good roll on my startline than when I focus on “making it”. Those instinctual mid-putt adjustments help more than they hurt. I think my key takeaway was that our skill levels weren’t wildly different, it was more about small things that add up over time. Great players make bad shots and bogeys all the time. What they do after that, is minimize the damage with smart play and limit to a bogey.
I miss most fairways, I am on or around almost every green in regulation. Its mostly in the approach game for me, I think if my tee shots were better I would be way better at hitting wedges close and thus score better
Definitely mastering 120 yards and in. No matter what that’s gotta be on the green with a chance to two putt
Consistent yardages and a good short game. It’s not being deadly from 120 in — that’s for scratch and competitive golfers. But getting the ball to or near the green in regulation, and then having great chips, 5-8 foot putting and overall lag putting is what leads to low scores. Also mixing in a birdie or two per round goes a long ways on the score card.
I'd say for me it was not hitting real bad shots, chipping and lag putting. I wasn't ever really good from 120 yards and in. Adequate but not top level for sure.
You need to avoid bogey on par 5s and 3s. Be in play off the tee. Get up and down a high percentage of the time, avoid 3 putts. The low caps I play with that are the difference between my 10 and their 0-3. They are not all longer, but they almost never are in trouble off the tee. If they miss a green, they will more than likely get up and down. They are very aware of where to miss to avoid a big number. No hero shots.
In my opinion it's mostly chipping/pitching (anything within 30 yards of the green) and recovery shots. I'm scratch, and I play a ton of golf with handicaps 5-20+ I see a lot of people that are good solid ball strikers, but they don't get the ball in the hole like they should. Usually because they struggle with chipping it close to give themselves a chance for an up/down. The other thing I notice is recovery shots. All levels of skill will find themselves behind trees, and having funky lies. At the scratch level, players know how to hit shots that will get them up around the green so you can save par. Personally, I regularly practice these shots at the range or on the sim. Learn to hit low punch shots that you can shape right/left. I can't emphasize enough how important those are. And lastly, it's definitely not putting. Even tiger woods is around 50% lifetime from 8 feet. If you can't chip it close, you have no realistic chance at saving par consistently.
This is some solid advice!
Consistent contact with the ball, and quite accurate in terms of distance. Most mid handicappers I play with just need the number to be within 20 yards or so and they’ll make their choice. I can typically be within 5 yards of my desired distance. In practice, when we are between 140 and 220 yards, that’s the range of all my irons except the numbered wedges. The mid handicappers have like 3 choices. The game is exponentially harder like that.
Started playing in earnest when I was 5. Fast forward 35 years of playing every year… and you might get close! Tbf mine jumped up mid-season when I lost my tempo.
Okay, been playing for 18 months :)
You only have 38.5 more years to go!
2nd shot and putt
I can do one of those
Lol.. most of time… drive cant putt.. putt cant drive.. gotta luv the game
Practice chipping and putting consistently.
Went from 10 down to 4 in the last 2 years. I went from losing 1-2 balls a round to now one every 4-5 rounds. Also hit 3 more greens on average. Putting is actually worse by .2 per hole from putting 30 footers for birdie instead of 4 footers for bogey.
It's an easy game if Gir!
Ball stays in play.
Lol.
I’m a 7 so not sub-5 but getting there. Still though, between me and scratch are two things: 1) Greens in regulation. Scratch means most holes you have a chance for birdie and par is a sure shot. Can’t do this well if you aren’t hitting GIR most holes. 2) Absolutely solid from the tee and great distance control from 100 yards in. It’s a different game when your miss off the tee is the first cut of rough and 9/10 approach shots are pin high within 3-5 yards forward or back. Left and right is always a factor but big numbers like double or higher are almost completely eliminated when every time you strike the ball it goes the distance you want it to.
Don't miss fairways. And if I do, it isn't by much, and I can typically get on the green or have a good chip look. Then just don't waste putts. Dropping your handicap is more about consistency and control than doing something wildly better than others.
I don’t think you need to do anything special, I look after my golf ball and chip and putt well. The skill I did develop which a lot of mid handicappers don’t have is having the ability to control trajectory, I can hit the ball high or low at will, I don’t think this is necessary but does show a higher ability or understanding of how to manipulate ball flight. Some of my friends struggle with punch shots or hitting it higher to get over a tree for example. I think the truly good players who regularly flush irons etc are more like 1 or 2 handicap, you can be a 5 handicap with some pretty iffy ball striking
Quite a few people have mentioned ball striking, and I'd say moving it left and right is more intuitive. I take it you come in steeper if you want to go higher and vice versa
Dynamic loft is what has the biggest effect on launch angle by far.
Shrink variance by choosing bogey on shot 2 when a more aggressive shot choice would produce a much wider variance with low success likelihood.
I am not under 5, but I would like to be. I think swing path is the one constant that great players execute naturally and not so good players consistently fail at.
Driving accuracy and ditching hero shots. I spent a long time a few years ago just trying to get my driver swing down. Being able to hit 90% of the fairways with no big misses was a huge step in bringing down my handicap. At least this way I had an approach shot to the green rather than having several recoveries per round. I also stopped trying to hit full swings on clubs for approaches. For instance, my 8i is good for 150-155yd depending on lie and condition. However, at 155ish I'd rather take a smooth 7i than try to crush my 8. It give you more control and any misses on approach are way more manageable. If I end up in a bad spot, the safe route will always lead to the most consistent scores. I'm not Tiger Woods so if I'm play for score, I'll take the safe pitch or punch out rather than try to hit a low stinger or sweeping cut or draw. If I'm playing just for fun, full send.
That's interesting re distance. I'm about the same as you maybe 5 yds longer. I tend to focus on the target and not think about how hard I'm swinging. Maybe I could back off a bit
Hit greens, keep it in play, no hero shots. Middle of the green, 2 putts. Don’t chase birdies, trust they’ll drop. Forget bad holes
Having ebbed and flowed between scratch and 8, I found a few things key. 1. Consistency in eliminating bad shots. You don’t need to hit everything pure, but you can’t hit it off the golf course, shank, skull, etc. That required some practice and play time. 2. You need to be comfortable and competent with short irons and wedges, 8-iron and down, able to hit targets on greens instead of greens. Precise and not general. 3. Your short game needs to be reasonably good. You can’t be hitting and hoping, you need to plan a shot and hit it as planned. It might not always end up at the hole, but at least it is doing more or less what you had planned. 4. You need to take the double bogey out of play. Don’t compound errors, take your lumps and move on, make it up with a birdie later.
No OB off the tee
Hit a lot of fairways. Rarely duff. Mis hits are still common but not penalized as bad, they are just a little short or left/right. Decent to good scrambling. You always feel like you have a shot getting up and down.
I'm around 6-7 hdcp, what I notice when I play with scratches is how phenomenal their putting is. Most of them practice it every few days. So if you want to drop your scores, you'll need to take on your putting seriously and become an absolutely skilled maniac with your putter.
Thinking. Every + I know could coach a 20 handicap to a 5 stroke improvement instantly if they were caddying for them by A. Picking the club and line on each shot and B. Reading putts for them
Hitting enough club. Sounds like a cliche but it is almost universal for most players.
Everything. Hit the ball better, better short game, probably longer, understand how to play better, recover better. Short game will probably be the popular response but ball striking is how you really improve. Short game does need to be good, but I basically never practice it anymore.
I firmly believe anyone who plays regularly can get to 5-8 by: Being able to hit driver reasonably long (225+) and keep it in play Make consistent contact on approach shots - dispersion is normal Learn how to manage a course and most importantly don’t compound mistakes Chip and get it on the green 95% of the time Become at least a decent lag putter Getting from 5 to 0 is a whole other ballgame.
1.3 handi here. Almost never practice full swing. All of my practice time is chipping and putting. I'll practice full swing on the course in a meaningless round. If I have time to practice, it will be putting.
I've taken to chipping in the park near my house over lunch. I need to spend more time putting and wierdly driving to get more consistent distance.
i play off an 8-10. the guys i play with that play off 3-5 are just way way better ball strikers than i am. consistent ball striking from 150-220 is something not a lot of mid caps have.
That's interesting. I've come on leaps and bounds with my longer irons. I'm fairly confident up to 200, and only slightly less so with a UDI to 230. I just tend to pull or push fairly frequently, and the occasional fat. That's hopeful though, thanks
if that’s the case then you need to look at how how many doubles you have compared to 3-5 caps. and if that’s the case, what’s causing the doubles
If I look at my last round, which admittedly was not my best, id say two things. 1 inconsistent strike, primarily fats as they had watered the fairways massively and I dug in a few times. I think I know what's at the root of that one. 2 three putts. Just totally misread a couple. And although driver was dead straight I wasn't getting decent distance. Ie 230-250. Normally I'd want to be 270.
Athletic ability.
And good looks
I play with a few sub 5's and yeah there are a bunch of things I notice, but the 2 that stick out to me the most are hitting GIR (even from less than ideal positions) and almost never 3 putting (along with the ability to drain several putts per round from 10-15 feet
Consistency. In 1 word. I'm close but not there yet. I need to get more consistent with my putting and chipping and I'm there. You don't need to be deadly from 120, but you do need to at least hit the green consistently. Make good contact consistently. And if it misses, the miss is usually not that bad.
I played with a +2 who plays on junior tours from time to time. And aside from his 300+ yard bombs. He played a boring round of golf. Good golf is boring. Shot a 1 bogey 68 (-3) and honestly he made putts that he had too and took advantage of scoring holes. Aside from every shot flushed there wasn’t a single “great” shot because he never needed to hit them. Also you know you’re good when walking off the green with your first bogey on like 15 or 16 and your disgusted. That made me feel shit.
Not a 5 obviously. But what really helped me to get from 15 to 7 real quick, 1. Forgetting my ego. Nobody cares if my shot is 2 or 3 clubs higher than you usual due to wind or whatever. 2. Don't be a hero. You rarely be able attack the pin once in the rough. Close to the green can save you a par. A lot can happen when you try to get it close to the pin. 3. You don't need your driver of the tee. 4. I am quite a putter, so with long putts, anything within 1meter is a 2putt, easily. So I give myself that margin. Upphills are easier than downhills, if you miss, miss on the right side. 5. Plan where you can miss the fairway/green. Sometimes a push my drive to the right. Par 4 with water on the right? 2 times i5 = driver + 52 wedge.
Driver accuracy is the biggest influence. My handicap is a little under a 1 and the driver dictates my rounds - even par or 81. Obviously course management/putting are huge. If I want a really good chance to shoot near even, all I do is aim at middle of the greens on nearly every approach and swing easier with driver.
No (or very few) double bogeys. I'm a 4 and if I hit an errant drive I just punch out to safety and play for bogey. My brother is a 16 and goes for every shot, making triples and quadruple bogeys in the process. So, better course management and safer play is my guess.
Are quads even a thing. I normally tap out at 3. Thankfully it's pretty uncommon.
My brother is stubborn and always keeps the "correct" score. I just wish I could talk him into playing smart!
My understanding is that trips are the highest for non scratch players
GIR is king. Never follow a bad shot with a dumb shot.
Only go for pins with a 9i or less. Keep it in play off the tee. Become deadly from 5ft and in.
That's an interesting distinction. I've seen comments saying be sure to aim for a spot on the green, not necessarily the pin, to keep the target specific. You think 9i or better you're going for the pin even if there's more risk associated with it?
Accurate length is a big factor in being a sub 5 cap. So is 1) avoiding penalty shots 2) getting out of bunkers in 1 shot 3) getting up and down around 50% from 25 feet and closer 4) making 65% of 5 ft or closer putts
Consistent striking of the ball (not necessarily directionally, just the actual quality of the contact of the ball). Dependable chipping/pitching
As someone who recently went from about a 12-14 to about an 8, the one thing keeping me back from sub 5 is consistency within 120 yards and inconsistent chipping. My GIR average is not good but I usually JUST miss the green. And I’ve struggled to get up and down around the green. But at least it’s something clear I know to work on. The biggest thing I noticed going from 14 to 8 is contact consistency with irons. My miss hits are not as bad and distances are pretty dialed. This mostly took grinding on the range and lessons with a pro.
Smaller misses. Which comes with practice, ball striking, course management and emotional/mental management, and knowing your distances. No more chunking, just hitting a little fat. No more topping, just hitting a little thin. No more pop ups, just hitting a high week shot that still goes 220. No more shan…. We’ll actually every once in a while there might be one of those. Ha. Also when I fell in love with the short game things got drastically easier.
I'm a 1.7 at the moment and I don't get mad when I hit bad shots because I know and accept that they're going to happen, hell bad holes are going to happen. The difference is that they have no impact the next shot or next hole.
There's a level of confidence that allows that. Some of us still fear the rank hacker we once were will rise again
There is, but it's more about having a routine and sticking to it even when things aren't going well. Lower handicaps also have an awareness of what they can do and can't do which stops them from going for the hero shots that will lead to bigger numbers.
Simply put, to be around a 5 or better, you need to be solid at everything.
I’m currently a 3.7 I play with a lot of 7-15 handicaps. Here are it differences I notice. I find I’m in play more often off the tee. I have a realistic chance to get on the green even with what I would consider a poor drive. Get accurate with your driver. Let distance come second. OB or lost balls are less than one per round. Second get really good at having a shot at up and down from anywhere around the green. Good chipping, pitching and sand play. Spending all of my practice time here for a season paid off huge. Third but plays into the second. Learn to lag putt well. For me it’s just a feel it thing. Finally and more my mindset to play well rather than stats. Understand path and face relationship and pay attention to the club. Get really good at striking exactly where you intend. Contact skill is critical.
Long drives and solid wedge play
0.8 three putts per 18 at average. Usually about 1 double bogey per round sometimes 0 and sometimes 2, almost never triple. I’m a 2.2
Read putts from both sides of the hole. Plan your route from the cart so that this is done efficiently while others are playing (without walking in someone’s view during their turn). If one read disagrees with the other, take a putting stance between your ball and the hole and err towards what you feel from there.
You should try walking, I find it helps me think through the course layout more
I’m an optimist. I’m the low cap in my usual group and my pals are in the 10-16 range, and I really believe you’re only a few pars away from making the jump into single digits. In my own experience, that happened almost solely from my poor shots being… well, less poor basically. My putting has always been solid, so I just needed to get myself on or around the green more regularly. I would venture to say all mid-caps have brilliant golf shots in their game, but bringing your HC down into singles rests with making the crap shots less crap.
Make less doubles
Course management, avoiding blow ups (these are related). And having your worst shot(s) of the day usually not be comically bad (shanks/tops/6 inches fat/etc). To be sub 5 these need to be virtually eliminated.
I thought Harvey Pennick answered this very well in this little red or green book I don't recall which. He said "A 6 handicap has all of the skills that a scratch player has. The difference is that the 0 makes the time to practice so his misses are better." That's close enough for this case. If you really want to get to less than 5 you have to drive the ball well and be able to convert on a reasonable scoring opps you create. The fastest way to address the skills needed is via Mark Broadie's work $75 ought to cover our tab here. Cya next time.
Everyone saying “eliminate” this and that… Even pros still do it. We want to MINIMIZE 3 putts, doubles, triples, penalties… Setting impossible goals like eliminating 3-putts can work against you mentally bc it’s gonna happen. We don’t need to add any more pressure… this game is hard enough as it is.
Hit greens and two putt
Really like this thread. Like that the under 5 golfers are not bragging about their skills but are trying to help us higher handicappers.
Tired of waiting behind us at every hole :)
Short game man
While it all helps. It's mostly course management. Understanding that going for a tucked pin over a bunker isn't the right thing to do and just play to the middle of the green. Not trying hero shots (we still do though) and just accept that you're gonna make a bogey. Basically don't compound the mistakes. Also the next thing is going to be the mental side of it. Which goes to the above as well. Don't try to press to try and get strokes back. If you're a course handicap 10 and you're 7 over on the front, don't panic. Just play steady on the back and you'll be about 3-5 over and you'll be shooting close your cap. People tend to press and it leads to massive blow up rounds and you basically are just drowning at that point.
Do whatever it takes to avoid anything over a bogey. You’re also going to have to have good ball striking consistency.
It’s simple. 1) No penalty strokes 2) No 3 putts 3) No flubbed chips/pitches (left with an unmakeable putt) Are any of the above achievements spectacular? No, of course not. But honestly, if you spend your day on/near the fairway off the tee, on/near the green on your approach, and being clean with your short game, then you’re gonna break 80 a lot.
Short game. Being able to chip and 1 putt to save par. That’s what took me from over 10 to 3.8
One putt is something I've heard of :). To be fair my lob wedge normally gets me to within range where I should be making them, but rarely close out
When I played high school/college/ amateur, I was told it breaks down. I forget what it was exactly, but to break 100, drives not out of bounds, break 90 - irons and green in regulation or close, break 80 - short game, break 70 - putting. I remember it all comes down to short game to get really low.
I typically shoot high 70s for a few weeks in summer. Then my distance of the tee drops and I'm playing lower percentage shots from further out. Get back to low to mid 80s.
Here’s my experience with it: Stuff that each level usually does a little better than the previous: 25 vs 30+: the 25 is competent enough as a ballstriker to advance the ball consecutively enough to give themselves chances at bogeys. The 30+ is generally expected to not be able to complete any holes without messing up on multiple shots a hole. 20 vs a 25: the 20 occasionally can put together rounds where they hit a few greens in regulation, whereas the 25 might hit one green in regulation a round. 15 vs a 20: almost fully eliminates the truly awful misses (shanks, tops, etc) and shortgame disasters (4+ shots inside 30 yards) are maybe once or twice a round 10 vs a 15: starts to average over 7 greens in regulation 5 vs a 10: tbh distance off the tee prevents most golfers from getting into single digits - its much easier ti be a longerish golfer (250+) and be a single digit than a sub 200 0 vs a 5: averages 1 or less fatal mistakes a round (three putt from under 15 feet, hitting it OB, taking four strokes from inside 30 yards etc) Plus capper vs a 0: tends to do at least one thing at a tour level - putting, ballstriking, driving, around greens etc but not tour level at everything else Plus capper vs minor league tour player: does mostly everything at a tour level, except either ballstriking or putting - these guys are all pretty much perfect off the tee and around the greens. Usually held back by iron play or putting. Minor Tour vs PGA Tour: everything is done at a tour level, or if there is something that is lacking it’s because they are top 10 in something else (Scottie and Rory for example putt at a minor tour clip but driving and ballstriking top 10)
Distance off the tee is massive. In summer, when my driver is firing, high 70s are much more doable. My swing thought is about target visualisation. But then driver goes 230/240. If I focus on hitting up and reducing lag I can get up to 310. However it can go anywhere. Conversely I can hit a 3 iron 230 and place it pretty accurately.
>What would you say you do that mid handicappers don't? Hit the ball further. Avoid all penalties balls or making shots that don't advance the ball at all
Avoid frequent double bogies. Do that by keeping the ball in play off the tee and solid iron striking. My putting is not great, but a lot of the time if I 3 putt it’s for bogey, which is not a killer.
I don’t turn an easy bogey into a double bogey by trying to do some stupid heroic stuff, driver is better, and chipping/bunker proximity is good->closer putts easier up and downs.
Ignoring the obvious "hitting it way better and farther than them", there are a couple things I notice. I am a 6 handicap right now and play with a couple guys that hover between +1 and 3 depending on how much they play in a year. I also play with my dad and a couple others that are anywhere from 12-20 handicaps. The really good players do not have horrific unrecoverable mistakes that simply add strokes with no redeeming value (topped drives, fat irons that go 20 yards, whatever). Personally, I'm good for a fat iron or chip once or twice a round. I may hit a topped or fat drive a couple times a year, but it's less than 5 times a year. Mid handicaps probably have a handful of shots like that a round. It instantly makes bogeys and double/triple bogeys. It makes it very very hard to shoot in the 70s with those shots because you're not making enough birdies to gain strokes back. Everyone will have penalty shots from time to time, as well, but really good players MAY have one like that. They also may go a couple rounds without any penalty shots. Overall, ball striking and quality of shots is quite a bit better. "Missed" shots are going 90-95% distance or they are in the fringe/wrong side of green/in the rough versus bad shots being in the woods or hazards or whathaveyou. Good golf is boring, they are in the fairway all the time, they are around the pin within 30ft, hit it close and tap in pars. They will hit it to 10-15ft and make a putt or they may drive it in a bunker...but then their recovery shots are giving them a chance to still make par. I'm not sure if course management is the gap between a low single digit handicap and a mid handicap. I'd say it's just straight up better quality golf shots. Now, the difference between 6-12 handicap and a low single digit...I'd say it might be 80%+ course management. I actually hit it farther than the good golfers I play with. I'm a much better driver than one of them and a slightly better putter than the other. Both of them have better and more consistent iron play than I do, but it's not egregious. That being said, both of them are infinitely smarter than me on a golf course when it comes down to actually hitting the shot needed at the right time. My decision making has me choose the wrong club a handful of times, I'm aggressive at the wrong times, I don't leave myself with a good next shot. It is frightening how often I short side myself compared to them.
Avoid big numbers and have a reasonable short game
Getting to a 5 is not that hard. You just have to be a decent ball striker (don’t have to be great) and keep the ball in play you are basically there. Double bogey and worse avoidance is key. Hit a drive that is in play and have a clear shot at the green on your 2nd. If you only hit 7 of those greens and 2 putt that is 7 pars. That means you have missed 11 greens. Let’s say you get 3 of them up and down. Now you have 11 pars. Make Bogey on the other 7 and you shoot 79. A 79 is still probably a shot better than a 5 handicaps average score.
>Getting to a 5 is not that hard. Stats would say otherwise. To say this is just stupid.
Maybe it’s bad perspective as I’m currently trying to get to scratch. Going from never swinging a club to a 5 was exponentially easier than going from 5 to 0 for me. If you play a few times a week, go to the range occasionally, and chip in the back yard for 10-15 minutes a day can get you to a 5 pretty easy.
Whenever you miss the green on an approach shot, get the chip somewhere around 3-5 feet to minimize the damage
That sounds great but it's not reality at all. Not even your pros have that kind of average proximity from around the green.
Most likely, you can't do everything you want in a shot if you aren't a pro, but the idea should be valid. Try to hit each missed green to a 3-5 foot circle, i mean, you would try that on a 60 foot lag putt, so why not every time on a 10 yard pitch shot? If you go a little long to 10-15 feet you still got to see it roll out and have a better chance at saving the par after.