1st Putt,1st Chip,1st Wedge-It's where it's at

[Brakkus]

I like all of you probably recognise the importance of the short game,but for me that's too general.I came too realize the issue more clearly on my last round.
I really am starting to hit balls well now bar the odd fat shot and the occasional thinned shot,heck I don't even worry about the odd ball pushed right or the slightly hooked shot I tend to hit,you can get away with a less than perfect route to the green.

However you cannot get away with not hitting the target first time with the wedge,or getting yourself a short putt with the first chip or bump and run,or the first putt within a few feet.

I guess this is why I'm not a mid handicapper,and feel this is the difference that stops me from shooting low 90's as opposed to low 100's.

Anyone have similar experiences with this?

[opie]

I kind of unintentionally got that way. When I was in college, students could play the local par 3 course for like $9 walking. It was at Grand National (RTJ course) so the layout was good and the greens were excellent. I spend a whole summer out pretty much by myself and I'd spend an extra hour or more chipping and putting including the round. Shaved strokes off my game like you wouldn't believe

The driver is by leaps and bounds the weakest part of my game. So much so I resort to hitting 2-4 irons off the tee. but I know once I get inside of 180 or so I'm really confident.

Spend 3 or 4 hours a week on just your short game and watch what happens. 3 putting makes me a lot madder than hitting a drive OB or shanking an iron. The course a mile from my house doesn't have a range but I'll still stop for an hour on the way home from work and take advantage of the putting green

[Zeph]

It's oposite for me. By having a bad long game I've developed a pretty good short game, it's a big score saver for me.

Using statistics is a good idea. I've taken this up this season. I'm noting down fairway hits, GIR and putts. With that information I can tell how my game is. I put all the info into Scorecard for future reference.

[Fourputt]

I like all of you probably recognise the importance of the short game,but for me that's too general.I came too realize the issue more clearly on my last round.

The route to lower scores isn't specifically a better short game, but that is part of the formula. The real key is the ability to recover from those bad places you get into one way or another. Real recovery sometimes means just using good course management so that the bad places aren't usually the worst places you could be. Favor a miss toward a bunker to ensure that you don't hit into a water hazard. If you're already in trouble, pitch out of the trees just to the fairway instead of trying to punch the ball through a 2 foot gap that you'll only make 1 in 10 times. Get back in play with only the one dropped shot, then rely on that improved short game to minimize the damage.

The biggest numbers come more often from bad decisions than from bad swings.

[Leftygolfer]

I agree on the importance of the short game. I would say the keys for me are to be in play off the tee, miss where I can get up and down, and then be really good on the 4-5 footers. That is a good pitch. If you are not happy with a 4 foot putt after a pretty routine pitch you are expecting too much.

I know that my best day ever I didn't hit more than 9 greens. But I had easy pitches when I missed and did not miss a putt inside of 5 feet. I made 2 birdies and shot a 75 on a course with a rating of 71.

I think practicing driving and short game will be most helpful. Hitting greens is hard and is something most players have trouble with unless you are a 5 or under.