Putting practice is paying off big!!!!

[Bullitt5339]

From just putting 50-75 balls a day, in one week I went from 54 putts in a round, to today with 46 putts for a round. I'm really happy with the improvement in my putting and chipping this week, I just wish that would have translated to a much better score, but my game was just off today. I'm just happy that what I've been practicing so much is paying off, even if the score didn't show it much because of other problems.

[Shindig]

That's an awesome improvement, and congratulations. Don't let anything else I say diminish that.

That having been said... 46 putts per round? I hope you're hitting a lot of greens, or at least playing a course like Liberty National where every putt over 10' breaks 2-3 times.

Please tell us what your typical first putt is like on a green you hit with a full swing, and what it's like post-chip. Maybe we can give you some advice (in addition to your obviously-improvement inducing practice routine) that can put that a lot closer to 36.

[Bullitt5339]

Well, I've just recently got back into playing seriously again. I started playing in 1992 and got decent, was shooting mid-80's, when I got married, had a few kids, and time for golf just kind of faded away. I went from playing once a week at least, to playing twice a year in scrambles hosted by my work.

About 2 months ago, I decided to actually start playing on a regular basis again, so I started out by just going out and playing 9 holes after work on Thursday and then 18 on Sunday. I recognized that my short game was absolutely horrible, but I still didn't practice much. 2 weeks ago, I went and bought a new putter, and decided to start practicing my short game. My pitching and chipping have gotten a lot better, but my putting still left a lot to be desired, so I starting putting a lot at home at nights on the carpet.

Last week, I started keeping track of how many putts I had, so that I could see improvements. That's when I got the shock that half of my strokes were on the green!! This week, while I got quite a bit more to fall, my confidence was a lot higher, and I really had a feel for the speed I needed to get the ball there without hitting it 10ft past the cup. I just can't seem to read the greens very well at all yet, but I'm working on that this week at the practice green.

When I decided to actually keep a legitimate score a few weeks ago, counting every stroke, no mulligans, counting every drop, I hit a lousy 136 at my local course. 2 weeks have passed, and I shot a 105 yesterday at the same course, 53 out, 52 back. The course that we play 9 on after work, I shot a 49 one week, 45 the next.

I'm starting to feel a lot more confident up and around the greens, although my short game is improving, I feel there's still a lot of ground to be made up on and around the greens.