What really matters when you're playing golf...

[atrapasuenos]

Hey guys, I want to share this with you. Yesterday some friends of mine and I played 9 holes, and when we finished the round I was looking at the "stats" the iPhone App gives me and I was quite impressed. While some guys are discussing their distances and they say they know that most important part is putting and chipping they still want to hit the ball further. http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads...iving-Distance

So, one of this friends made an unbelievable round... and it was a good example that distance doesn't mean anything! I mean, this guy, I don't know how he does it but he carry his 60° wedge 130 yards, no kidding, that yardage it's a soft PW for me...!

My putting is terrible right now, I'm hitting the ball well... I made 6/9 GIR's, 2/3 Up and downs... but 16 putts for a +1!

This guy made 3/9 GIR's, 6/7 Up and downs... and this is the part that shocked me... he only made 8 putts! Are you serious! 8 putts! At the 8th hole he chipped in for birdie... he finished with -3.

So what is the moral of this "story" LOL... stop discussing how far you hit the ball and start putting more!

Greetings!

[enis750]

couldnt have said it better my friend
drive for show, putt for dough

In Ben's Mini Tour Wite up, he mentions another guy that shot 68, 69 in his last tourney to place 2nd
the biggest factor between then two games he said, was putting
although he played really well, he struggled a bit putting
dude he played with was sinking EVERYTHING

if the flatstick works, you will score low, no two ways about it

[kevin.chan]

couldnt have said it better my friend

My putting game is killing me , although i spent the most hours in practicing putting . I just don't have the confidence !

[shades9323]

...is having fun

[enis750]

My putting game is killing me , although i spent the most hours in practicing putting . I just don't have the confidence !

yeah dude, me too

although i have been spending a ridiculous amount of time on it lately, its starting to pay off i started the year a 2.9 index and well.....u see what it is now...100% because of putting

[atrapasuenos]

My putting game is killing me , although i spent the most hours in practicing putting . I just don't have the confidence !

Pfff same here...

[sean_miller]

...is having fun

That got my vote too.

[Undr Par]

there is a reason why Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson Fathers taught them from the green out..not the other way around....if you add up after a round just your shots from 60-70 yds in, I bet most High to mid cappers could use alot of practice in this area and could drop a few shots a round if they we would, with putting being the most

[soloredd]

I prefer the fun, too, but this relies on not having my swing go completely AWOL on me. It's absolutely, positively disgusting when it happens (repeated shanks, flubbing chips, etc) and I just feel like leaving the course. If I shoot 100 but am able to at least get the ball down the course reasonably, I don't care. If I shoot 93 and have a bunch of bladed chips or handful of 3-putts, it's miserable.

Distance is overrated for pretty much all of us. I guess it's fun sometimes to compare drives or whatever.

[WUTiger]

Key thing for drivers and tee shots is get it into the fairway.

Short par 4s need special attention, because too much muscle can get you into trouble.

* Avoid sucker drives on short par 4s. Try for the right distance to set up your "money club" - for me it's 8 iron. It's best to take a 5w or hybrid and set up the ball 140 yds. out on flat ground, level with the green. This beats hitting a driver downhill into a valley, and facing an uphill, 87 yd. shot to a blind pin.

* Some short par 4s have you hitting into funnel. About 200 yds. out, the fairway goes from 30 yds. wide to 10 yds. wide, with deep forest or a shaggy ravine hazard on either side.

* Finally, be aware of weather. I talked to a young mini-tour pro, and he said a couple of times a tournament a long par 4 will be iffy for reaching in regulation because of a headwind, or a crosswind. He said you have to lay up short of the green, and then go with a reliable approach to get up and down. In terms of risk management, a par or maybe bogie is preferable to higher numbers.

[atrapasuenos]

Today I played a tournament... I really was hopeless cause of my putting... but finished with a second place at -2. At the front nine I made 9/9 GIR's hehe. Back nine 2 birdies, 1 eagle, 2 bogeys agggh! My putter didn't work well... I had easy birdies at 3, 4, 6, 9, 13 and 16, but didn't convert them. I will start working harder on my putting!

GIR: 87.5% (15/18)
Putts: 31 (1.9)
FIR: 75%

Greetings!

[mrmiller8]

I cant agree more with this thread, Distance is highly over rated. I keep my driver and in the bag and hit 3 wood on 90 percent of all holes. an Extra 20 yards and a 40% higher chance of missing the fairway even more just isnt worth it to me.....in my typical round i tend to take about 33-36 putts and score in the mid 80's. I shot a 73 (my best ever) and only had 28 putts...thats at least 5 less strokes just in putting. I did play well and hit a few more greens but its not only putting is just around the greens. Practice i think is the only to fix it...

[TheGeekGolfer]

Hey guys, I want to share this with you....

Your logic is seriously flawed here... let me explain. He putted quite well. You WANT less putts per round, he didn't 'only make 8 putts', he only TOOK 8 putts and MADE THEM ALL! If he chipped in on one hole for birdie, he ONE-PUTTED EVERY GREEN! That's AWESOME putting and must have been combined with GREAT CHIPPING (ie - 6/7 up and downs).

Yes, he does need to 'start putting more', if by that, you mean he needs to hit more greens in regulation, then he can have even more putts for birdie. But for that round, he can't putt any better! This guy has a great short game and really just needs to work on his irons and/or hitting more fairways so he can hit more GIRs. Most likely he goes at everything 110% so it's hard to control his iron shot distances, not that he's Tiger, but Tiger had this same problem at the start of his career. He would fly greens by 5-10 yds till he learned to hit smoother 80% shots or 3/4 controlled knock-downs for his irons to start hitting more greens. Also, the 3/9 GIRs and 6/7 up and downs doesn't calculate right, that would be ten holes (add the 3 and the 7). For him to score -3, he must have had ... 3/9 GIRs and 5/6 up and downs - one putt on the 3 GIRs for 3 birdies, plus the chip-in equals 4 birdies, plus +1 for the time he didn't get up and down = -3 for nine holes.

[sean_miller]

Your logic is seriously flawed here... let me explain. He putted quite well. You WANT less putts per round, he didn't 'only make 8 putts', he only TOOK 8 putts and MADE THEM ALL! If he chipped in on one hole for birdie, he ONE-PUTTED EVERY GREEN! That's AWESOME putting and must have been combined with GREAT CHIPPING (ie - 6/7 up and downs).

This is what I get from his post (let me paraphrase):

"People should worry more about being a good putter than a long driver. Case in point: the guy I played with today had a great score because of his awesome putting. He was -3 on nine holes, even though he only hit 3 greens in regulation". atrapasueños can clarify if that was not the general message he was trying to get accross.

[TheGeekGolfer]

This is what I get from his post (let me paraphrase):

I guess you could read it that way, I read it differently the first time. My bad!

[Blades4me]

Hey guys, I want to share this with you. Yesterday some friends of mine and I played 9 holes, and when we finished the round I was looking at the "stats" the iPhone App gives me and I was quite impressed. While some guys are discussing their distances and they say they know that most important part is putting and chipping they still want to hit the ball further.

LOL, ya think?

[atrapasuenos]

This is what I get from his post (let me paraphrase):

Yes haha that was my point. By "putting more" I was trying to say sinking more putts. To TheGeekGolfer, yes you're right abour the Up-and-Down, I just checked the details and the App took the 3rd hole as an up and down, cause with his first shot he was at the green side bunker so the App took it as Up-and-Down, but you're right, sorry.

Greetings!