GIR vs Chipping and Putting

[North49]

Hi All,

I'm about to turn 40 and have played golf for 28 years, with the last 5 being when I started to take it seriously with lessons, better equipment and a lot of golf (about 1500 holes per year in a Wintery climate). While I am not a long hitter, I am accurate enough. Having said that the two areas I struggle the most with is GIR and chipping/putting. In the last two years, more so with GIR as the chipping and putting has gotten better, but I will still struggle with that and that is when I start shooting in the high 80's, instead of the low 80's or even break 80 the 10 or so times I do a year.

If you were me what would you work on the most (knowing I have to work on both)

To help you out, I miss my shots about 50% short, 30% right, and the other 20% left and/or long. I miss the greens around 70% of the time, my best day last year was 50%. Usually average about 30 to 32 putts.

Thanks for any help.

[NM Golf]

50% short tells me like most amateurs you tend to hit too little club on your approach shots. Or it could mean you don't hit the tee ball far enough to make hitting a lot of greens possible or probable. If the former is the problem well work on smoothing out the tempo and hit more club. If the latter is the problem work on your short game. If you are hitting a lot of longer irons into greens you are just never going to hit a great deal of them. You will be chipping a lot so make sure you are good at it. I play with several guys who don't hit the tee ball but maybe 200 yards and so they struggle to hit greens, but can they ever putt and chip!

[chingali]

I think your immediate #1 priority should be to make sure that you have the correct club in your hands every time you are hitting a shot in to the green. Take indecision or bad choice out of the equation entirely.

Working out YOUR yardages

• Buy yourself one of those wheels that surveyors use for measuring off distance, it'll cost you about $50 - http://search.ebay.com/measuring-wheel_W0QQfromZR40
• Buy yourself 50 used balls of exactly the type that you play.
• Find a nice area where you can hit those balls and on a day when the ground is soft (early morning is usually perfect) hit all 30 of them with your PW and then measure the distance to the centre of the grouping with your measuring wheel and write it down. Do the same with your 9 iron, then your 8 iron etc etc. If you can only hit 100 balls in a session then spread it over a week or so. Repeat this process every few months and adjust your yardages accordingly.

Working out COURSE yardages
Now you need to figure out the yardages on the golf course. If you play at the same course a lot then go out and walk it with your measuring wheel, carry a notebook and jot down your yardages as you go. If your pro shop has a yardage book available then buy one, but make a point of picking a handful of yardages from the book and CHECK them yourself. A lot of course yardage books measure to the middle of the green and you really want to know the distance to the fron and backs of the greens, so use your wheel and adjust/notate your book accordingly.

• Measure to the front of the green from any course yardage markers that exist (they are often inaccurate).
• Measure to the front of the green from things like the front edge of fairway bunkers, clearly noticeable trees and othe landmarks, you can do it from the middle of the fairway or from the object itself. Remember that the yardage will not be accurate the more off centre from the object you are.
  
• Measure the depth of greens, also measure distances to things like tiers etc. Your book may say something like 35 yards from front to back, 17 yards from front edge to top of second tier etc
• Measure distances for layups on par 5's, say you normally hit your drive to just in front of the left fairway bunker, measure from that point to where your ideal layup position is.
• Measure drive distances necessary to clear obstacles such as fairway bunkers or hazards, do this from the back edge of the teebox, you can work out exact yardages to the tee markers on the day.
• Measure drive distance on doglegs to the outside point, use this to prevent hitting a good drive through the corner and in to trouble.
• Measure drive layup distance. If you routinely lay up on a par 4, work out where your ideal layup position actually is, don't guess, and measure the distance to that point from the back edge of the tee box and write it down.
• If you often slice a drive on to an adjoining fairway, find something on that fairway to measure a distance back to the green from.
• Measure everything you think might be useful, you never know when you might need it.
• You could also buy one of those laser rangefinders, but remember that you are looking for distance to the front and back of the green so use the rangefinder when on "fact finding missions". Make sure to work out depth of greens, if the rangefinder says you have 156 to the pin and you know the green is 30 yards deep and the pin is in about the middle of the green you can easily work out that you have 141 to the front and 171 to the back.

Putting the yardages in to practice

• Choose a club to clear or come up short of the worst area short or long of the green.
• If the hole has water short, make sure you have enough club to reach the back of the green, mishit it slightly you are putting, hit it solidly and you are putting.
• If the hole has water long choose a club that can not reach it, even if you strike the ball your absolute best.
• Allow for uphill/downhill shots. For about every 15-20 feet the green is above or below you add or subtract a club.
• Write down notes in your book as you play. If you hit a solid 8 iron from the front of the fairway bunker of 4 and it goes over the green or comes up short make a note of it so you can refer back to it next time you find yourself in the same spot.

Now a few little course management tips.

• Aim for the middle of the green, forget about the pin.
• Aim away from the worst area to miss the green, if there is water right aim for the left edge of the green. Hit it straight and you are putting, slice or block it right you are putting, pull it a bit left and you are in a decent spot to get up and down from.
• Play to your strength, if you slice the ball always aim left and allow for it, don't play for that 1 in 5 one that goes straight. Work on the range to improve your swing, go with what you have on the course.
• If you find yourself in trouble, try to work out the easiest way to make sure that your first putt on the hole is for a par, avoid chipping for pars.

[North49]

Hey Chingali,

Thanks for the great response. I'm going to assume all that detail was not just for little ole me, but appreicate nonetheless. Most of my irons are brand new as I have not hit them yet as I just ordered them with my specs according to a golf fitter down in Phoenix. I will take your advice on the yardages and implement them. My course has a practice fairway in which I can do exactly what you have said.

[chingali]

The reply was for you mate but it is also good advice for anyone who cares to know! After getting a new set of bats is a perfect/mandatory time to redo your yardages so get in there and do it while you are keen.

Something else you should probably do is jot down your driving distance on four holes every time you play, and always use the same four holes. On my home course I use four different holes all going in different directions, north, south, east and west to balance things out if a breeze is blowing and they are all pretty flat. If you have worked out accurately your distance from the back of the tee box to a known landmark about where your drive will normally finish it only takes a few seconds to do and you can easily do it while someone else is playing their shot so you won't hold anyone up.

If you do this religously when you play, you can work out a REAL average driving distance. If you change balls or get a new driver, you'll know for sure if you are hitting it longer or shorter once you've played half a dozen rounds by comparing the averages.

My point is, golf is hard enough as it is without letting pure guesswork or emotions get in the way of what you think is happening.