Breaking 100 Through Chipping

August 20, 2013August 22, 2013 / The Grateful Golfer / 4 Comments

Breaking 100 is the first major challenge for any golfer. As discussed in my previous article, building a consistent putting stroke using the 3-6-9 putting drill will greatly reduce strokes and help develop confidence on the green. For those whose who have a tendency to hit their approach shots just off the green, then chipping to break 100 is very important.

As a rule, keeping all drills as simple as possible is the key to success in golf. Building on the 3-6-9 concept, will help tie a previously learned skill in to your growing arsenal. To set up this drill, grab 12 tees and six balls from your bag. No, you do not require clubs yet! Set up the tees in the same pattern as the 3-6-9 putting drill. For those who have not read the previous post; at 3,6,9 and 12 o’clock, place a tee at 3-6-9 feet from the hole.

Next, grab the six balls and walk anywhere off the green. Ideally, you should start at least 15 paces from the hole. You still do not require any clubs. Now toss the ball towards the target hole. Pay attention to how far you tossed the ball in the air and how far the ball rolls after it hits the ground. Do this with all six balls. The intent is to toss the ball within the 3 foot circle…inside nine feet will be ok since you already have confidence putting from that range.

Retrieve your balls and return to the same spot where you tossed the 6 balls. Now, roll the balls along the green without tossing the ball in the air. Pay attention to how fast the ball is travelling to get within your 3 target.

Practice tossing and rolling the balls until you can consistently place the 6 balls within your 3-6-9 foot target. Now, grab your 8 iron and a wedge (which wedge is up to you depending on your stroke – this is the time to experiment with which club is good for you). Use the wedge to replicate the tossed ball and use the 8 iron to replicate the rolled ball.

Obviously, the goal is to chip the 6 balls in your 3-6-9 target. Now once you feel confident and have achieved success move to a different location. Eventually, you will not have to hand toss or roll the balls.

The most important and final step of this drill is to pace the distance from your chipping spot to the hole. This step will help develop your distance gauge around the green. Additionally, you will develop confidence with your chipping irons so you will automatically be able to assess your chipping and have confidence you will be able improve your up and down stats.

Using the 3-6-9 chipping and putting drill help,lower you scores and break 100. I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

Practice Putting to Break 100

August 13, 2013November 22, 2014 / The Grateful Golfer / 15 Comments

Practicing to break 100 is something that causes most weekend golfers tremendous anxiety. Many believe that they have to practice for hours on the range perfecting a near impossible swing, when really all they want to do is play golf and have fun. The goal of breaking 100 is the first major milestone in most golfing careers. To accomplish this amazing feat, one will have to practice and focused practicing will save the most strokes. And the focused practicing area that will result in the best results is within 9 feet of the hole.

The Grateful Golfer believes that putts under 9 feet is where most high handicap players will save the most strokes and take their first step towards breaking 100. If you have never practiced putts within a 9 foot circle of the hole, you don’t know what your are missing!

An inexpensive way to practice this sure fire way of lower your score is to take 12 tees; stand beside the hole and take one step; place a tee. Take another step; place a tee. Finally, take a third step; place a tee. Now repeat this process three times at 90 degrees from the previous line. This will use up all 12 of the tees.

Image from: http://therangeatleonsprings.com/archives/1052

Star Putting Drill above places tees at 3,4,and 5 feet. The Grateful Golfer recommends same formation but with tees place at 3,6,and 9 feet.

Next take three balls. Putt all thee balls from the 12 o’clock position, from 3 feet, until you sink three. Then move to the 3 o’clock position and sink three; repeat at the 6 and 9 o’clock position. Now, move back to the 6 foot position. Instead of 3 balls sunk before moving, sink only two. Repeat for all four cardinal positions. Finally, move back to the 9 foot position. Sink one and move on until you have sunk a ball from all four positions. This process will likely take about 10-15 minutes max and that includes set up.

As your putting skill improves, increase the number of balls sunk from the 6 and 9 foot positions. Next, sink the balls consecutively before moving; thus increasing the difficulty of the drill. If a player can practice this easy drill once or twice a week they will be amazed on how many strokes they will save. Additionally, this skill will greatly improve their confidence, gain the awe of their friends and eliminate the dreaded 3-putt!

There are many variations of this drill. However, I have found this one to be the fastest and easiest drill to set up and perform. I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

Course Management?

August 9, 2013August 9, 2013 / The Grateful Golfer / 7 Comments

Recently, I have moved to a new course. It is what I would call a shooters course. You do not have to be long, but your tee shots must be in the right area or else you invite a challenging second shot. My recent success on the links can be directly attributed to course management…..or can it?

Most people will say that because I am a single digit handicapper that shooting low on any course is a given. Well golfers who have been around for a year or two know this is just not so. Many skills are required to shoot low scores; the most important thing to remember when playing a new course is when and what club to hit to produce the best results.

Does this not sound like course management? The following are three aspects of course management I believe are the most important to shooting low scores on a new course:

First, know your game. Each player should know how far they can hit each club. It is very difficult to play to a yardage if you do not know the distances of each swing.

Second, play to yardages. If your best club is your 8 iron and you hit it 145 yards, they when reasonably possible, play to that yardage. For example, ir you are on the tee which is 350 yards from the green, hit the club that travels 205 yards. If that is a 3 iron or a 4 iron or a driver, hit it to your desired distance of 145 yards. Chances are you will hit better second shots into green and as a result have lower scores.

Lastly, aim for the center of the green. Pin hunting on a course you do not know is a recipe for disaster. Most of the time you will end up on the wrong side of the green. Center is safe and it will put the short stick in your hands.

Well those are my secrets to course management of a new course. As you play the course more, modify your approached to course management and play to your strengths.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

Canadian Open – More Than Just a Game!

July 29, 2013 / The Grateful Golfer / 2 Comments

Brandt Snedeker of the United States poses with the championship trophy after winning the Canadian Open in Oakville, Ont., on Sunday, July 28, 2013. (Nathan Denette /The Canadian Press)

The RBC Canadian Open did not disappoint this year. The Glen Abbey Golf Club is one of the great venues in Canada for golf enthusiasts. This 7200+ yard course was challenging and yet playable for the pros. Finishing with 16 under and a 3 stroke lead, Brandt Snedeker was smooth down the stretch and did not crumble when the pressure increased during the 16th and 17th hole. Famous for his putting, Snedeker demonstrated that playing fast and staying focused can a benefit for any player.

Adam Sarson, White Dragon Golf, and TSN provide great synopsis of the tournament including some of the highs and lows. Regardless of who you were rooting for, the RBC Canadian Open provide all the excitement of any PGA tournament.

As per The Open, the pros demonstrated many aspects of golf that can show amateurs how to lower their scores and be successful on the course. The pros were very accommodating by their play and the following is how I would recommend lowering your score.

Breaking 100

To break 100, putting was the key. Watching Brant Snedeker use his putter like a surgeon wields a scalpel! “I hung in there really well and made the key putts I needed to and I was able to survive,” said Snedeker, the reigning FedExCup champion who, with the win, moves up one spot to No. 3 in the 2013 FedExCup standings. “That’s what today was all about.” (PGATOUR.com) Snedeker demonstrated that the flat stick saves strokes and lowers scores. In his case, putting propelled him to victory!

Breaking 90

Eliminating costly mistakes is key to keeping your scores low. How many times have we been playing fantastic and decided to take a chance that we know had a low percentage of success. Then, oh noooo, a triple brings our hopes of your best round ever crashing to the ground. Unfortunately, Dustin Johnson experienced the same feelings of despair. Following Johnson’s career, it is easy to see a repeat of costly mistakes. An article from the Bleacher Report outlines his many disappointments, but does provide a lesson for amateurs. Play within yourself, and manage the course to eliminate costly mistakes. There are many ways to achieve this difficult task and staying focused down the stretch is the best way.

Breaking 80

Practice difficult shots around the green. Then know how and when to press a difficult position. Place your ball in deep grass, plugged in the sand trap or chipping over a hazard. Watching the pros navigate the difficult shots makes it clear why they save strokes during difficult times. Take the 12th hole, Snedeker shot bogey and David Lingmerth tripled from the woods just off the green. Snedeker’s ball was partly open and Lingmerth’s was buried deep in the cabbage. The result speaks for itself. Knowing when to press a difficult position and when to take your punishment is extremely important to breaking 80. On a side note, Jim Furyk provides a great article on how to play 20 difficult shots at Golf.com.

The RBC Canadian Open was very entertaining. Brant Snedeker is a great champion and deserved to win. Of all the events that occurred during the Canadian Championship, Hunter Mahan provided the best headline. He left the tournament as the leader after the second round to jet home to Dallas for the birth of his first child. I am grateful that he provided an awesome example what is really important in life.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

Knowing When To Walk Away

July 12, 2013 / The Grateful Golfer / 2 Comments

Golfers are fearless! Without hesitation, they face all natures elements because of an innate desire to finish 18 holes. Some would call this crazy, others compulsive, and others brave….well it is really hard to judge. Most golfers set their own limits and will decide to walk of the course when they have reached their fear factor.

Some will say “challenge the elements”; or “I will face whatever mother nature can throw at me!” Some like, the Bishop from Caddyshack, continue to challenge mother nature and even challenged God…..to his own peril.

On June 28, 1975, while playing in the 1975 Western Open, Lee Trevino was struck by lightning while playing golf. The odds of being hit by lightning in your lifetime are 1 in 300,000 thousand. He has been struck by lightning 3 times while playing golf! His Western Open incident led to one of the most famous quotes in golf where Trevino stated that if he were out on the course and it began to storm again; he would take out his one iron and point it to the sky, “because not even God can hit the one-iron.”

Personally, I have played in rain, pouring rain, pelting rain, freezing rain, hail, snow, blistering heat, using a flashlight (to tee off at 5 am), wearing 3 outer sweatshirts and wearing long underwear. There is virtually no weather conditions that I will not play in except one: lightning! Nope, I do not care how good my game is going, I draw the line at lightning.

So how do we know when lightning is close enough that it is time to walk away? That is a very good question. For me, it is if I see the lightning or the the thunder is so loud that it makes me flinch.

Osprey Links Golf Course, 10 July, 2013

While playing men’s night on Wednesday, we encountered one of those times when a decision had to be made about whether to continue playing or walk away. As we watched this storm cloud roll quickly across the golf course, we decided to carry on….mostly because there was no thunder or lightning associated with the cloud. As it turned out, it rained monsoon like for 5 minutes then cleared up! (I will not tell you where my umbrella was because you would all just laugh at me!) We were wet, but never in any danger…on a side note I found out that I am water tight because the rain just roll off me like water off a ducks back….who knew!

In all seriousness, it is important to know when to walk away from the links. Your health is more important than a low golf score! The golf course is a place to have fun, challenge yourself and meet new people. It is not a place to tempt fate by being foolish. So regardless of much fun you are having it is important to know when to walk away.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!