Has Anyone Played All 18 Aiming for the Center of the Green?

[DallasDan]

I have heard this piece of advice so many times over the years yet I have never had the discipline to actual go out and try it. However, I am finally trending back down into the single digits after recovering from a back injury and I am trying to figure out if this will help me break 80 on a regular basis. 

[Noodler]

Completely depends on your putting prowess.  If you're confident in your ability to 2 putt from anywhere on the green and aren't concerned about the occasional 40+ foot putt, then by all means, forget about the stick.

 

Personally, I assess every hole on its own; given the surrounding risks/hazards, etc.  Sometimes I go at the stick, sometimes it's just not worth it.  I think it's pretty much the same thing we see each weekend on the PGA Tour.

[xmanhockey7]

Yes. I've tried the strategy. 10/10 do not recommend. While I think its great to get good at not hitting to every flag trying to always hit the middle of the green on every golf course is not a good strategy. You'll hit great shots that leave long birdie putts (that's not so bad), but you'll still miss greens unless you're a great ball striker. And the times you miss the greens your misses may be fairly far away from the hole. While there are times hitting away from the pin is absolutely the play (learn DECADE) centering your shot pattern as much over the hole as possible will lead to lower scores than always going for center. 

[SNIPERBBB]

More so directionally. Not so much for distance.

[Hawkeye77]

Played 18 yesterday and the day before with the intent of taking one more club on my approach shots from 100 and beyond - that turned out to be quite something in a positive way.  Hit more greens and not trying to get more out of less club also made approaches more accurate in terms of where on the green I wanted to be.  Not seeing the just aim for the middle thing as something I'd be able to stay with for 18 holes - my issues are more under clubbing and whatever the result is from trying to force the issue.

[North Texas]

True story. Playing one day with the wife. Get to the tenth hole and the flagstick is laying on the back of the green so we have no idea where the hole is. I tell the wife to just aim for the middle of the green. She hits it just where I said to hit it and the damn ball goes in the hole for an eagle. I remind her quite often about how good things work out when she does what I tell her. She still doesn't find that as amusing as I do ?

[Socrates]

Unless your hcp is above, say 15, I wouldn't think it's a good strategy.  I'm always aiming at some part of the green that gives me the best chance at having a decent putt at the hole.  Inside of 140 yards I'm aiming near the hole unless it's a sucker pin.  Not saying I hit it where I'm aiming, but at least I'm aiming at it.

[cardoustie]

I fire at pins

 

remember what Sean Connery said in The Rock ... “winners go home and ...”

[Noodler]

The tactic I use, that I think may be more helpful than just aiming at the center, is to change my club selection based on whether the pin is in the front, middle, or back of the green.  If it's up front, I take the club that if hit perfectly flush would only put the ball past the pin to the middle of the green.  If the pin is back then I take the club that when flushed would hit the back of the green.  If it's in the middle then I'll probably compromise between the two, but my goal is always to avoid being short or long of the green by selecting the right club.  I may go long or short of the pin, but the goal is to keep it on the green.

[naval2006]

When I stopped playing a lot of golf in my early 20's I played often this way at my homecourse.  Smaller greens where most of the times the ball was a not very difficult two putt.  It was actually a pretty conservative strategy because I no longer felt sharp enough for better golf.  At my course, I had a lot of rounds under 80, kind of dull, but steady.  In other courses with tougher or bigger greens that tactic didn't work that well.  I think the key for this way of playing is the size of greens.  And at least you need to miss it short with a back pin or long with a front pin to have a better chance for up and down.  I think this is an extremely conservative way that should be used sometimes but your mind never gets used to making it the norm.  

[bladehunter]

Almost every round.  I adjust depending on danger and knowing my ball isn’t going left unless I try allows for the center aim leak right fade that often gets close. Worked for Jack.     Instead of thinking “. CEnter of the green “. Try this. Try thinking of a goal to “ hit 18 greens today “    This works best for me. It puts you in a mindset that you’ve only failed if you miss a green. Instead of that feeling of failure if you’re proximities are off on the green.  You’ll be surprised how close you hit it thinking that way.  

[DallasDan]

Thank you all for the input. Sounds like "Center of the Green" is a strategy for higher handicap players. I'll stick with the course management strategy of taking into consideration:

 

1. Pin Placement (Don't short side)

2. Bunkers/Water (Aim Away from penalty areas)

3. Club Selection (front pin=more club and back pin = less club)

 

I am currently a high single trying to get down to 5. I keep reading over and over again that GIR correlates strongly with handicap. This is why I asked the original question. 

[Hawkeye77]

12 hours ago, cardoustie said:

I fire at pins

 

remember what Sean Connery said in The Rock ... “winners go home and ...”

 

Don't want to offend anyone, so won't put up the clip, but in character as Bond the reaction "I must be dreaming" to Miss Galore's introduction, is still priceless, lol. OK, that has nothing to do with firing at pins, probably more to do with me thinking I could hit 18 greens. ?

[Hawkeye77]

1 hour ago, DallasDan said:

Thank you all for the input. Sounds like "Center of the Green" is a strategy for higher handicap players. I'll stick with the course management strategy of taking into consideration:

 

1. Pin Placement (Don't short side)

2. Bunkers/Water (Aim Away from penalty areas)

3. Club Selection (front pin=more club and back pin = less club)

 

I am currently a high single trying to get down to 5. I keep reading over and over again that GIR correlates strongly with handicap. This is why I asked the original question. 

 

I'm an 8.2 as of today, had a cup of coffee for the first time ever with a cap that started with 5 this summer, and back up to the 7-8 range, which is still good for me.  My goal is to get to a consistent 5.  For me hitting more greens honestly is more directly related to hitting more fairways than anything else, then pulling enough club.  Guessing at what I would think your proficiency is with irons, though not perfect, I agree that simply going for center of green really isn't going to help you on that quest, but that's based on my game, not yours.  Avoid sucker pins/evaluate trouble on likely misses and pick a target in relation to the flag, which may more often than not be the flag, and go!

Edited September 3, 2020 by Hawkeye77

[Noodler]

1 hour ago, DallasDan said:

Thank you all for the input. Sounds like "Center of the Green" is a strategy for higher handicap players. I'll stick with the course management strategy of taking into consideration:

 

1. Pin Placement (Don't short side)

2. Bunkers/Water (Aim Away from penalty areas)

3. Club Selection (front pin=more club and back pin = less club)

 

I am currently a high single trying to get down to 5. I keep reading over and over again that GIR correlates strongly with handicap. This is why I asked the original question. 

 

So I think @Hawkeye77 is telling you that if you follow this approach you're going to get "greens galore". ?

[Hawkeye77]

3 hours ago, bladehunter said:

Almost every round.  I adjust depending on danger and knowing my ball isn’t going left unless I try allows for the center aim leak right fade that often gets close. Worked for Jack.     Instead of thinking “. CEnter of the green “. Try this. Try thinking of a goal to “ hit 18 greens today “    This works best for me. It puts you in a mindset that you’ve only failed if you miss a green. Instead of that feeling of failure if you’re proximities are off on the green.  You’ll be surprised how close you hit it thinking that way.  

 

Love it - sort of like Faldo admonishing folks not to say "oh my, I hope I go left, etc." and instead think "I'm hitting it there!" (Meaning your positive target).

Edited September 3, 2020 by Hawkeye77

[Hawkeye77]

Just now, Noodler said:

 

So I think @Hawkeye77 is telling you that if you follow this approach you're going to get "greens galore". ?

 

That's funny!

[juststeve]

Really depends on where you are playing.  Small greens, aiming for the middle make a lot of sense. You'll miss fewer greens that way and middle of the green doesn't equate to long putts.  Giant greens where three putts become more of an issue a hole by hole strategy is in order.

 

Steve

[SheriffBooth]

As a general rule, I think choosing small targets is going to help you play better.  This is on the tee, or on approach shots, or when putting.  Big targets like the "fairway" or the "middle of the green" or the "cup" lead to a much wider error margin.  That doesn't mean flag hunt all the time, but it does mean evaluate where you want the ball to end up on the green and aim for that target with precision.

[Krt22]

3 minutes ago, SheriffBooth said:

As a general rule, I think choosing small targets is going to help you play better.  This is on the tee, or on approach shots, or when putting.  Big targets like the "fairway" or the "middle of the green" or the "cup" lead to a much wider error margin.  That doesn't mean flag hunt all the time, but it does mean evaluate where you want the ball to end up on the green and aim for that target with precision.

Aim small, miss small 

[chigolfer1]

I believe that Mike Small does this with his players at Illinois every now and then (not in competition) and they're amazed at how similar their scores are.

Edited September 3, 2020 by chigolfer1

[scooterhd2]

play for the center of the green, unless you can talk yourself out of it. as opposed to, going for the pin unless you can talk yourself out of it.

 

this way your default shot is the safe play that avoids major mistakes and blows the scorecard up. As a high single digit, par is a very good score. Give yourself the long birdie putt and hope for the best, but no shame in walking away with a par. you just want to avoid, missing the green and short siding yourself or finding some hazards, where now you need a half miracle to escape with par.

 

so middle of the green unless, the shot shape really suits you, or you are really comfortable with the yardage, or the green has crazy tiers where you know a 2 putt from the middle is going to be a tough ask. if you have some valid reason for moving your target towards the pin (not at the pin, its not black/white, you can aim between center and pin), then do so, otherwise keep the ball on the shortest grass possible. 

 

 

 

 

[Hawkeye77]

10 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

Aim small, miss small 

And be an expert with knives and tomahawks!

[llewol007]

I have not tried this on 18 holes but I have gone to this on all par 3's. It does take the thinking out of it which is nice. 

[alfriday]

Hitting to the center of the green is a good strategy for higher handicaps.  For lower caps, it's a good learning exercise to try every once in a while.  I do it a couple of times a year.  

 

A couple of points.  Aiming at the center of the green doesn't have to be a big target.  I just imagine the pin being in the center and aim at that spot, not some generalized "center."  The course I play most often has small greens, so the center is usually a two putt.  The course I play in the winter has big greens.  So I just mentally divide the big green into smaller areas and aim at the center of the area.  For example, if the green has two tiers and the pin is on the lower tier, I will picture the lower tier as the whole green and aim at the center of that area.  

 

   

[smoky25]

For a week after our greens are aerated (big holes) we play 2-putt max since putting on them is basically a joke (no, we don't post the scores).  Almost everyone hits more greens than they normally would because they just aim for the center of the green to get that GIR and "automatic par."  I repeat, NO we don't post the scores. And no I don't care to get into an argument about "real" golf.

[Socrates]

One thing I do more than aiming at the middle, is to make sure my miss isn't long when there is no trouble short.  A miss-hit shot that is long is usually way more trouble than a miss-hit shot short.

[Mcgeeno]

I've probably done a version of this at times when my ball striking wasnt feeling top notch.

 

I know from 100 yards and in I'm gonna be more aggressive but I think the basics of a "middle of the green" strategy would work for many golfers (Especially from 125+ yards out).

 

Long babbling story short: It would be totally situational for me.

 

 

[gripandrip]

I know we've changed the forums look and software, but this still is GOLFWRX right? 

 

Doesn't everyone fire at pins? I mean, after a 300+ yard drive, why would you not shoot at the pin?

 

?

[scooterhd2]

13 minutes ago, gripandrip said:

I know we've changed the forums look and software, but this still is GOLFWRX right? 

 

Doesn't everyone fire at pins? I mean, after a 300+ yard drive, why would you not shoot at the pin?

 

?

 

well for the par 5s, we have a 200 yard 7 iron in, so that's where you really have to focus on targets.