Scoring not following ballstriking improvement….

[physasst]

So, a little about me. I’ve been playing golf for over 30 years, and when I was in my early 20s was a decent golfer, although never great. However, family, college, starting a career, all of these got in the way, and I really didn’t golf much more than once or twice a year for many years. The last 5-6 years, I have really devoted myself to the game again. I was really struggling off the tee and my ball striking was not great (sucked really- fat city). I was at least putting OK and chipping fairly decently at that time. However, I recently changed courses and my previous courses had slope ratings of 128 and 135 respectively. Now my new course has a slope rating of 147 (all slope ratings from tips- I don’t play those) and is a prior PGA (Nike Tour) stop. My ballstriking has dramatically improved as I have spent quite a bit of time on that and I am getting off the tee pretty well (much better). Thank you @Monte Scheinblum! However, I used to score in the mid 80s and now I am struggling to break 90. My index has risen from 10.8 to 15.3. This course is much more difficult putting wise and I used to think I was a decent putter but now I realize I suck! My chipping is also not very good, or at least is sporadic.

 

Any specific drills from a chipping or putting perspective? I currently will hit 4-5 putts from 20 feet to gauge speed only, and then 20 putts or so from 6-8 feet. I’d like to be more focused however…thoughts?

Happy 4th!!!

 

M

[naj959]

Start line and speed are the most important in putting. I would focus on drills that reinforce those skills. Perhaps work on straight 4 footers with a string line and also practice rolling putts across the green to the fringe so you're not so focused on the hole. For chipping, figure out why you're not making consistent contact. It's impossible to have any distance control if you're not finding the center of the clubface. Once you fix your mechanics, move on to the ladder drill to get a feel for different distances. 

[aenemated]

12 minutes ago, naj959 said:

It's impossible to have any distance control if you're not finding the center of the clubface.

 

Or delivering inconsistent dynamic loft. 

 

I'd first ask what you tend to chip with? 

[physasst]

1 hour ago, aenemated said:

 

Or delivering inconsistent dynamic loft. 

 

I'd first ask what you tend to chip with? 

Typically 54* SW for almost everything. If I’m short sided, 58*, but still not completely comfortable with that. Also, I’ve practiced using an 8i on tight lies, especially into the grain, but don’t have much confidence in it yet…so, probably 54* 90% of the time…

[physasst]

1 hour ago, naj959 said:

Start line and speed are the most important in putting. I would focus on drills that reinforce those skills. Perhaps work on straight 4 footers with a string line and also practice rolling putts across the green to the fringe so you're not so focused on the hole. For chipping, figure out why you're not making consistent contact. It's impossible to have any distance control if you're not finding the center of the clubface. Once you fix your mechanics, move on to the ladder drill to get a feel for different distances. 

I should add that for reasons I don’t understand, I tend to get pulley with chipping. See the target, set up, check alignment, then hit and tendency towards pulling them…

 

M

[ChipNRun]

What is the size of the new greens? At your new course, with the +12 uptick in slope rating, larger greens would make the putting more difficult.

 

• In St. Louis area, older courses tended to have smaller greens (left). If you had a GIR, you had a legit run at a birdie.
• On PGA Tour, average green is about 6,600 sq. ft.
• At some resort courses I played it in Myrtle Beach zone, it wasn't uncommon to have a half-dozen holes with huge greens, sometimes more than 40 yards long. If you had a GIR after poor club selection, you had a legit run at a three-putt.

Another thing about ball-striking: How are you doing on your approaches? If you want to break 80, GIRs need to go up so you have more chances at birdies, and second putts which are tap-ins.

 

Also, consider a putting lesson. Maybe the new greens require a putter other than the one you have, or the stroke you have.

[physasst]

20 minutes ago, ChipNRun said:

What is the size of the new greens? At your new course, with the +12 uptick in slope rating, larger greens would make the putting more difficult.

 

• In St. Louis area, older courses tended to have smaller greens (left). If you had a GIR, you had a legit run at a birdie.
• On PGA Tour, average green is about 6,600 sq. ft.
• At some resort courses I played it in Myrtle Beach zone, it wasn't uncommon to have a half-dozen holes with huge greens, sometimes more than 40 yards long. If you had a GIR after poor club selection, you had a legit run at a three-putt.

Another thing about ball-striking: How are you doing on your approaches? If you want to break 80, GIRs need to go up so you have more chances at birdies, and second putts which are tap-ins.

 

Also, consider a putting lesson. Maybe the new greens require a putter other than the one you have, or the stroke you have.

They’re bigger greens, they keep them fast, around 12. They’re incredibly subtle, and I find them very difficult to read. I’ve had other members tell me you’ll get better, but for the first year you’ll often walk off the green looking back and shaking your head. Also, we’ve all heard the adage “you can’t miss here”, which to be honest on the majority of golf courses isn’t really that true, ie; you can miss around the green and still get up and down….this place I am finding that statement to be very true, there are places you miss, where if the pin is in a certain place you are already getting bogey short of a miracle shot. 
 

https://www.somerby.com
 

M

 

 

[DaveMc82]

What’s your typical miss? Direction or distance control? There could be some value in improving where you miss through smarter choices before looking at anything technical. 
 

Your observations regarding the greens are like echoes of people who join my club, except our greens are on the smaller side. You could very well be struggling to read them if you’re trying to baby the ball to the hole in efforts to avoid three putts. This exacerbates breaks near the cup as the ball is not carrying sufficient speed. Getting the start line higher above the break with a bit more speed can actually get you closer as the extra pace is eaten up by getting the ball to the point where gravity takes over. 
 

Chipping I’d hazard is more of a technical intent thing if you consistently pull them. There’s tons of bad intents to make chipping not work and I’d suggest getting a lesson. It may help you to try what I do which is practice with an impact ball in between my forearms/elbows. At least that’ll start by helping to ingrain good arm structure. 

[SNIPERBBB]

6 hours ago, physasst said:

They’re bigger greens, they keep them fast, around 12. They’re incredibly subtle, and I find them very difficult to read. I’ve had other members tell me you’ll get better, but for the first year you’ll often walk off the green looking back and shaking your head. Also, we’ve all heard the adage “you can’t miss here”, which to be honest on the majority of golf courses isn’t really that true, ie; you can miss around the green and still get up and down….this place I am finding that statement to be very true, there are places you miss, where if the pin is in a certain place you are already getting bogey short of a miracle shot. 
 

https://www.somerby.com
 

M

 

 

Sounds like you got much more difficult greens than what you're familiar with. Chipping and putting is going to be much more precise on those greens. You'll have to read the greens when you're chipping, can't just go at the flag. You might have to aim 20ft to the side sometimes 

 

If you're putting/chipping area isn't like the greens on the course, you might want get on the course when it's empty and learn the greens. Or when you're playing a round and you're held up by the group in front and nobody behind you, hang back after your group is done and do some extra putting chipping. 

 

 

 

[jordan2240]

If it's any consolation, you have lots of company.

[LKNgolf]

If you are only hitting a few putts from 20 ft or so that’s where you could really put in some work.  If given the opportunity I find my control improves the most when I really get dialed in on the lag putts…like 30 ft and up or as far as your practice area will allow.  Try putting from the fringe as well.  This also gives the illusion as making the 6 footers not seem nearly as long as well.  Also, I tend to get obsessed with reading the putt instead of just feeling it.  After practicing 50 footers that kind of goes away because you just hit a couple and naturally adjust your line as you are working on speed. 

[byoshio82]

On 7/2/2023 at 6:39 PM, physasst said:

So, a little about me. I’ve been playing golf for over 30 years, and when I was in my early 20s was a decent golfer, although never great. However, family, college, starting a career, all of these got in the way, and I really didn’t golf much more than once or twice a year for many years. The last 5-6 years, I have really devoted myself to the game again. I was really struggling off the tee and my ball striking was not great (sucked really- fat city). I was at least putting OK and chipping fairly decently at that time. However, I recently changed courses and my previous courses had slope ratings of 128 and 135 respectively. Now my new course has a slope rating of 147 (all slope ratings from tips- I don’t play those) and is a prior PGA (Nike Tour) stop. My ballstriking has dramatically improved as I have spent quite a bit of time on that and I am getting off the tee pretty well (much better). Thank you @Monte Scheinblum! However, I used to score in the mid 80s and now I am struggling to break 90. My index has risen from 10.8 to 15.3. This course is much more difficult putting wise and I used to think I was a decent putter but now I realize I suck! My chipping is also not very good, or at least is sporadic.

 

Any specific drills from a chipping or putting perspective? I currently will hit 4-5 putts from 20 feet to gauge speed only, and then 20 putts or so from 6-8 feet. I’d like to be more focused however…thoughts?

Happy 4th!!!

 

M

Clock drill for putting. Start at 3’ and put 4 balls at 12/3/6/9 of the hole was a clock. Work your way to 5’. If you miss you start over. For chipping place several balls in bad lies around the green and focus on the 3’-5’ circle you practiced putting and getting the ball up and down. These both help add some pressure to your practice and have taken my short game from good to great. 

[ChipNRun]

20 hours ago, physasst said:

They’re bigger greens, they keep them fast, around 12. They’re incredibly subtle, and I find them very difficult to read. I’ve had other members tell me you’ll get better, but for the first year you’ll often walk off the green looking back and shaking your head.

 

Sounds like you're having a similar experience to when I started playing on the local amateur circuit. The first season, it was a matter of surviving the rounds amid all the odd occurrences. A few seasons later, we now have a rota of about 10 courses where we play most of our rounds. For courses in the rota - I now have a small home-course advantage when we tee up at one of them (count on a couple of wild-card courses each year).

 

And, it's the same thing for getting used to a new home course. I've played Stonewolf GC as home for a dozen years, and two of three holes I have never birdied are two little risk-reward 😬 par 4s: #7 and #12, normally set about 320 yards. Miss the fairway, or the funhouse greens, and a bogie is likely.

 

And, thanks for sharing your Somerby course site. Looks like a beauty!

[naval2006]

If this is your new course of choice you'll get used to the greens as we all do.  You'll probably have to readjust the putting game for this course because greens are harder and it'll take more time to get used to speed and breaks.

 

On the other hand, if this course is harder than your previous one, your index is likely to go up for a start.  I wouldn't despair, if this is your new track you'll get to know it pretty well in a couple of months and you'll get back to normal eventually.

[hellojude]

Create putting games when you practice. I found this is the best way to improve. Make the games mean something. For example, you can't leave the putting green until you make X amount of putts, etc.