Obee's Putting Improvement Thread

[Nels55]

15 minutes ago, dmecca2 said:

Over the past week I've been reading the greens a lot better and making a few more putts, but every other round or so I seem to have a bad putting day where I miss some short ones and it hurts my round severely. Some of them are misreads, but most of them are pushes or pulls.

 

In my clubs summer championship, after a -1 first round and in 3rd place, I had a 4 foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to break our course record. I knew exactly what was on the line and my hands were shaking way too much and I missed the putt, and then missed the next one.

 

Next I had the Philadelphia Amateur and my putting was good but not great. I qualified for match play and in my morning match, I made a bunch of putts and won my match, but in the afternoon, I struggled severely again. Missing 5 makeable putts inside 10 feet and barely lost.

 

I'm again wondering if I should switch putters to a mallet with a little more face control.

Nice playing!  LOL you are a lot better golfer then I am so I don't really have any business giving you any sort of advice but I am curious about a few things so here goes:

 

I can say that I am the same way with putting some days they go in and some days they don't.  When the putts are not dropping sometimes it is more a mechanical issue but quite often the problem is more on mental side of things.  So, I wonder if your mental approach is always the same?  Do you notice differences in your thinking between the times you are putting well and the times you are pushing and pulling them?  Can you get into the zone while putting?  No thinking, no expectations just in the moment possibly focused on the process?  Maybe just rolling it on the line and not caring if it goes in or not?     

[dmecca2]

4 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

 

I would suggest two things. One is tracking your putting stats. Missing 5 putts inside 10 feet might not be that bad. If they're all 7-9 footers and you had 10 of them in the round (unlikely granted), that could be an average PGA tour player's putting day. It's also worth looking at why you had those 7-9 footers. Was it chips that could have finished closer or from good approach shots. That could influence what you really need to work on.

 

The other is I used to find that my putter head wobbled a lot during my stroke. I put a backweight in the grip (100g) and it completely shut off the wobbling. My stroke got much smoother as a result. If you have a grip that lends itself to doing something like that then it's worth giving it a try. If you don't, then you can stick some quarters on the top of the grip with tape to see if it makes any difference to the feel (just on a mat or on the practice green). 9 quarters is around 50g. 

I've never thought of adding counter weights to stop the shakes. I have one of those superstroke XL 2.0 grips that is oversized and I had that on my putter for a couple rounds until my normal grip came just to try it. It felt nice, but I never seriously considered it. Maybe I'll give that a try again.

[dmecca2]

1 minute ago, Nels55 said:

Nice playing!  LOL you are a lot better golfer then I am so I don't really have any business giving you any sort of advice but I am curious about a few things so here goes:

 

I can say that I am the same way with putting some days they go in and some days they don't.  When the putts are not dropping sometimes it is more a mechanical issue but quite often the problem is more on mental side of things.  So, I wonder if your mental approach is always the same?  Do you notice differences in your thinking between the times you are putting well and the times you are pushing and pulling them?  Can you get into the zone while putting?  No thinking, no expectations just in the moment possibly focused on the process?  Maybe just rolling it on the line and not caring if it goes in or not?     

It varies. There are times where I have "cared less" and putted well and also times where I did that and putted bad. One thing that was great about the tournament was that I had both my matches on the same day. My putting feels and thoughts were the same for the morning and afternoon matches, but the morning match I had more confidence, and the afternoon match my confidence disappeared after missing a couple short ones.

[Nels55]

12 minutes ago, dmecca2 said:

It varies. There are times where I have "cared less" and putted well and also times where I did that and putted bad. One thing that was great about the tournament was that I had both my matches on the same day. My putting feels and thoughts were the same for the morning and afternoon matches, but the morning match I had more confidence, and the afternoon match my confidence disappeared after missing a couple short ones.

Well, if your 'confidence disappeared' then you definitely had a change in your mental approach!

 

[Ty_Webb]

24 minutes ago, Nels55 said:

Nice playing!  LOL you are a lot better golfer then I am so I don't really have any business giving you any sort of advice but I am curious about a few things so here goes:

 

I can say that I am the same way with putting some days they go in and some days they don't.  When the putts are not dropping sometimes it is more a mechanical issue but quite often the problem is more on mental side of things.  So, I wonder if your mental approach is always the same?  Do you notice differences in your thinking between the times you are putting well and the times you are pushing and pulling them?  Can you get into the zone while putting?  No thinking, no expectations just in the moment possibly focused on the process?  Maybe just rolling it on the line and not caring if it goes in or not?     

 

Don't forget that there is just simple variance. If you hole 50% of your putts from 8 feet, which is tour average, then if you have 5 of those putts in a round, once every 30 rounds or so you'll hole all 5 of them and once every 30 rounds or so you'll miss all 5 of them. It's not necessarily about putting good or bad. It's just some days they go in and some days they don't. I would say it's better to focus on whether you hit a good putt or not, not whether it went in or not. Was the speed right and was it going towards the hole. I remember reading something Nick Faldo wrote in a golf magazine about 30 years ago. It was something along the lines of "fulfill your half of the bargain". He meant hit the putt at the right speed on the line you chose. If it goes in then the ball fulfilled its half too. If it doesn't then it didn't. It wasn't because of you.

[Nels55]

5 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

 

Don't forget that there is just simple variance. If you hole 50% of your putts from 8 feet, which is tour average, then if you have 5 of those putts in a round, once every 30 rounds or so you'll hole all 5 of them and once every 30 rounds or so you'll miss all 5 of them. It's not necessarily about putting good or bad. It's just some days they go in and some days they don't. I would say it's better to focus on whether you hit a good putt or not, not whether it went in or not. Was the speed right and was it going towards the hole. I remember reading something Nick Faldo wrote in a golf magazine about 30 years ago. It was something along the lines of "fulfill your half of the bargain". He meant hit the putt at the right speed on the line you chose. If it goes in then the ball fulfilled its half too. If it doesn't then it didn't. It wasn't because of you.

Yes, I absolutely agree with what you say here.  When I am rolling it well and they don't go in it does not bother me.  When I can feel myself pull or more often push a really short putt then I know I have a problem...  LOL in my case the problem seems to be directly related to how much I practice putting.  When I practice a lot I can get myself into a good mental state where I completely let go of the outcome before and during the stroke. 

 

Some days I feel like I roll it well and every putt seems to lip out and other days every putt seems to drop.  Most days it's a mix of the two outcomes.  On a bad day I am not rolling the ball well and I don't get very good results other then an occasional mis-read mis-hit that goes the right way LOL.  

[MelloYello]

On 6/17/2022 at 11:58 AM, Nels55 said:

Some days I feel like I roll it well and every putt seems to lip out and other days every putt seems to drop.  Most days it's a mix of the two outcomes.  On a bad day I am not rolling the ball well and I don't get very good results other then an occasional mis-read mis-hit that goes the right way LOL.  

 

I think a lot of that is that some days we get straight putts. 

 

I use the clock analogy where the hole is the center of a clock face that's tilted downward. 6 o'clock putts are straight up-hill and 12 o'clock is straight downhill. 9 and 3 have the maximum amount of break (the diabolical putts that are treacherous no matter how short they are). 

 

What I find is that if I get putts in those top & bottom wedges of between 4-6 o'clock and 11-1 o'clock putting is relatively easy. All I have to worry about is how uphill / downhill a putt is. 

 

When I get outside and have to start playing a lot of break putting is 100% defensive and nothing much is going to fall no matter how much I try. 

 

I think it's really important to be aware of the effect that break has on make/miss rates. I can easily give you a straight-forward 10-footer from 6 o'clock that's obviously easier than a diabolical 5-footer with a ton of break from 9 o'clock. 

 

This realization helped me set better expectations on the greens and also made it clear why we sometimes feel like everything's going in or vice versa. 

[Nels55]

2 hours ago, MelloYello said:

 

I think a lot of that is that some days we get straight putts. 

 

I use the clock analogy where the hole is the center of a clock face that's tilted downward. 6 o'clock putts are straight up-hill and 12 o'clock is straight downhill. 9 and 3 have the maximum amount of break (the diabolical putts that are treacherous no matter how short they are). 

 

What I find is that if I get putts in those top & bottom wedges of between 4-6 o'clock and 11-1 o'clock putting is relatively easy. All I have to worry about is how uphill / downhill a putt is. 

 

When I get outside and have to start playing a lot of break putting is 100% defensive and nothing much is going to fall no matter how much I try. 

 

I think it's really important to be aware of the effect that break has on make/miss rates. I can easily give you a straight-forward 10-footer from 6 o'clock that's obviously easier than a diabolical 5-footer with a ton of break from 9 o'clock. 

 

This realization helped me set better expectations on the greens and also made it clear why we sometimes feel like everything's going in or vice versa. 

Yes.

 

Also pin placements and when the holes were last cut play a huge part in makeability of putts.  I notice that when the pins a freshly cut the percentage of makes goes up.  And when pins are sticking out of the side of steep slopes the percentage goes down just a bit...  Hmmm, also if the greens are firm and have been rolled it is much more likely to make a putt then when they are soft and have had a lot of traffic.  LOL so many things against us!

[MelloYello]

22 minutes ago, Nels55 said:

Yes.

 

Also pin placements and when the holes were last cut play a huge part in makeability of putts.  I notice that when the pins a freshly cut the percentage of makes goes up.  And when pins are sticking out of the side of steep slopes the percentage goes down just a bit...  Hmmm, also if the greens are firm and have been rolled it is much more likely to make a putt then when they are soft and have had a lot of traffic.  LOL so many things against us!

 

I definitely agree that faster greens can help, especially at close range. When you don't have to stroke the ball very hard, it's actually a good thing.

 

There's nothing worse than feeling like you have to bash a 10-footer to give it a chance. That can lead to a lot of bad strokes as well as pushes & pulls where they wouldn't otherwise occur. 

[Ross_Albatross]

Humble brag / you can move along... great round yesterday with 25 putts (personal best) and now 98 holes 3putt free streak, probably jinxed myself... but just to say, stay the course and have a real honest assessment of your mechanics, stroke, vision on how to be more consistent (for a true roll and distance control) even if it looks different, unorthodox to your playing partners... keep grinding - thanks Obee for this thread!

[Obee]

On 6/17/2022 at 8:14 AM, dmecca2 said:

I've never thought of adding counter weights to stop the shakes. I have one of those superstroke XL 2.0 grips that is oversized and I had that on my putter for a couple rounds until my normal grip came just to try it. It felt nice, but I never seriously considered it. Maybe I'll give that a try again.

 

I am a big proponent of adding weight in the grip of the putter for guys who struggle with shaky hands. Really helps. Definitely helped me. Weight in the grip + Claw = Excellent Putting for me.

[b.mattay]

Since this is the best putting thread on Golfwrx, I thought I would throw in something that I have found to be a big help to my putting stats! 

 

Zalatoris said in one of his press conferences this week that he "tries to roll putts with great speed...and sometimes the hole gets in the way".

 

I've been using a similar concept this year of rolling putts with an "end spot" in mind (like it would be with a "ghost hole"). Try visualizing the time it would take for the ball to get to that end spot after contact. 

 

Using this concept, I'm down to 30.5 putts per round (from 32 putts per round last year). Some of this is better short game (40% scrambling to 58% scrambling on approximately 5 missed greens per round), but my three putt avoidance is awesome. Last year I averaged 0.4 three putts per round. This year I'm averaging less than 0.1 three putts per round (have one three putt in 18 rounds, and have gone 13 rounds without a three putt). 

[Obee]

On 6/20/2022 at 10:23 AM, b.mattay said:

Since this is the best putting thread on Golfwrx, I thought I would throw in something that I have found to be a big help to my putting stats! 

 

Zalatoris said in one of his press conferences this week that he "tries to roll putts with great speed...and sometimes the hole gets in the way".

 

I've been using a similar concept this year of rolling putts with an "end spot" in mind (like it would be with a "ghost hole"). Try visualizing the time it would take for the ball to get to that end spot after contact. 

 

Using this concept, I'm down to 30.5 putts per round (from 32 putts per round last year). Some of this is better short game (40% scrambling to 58% scrambling on approximately 5 missed greens per round), but my three putt avoidance is awesome. Last year I averaged 0.4 three putts per round. This year I'm averaging less than 0.1 three putts per round (have one three putt in 18 rounds, and have gone 13 rounds without a three putt). 

 

This can't be overstated. GREAT SPEED + DECENT LINE = Lots and lots of putts made ... and very few 3-putts!

 

Speed should absolutely be the FIRST thing you finalize when reading a putt. Big breaker left-to-right breaker that crests a mound and then falls even harder to the right the last several feet? Your speed better be "trickling barely to the hole if it even gets there" speed. And once you commit to THAT, then you start to realize just how far out you have to play the putt.

 

9-footer with almost no break that is slightly uphill on greens running 9 and true as can be? Leaving that putt even a roll short is an absolute sin -- and I see players do that all the time!

 

Speed. Speed. SPEED!!! 🙂

[b.mattay]

17 minutes ago, Obee said:

9-footer with almost no break that is slightly uphill on greens running 9 and true as can be? Leaving that putt even a roll short is an absolute sin -- and I see players do that all the time!

 

Speed. Speed. SPEED!!! 🙂

Exactly! This is a perfect example of where I find it so helpful to quantify the end point. 
 

Before: I would look at this putt as "let's give it a run". 
After: I would look at this putt as "I can be aggressive, where should I roll this to?" I would then pick a spot say 1.5 feet past and roll it with the intention of the ball finishing there. Just let the hole get in the way! 

17 minutes ago, Obee said:

 

This can't be overstated. GREAT SPEED + DECENT LINE = Lots and lots of putts made ... and very few 3-putts!

I've noticed over the years that so many club golfers totally ignore speed as the reason for their bad putts and blame other culprits (most notably green reading). Meanwhile in my head I'm thinking "how do you expect to make a breaking six footer when you die some of them and hit other ones 4 feet by?"

Edited June 21, 2022 by b.mattay

[MelloYello]

I have a terrible tendency to leave uphill putts a few inches short. I always want to "die" everything at the hole out of instinct. 

 

Rather than try and bash those easy uphillers a little harder (which hurts your stroke), I've found it really valuable advice to just try and hit to a spot a little beyond the hole. 

 

So easy to do but so easily forgotten, LOL. 

[Ross_Albatross]

19 hours ago, b.mattay said:

I've noticed over the years that so many club golfers totally ignore speed as the reason for their bad putts and blame other culprits (most notably green reading).

As if they don't grasp that racing a relatively flat 12 footer, 4-5 feet by is equally as bad as hitting it 4-5 feet right... one is: 'that was aggressive but had a chance!' (well, not really)... while the other is 'damn, you can't read anything!' 

[Nels55]

Speed and line are related.  On breaking putts perfect speed is only perfect when the line is correct.  At my course there are number of pin locations where the only way to stop the ball anywhere near the hole is to get the line and speed correct.  This is a really interesting part of putting and I see missed putts blamed on line quite often that were just as much speed related.  Anyway I believe that speed and line are equally important and if you want to be a good putter you better have both.

[Ross_Albatross]

55 minutes ago, Nels55 said:

Speed and line are related.  On breaking putts perfect speed is only perfect when the line is correct.

Agreed - of course; it's always a combo of speed/line that makes the hole get in the way... just based on the fact that decent players distribution for mid-range flat putts is 3 times longer than wider leads me to believe that, when rolling the putt there is a greater dispersion of speed applied rather than intended start line... meaning that if you get great at distance control, you'll have an advantage over the average club golfer... or course, if you can't aim to save your life, the hole won't get in the way as often as it should

[Nels55]

2 hours ago, MtlJayMan said:

Agreed - of course; it's always a combo of speed/line that makes the hole get in the way... just based on the fact that decent players distribution for mid-range flat putts is 3 times longer than wider leads me to believe that, when rolling the putt there is a greater dispersion of speed applied rather than intended start line... meaning that if you get great at distance control, you'll have an advantage over the average club golfer... or course, if you can't aim to save your life, the hole won't get in the way as often as it should

  Yep. 

 

I would say that in general the longer the putt the more important it is to get the speed right and the closer to the hole the more important it is to get the line right.  LOL stating the obvious?

[Ross_Albatross]

10 minutes ago, Nels55 said:

  Yep. 

 

I would say that in general the longer the putt the more important it is to get the speed right and the closer to the hole the more important it is to get the line right.  LOL stating the obvious?

Fair statement… at least in my experience, if I was to give a % of time devoted to one or the other in my pre putt routine (all else being equal obviously and not saying that one isn’t important)

[HUNT JR]

This has been a great thread to follow. I have been struggling reading putts and tend to overread the break. Currently averaging 32 putts per round.

[RSinSG]

I thought of this thread midway through my round today where I missed 4 putts <4 feet. All of them were bendy, but still. Shot +3 for the round which was nice considering I just had rounds of 81 and 82, but it easily could have been one of my better scores of the year. 

[hammersia]

Just had a putting assessment with Matthew Johns at the London Putting Academy. I think I'm a reasonable putter but it was a bit of an eye opener getting measured properly, Quintic etc.

 

We concentrated on the Phil Kenyon drills, the Visio M Putting mat, gate, and in particular the tempo using the TempoStik (moving light bar and sound thing mentioned elsewhere). 

 

Didn't really change away from normal swing mechanics, conventional grip, but main takeaways were using the mat and gate for confidence in swing path / face closure and starting line (I've ordered the mat) and then using the tempo tones for smoothness / distance control. 

 

Definitely holed more putts than normal in a round straight after the session. 

[D0ch0l1d4y]

Well...I've fallen off the claw wagon.

 

After the KC Match play event (where I putted pretty well) it all went downhill. Couldn't make anything. Couldn't lag anything close. Tried different putter configurations and just nothing was working. Wasn't even hitting the ball close to square, and couldn't get the end-over-end roll. Just fell apart.

Pulled out a putter I had in college and added some weight to get it up to what I'm used to. Spent some time on the putting mat and was rolling it well again, hitting it solid. Landed on a double reverse interlock grip (I interlock grip on my clubs - RH pinky under LH pointer.  Putter grip is RH pinky/ring over LF pointer middle - think "here's the church, here's the steeple - just with 2 fingers on each hand). That grip has helped keep my elbows from hurting (which was the impetus to the claw switch) and feels solid.

 

Played in the KS Am qualifier on Tuesday. Played poorly on a couple holes and missed qualifying, but putting was, mostly, the bright spot.

 

Tournament was at Sunflower Hills in Bonner Springs, KS. They have LARGE greens (#1 is 8,800sqft per google earth. 132' deep x 84' wide). They were rolling pretty true and consistent, but SLOW. Maybe an 8. Maybe.

 

#1 - Par 4, Fairway, Green. 65' big breaker R->L, uphill first half, downhill 2nd. Took a peek as it rolled 6' past. Made that for Par

#2 - Par 5, Left Rough, Long, pitch onto Green to 20'. Uphill, 6" L->R break made it for Birdie.

#3 - Par 4, Fairway, Green. 25', slight R->L. Left dead in the jaws, 6" short. Par.

#4 - Par 3, Missed Green right, poor pitch left 18' with 18" R->L. Lip on high side, Bogey.

#5 - Par 4. Fairway, Green. 30' downhill R->L dead center. Birdie.

#6 - Par 5. Fairway, Short right, pitch onto Green, 6' below the hole, 2" L->R break. Full horseshoe lip out. Par. 

#7 - Par 4. Fairway, Green. 22' with 8" R->L, missed short. Par

#8 - Par 3. Ugh. Block 5i pin high right, 20' from pin in deep clover. Chip goes 3'. Next chip goes 30'. Miss the putt. Double.

#9 - Par 4. Right Rough, Green. 76' uphill the whole way, maybe 10" R->L. 12' short, miss that, 3-putt Bogey.

#10 - Par 4. Fairway, Green. 17' uphill, straight. 8" short. Par

#11 - Par 5. Left Rough, punch out, short right, chip to 8'. Misread - Bogey.

#12 - Par 4. Left Rough, LW over tree onto Green to 18". Birdie.

#13 - Par 3. Green. 35' uphill R->L. Peeked in as it rolled by on the high side. Par.

#14 - Par 4. Right Rough, punch under trees over green. Pitch to 4'. Downhill slight L->R, made for Par.

#15 - Par 4. Left into hazard, drop, flighted punch through trees to Green. 53' downhill R->L to 2', made for Par

#16 - Par 3. Blocked tee way right. Punched out over green, chip to 7'. Downhill, L->R, made for Bogey

#17 - Par 5. Fairway, Blocked 5i to hazard. Drop, pitch to 33'. Uphill, 20" R->L short 3', made for Bogey

#18 - Par 4. Blocked to right rough, LW to 32'. Uphill, dead straight. almost whiffed - left 8' short, made for Par.

 

UGH. Gotta get those blocks under control.

 

Casual round coming tomorrow, 2nd chance qualifier on Tuesday. Onward and upward.

 

 

[D0ch0l1d4y]

This is cathartic for me, but if these updates don't belong in this thread, or if y'all are tired of them, let me know.

 

Didn't get the pre-qualifier round in as it rained 4am-1pm. So on to the qualifier.

Held at Eagle Bend Golf Course in Lawrence, KS. Course played a little over 7,000y, rated 73.3/131. Windy, 15-20, gusting over 30. Practice green was SLOW - about 8, somewhat verified by the Tour Read app.

 

#1 - Par 4, Fairway, Green. 35' breaker L->R uphill. Left it 9' short. Missed, 3-putt Bogey 

#2 - Par 4, Right rough, LW to 12'. Big R->L, just missed. Par

#3 - Par 5, Left rough/native grass. Punch out, 5W just over green. Chip to 8". Tap in par. 

#4 - Par 3, Missed Green right, bad bunker shot, almost chipped in. 4' make for Par

#5 - Par 4. Drive blocked right into Penalty area. Drop, 3rd just short of green, pin 9' from front. Almost chip in. Par.

#6 - Par 4. Left Rough, bad lie, downhill, sidehill, ball below feet a good 8". Shank to penalty area. Drop, chip, miss. Double.

#7 - Par 5. Hole has split fairway, drive to rough between fairways. 4i to 45'. It's a new green. not mown. MIGHT be running stimp at 7. Probably closer 6. Uphill the whole way, 12' short. lip out birdie putt. 3-putt par.

#8 - Par 3. Good tee ball to 12'. Made for birdie.

#9 - Par 4. Fairway, green. Missed the ridge and have 40' uphill. Dead in the heart, short. Par.

#10 - Par 4. Fairway. Pulled GW pin high left rough. Bad chip to 18'. Dead in the heart, short. Bogey

#11 - Par 4. Right rough, LW to 22'. Dead in the heart, short. Par

#12 - Par 3. Pulled, pin high left rough. Bad chip, 26' for par, tap in bogey. 

#13 - Par 5. Left rough with cart path bonus yardage. Block 6i, pitch to 11'. Lipped high side, Par 

#14 - Par 4. Blocked drive onto the next hole. 9i to 35'. Dead in the heart, short. Par

#15 - Par 4. Left rough, bad lie. Punch onto green to 12'. Downhill slider, made for birdie.

#16 - Par 4. Left into native grass, punch out. GW just short of green. Almost chip in, 2' for Par

#17 - Par 3. My nemesis hole. Playing 170y into the wind. Pin is middle, 4y from right edge. 2y from right edge to penalty area. Sucker pin. Needing birdie, hit sweeping draw in over the lake and land between green and penalty area. Missed birdie, tap in Par

#18 - Par 5. Fairway, Pulled 6i over green. Bad lie, bad pitch to 30'. Downhill R->L, short 3', made for Par

 

10 GIR and 31 putts. My putting has been pretty solid. If I could have adjusted better to the speed I'd have qualified. 

 

Also need to work on my short game out of the rough. the 3 near chip ins were from the fairway or fringe. Anything out of the rough has not gone well.

[Obee]

On 7/1/2022 at 9:40 AM, D0ch0l1d4y said:

Well...I've fallen off the claw wagon.

 

After the KC Match play event (where I putted pretty well) it all went downhill. Couldn't make anything. Couldn't lag anything close. Tried different putter configurations and just nothing was working. Wasn't even hitting the ball close to square, and couldn't get the end-over-end roll. Just fell apart.

Pulled out a putter I had in college and added some weight to get it up to what I'm used to. Spent some time on the putting mat and was rolling it well again, hitting it solid. Landed on a double reverse interlock grip (I interlock grip on my clubs - RH pinky under LH pointer.  Putter grip is RH pinky/ring over LF pointer middle - think "here's the church, here's the steeple - just with 2 fingers on each hand). That grip has helped keep my elbows from hurting (which was the impetus to the claw switch) and feels solid.

 

Played in the KS Am qualifier on Tuesday. Played poorly on a couple holes and missed qualifying, but putting was, mostly, the bright spot.

 

Tournament was at Sunflower Hills in Bonner Springs, KS. They have LARGE greens (#1 is 8,800sqft per google earth. 132' deep x 84' wide). They were rolling pretty true and consistent, but SLOW. Maybe an 8. Maybe.

 

#1 - Par 4, Fairway, Green. 65' big breaker R->L, uphill first half, downhill 2nd. Took a peek as it rolled 6' past. Made that for Par

#2 - Par 5, Left Rough, Long, pitch onto Green to 20'. Uphill, 6" L->R break made it for Birdie.

#3 - Par 4, Fairway, Green. 25', slight R->L. Left dead in the jaws, 6" short. Par.

#4 - Par 3, Missed Green right, poor pitch left 18' with 18" R->L. Lip on high side, Bogey.

#5 - Par 4. Fairway, Green. 30' downhill R->L dead center. Birdie.

#6 - Par 5. Fairway, Short right, pitch onto Green, 6' below the hole, 2" L->R break. Full horseshoe lip out. Par. 

#7 - Par 4. Fairway, Green. 22' with 8" R->L, missed short. Par

#8 - Par 3. Ugh. Block 5i pin high right, 20' from pin in deep clover. Chip goes 3'. Next chip goes 30'. Miss the putt. Double.

#9 - Par 4. Right Rough, Green. 76' uphill the whole way, maybe 10" R->L. 12' short, miss that, 3-putt Bogey.

#10 - Par 4. Fairway, Green. 17' uphill, straight. 8" short. Par

#11 - Par 5. Left Rough, punch out, short right, chip to 8'. Misread - Bogey.

#12 - Par 4. Left Rough, LW over tree onto Green to 18". Birdie.

#13 - Par 3. Green. 35' uphill R->L. Peeked in as it rolled by on the high side. Par.

#14 - Par 4. Right Rough, punch under trees over green. Pitch to 4'. Downhill slight L->R, made for Par.

#15 - Par 4. Left into hazard, drop, flighted punch through trees to Green. 53' downhill R->L to 2', made for Par

#16 - Par 3. Blocked tee way right. Punched out over green, chip to 7'. Downhill, L->R, made for Bogey

#17 - Par 5. Fairway, Blocked 5i to hazard. Drop, pitch to 33'. Uphill, 20" R->L short 3', made for Bogey

#18 - Par 4. Blocked to right rough, LW to 32'. Uphill, dead straight. almost whiffed - left 8' short, made for Par.

 

UGH. Gotta get those blocks under control.

 

Casual round coming tomorrow, 2nd chance qualifier on Tuesday. Onward and upward.

 

 

Keep 'em comin'!!

[getitdaily]

Use of a "chalk" line on my mat, combined with gate drills on the practice gree, combined with a putter with 30ish degrees of toe hang has paid off. Finally putting like I feel I should. 31 or under putts every round with the new putter. Half of those rounds under 30 putts.

[Obee]

16 hours ago, getitdaily said:

Use of a "chalk" line on my mat, combined with gate drills on the practice gree, combined with a putter with 30ish degrees of toe hang has paid off. Finally putting like I feel I should. 31 or under putts every round with the new putter. Half of those rounds under 30 putts.

 

Now that's what I'm talking about.

[getitdaily]

22 minutes ago, Obee said:

 

Now that's what I'm talking about.

Man, I set out to fix my stroke this past winter. Step 1 was to draw a sharpie chalk line on my mat and just rep inside to inside over and over. My stroke tends to drift outside. 

 

Stroke got better but putting got worse. The pxg mallet I'd been using didn't compliment the new path. So I tried a couple of putters that didn't help. One still lacked toe hang, the other lacked high moi characteristics I prefer. I was shooting a couple over while hitting 12-14 greens. A few 34 putt rounds. But I knew I was close because I was missing puttsbut not thinking about path or mechanics. 

 

I added the gate drill in the last month, just as I started to get the feel of the new putter. 

 

Breaking par again. Converting rather than missing. My mid-range putting is about to take.off too. New putter is a hosel style I've never liked. Aim was off until I got used to looking at it (slant hosel rather than plumber's neck). Bogeyed 18 Saturday to give away 68. 15 greens and 30 putts. 

Edited July 7, 2022 by getitdaily

[Obee]

19 hours ago, getitdaily said:

Man, I set out to fix my stroke this past winter. Step 1 was to draw a sharpie chalk line on my mat and just rep inside to inside over and over. My stroke tends to drift outside. 

 

Stroke got better but putting got worse. The pxg mallet I'd been using didn't compliment the new path. So I tried a couple of putters that didn't help. One still lacked toe hang, the other lacked high moi characteristics I prefer. I was shooting a couple over while hitting 12-14 greens. A few 34 putt rounds. But I knew I was close because I was missing puttsbut not thinking about path or mechanics. 

 

I added the gate drill in the last month, just as I started to get the feel of the new putter. 

 

Breaking par again. Converting rather than missing. My mid-range putting is about to take.off too. New putter is a hosel style I've never liked. Aim was off until I got used to looking at it (slant hosel rather than plumber's neck). Bogeyed 18 Saturday to give away 68. 15 greens and 30 putts. 

 

So great! When you say that, part way through your journey, "stroke got better, but putting got worse," what do you mean, exactly? What about your putting was worse? Missing short putts? Bad speed control? What?