Nine Ways You Give Away Golf Strokes

I would bet you give away at least two strokes per side because you don’t play the game very well. Here are a few ways you can start lowering your handicap tomorrow, and it doesn’t take any practice time to do it. These are nine good ways to get back those wasted strokes.

1. Hitting recovery shots off the tee shot. - if your course has heavy rough or lots of trees, you can use up several shots every round just chipping the ball back into the fairway. On a course like this, leave your driver home.

2. Playing over water. - Bad things happen when you play over water if you don’t have to. Figure the longest club in your bag that you’re sure you can get in the air. If you have to hit a longer club than that to clear the water, go around or lay up.

3. Not seeing the golf course (until it’s too late). - For example chipping into slopes or soggy ground that you hadn’t noticed, ignoring pronounced slope around the cup, little things that are right there that you don’t see until after you hit the shot.

4. Hitting when you’re not sure. - If you feel anything about the shot you’re going to hit other than complete confidence, step away and gather yourself. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself saying in about four seconds, “Why did I hit that? I knew I wasn’t ready.”

5. Getting angry. - You’re not as good as your good shots, nor as bad as your bad ones. Accept what happens and move on.

6. Playing with the distance you want, not the distance you have. - If 155 yards with a 6-iron is a good shot for you, and you’re 153 yards from the pin, don’t hit the 6! Take out a 5-iron, grip down, and put a smooth swing on the ball. The extra club in your hand takes off the pressure and you’ll hit a better shot.

7. Two short shots in a row. - At the professional level, the short shot takes the place of the approach putt. At the amateur level, the short shot is meant to get the ball on the green. Getting the ball close to the pin is secondary. Whatever it takes, get your first short shot on the green, two-putt close at least.

8. Not aiming your greenside chips. - When the ball is close enough to the green that you truly can give it a run at the hole, line up the shot like you would an approach putt. This avoids hitting your chip hole-high but four feet to the left and gives you a chance to leave the ball tap-in close or even sink it.

9. Not taking lessons. - Don’t hit from the rough very well? It’s not hard to do. Do uneven lies give you fits? They shouldn’t. Can’t hit the chip from 30 yards? Simplest shot there is. Get a list of shots that give you a hard time and have a pro show you how to hit them. I don’t understand why so many golfers won’t do this. I just don’t.

Please comment if you have any more ways for us to save shots like this.