Scratch By 50: Gamifying The Short Game

I spend a lot of time at the range sending drivers in various directions. Hitting drivers aimlessly is a time-honored tradition for mediocre golfers trying to get better and I’m a firm believer in tradition.

But I didn’t have the chance to hit balls at the range yesterday because I spent too much time practicing my putting.

That’s a sentence I never thought I’d write. 

I know putting is an essential part of the game, maybe the most essential part, but I don’t love practicing that. I can’t put my finger on why. Maybe it’s because I’m not good at it and, as a species, we gravitate towards the things we’re good at because those things make us feel better about ourselves. Or maybe it’s because putting is too still. The golf swing is explosive. The putting stroke is nuanced. It is a body at rest.

But all of the nice people on the internet tell me that if I have any chance of reaching scratch, I need to hammer my short game on a regular basis.

Fortunately, a high school kid at my course introduced me to a couple of easy games that have changed my perspective on short-game practice. As a result, I’ve spent more time practicing putting and chipping in the last week than I have over the past year. 

The games this kid showed me are called “Sevens” and “21.” “Sevens” is straight-forward. Pick a random hole on the practice green. Drop a ball for a long lag putt and score every hole as a par-2. The first player to reach 7 over par loses. I lost. The other game, “21,” is a chipping game where each player has two balls and you try to land the balls closest to the hole. Closest ball to the hole scores two points, second closest scores one, and holing it out scores three. First player to 21 wins. I barely etched out a victory against the kid.

Both of these games are played with at least two golfers but I do most of my practice sessions alone during the work week when all of my buddies are contributing to the GDP so I’ve dug up a couple of other games that are great to play solo. These little gems are so fun; they’ve revolutionized my short-game practice. 

Four Balls 

Pick a flat hole on the practice green and put a tee two feet behind the hole. You’re rolling putts, trying to get the ball to land between the hole and the tee. You get three points for holing out, two points for landing between the hole and the tee. Subtract one point for rolling a ball past the tee and subtract two points for rolling a ball short of the hole. 

There are a bunch of ways you can score this game but I keep it simple, trying to get to 10 points with the fewest putts possible. This is a game that focuses on speed which is probably the weakest link in my putting game. I tend to leave putts drastically short. The more I play this game, the more I’m rolling my putts just past the hole during my rounds. I’m also holing more five to 10 footers during rounds because I’m giving the ball enough speed to have a chance at success. 

Five for Five 

This game combines chipping and putting skills. Take five balls and drop them just off the green in the same spot. Pick a random hole and chip them as close as you can to the target. Then putt each ball out. Pick another hole and repeat. You’re counting the number of times you can get up and down during each round of five attempts. The goal of the game is to see if you can get a perfect five for five. I haven’t yet. Obviously, the difficulty increases the farther you start from the hole but I’ve found great value in taking a wedge or an 8-iron and chipping from just beyond the collar. Those types of shots come up often during a round and getting better at placing those chips close to the hole can save me a few strokes over 18. 

When I would make myself practice chipping or putting in the past, I would usually just pick a random spot and hammer through a bunch of different shots on autopilot. My mind would wander until I got bored and moved on. But adding a couple of simple games to the process forces me to keep score which means every shot counts. That encourages me to slow down and reinforce the fundamentals of each stroke and putt. When I’m playing these games, I think about my setup during putts. I focus on using my big muscles to power my stroke when I’m chipping. I go through the full pre-shot routine, even though I’m just hanging out alone on the practice green. 

The game makes the practice more intentional and I believe that intentional practice will lead to better results in the real game of golf.