Lower Scores? – We All Know How!!

I wanted to put a Club Evaluation Form on my site a few months ago, but “day job” goodies and some needed R&R kept me from attending to that. But now this is active, and I encourage you to take a look and complete the form if you wish. I hope that doing this has value for you directly – to perhaps emphasize or re-emphasize those areas of your game where improvements are most likely to produce lower scores.

For me, my golf game for maybe a year is not close to what it had been. Until the past few weeks, and now I am seeing signs of my game coming back. While encouraged by that I also realize what is truly keeping me from shooting scores in the 70s again. Short game and putting. 20 to 50 yard wedge shots, chips around the green, putting. I think in every recent round I can count at least 5 to 6 shots, maybe more, where just a bit of improvement, reduced 3 putts, etc. would have turned an 85 into a 70 or better.

Is it really so hard to improve your short game? While I am sure there are some technique areas that can help, I think some of the following will also make a big difference:

– Wedges that have spin milled faces, so that when you need to you can get the ball to spin and stop. I am amazed how many wedges I have seen from OEM companies that do not have spin milled faces……..these are easily available to anyone.

– Wedges that FEEL good…..the right swingweight and the right flex. Particularly, I believe, not too heavy and not too stiff. So that they are easy to swing.

– Putters that truly fit you….so that you do not have to adjust your stroke because the length and lie angle of the putter are incorrect. Often doing this fix for a putter that you like is not more difficult than adjusting the lie angle and or cutting or extending the length of the shaft.

– AND here is one more to think about. Yes, you may get some more yards with a ball that spins less….but does that really produce lower scores? Maybe playing a ball that spins more so that you have more control on short shots is not a bad idea, even if it produces a few yards less in driving distance….

I think of all of the things that players with handicaps in the range of 10 to 25 can do to improve their scores, getting the right scoring clubs in their hands is actually the easiest thing they can do to reduce their scores. And, in fact in the present cost conscious world, also the improvement with the most bang for the buck. So it is worth your golfing time to take a serious look at your scoring clubs and see if there are some simple improvements that you can make to them.

MORE ON TOUR PRO DRIVER LENGTHS…. In the latest Golf Magazine, it notes that the driver Geoff Ogilvy uses is 44-1/2 inches long. He hits it 290 yards……

BUT in the interest of full disclosure! – In the recent Golf Digest it says that Ernie Els uses a 45-1/2 inch driver. This is the first tour pro driver I have reported that is over 45 inches – but I think so far this is one out of five or six that I have reported.

Tony