Proven Strategies to a Lower Golf Score

Following are proven strategies for attaining a Lower Golf Score.
These game improvement strategies taken in sequence, will drop your golf handicap dramatically, but you have to be willing to work hard and expend the time required, and practice!

Famous Golf Quote; How to Lower your Golf Score - Brian Weis

Analyze your existing game

You must know at what level you are playing currently, in order to plan for improvement. Set a goal for the number of strokes you plan to drop, along with a date in the future to accomplish the goal, which is a Lower Golf Score!

Play five 18-Hole rounds of golf, keeping detailed data on the following statistics for each hole:

Average Drive
Fairways Hit (including code for misses, out of bounds etc.)
Number of shots to the Green
Greens in Regulation (G.I.R.)
Up & Down's (Par or better when not on in regulation)
Sand Saves (1 or 2 extra shots to hole-out from green side trap)
"Flub Shots" (Poor shots such as: Shanks, tops, Chunks etc.
Number of putts per hole
First putt distance (in feet)
Gross score

Note: To determine "First Putt Distance", quickly walk from your ball to the hole taking large steps. Count the number of steps. Multiply the number of steps times the length of step you take.

If you are an average male, your "large" stride will equal one yard or 3 feet. If you are an average female, your "large" stride will equal about 30 inches or 2.5 feet.

At the end of the five rounds, evaluate your data along with obtaining the appropriate totals and averages: You are on your way to Lower Golf Scores!

I have developed my own Golf Score Card for this purpose, along with an Excel Charting technique with trend lines to monitor my performance over time.

See below, the Custom Golf Score Card and the sample Golf Stat Tracking Graph.

(See Golf Score Card - Custom ...... For Complete Info and Details)

Select one 18-Hole Custom Score Card at a time, and calculate the following:

Obtain the Average driving distances.
Total the number of fairways hit (Divide by 14 - Par 3’s not counted)
Total the number of shots required to reach the Greens for all 18 Holes
Total the number of Greens-In-Regulation
Total the number of Sand Saves. (Note the number of shots to get out of a sandtrap for each hole)
Calculate the number of “Flubbed” shots, and identify what they were. (These will be entered on the backside of the Custom Golf Score Card)
Obtain the total number of putts per hole and divide by 18 to get an average.
Add up all first putt distances for each hole, and divide by 18 to get an average
Total the number of "Sand Saves" to get out of a green-side sand bunker and divide by the total number of traps involved to get the average percentage of "Sand Saves".
Make notes of penalties and out of bounds shots.
Note the gross score for that 18-hole round.
Enter all above totals and averages on the card in the back nine total column.

Now, calculate the averages for all five (5) cards for each statistic.

Make a list in priority of the items which cause the highest gain of strokes during all five rounds.

This becomes your “Flub-Stroke” priority list. (If you want a second opinion for the game improvement strategy, send your resulting data to me and I will make a recommendation, no charge)

It takes time and hard work to achieve a Lower Golf Score, there is no magic pill you can take.

Locate a registered PGA or LPGA Pro near you. Usually, that will be the Club Pro at your home course.

Take Professional Lessons

Famous Golf Quote; Keep Your Head Down - Phyllis Dille

Select the top two items on your “Flub-Stroke” priority list, and have the Pro help you with those two items only. Then practice your newly learned skills until they are on “Autopilot”.

This could take two to three months, depending upon how much time you practice getting control of these new skills. (During this time don’t neglect practicing those good things you already have on “Autopilot”).

This will be money well spent for this specific lesson (designed by you), and will solve problems that might take months for you to resolve on your own.

When you feel you have the first two “Flub-Strokes” under control, and have them on “Autopilot”, return to the Pro for another lesson.

Have the Pro double check your performance on the new skills learned for the first two “Flub-Strokes”, and tweak if necessary.
Concentrate on the next two items on your “Flub-Stroke” priority list for the remainder of the lesson.
Then, practice those newly learned skills until they are on “Autopilot”.
Continue this process until you have all “Flub-Strokes” under control, and on “Autopilot”. Remind the Pro that your goal is to reach Lower Golf Scores, not just to hit your Drives farther!

Practice Diligently!

Any golfer who wants to lower their handicap must practice diligently. This usually means spending more time on your putting and short game than you do on your fairway woods and Driver.

“Practice today - Lower score tomorrow”

Within this website we provide many Golf Practice Tips and Golf Practice Games! (See Putting Practice)

In general, distribute the following approximate percentages of your practice time as follows:

Putting: 25%
Fairway Shots: 20% (5 and 6-irons, hybrids, fairway woods)
Chipping: 15%
Pitching: 15% (Wedges along with 9, 8, and 7-irons)
Driving: 15% (Driver)
Sand Shots: 10% (Sand Wedge)

Concentrate on practicing your new skills for the top two “Flub-Strokes” from your priority list for which you took your first lesson. Let's get some Lower Golf Scores!

Set up a practice program. This program should include the areas and percentages as listed above. Practice with a purpose!

I have developed golf practice routines for a variety of situations and time constraints (Even during off season and winter months)

Lower Golf Scores are attainable!

Determine Club Distances

Determine your average golf club distance for each club using a full swing:

Go to the driving range, select a station as near to the yardage signs as possible
Start with your highest lofted clubs first. Wedges: LW, SW, PW, GW
Irons: 9-iron through long irons, next hit Fairway Clubs: 3W, 5W, 7W, and Hybrids and then finally the Driver.
Hit 10 balls with a decent contact for each club (don’t count the “flubs”)
Enter the distance where your ball hits, not where it stops. Most mid to higher handicap players usually “under-club” on their shots while playing the course. Using the more conservative average is a good strategy for offsetting the "under-clubbing" problem.
Enter all data on the Golf Club Distance Chart, and then calculate the average for each club.

Remember, this is all for a good cause - Lower Golf Scores!

See Golf Club Distance Chart Developed For This Purpose

Be sure to date the chart, because as you get better you will want to perform this task again in about 3 months. (Six month intervals from then on)

Prepare a typed 3 x 5 card listing the clubs with their average golf club distances, have it laminated, punch a hole in an upper corner and hang it on your golf bag! You are on your way to Lower Golf Scores!

Driving Location (Tee Box)

Hit from the proper Golf Tee Box!

Mid to higher handicap players usually hit from the wrong Tee Box (too long for their drive). You can drop 8 to 10 strokes by just making this one change. Would you rather have overall Lower Golf Scores, or hit from the “macho” Tees resulting in a higher golf handicap?

How do you know for sure which tee box to drive from? Following is the method to determine this:

Jot down the “average” distance you hit your 5-iron, determined from your distance chart as noted above. (Not the best distance you have ever hit!) Note: Do not guess at this number. If you are not sure, go to the range and hit 10 balls (decent impact – don’t count the “flubs”), and get your average distance.
Multiply that yardage times 36. That will give you the yardage equivalent to the length of course you should be playing, which in turn tells you which Tee Box to drive from.

Using a golf score card from your home golf course, write down the total yardages for 18 holes according to each color of Golf Tee Marker.

Examples:

Red Tees – 5466 yards

Green Tees – 5767 yards

White Tees – 6140 yards

Blue Tees – 6484 yards

Let’s say you hit your 5-iron (on average) 160 yards. Multiply that number times 36. Hence, the calculated distance would be 160 x 36 = 5760 yards. You should be driving from the Green Tees!

Hitting from a shorter Tee Box will probably drop your handicap by 8 to 10 strokes right away without changing anything else. You will find the game much more fun if you get a few pars and even a birdie now and then, resulting in a Lower Golf Score!

However, if you find that you are driving from the correct Tee Box, then you should be able to hit the "Green" on a Par 3 in one shot, a Par 4 in two shots, and a Par 5 in three shots.

This of course will mean you hit the GIR (Green in Regulation!) This is assuming a straight shot to the green or in other words “Pin-High” distance.

Golf Club Selection

If you are a higher handicap player, say over 25 handicap, you may be hurting your score by using your driver.

If after analyzing your game as outlined above, and you are hitting too few fairways with 220 to 230 yard drives (in the deep rough, among the trees and out of bounds--- then leave your Driver at home for a while. Let's start getting a Lower Golf Score!

For example: Try hitting your 3-Wood instead. You can save considerable strokes by hitting your drives with a 3W straight up the middle at only 200 yards!

Then hit a decent fairway shot followed by a chip close to the hole on the green for a good “Scramble” (Up & Down). (1-putt for a par)

I have also used an 18 degree and 22 degree hybrid golf club off the Tee (Tee it lower) for 200 to 220 yards straight up the middle. I found them easier to hit the drive straighter than with my 3W.

Bogey golf will be in the neighborhood of about an 18 to 20 handicap.

I know, we all like to hit that one drive out of 14 on an 18-Hole day that goes a mile straight up the middle with just a “click” on the Sweet Spot with very little effort!

But the rest of the drives get us into big trouble. It’s that one great drive that keeps us coming back!

Use your 3-Wood or hybrid and see if that helps!