The Importance Of The Short Game

Jae Choi

Most golfer’s emphasize the importance of ball striking over the short game. If one would ask a golf professional or tour player, which is most important for most golfer’s, they would quickly respond by saying that about 70% of your score is decided by how good you are with your short game shots! 70%!!! That number alone should motivate golfer’s to work more on their chipping, pitching and putting skills.

The average tour player is hitting 12 green’s in regulation. That means that they are missing 6 green’s in a typical round. If they make no birdie’s and fail to get up and down for par on any of the hole’s where they miss the green, then they have shot a very disappointing 78 (par is 72). However, if they get up and down 4 out of 6 time’s, and make 4 birdie’s, they now have shot a respectable -2 or 70! In the above example, even if you do not make the 4 birdie’s, you will have shot 74, instead of 78!

One can never get good enough with the short game. Kevin Na, PGA Tour player, told me several weeks ago, that when he went out on tour 6 year’s ago, he thought he was pretty good with the short game. He was astonished to see how proficient the tour player’s are. He worked hard on his short game and now he is always in the top 10 on tour in scrambling. If you want to get better, and lower your score’s, look to improve your short game skill’s! At the end of the day you will be very happy you made the commitment.

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