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BODY / PUTTING
CUT DOWN YOUR THREE-PUTTS Learn to be great from three and 30 feet to excel on the greens By Cheryl Anderson
how often do you get really upset for two-putting a hole? Probably not often, but
THREE-FOOT PUTTS READ, AIM AND COMMIT
cough up three shots on the green and you’re liable to lose your mind. A three- putt stays with you, and too many of them will be a real round-wrecker. Consider: The average PGA Tour player three-putts just once every 36 holes. That might be asking a lot of an amateur, but think how many strokes you’d save if you three-putted only once or twice every 18 holes. The secret to three-putting less is to become exceptionally good at two distances – three and 30 feet. Why these two? Because you have to know how to lag it close and then convert the real shorties. Let me help you with that. – with dave allen
• Many amateurs struggle from short range because they don’t practice these putts – ever! To make matters worse, they don’t go through the process of reading these putts and aiming properly on the course. As a result, the brain doesn’t know what to do. Confusion and doubt start to creep in, and once that happens, it’s very hard to put a good stroke on the ball. As a drill, take 10 balls and space them evenly around the hole in a three-foot circle. Start at the first ball, read the break, aim the logo or line on the ball at your starting line
(above), commit to the read, and make a stroke. Once you hole all 10 putts, spread the balls in a four-foot circle around the hole and repeat. The goal, besides making as many putts as you can, is to get in the habit of reading and aiming on every attempt, which is going to give your brain the information it needs so that you can make a decisive stroke. Now you might think this exercise is really boring – and it can be — but if you just do this as little as 15 minutes per week, you’ll become much more comfortable over these knee-knockers.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JD CUBAN
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 27
JULY/AUGUST 2024
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