BETTER BY SATURDAY
Your Secret Formula to Hit More Greens
How to club up to get better birdie looks BY DAN CARRAHER
of the green to allow for a mis-hit. If you’re playing a course with particu- larly small or large greens, adjust ac- cordingly, but seven metres is a good rule. On this shot (above), I’ve estab- lished that it’s 114 metres to the centre, so seven more makes it 121 metres. For many amateurs, that means clubbing up one from a short iron. This strategy gives you a much big- ger margin of error – and a significantly better chance for a birdie putt. Let me
FROM 125 YARDS, a 15-handicap hits the green less than half of the time – in fact,
The very back edge is 128 metres, so if I hit it just past my 121 number, I’d still have some green to play with. If I really goose one, I’m just off the back, which is usually much better than short. The distance to the front here is about 100 metres, so for me to dump it in a bun- ker or water, I’d have to hit it 23 metres short of my number. That’s unlikely. Try my advice next time you play. I bet you’ll hit the green on shorter approaches more often. – WITH DAVE ALLEN DAN CARRAHER, one of Golf Digest’s Best Young Teachers in America, is at the Golf Club at South Hampton in St Augustine, Florida
39.5 percent from 125 to 150 yards (114 to 137 metres), according to game- tracking system Arccos Golf. Most of those misses are short, because golfers tend to overestimate how far they hit the ball. Even a decent shot is not just short of the hole, it’s short of the green! Here’s a formula that will help you hit more greens with your irons. Before selecting a club, determine the distance to the centre of the green, then add seven metres. Why seven? Because 30 metres is a good estimate of average green depth, and we want to get you aiming for the back-third
further explain: If I were to play this shot at 121 metres and slightly mis-hit it, I’d be in the middle of the putting surface.
EIGHT IS GREAT Get your yardage and then add eight to hit more greens.
PHOTOGRAPH BY J D CUBAN
42 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025
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