Why do scratch golfers make fewer mistakes than you out on the golf course? They have better habits that help reduce mistakes and create low scores even when they aren’t playing their best.
Scratch Golfers know their miss
When it comes to tee shots, scratch players are typically better at identifying their misses and adjusting their aim or even club choice accordingly.
Some of this comes down to collecting statistics with technology such as Shot Scope to see where your shots are most often going out on the golf course.
The strategy should be how can I hit a shot that isn’t perfect and still end up in play rather than picking a line that requires a perfect shot.
A good way to train this is to put alignment sticks or clubs down on the ground to help you visualise your aim. What is the furthest left or right you can aim without getting into danger? What is a good target line in the middle of this for you to start the ball down? If you draw the ball, your chosen target line should be to the right of your ideal landing spot, and vice versa if you hit a fade.
I would only do this on the range, or if you are out practising on the course when it is quiet so you don’t slow down play.
Don’t fire at pins
It can be tempting, especially when it is a front pin, to try drop the ball just in the right place to leave a tap-in birdie. In reality, we just aren’t that good.
Scratch handicaps miss the green short 25% of the time. When we move up to the 15-handicap range, which is nearest the UK average of a 17-handicap, this jumps up to 54%. Over half of a mid- handicapper’s approach shots never get to the green!
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A really simple way for the majority of golfers to lower their scores is to hit more club and aim for the middle or even back of the green so you get more shots up to the green. We also need to take into account external factors such as slope and wind when out on the course and adjust our club selection accordingly.
People only miss the green left and right 10% of the time, and the majority of misses come down to being short of green. A lot of this comes down to golfers simply not knowing how far their clubs go so spending some time dialling this in can really improve your scoring.
Club selection around the greens
Many mid-handicap golfers fall into the trap of copying tour pros and trying to use a lob wedge for every recovery shot when they miss the green. This is a high-skill, high-risk, high-reward shot that should only be used when absolutely necessary. Instead, we should look at other clubs in the bag that can get the ball on the green much more easily.
The average 25-handicap takes 3.1 shots to get in the hole from around the green, and even for a 15-handicap, this only drops to 2.78. This means if you are a mid-to-high handicap, all you should be trying to do is get the ball in the middle of the green so you can two-putt and get out of there.
If we look at the Shot Scope stats, golfers get up and down the most with their putter. Obviously, most of the time you will use a putter, and you will have a better lie, but if you are in the rough, you can recreate this shot with a hybrid, which pops the ball up but then rolls out like a putter.
Scratch Golfers Manage Expectations
Scratch golfers get ahead by managing their expectations and having a better understanding of what is and isn’t a good shot. So many golfers get frustrated on the golf course after hitting shots that aren’t even that bad.
From 150 yards, a scratch golfer only hits the green 41% of the time, but statistically, he or she should score over par every time.
When we drop down to a 15-handicap, only 20% of shots struck with a 7-iron end up on the green. In fact, the average dispersion of a 7-iron for a 15-handicap is 147 feet.
So if you are getting anywhere near the green with a 7-iron, you are doing a really good job, and you shouldn’t be giving yourself a talking-to.
You might think getting annoyed with yourself doesn’t really matter, but the more annoyed you are, the more tense you become. You can become more aggressive and start taking shots you can’t pull off.
Analysing Hazards
Certain holes have a lot of hazards. Analysing these properly and readjusting our targets can help us to shoot lower scores and get nearer to scratch golf without necessarily hitting shots that are technically any better.
A 15-handicap gets up and down 34% of the time; however, if they miss in a bunker, this drops down to 18%. Likewise, if you miss the ball in a penalty area, you are incurring additional penalty strokes. So, when there are hazards that are more penal, we should be aiming away from them, even if that means aiming away from the pin and sometimes not at the green.
The 17th hole at Alcanada Golf Club is shown above. It features many bunkers short and left of the green but also lots of fairway short and to the right of the green. Here, the play is to play down the right side of the green to avoid those pesky bunkers and reduce our chance of making doubles and triples if we get stuck in them.
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Now listen to The NCG Golf Podcast
You’ve heard from Hannah. Now listen to this episode of The NCG Golf Podcast, where Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll go through the data and add their experiences. Will Tom and Steve agree? You can listen to the episode here.
What do you think of these tips to help you play scratch golf? Let me know on X…
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