Short-Game Practice Routine


Improving your short-game is the fastest way to shooting lower scores.

To get better, you must make your practice sessions as close to the real thing as possible. Why practice something that you’ll rarely face on the golf course?


We play games when we practice for many reasons; to challenge ourselves, to compare our skills to others, to increase our focus, and to create a competition that has winners and losers.  Heres a game you can play that should sharpen your short-game.  From off the green, play 15 shots: five from the fairway, five from the rough and five from the sand. Each should be between 15 and 25 yards from the hole, varying the lie, angle and shot difficulty for each ball.

How to score this golf game:

  • Add five points for each hole-out.
  • Add two points for each ball hit within six feet of the cup.
  • Add one point for each ball that lands within six to 12 feet of the pin.
  • Balls outside 12 feet but on the green earn zero points.
  • Subtract one point for each ball that misses the green.

After 15 pitch shots, 5 from each of the locations mentioned above, compare your total and see how you compare to the pros:

  • The best PGA tour pros average 19 points
  • Typical Tour pros, 16 points
  • Poor Tour pros, 14 points
  • Weekend warriors, 11 points
  • 80’s shooters, 9 points
  • 90-shooters, 6 points
  • 100-shooters, 3 points.