Center of the green

Strategy
#7

One of my biggest struggles in golf (and life) is that good process doesn’t lead to immediate good results… There is a certain leap of faith in the process that over time it will pay off…

Aiming at the center of the green (or the best part of the green) is a struggle for most, I think… When you flush a shot perfectly, it goes to the center of the green! and now you have a longer putt than if you had mishit it slightly.

I think we are built to reward the “what if I hit it perfectly” part of our brain, more than planning on playing the averages. We are motivated by the quick successes, and sometimes it’s hard to see the overall success build up over average.

I struggle with this, especially when I’m hitting the ball well. You want to pick the small target and go for it… It’s not a REASONABLE thing, but it’s understandable…

Honesty, switching to a GPS watch has helped me in this a huge amount… I don’t get focused on the distance TO the pin, as I have front, middle and back clearly on my watch…

I used my original example of a place where it’s GOOD to think about where the pin is, and where you want your miss to be… most of the holes on my course aren’t like that… it’s an exception of “aim for the middle” isn’t always right, but it doesn’t necessarily break the rule, it just shows what the rule is trying to value.

I’m hoping I can get some rounds in this fall and really put the center of green into play. I’ve done way to much theorycrafting recently.

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#8

As I understand it, DECADE is derived from the Strokes Gained principles that Broadie outlined in his book. Another “system” based on SG is presented in the book Lowest Score Wins, but in a more graphical form. Either way, the statistics will tell us that putting is almost always better than chipping, so we want to be putting as often as possible.

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#9

DECADE is built on the notion that middle of the green is too conservative while every flag is too aggressive. Scott has a process for picking the optimal target in any situation. It’s really solid stuff. Not gonna give away much more than that because that wouldn’t be fair. If you keep all your own stats and know your shot patterns then you can create your own version with a little effort. DECADE has all the info from years of pga tour shot link data and a ton of college golf data too. Scott used that to build the system. Highly recommended.

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#10

You may be a bad putter or you may not be…
Hitting 9/9 greens is great 20 putts is not but none of that says you are a bad putter. If your first putt is from 40 feet and you 3 putt, it’s not the putter that is the problem. This is one of the problems with “center of green” If the green is 40 yards wide, pin on left and you hit right third of green, which may be only 5 yards from your target the upcoming putt is going to fall at a distance that 3 putts are common.

Basically until you have proper data it is hard to determine strategy or what facet of your game is not working.

#11

No, it was bad putting. I was under 10 feet at least 4 times… don’t think I was ever more than 30 feet.

#12

Ok well, go practice then! :grinning:

#13

Ha, I’m on it… have made some changes. Need to do some speed drills and work on two putting more

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#14

Had 188 into a par 5 today, slightly downhill to green, slightly downwind, slight downhill
Iie. Pin was in back left in a shallow finger of the green. I probably could have got a full 8 iron there, but I felt like I would have had to swing hard. Took an “armpit to armpit” 7 iron, aimed at the middle of the green (had to catch myself from aiming at pin). Hit it solid, great flight, pulled it, but because I had aimed at middle, I hit the green and had about 25 feet for eagle. Two putted for birdie. If I had aimed at pin I would have missed the green to the left and short sided myself and the birdie would have been much harder to snag. This forum is already saving me strokes!

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#15

The “ Aim for the Middle of the Green Always” strategy is too basic for a golfer who can break 90.
Often the middle of the green is Way too close to H2O, a deep bunker, a steep drop off or OB. Aiming for the middle of the “Safe Zone” is a better thought.

#16

Yeah, I’m thinking “know your outs” might be a better overall thought process…

I should map that out for myself… long is dead on most of the holes on my home course, and few have bunkers in front… a couple have brutal false fronts…

Hmm… seems like a good review for me to do before I start playing again.

#17

Good point. I suppose the best short hand phrase I can come up with is “Aim for the center of YOUR green” with your green taking into account the areas of risk and your shot dispersion. The key point being that the pin is not your target (it may just coincidentally be in your target zone).

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#18

Yeah, I started this topic because I tried and failed to apply center of the green as a strategy…focusing on managing my misses makes a ton more sense for me.

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#19

I tell you the best thing that worked for me was to play more at my local 9-hole course that has tiny greens. Even better, at least 2 or 3 misses on most greens will be absolutely dead… or wet. :slight_smile:
Lately, when I play in a competition at a proper course, my circle of expectation on my approach shots has become a lot smaller and I am missing it a lot less in the wrong place.
I think it can be a good idea to get creative in golf so our habits don’t get in the way of proper decision making.

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#20

I have claimed to my buddies no less than 20 times that I am convinced if there were no flags at all I would probably score better because I would naturally play more conservative. Do I have any data to back this up? Absolutely not, but its a fun way to try to picture a hole going into it.

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#21

Yeah, I’ve been thinking about changing the way I keep score during rounds and splitting putting from everything else… par 36 for both… drive home the commitment to hitting greens and focus on making sure I don’t three putt.

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#22

I have had this exact conversation with my buddies multiple times as well. Yet, I still cant get myself to commit to hitting to the center of the green for an entire round.

I know it will likely improve my scores. But I am out there to have fun and to me that is playing super aggressive. I dont play in tournaments or anything, and if I did, my mindset would change.

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#23

Thanks for the comment. Always good to remember that golf is supposed to be fun, so everyone should play how it will give them the most enjoyment, at least for the majority of rounds.

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#24

I love this notion. I’m going to check out DECADE, i’ve never heard of it.

#25

100%. Everyone has fun playing the game differently. I have fun playing conservative as well. But man its tough to beat the feel of pulling off a difficult shot when it actually happens.

#26

I know what you mean. Good scoring golf is often pretty boring golf. Keep it in play, hit greens, even if its not right at the flag, 2-putts for par. If you get a wedge, or a center pin, maybe you hit a couple close, maybe make a birdie or two. No excitement, no drama, just low scores.

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