Day 34: Intermediate Putting

After work, I went to Penmar to practice my putting.

After stretching, I started to hit the little putts with the 2 balls that I brought with me - distance between 2 and 3 feet. At the point when I made 10 in a row, I started kicking the ball out into that intermediate range of 5 to 15 feet. I will need to start draining a higher percentage of putts at this range in order to score well, so it is important for me to get down the feel for putts at all different ranges.

I did not take 10 footers over and over again - rather, I mixed up the distance in order to try and establish the required feel that I need for each putt. I took 6-footers followed by 12-footers followed by a 10-footer then a 4-footer. I have noticed that I am really hitting the 4-footers on in with great confidence. I also continue to have the Jack Nicklaus phrase going through my head prior to hitting the putt. Mr. Nicklaus would always say, 'Put a good stroke on it' - and that is what I am constantly trying to focus on. I rarely ever want to leave the putt short. Sometimes the lag is a good play, but 95% of the time you don't want to leave it short. Give the ball a chance.

I putted around for about 45 minutes which seemed like an eternity on the putting green. At one point I looked down at my watch and only 30 minutes had past. I looked back down at my watch at what seemed to be awhile later and noticed that only 5 minutes had passed since I last checked. Spending 45 minutes on the putting green is a great amount of time to spend to really get in a good practice.

Keeping true to an earlier post, I was set up about 15 feet out with a putt that broke about 2 feet left to right. I sunk both putts and decided that it was a perfect time to call it a day. Always finish on a high note!

I must say that out of all the shots in golf, I have gotten the best in the past 34 days at my putting. My stroke, my reads and my putting average have all gotten a lot better. It is the one facet of the game that you can easily notice a difference and I notice that I am getting better and better with each round.