GIR...are killing me..!

[hellbunker]

shot a scratch 81 at the weekend....68 net and had 31 putts. Problem i've got is GIR's are maybe 3 or 4 at best. I'm currently a 13 hc but know if i could only nail the GIR's i'd be breathing down the neck of my 16yr old nephew (4.2hc) any suggestions...?

 

[brendy]

Stop pin seeking mate, go out for a round where the aim is to hit greens only, ignore the flags and play the percentage shots. Remember that that sometimes a 40 feet pitch and run is better than a 40 foot putt with a massive turn.

 

[madandra]

HB, instead of playing to the green I realised last night that I play best when I hit the shot just like I do at the range so after I get my aim, its me and the ball and then the strike ... nothing else.

 

[wilf_74]

Know how you feel, i am going to try Brendy's advice on my next round see if it helps.

Good Luck

 

[SS2]

Good advice from Brendy.

When you miss greens, where are you missing? Short, left or right. I bet it isn't that you're hitting each approach over the back ?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

As I've documented I'm currently suffering from a lack of distance caused by a bad body coil (lesson tomorrow to rectify). This means that the majority of holes over 400 yards (4 of our par 4's) I cannot hope to get to in two.

That of course mucks my GIR figures immediately but as I get a shot on everyone of these I am now playing driver, mid iron to 80-100 yards and then a pitch in. Get it to within 15 foot and I've got a chance of par. Outside of that I'm concentrating on 2 putts for bogey net par.

It is taking the pressure off my game and ensuring I don't compound my swing issues by trying to get extra distance off the tee.

Once my game is back (as it was a few months back) then I only need to hit 19% according to strokesaver2 to meet my handicap level. As this includes reachable par 3's and par 5's which I can access in three even now that means my GIR number will improve.

The thing to bear in mind though is that while good stats are great to look at, the end result is getting the ball in the hole in as few shots as possible. I would try and forget about GIR numbers (by all means keep a record for stat purposes so you can see hown many you miss short - most I would guess - and how many you miss left, right and long). From there you can see what needs improving (long iron approaches, pull/push wit short irons etc)

 

[RGuk]

It's a funny old game. I hit a lot of greens and get grief from my mates about taking too many putts. A typical round for me (back in my 1st golfing life) was like the worlds most boring story...I can't begin to count the amount of 1/2 pars, 1/2 bogey rounds I played (to 9) back then, rarely making a birdie and very few par scrambles. However, on occasions I'd go out, miss nearly every green and still make 80-82.

When I'm not working on something specific at the range, I really get down to business with my 6/7/8/9 iron going with the natural shape of shot (that day!) and learning to keep the ball 10 yards right or left of target.

When I go out and play, I aim for the middle of every green (unless holding a wedge or the flag is right on one side). I relax on the long/difficult holes trying not to get too keen to hit the green, but really focus in on the short/easy holes. As the round progresses I tend to get a feeling for what's likely to happen...if I'm losing shots right or left at the end, I take this into consideration....BUT I'm sure to rectify this next practice. I won't let this kind of "second guessing" go on for too long.

I wonder if there's a chance you are not aligning so well off the tee areas.....I know a few straight hitters who stand open/closed the same way every time and wonder why they miss the greens.....is there a pattern?