Is a good short game the key?

[USER1999]

How many players do you here of in the club house waffling on about having 38 points with 3 blobs? Flippin loads. Is it a good round? No. Medal score would be in the hundreds. You have to finish with the same ball.

It also depends what handicap bracket you are looking at. Yes, the scratch player expects to not lose any balls, and hit good long shots, so the key for a sub scratch round is the short game. Getting up and down on the par 5s.

An 18 handicapper who loses 3 balls is stuffed. Doesn't matter if he chips like god. That's 6 shots (1/3 of his handicap gone straight off).

Most play off nearer 18 than scratch. Therefore, for the average golfer, not losing balls is more important.

 

[Ken_A]

For me its generally bad tee shots that kill me - if I could hit 260 to the middle I would be a lot lower - and only then will I really benifit from a very good short game - at the moment its pretty good, but without getting there with strokes left its pointless worrying about it.
My wedges need abit of work - but they dont cost me - as my putting is generally pretty hot.

In short - it depends on your game, if you can get off a tee box and hit /miss greens with your 2nd then put all your work into the short game.

 

[RGDave]

A good score requires a good short game, but without a half decent long game first, you are on a loser.

Clever clogs.

Let's face it, on the odd time you hit lots of greens, you should make a good score (unless you have some blow-outs). Otherwise, for most of us, short game turns the 5s into 4s after missing the GIR. Grrrrrr

 

[RGDave]

And by saying "a good short game" are we saying;

Being able to chip/pitch on then a one putt....yes!
Being able to get out the bunker, then one putt....sometimes
Being able to lag putt within 1/2ft from over 15 yards?.....3 foot will do!!

 

[RGDave]

A good short game isn't the be all and end all of low scores/ h'caps though (IMO)

Whoah! Here we go

Care to elaborate on that?

It's not black magic. If you are hitting a lot of greens why do you need a good short game??

I'll take no single putts and no saves from anywhere if I can hit 9+ greens.

Then again, I'm trying to nudge under 80 not challenge 70.....so horses for courses.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I agree that keeping it in play is a key element and its certainly the key to a good score at Ascot but equally the six par 3's none of which is a gimme par are also crucial and perhaps more so. There is more chance of missing a par 3 from 170-220 yards than from 130-150 on a par 4 hole. To have any chance of par on the 3's it becomes crucial to have a decent short game. Bearing in mind off 12 I don't get a shot at 3 out of 6 of the par 3's and so if I bogey these that accounts for a quarter of my score before I even get the big dog out on the other holes.

 

[CrapHacker]

Is a good short game the key to a great score?

I'm thinking, No.

It's relevant, of course. But I'm thinking more and more about how your mood affects your golf, and whilst you need your short game to be on song to hit a good score, you need your mood to be top notch to hit a great score.

Last round I played at Copthorne my short game kept my score reasonable. But I couldn't get the ball off the tee, so my mood was poor and I hit an average score.

Today I played Rook Wood at Horsham, which is admittedly much easier, for the first time. I drove brilliantly, even though the weather was much poorer, and scored much better.

Playing better off the tee gave me the confidence to score better with my short game.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Some good points made here but I still maintain a good short game will save you shots no matter what level you're at. Yes you need to hit your drive in play, yes it helps if you hit the green in regulation but even if you're hitting the ball well you aren't going to hit every fairway and green. Wind can make it tricky to get yardage right and on hard ground in summer holding greens and judging bump and runs is tricky and down in part to luck. So you need to be able to get up and down from around the green. I honestly believe I'd be single figures with a better short game.

For those who still aren't convinced though, cast your minds back to pre masters this year an all the talk about Westwood possibly winning. How many times did you hear ex pros, pundits and people on here say he doesn't have the short game? Yes there are always things we can improve on but a good short game is the difference between winning and losing, getting cut or hitting the buffer, breaking 100 or hitting 103. It doesn't matter who you are or what level you pkay at, if you can get up and down 4 times out of 5 you'll be more successful.