An accomplished motor transport executive and Civil War history enthusiast, Warren Lasch enjoys playing golf in his free time. There are many ways to improve your game and lower your score. Practice makes perfect, as the old maxim goes, but golf also features a number of elements that allow players to lower their scores by working on a closed skill set.
Golf Scorecard
As many experienced golfers will tell you, the short game is one of the most important and difficult aspects of the sport. Defined as everything within 50 yards of the pin, the short game encompasses skills such as sand shots, chipping, and putting. With sand shots and chipping, a golfer can significantly improve his or her score by getting a feel for the range of clubs and learning how to read greens and hole locations. Overshooting or undershooting the green results in an extra chip to set up a putt, which often means an extra stroke on the hole. Once a golfer becomes confident in his or her short iron game, he or she can begin to place the ball more accurately on the green and reduce the number of additional chip shots and three-putts.
In terms of putting, many golf pros are quick to remind you that a 5-foot putt counts the same as a 250-yard drive. By striving to take no more than 2 putts on every green, a golfer can reduce his score by 5 to 10 strokes per round. As with chipping, it is important to take note of the topography of the green to avoid making putts that catch a downhill slope and roll away from the cup.
On drives and approaches, it is a natural instinct to want to play the hole aggressively, a tactic that often results in difficult lies and even out-of-bounds shots. By learning when to play a hole assertively and when to lay up for a clean shot at the green, one can minimize the variance in his or her score and begin to lower it at a consistent rate.
