There is a reason people say ‘drive for the show, putt for the dough!’
No matter how much time you spend on the driving range trying to get better, as an amateur golfer, your score will usually come down to how well you handle shots around the green.
Gitnux data suggests that amateurs three-putt from 30 feet about 20% of the time. And from 15 feet, they are actually more likely to three-putt than make it.
Dealing with breaking greens is another big hurdle. If there are more than two degrees of break, the chance of making an eight-foot putt drops by 15%.
So if you are looking to separate yourself from other amateurs, one of the best ways is by working on distance control. The more often you can leave yourself tap-ins from longer distances, the quicker your scores will start to drop.
Rickie Fowler has a straightforward tip to help with this.
Rickie Fowler shares advice on improving putt distance
Fowler, who knows his way around the greens at Augusta National, keeps his approach to distance control on the greens pretty simple.
“The biggest thing is hitting the ball solidly. That is probably, for me, the number one thing to controlling speed. If you don’t hit it solid, you’re going to get a pretty big dispersion,” he began by saying to Me And My Golf.
“If you think you hit one too hard and then you try and lay off and you miss-hit that one, it’s a big gap. Or if you thought you hit one too soft, but it was actually the right stroke, you hit it thin. The next one, you hit it harder, and you hit it solid, and it’s gone.
“So, solid contact is what it comes down to, for me, and really, when it comes to a long putt, I’m really trying to think about just staying still and finding a way just to hit the center of the face. Because then there’s less dispersion there.
“There’s other stuff you can think about. Sometimes the longer pause, some people might go to a little more grip pressure to help with that. For me, I would say one of the things that I’m not a fan of, or when I see people, is they try and accelerate the putter.
“I’m a big believer in taking it back as far as you need to, to then have the speed created and then kinda short follow-through. It goes back as hard as it comes through, nothing ever increases or decreases.”
The principle is not unique. Tiger Woods has offered similar guidance before – focus on your backswing length and let gravity do most of the work.
Rickie Fowler’s approach to reading greens for amateur golfers
Since amateur golfers often struggle with putts that have significant break, Fowler’s advice on reading greens might be exactly what they need to cut down on three-putts.
The American said it all starts before you even reach your ball: “Depending on where we’re coming in, say we’re walking up the green, this is a back-right pin. I would start looking at what’s going on with the green as soon as I’m getting up to it and walking up to where my ball is.
“Just so you have an understanding, this idea of where we’re at, what’s going on, and then from there I’d try and, the most that I can, I’ll stay underneath the putt, on the low side, and really start from behind the hole.
“Get a good picture of where I think that the ball should enter the hole. For me, from there, based on that I can then match up speed-wise and start drawing lines of, ultimately, where I want this ball to roll.
“Which then gives me kind of a start point and then after that, all you’re focusing on is hit it solid first, but speed to really try and match up those lines.”
Fowler emphasizes visualization as a powerful putting tool. Visualize the line from the hole back to your putter to start sinking more putts.
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