3balls Golf
When you’re first getting into the game of golf, it can seem like your buddies are speaking a foreign language, making it hard to keep up. Throughout the long, rich history of golf, players have developed their own lingo to describe lots of different shot combinations, situations and equipment. Take, for example, the phrase “three putt.” You’ve heard it more than once by now, but do you know what it means?
Three putt is one of those terms that sounds pretty much like what it is — if you three-putt, you putt three times on the green. The big question, though, is why three putts are more significant than two putts or four putts or ten putts. As it turns out, the par of any hole has two putts figured in — so a par three hole means that a professional level player should be able to reach the green in one stroke.
Since it’s assumed that every player is going to take two putts to get to the hole, it’s no big deal if you take two putts to accomplish the task, but when you take three, it’s golf taboo — after all, you missed a professional level putt by just one measly stroke! In fact, this concept has become so ingrained in the game of golf that several non-standard golf games have been built around avoiding a three putt, including Thirty Two, Putt for Dough, Snake, and Three-Putt Poker.
Even if you’ve got the newest of Scotty Cameron putters in your bag, if you’re three putting most of the time, chances are good that you’ve been skimping on your putting practice. In fact, that’s the most common reason that three putts happen. High handicappers often three putt as many as 20 percent of their holes because they putt from too far away instead of choosing to chip or pitch their ball closer.
Practice is key to improving your putts, but sometimes equipment can make a big difference, too. Clubs that have more visible alignment aids, like the TaylorMade Ghost putters, can make a big difference if you find yourself putting off-center far too often. Swapping your belly putter for a standard putter with better feedback or your blade putter for a bigger, more forgiving mallet could get you on your way to fewer three putts.
We’ve got a huge lineup of clubs at 3balls.com for players who need to swap their putters, from Odyssey putters to those TaylorMade Ghost putters you’ve heard so much about. Take a look at all our putters before your next round and you’ll find a putter that will improve your game.
Photo credit: spcbrass / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
