3balls Golf
What is the most important part of your game when it comes to scoring? Putting right? Wrong! Every golfer knows the old saying “Drive for show, putt for dough” but if I told you there was an even better way to make that dough than putting, you’d listen right?
For most amateur to scratch golfers, more than 75% of shots on the golf course are taken within 100 yards of the hole. This is why putting is so important and why everyone says that putting is the most important part to anyone’s game. While it is true putting is essential to good scoring, being a great chipper will improve your score and make you feel like a better putter at the same time.
Why chipping is more important than putting
A great statistic in golf to measure is the green in regulation. This means that a golfer has put his ball on the green with a shot for birdie. While this is great, for most golfers this does not happen very often. They are more likely to put the ball somewhere around the green inside of the 100 yard range. This is where the chipping will come into play.
A good chipper will consistently hit the ball within 10-20 feet of the hole from inside 100 yards. Having your first putt within 20 feet will be sure to significantly increase your putting confidence. You will make more one-putts and significantly lower your average scoring. Even though you may not have truly improved your putting, because you are starting from so close, you and everyone else will think your putting has dramatically improved.
The biggest difference between tour pros and amateur golfers, statistically, is the up-and-down stat. This is the percentage that a player hits the ball from inside 100 yards onto the green and one putts. A tour pro’s up and down percentage will be upwards of 50% while a 10 handicap player gets up and down 5% of the time.
Having the right equipment for the job is essential to good chipping. A variety of wedge loft degrees, commonly a 52 degree (gap wedge), 56 degree (sand wedge), and a 60 degree (lob wedge), are necessary to improve your chipping. Titleist Vokey wedges have long been the example of quality wedges to fit anyone’s game. The other big name in wedges is Cleveland. Clean grooves and varied loft degrees are what you need in your short game tools and there is no better place to buy them than 3Balls.com.
Photo credit: Renzo Ferrante / Foter / CC BY
