Monday, September 24, 2012

Shortgame Assessment #6 Wedge Shot

20, 40, 60, 80, 100 yards, the scoring zone

What to do:
You'll need your wedges, 5 cones or other makeshift markers and also a partner (it's near impossible to complete this phase without some help).  On the driving range, take your markers and place them at 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 yards respectively from your hitting spot... you can pace or use a laser to find each distance. Have your partner move to the first cone and prepare to score each shot.

Once you're all set up, hit 2 balls to each distance, attempting to FLY each shot as close to your target as possible.  After you hit each shot, have your partner determine how far the shot landed from the target.  You'll hit a total of 10 balls. After pacing off the distance, have him record the score.  Here's the point system:

Hit on the fly- 3 points
0-9 feet (0-3 paces)- 2 points
9-18 feet (3-6 paces)- 1 point
18-30 feet (6-10 paces)- 0 points
Over 30 feet (over 10 paces)- (-1) point

How I did:
Toughest station by far... scored 9 here. 

Good luck... I hope you enjoyed these assessment games.  It's fun to do them all at once in 2 hours or so.  It's also fine if you do them individually.  Repeat this assessment over time and watch it reflect on your scorecard.




Monday, September 17, 2012

Shortgame Assessment #5 Bunker Shot

Sand-shot scoring system

What to do:
We are almost there... the fifth shot you'll be hitting will be a green side sand-shot, as today's title implies.  You'll need your sand-wedge, 5-10 balls and preferably a partner to help score each shot.  Pick a mid-range green side bunker shot, ideally somewhere around 15 paces, or 45 feet.  Make it as straightforward as possible, giving yourself preferred lies in the sand and enough green to allow for a reasonable amount of roll.  Once you've found your shot, hit 10 balls, scoring each one based on it's proximity to the hole.  Here's the point system:

Hole-out- 3 points
0-6 feet- 2 points
6-12 feet- 1 point
12-15 feet- 0 points
Over 15 feet- (-1) point

Record each shot's score, given it's distance from the pin, then total your points.

How I did:
I scored a 10 on the bunker shot.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Shortgame Assessment #4 Pitch Shot

Part 4 of the 6 shot short game assessment, pitching

What to do:
Take 5 golf balls and a wedge to a part of the chipping green with room to hit a 20 yard pitch shot (5 yards of carry and 15 of roll).  You will hit a total of 10 shots, attempting to hit each shot as close to the hole as possible.  You earn points based on how far each shot comes to rest from the hole.  The scoring system is as follows:

Hole-out - 3 points
0-6 feet - 2 points
6-9 feet - 1 point
9-12 feet - 0 points
Over 12 feet - (-1) point

How I did:
My score for pitching was 16. 

Monday, September 3, 2012

Shortgame Assessment #3 Chip Shot

Continuation of the Shortgame Assessment, improve and assess your skill level on chip shots

What to do:
You'll be hitting 10 total chip shots, 5 from 40 feet and 5 from 60 feet.  Grab the club that you're most comfortable hitting medium length, running chip shots with (I used my sand wedge and 9-iron).  At the chipping green, select a hole to which you have room to hit a chip shot from 40 feet  (ideally, you should have to carry the ball over 10 feet of fringe, and have 30 feet of green to work with).  Once you've selected your 40 foot "chip shot", go ahead and hit 5 chips, trying your best to get each to stop as close to the hole as possible.  After each shot, either measure its proximity to the hole yourself, or better yet have a partner measure for you, then assign points based on how far each shot came to rest..  Here is the scoring system:

Holed-          3 points
0-3 feet-       2 points
3-6 feet-       1 point
6-9 feet-       0 points
over 9 feet-  (-1 ) point

Once you've calculated your score for the 40-foot chip shot, move on to the 60 foot chip shot.  Again, give yourself roughly 10 feet of fringe to fly the ball over and now 50 feet of green to work with.  Hit 5 more chips to this hole, and using the same scoring table try to rack up as many points as possible.  Once finished, add your points from both distances to get your "total chipping score". 

How I did:
10 points on the 40-footer and 9 points on the 60-footer for a TOTAL of 19.