The Gimme: I don’t believe in them

By Hacker's Journey to Good Golf

It counts the SAME as your Drive

Snap 2015-07-26 at 09.32.58

Using the 80BREAKR app a couple days ago, I was shocked to see the stats after my round. A 91 at Torrey Pines, and a shocking 7 short putts missed. Take out the brain-lock triple and skulled sandwedge, those 7 short putts would be the difference between breaking 80 and not breaking 80.

My golfing buddies and I, here in San Diego and in the Bay Area, don’t do the “gimme”. Inside the leather, outside the leather, it’s still a putt, and there’s still a chance to miss. Do you think 3 and 4 footers are automatic for pros? Check out this article. Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods missed about 10% of their 4 foot putts in 2012. I’ll assume a 4-footer for a pro is comparable to a gimme for us amateurs.

So what happened to me on those 7 bad short putts? (the 80breakr app recommends there are ONLY good short putts, and bad short putts. What the heck would an “ok” short putt look like?)

  • Two were of the variety where you miss a 6 foot putt, lean over to not step on someone’s line, and casually swipe at the ball. Those are easy to fix. Would you tee the ball up, and walk over casually slapping at the ball with the driver? Of course not. It counts the same, so it deserves the same amount of attention.
  • Two were side hill, where I picked a line but not enough speed for a straight putt. That will happen, you sometimes can’t gun a downhill-side 3 footer, especially for some of those front flag positions on Torrey Pines North.
  • Three were pushed or pulled, just bad strokes out of fear or lack of focus. Joseph Parent, author of Zen Putting says hope & fear are two sides of the same coin. You can’t approach a shot hoping for success or fear of failure. You need confidence and calm, “I always make these” would be a good pre-shot routine thought.

Accept you will miss some. Go to a practice green and make sure your game is hitting about 85 – 90% of the short putts. You’re not Rory nor Tiger. Accept a missed short putt once in a while, avoid hope and fear on those short putts, and never casually swipe at a short putt!

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