Very few of us are good enough to worry about whether, from the fairway, the pin is 160 yard away or 158. I’m not, but around the green, two yards makes a world of difference to me.

I didn’t want to assume my pace is one yard long when I step off a shot. I wanted to know exactly how long it is.

I went to a baseball diamond and walked around the bases, counting my steps. At 90 feet per base, or 30 yards, that’s a 120-yard walk in total.

It took me 140 steps. Divide 120 yards by 140 steps and I got 6/7 of a yard per step.

I made up a card that I keep in my bag showing how far I walk with any number of steps from 1 to 20. For example, if I take 11 steps, that’s 9.4 yards.

When I walk off short pitches, chips, and approach putts, I know exactly how far it is. That’s one step closer to hitting the ball stone dead.