150 Yards and In

Harvey Penick has a short bit in his Little Red Book titled “Long and Short.” The point he makes is that you should spend most of your practice time on your 150-yard shot, using whatever club that is.

This is best advice I have ever seen for the strength of your overall game.

Why?

Penick said, “There’s no reason why the average golfer should take more than three to get down from 150 yards.”

If you make your goal to get down in three once you have arrived at or beyond the 150-yard marker that most courses have, the 70s are within reach.

If you are money with an iron from 150 yards and in, that same swing will put your tee ball in the fairway reliably, too.

From there, use that swing to hit the ball on the green, then get your approach putt close – or – hit the ball next to the green and get your chip close.

That’s three skills to get really good at:
– hitting the ball reasonably straight,
– approach putting, and
– chipping.

That’s how I got into single digits, and that’s what you can do if you dedicate yourself to the task.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.