For a long time I've been thinking of different reasons why so many golfer come up short on their approach shots into greens.
Is there a simple reason or is it more complex?
Let's look into this a little deeper and ask ourselves a few questions?
Is a shot from the back of a green any more difficult than a shot from the front ?
How many bunkers do you see at the back of greens compared to the front?
How many yards is there generally from the front to the back? If we generally hit 10 yards different between each iron then I would imagine it's at least 2 clubs different from front to back on average!! Do we take into account ground conditions?
I've had the good fortune to play and Coach all life , I love to take clients on the course as this is where the truth is unveiled, I'm going to take an educated guess and would say that 85/95 % of amateur golfers come up short of the pin and very often short of the green, but why?
With modern technology we don't really have an excuses of miss judging the distance!! Is it our ego that causes the problem? Or could it be fear? Fear of the unknown or fear of losing a ball?
Another thing is trajectory , the height you hit the ball really determines where you need to land the ball , if the flight of your ball is low and you like to see the ball running on to the green then you really need to consider ground conditions, especially when the ground is saturated as it is now in the UK.
So how about this for an idea , we all like to play games on the course so why not keep a separate score , you get 2 points if your pin high, - 1 if your short the pin on an approach shot and +1 if your past the flag , I don't think it would take too long to see a pattern emerge do you!!
I truly believe that any golfer who consistently hits the ball pin high or past will out score anyone who comes up short of the pin, I for one have never had to play a plugged ball on a green but I have defiantly had some awkward lies in front bunkers
Please bear this in mind next time you play and let me know how you get on, feel free to leave comments
Happy Golfing
Julian Mellor PGA Professional
Positive Impact Golf Coach
Julianmellorpga@icloud.com
