To go for birdie or play it safe?

[Consult20]

...Got a practice basket, first day with it I was laying up.

Thanks CC, this made me lol! :clap: :thmbup:

 

[DiscinFiend]

"... not miss by much..." This jumped out to me. With any putt, like with any shot, a player should come up with a plan and try to execute that plan with 100% conviction. Otherwise, the probability of successful execution plummets. If a player is putting with their focus split between making it and not missing by much, the probability of making the putt goes down AND the probability of laying up successfully (not missing by much) goes down. That's no way to throw a putt, or any other shot.

:thmbup:

There are also different styles of putting that will keep you on the safer side of things should you miss.

I'm surprised nobody else has touched on this. I guess everyone spin putts & likes long comeback putts . I was a spin putter for many years. I switched to push putting a few years back. When I was a spin putter I had long comeback putts all the time. Since switching my scores have gone down & my comeback putts are WAY shorter. The biggest reason my scores have gone down has a lot to do with the fact that now I rarely three putt. If your really having a lot of issues with worrying about comeback putts, I'd highly recommend joining the dark side (push putting). That way you can run a majority of your putts & not worry much at all about your next putt. I go for pretty much everything. I only lay up if there's a water hazard or if the baskets on a very steep incline.

You putt better in a round by not thinking about your score on that hole (or the last one, or the next one), and not thinking about missing the putt. But, if your skills don't match that way of thinking yet, you might take some 3-putts.

:thmbup: