Every week on television, we see these remarkable PGA and LPGA players execute simply magical shots around the greens to save pars, make birdies and even eagles, as we saw multiple times at the Players' Championship last week.  And it seems common to see them simply throw darts at the flags when they get a short iron or wedge in their hands.

            Whether you are trying to win on the professional tours or just trying to play your best golf, it is very likely that the final outcome will boil down to how well you performed inside of 9-iron range.  That’s where you save pars and even bogeys, and where you take advantage of the shorter holes on whatever course(s) you play.

            So that brings me to today’s topic – an honest assessment of your own scoring range performance.  Some time back, I devised what I call the “Short Game Handicap”, a calculation that will help you understand just how much this part of the game determines your scores.

            The premise of my short game handicapping formula is the notion that once we get inside short-iron range, the strength differences between golfers is increasingly neutralized.  For most of us, our physical skills and abilities will never let us hit drives and towering mid- and long-iron shots like the elite players, but it is a realistic goal for any golfer to learn to execute good quality chips and pitches, as well as full swing wedge and short iron shots.  It really doesn’t matter whether your full-swing 9-iron goes 160 or 105, if you can more consistently execute shots from there on into the green, you will improve your scoring proficiency.

            The starting point is to know exactly where you stand in relation to “par” when you are inside scoring range . . . regardless of how many strokes it took you to get there.  Once your ball is inside that range where you can reach the flag with a comfortable full-swing 9-iron or less, your goal should be to get up and down in three strokes or fewer.  In fact, I think it is a realistic goal for most golfers to get down in two strokes more often than it takes four or more.

            So, let’s start with understanding what this kind of scoring range skill set can do for your average score.  I created this exercise as a starting point, so I’m encouraging you all to chime in with your feedback.

1)      What was your last (or typical) 18 hole score? ______

2)     1.     _____  Number of times you missed the green with a 9-iron down to a pitch shot of 30 yards or more

3)     2.    _____  Number of times you got up and down afterward

         3.   _____  Number of other holes where you hit a chip or short pitch that ended up more than 10’ from the cup.

Subtract #2 from #1, then add 1/2 of #3.  [NOTE: The logic of #3 is that you can learn to make at least half of your putts under 10 feet, so improving your ability to hit chips and pitches inside that range will also translate to lower scores.]

For example, let's say you shot an 84. During that round you missed the green 6 times with a 9-iron or less in your hands, but you got up and down on two of those holes.  That makes your first calculation "4".  During the round you hit 9 other chips or short pitch shots, but only 3 of them ended up inside ten feet.  So, you take half of the other six (3) and add that to your 4, and my calculation of your short game handicap would be "7" for that round. 

Do this exercise for several rounds . . . I propose that your “Short Game Handicap” is the number of strokes you can carve off of your actual handicap if you acutely focus your attention on that part of your game – it’s where scoring really happens. 

I also firmly believe it is reasonable for any golfer to improve their short game enough to set “single digit” or even “scratch” as their goal.

Take a lesson or two from your pro, and practice what you learn.  Golf is just a lot more fun when your scores are consistently getting better.

      I would like to ask all of you readers to do this simple calculation and share with the rest of us what you find out.