Sure, you need to eliminate the big numbers from your scorecard. But you also need to do this several times a round if you want to go low.
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One of the many keys to shooting lower scores is eliminating the big numbers, but another (obvious) one is recording a bunch of little ones, too.
But Joey Wuertemberger, an instructor who works with juniors at The Crown Golf Academy in Arlington, Texas, and his fellow teachers make this goal much more specific for their group of competitive juniors: try to make six “3s” every round you play.
If you are up for the challenge, it can be a good goal for you as well, especially since early January is a good time to make them for the upcoming golf season. But be warned: it won’t be easy.
“So if you think about how you are going to do that, you are going to make four 3s on par-3s, and then if you have par-4s that are shorter and you have wedge in your hand, can you get maybe one birdie or two birdies there?” asks Wuertemberger, while on the range at GOLF’s Top 100 Teachers Retreat in Scottsdale, Ariz., last month. “That’s kind of a good way to think about it. And the kids are like, ‘Well, I can do that.’”
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Easier said than done, Wuertemberger says, and this still might be a lofty goal for players just trying to break 90. Regardless, it’s a good formula for his juniors and can work for others as well.
Just doing the simple math, having the goal of six 3s per round would be perfect for someone who is on the verge of cracking 80 or a more competitive player trying to make goals within a round. It could even be a good goal for someone who has the game to shoot lower scores but struggles with blow-up holes.
“We have a lot of kids that shoot that like 75 to 80-81, and they’ll ask us, ‘How’d I shoot 81?’” Wuertemberger says. “Well we look at it and we’ll say, ‘Well, you had a 6 on a par-5, you had a bogey with a wedge inside 100 and you either didn’t get something up and down that you should have, or you three-putted.’ It’s that easy [to see where the mistakes were] and is low-hanging fruit that can be easy to track and get better at.”
If you are going to take a crack at this goal, good luck. Although if you can do it, you’ll watch your handicap drop in the process.
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