10 Tips from a Scratch Golfer (Follow These)
If you’re trying to become a better golfer, especially if your goal is to break 90, break 80, or eventually get down close to scratch, I think there are a few things you need to understand that have nothing to do with finding the perfect golf swing.
I’ve played golf at a pretty high level, I’ve coached golfers, and I’ve spent a lot of time around players who shoot good scores consistently.
And the biggest difference I notice between better golfers and average golfers is usually not that the better player hits every shot perfectly.
They just make fewer bad decisions.
They manage their misses better.
And they understand which parts of the game actually matter.
So in this video, I’m going to give you 10 tips from a scratch golfer that I think can immediately help you start shooting lower scores.
Let’s start with number one.
Tip 1: Stop Trying to Hit Perfect Golf Shots
One of the biggest mistakes amateur golfers make is expecting perfection.
They stand over an iron shot and think they need to hit the center of the green perfectly.
They stand over a driver and think they need to hit a 280-yard bomb right down the middle.
And then as soon as they hit one bad shot, they get frustrated.
Golf doesn’t work like that.
Even really good golfers hit bad shots.
The difference is that good golfers usually hit bad shots that are still playable.
Instead of trying to hit the perfect shot, start thinking about your acceptable miss.
If you’re hitting into a green and there’s water on the right side, your goal shouldn’t just be to hit the flag.
Your goal should be to make sure your miss is not right.
If that means aiming 20 feet left of the hole, that’s completely fine.
You’re trying to shoot a good score.
You’re not trying to win a closest-to-the-pin contest on every hole.
Tip 2: Your Driver Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect
A lot of golfers think becoming a good player means hitting every fairway.
It doesn’t.
You can play really good golf while missing plenty of fairways.
What matters is where you miss.
There’s a massive difference between missing five yards into the rough and hitting the ball out of bounds.
If I’m standing on a tee box, one of the first things I’m looking at is where the big trouble is.
Where is the penalty area?
Where is out of bounds?
Where are the trees that are going to force me to punch sideways?
And then I’m trying to build my strategy around avoiding that trouble.
Sometimes that means aiming down one side of the fairway.
Sometimes it means hitting a different club.
But a lot of the time, I’m still hitting driver.
I’m just choosing a target that gives me more room for my normal shot shape.
Your goal off the tee is not necessarily to hit the fairway.
Your goal is to give yourself a shot at the green.
Tip 3: Get Really Good Inside 100 Yards
If you want to shoot lower scores, you need to be dangerous from inside 100 yards.
And I don’t mean you need to hit every wedge to three feet.
You need distance control.
If you have 70 yards, you need to have some idea how far your swing carries the ball.
If you have 50 yards, same thing.
If you have 30 yards, same thing.
A lot of golfers spend almost all their practice time hitting full seven irons and drivers.
Then they get on the golf course and suddenly have a 55-yard wedge shot and have absolutely no idea what swing to make.
Build a wedge system.
Learn what a half swing does.
Learn what a three-quarter swing does.
Learn how far those swings go with multiple wedges.
You don’t need 25 different numbers.
You just need enough reference points that you can start matching a swing to the distance.
That alone can save you a lot of shots.
Tip 4: Stop Short-Siding Yourself
This is one of those things better players think about constantly.
If the flag is tucked on the left side of the green and there’s a bunker left of the green, missing left is a disaster.
Because now you have almost no green to work with.
That’s called being short-sided.
Instead, a better player is usually going to favor the middle or right side of the green.
Even if you leave yourself a 30-foot putt, you’re still putting.
And that’s much better than standing in a bunker with very little green between you and the hole.
You do not have to attack every flag.
In fact, if you want to score better, there are a lot of flags you probably shouldn’t attack at all.
Middle of the green is one of the most underrated targets in golf.
Tip 5: Your Goal Around the Green Is Usually Just Get It On
Around the green, golfers love trying to hit the highlight-reel shot.
They try the flop shot.
They try to land it perfectly on the fringe.
They try to spin it.
And then they blade it across the green or leave it short.
Most of the time, especially if you’re trying to break 90 or break 80, your first goal should simply be to get the ball on the green.
Give yourself a putt.
If you’re deciding between a difficult shot and an easier shot, choose the easier shot.
Use the club that gives you the biggest margin for error.
Sometimes that’s a wedge.
Sometimes it’s a pitching wedge.
Sometimes it’s an eight iron.
Sometimes you can even putt from off the green.
There’s no style points on the scorecard.
Tip 6: Become Automatic From Three Feet
You don’t need to be an incredible putter from 30 feet to shoot good scores.
You do need to make a lot of short putts.
Three-foot putts are one of the easiest places to save strokes because they’re highly trainable.
You can practice them almost anywhere.
And when you become confident from three feet, it changes the rest of your putting.
Suddenly your 25-foot putts don’t feel like they need to go in.
You just need to roll the ball somewhere inside that three-foot circle.
That takes pressure off your lag putting.
And it takes pressure off your chipping too.
If you chip it to three feet and you’re confident from there, that’s a great shot.
Spend time practicing short putts.
Start with three feet.
Then work out to four and five feet.
That’s a much better use of putting practice than standing around hitting random 40-foot putts with no purpose.
Tip 7: Stop Turning One Bad Shot Into Three
This might be the biggest scoring tip in this entire video.
Everybody hits bad shots.
Scratch golfers hit bad shots.
Tour professionals hit bad shots.
But good golfers are much better at stopping the damage.
Let’s say you hit your drive into the trees.
The average golfer sees one tiny opening between two branches and thinks they can hit a seven iron through it and somehow get the ball on the green.
Then they hit a tree.
Now they’re still in trouble.
Then they get frustrated.
And suddenly one bad drive turned into a double or triple bogey.
Sometimes the best shot is sideways.
Take your medicine.
Get the ball back into play.
Give yourself a chance to hit the next shot on the green, make a bogey, and move on.
Bogey usually doesn’t destroy your score.
Double and triple bogeys do.
Tip 8: Know Your Real Distances
A lot of golfers play golf based on their best-ever shot.
They hit a seven iron 170 yards one time, so now they believe their seven iron is a 170-yard club.
But maybe their normal carry is actually 158.
You need to know your real numbers.
And ideally, you need to know carry distance, not just total distance.
Because if there’s a bunker you have to fly, or water in front of the green, carry is what matters.
Learn how far you normally hit the ball.
Not your absolute best.
Not the one shot where you caught a flyer and everything went perfectly.
Your normal shot.
Then choose clubs based on that number.
You’d be surprised how many shots golfers lose simply because they consistently come up short.
Tip 9: Play Your Normal Shot Shape
If your normal shot is a fade, stop trying to hit draws all day.
If your normal shot is a draw, don’t suddenly decide you’re going to hit a fade around a tree unless you’ve actually practiced that shot.
Good golf becomes a lot easier when you know what the ball is probably going to do.
If I know my normal shot is going to move a little one direction, I can aim for it.
I can pick a target that allows for it.
The problem happens when you’re constantly trying to manufacture different shots.
You hit a draw on one hole.
Then you try a fade.
Then a high shot.
Then a low shot.
Now you have no idea what’s coming.
Build one reliable stock shot.
That should be the shot you use most of the time.
You can always add more shots later.
But predictable is extremely valuable in golf.
Tip 10: Practice the Shots That Actually Cost You Strokes
This is where I think a lot of golfers waste practice time.
They go to the range and hit whatever club they feel like hitting.
Maybe they hit 40 seven irons.
Then 30 drivers.
Then they roll a few putts.
And they leave.
Instead, look at your scorecard.
Where are you actually losing strokes?
Are you hitting two drives out of bounds every round?
That needs practice.
Are you three-putting five times?
That needs practice.
Are you chunking two chips every round?
That needs practice.
Your practice should be based on your scoring problems.
One golfer might need to spend 70 percent of their practice time on the driver.
Another golfer might need to spend almost all their time inside 100 yards.
There is no perfect practice routine for everybody.
Figure out your biggest leak and attack that first.
Closing
If you want to start shooting lower scores, remember this.
You don’t have to hit the ball like a professional golfer.
You don’t have to hit every fairway.
You don’t have to hit every green.
And you definitely don’t have to make every putt.
You need to become a little more predictable.
You need to manage your misses.
You need to eliminate the huge mistakes.
And you need to get really good at the shots that show up the most during a round.
That is how better golfers score.
If you can take just two or three of these ideas into your next round and start applying them, I think you’ll immediately notice that the game starts feeling a little easier.
And more importantly, your bad rounds won’t get quite as bad.
If you enjoyed this video, subscribe because I’m going to keep breaking down simple ways to improve your golf, practice smarter, and start shooting lower scores.
