Teed off with Par 3's

super saints

I am very inconsistent hitting par 3 greens in regulation, how high (or low) should I tee up the ball?

I am off 14 HCP with a fairly decent swing and hit the ball on the 'up'. Looking at my Howdidido stats P3's certainly let me down compared to my scoring on P4's and P5's.

In my home course I usually hit a hybrid, 6I and 8I (depending on conditions, weather etc.) at the par 3's.

Any help or views would be really appreciated.

Thanks

the lawman

I have the tee barely sticking out of the ground. So ball is pretty much just off the ground.

And you should be hitting irons with a 'down' motion not on the way 'up'. Maybe this is your issue?

GreeBo

super saints wrote: »

a fairly decent swing and hit the ball on the 'up'.

Unfortunately this sentence is pretty much an oxymoron.
A good swing hits the ball on the way down for all shots barring driver (and even then only for some) or specialist shots.
Hitting an 8i on the way up is not how the 8i was designed to be played.

Unless you are playing the ball off your front foot the only way to hit on the way up is to let the clubhead pass your hands, this is a recipe for disaster and probably the cause of your issues.

Rikand

2 things maybe ::

1.)

when you hit irons into par 4's, you're hitting them from the deck.

So perhaps you should consider the same with irons from par 3's. Tee the ball quite low and imagine you are hitting it from the deck. Could be one way of helping your game.

2.)

try to just hit the middle of the green with your shots. Dont look at the pin.

Story time!

In 2003, Phil Mickelson had not had the best of years. Didnt really achieve what he wanted to achieve and didn't feature in majors like how he wanted to feature. So he analysed his stats and discovered something serious. For all tournaments he played, on the par 3's he was +70 ( 70 over par ) [ figure is an approximation, but it was something high like that ] and thought that was way too high for him. So he looked at video footage of all the par 3's he had played and saw that when pins were tucked away behind ponds or bunkers, he would go for the pin and thusly end up in the bunker/water and end up taking bogey or worse.

So for 2004 he decided he wasn't going to attack pins anymore on par 3's. He decided that for 2004 he was always going to aim for the middle of the green. No matter where the pin was, he would always aim for the middle of the green. When the season finished, he had won the Masters and came second at the US Open. His score for the season on par 3's was -4 ( 4 under par )

A significant improvement.



Cliffnotes for this story. Aim for the middle of the green, forget about the pin and watch your green hitting stats shoot up!

GreeBo

Rikand wrote: »

Cliffnotes for this story. Aim for the middle of the green, forget about the pin and watch your green hitting stats shoot up!

And your putts per round

charlieIRL

Wasn't it Faldo that always aimed for the centre of the green with every approach shot and not just Par 3's?

Its something I always do now on every single hole as well and i must say it has helped with my scoring, if only the putter behaved better!!

ForeRight

Have you tried laying up on the par 3's?

spacecoyote

charlieIRL wrote: »

Wasn't it Faldo that always aimed for the centre of the green with every approach shot and not just Par 3's?

Its something I always do now on every single hole as well and i must say it has helped with my scoring, if only the putter behaved better!!

Yeah & pretty sure nicklaus process was generally to aim towards the left side of the green. His shot shape was fade so if he hit his normal fade he'd end up middle of green, if he hit it straighter than usual still ended up on the green on the left side

super saints

Thanks lads for taking the time to reply, I always teed up very low just over the surface, more habit then anything else. When getting a new driver at the start of the year I was analysed on a 'magic box' so to speak and It read that I hit the ball on the up so I presume I do the same with my irons or would that be the case?

Does anyone tee their ball high for par 3's?

PARlance

super saints wrote: »

Thanks lads for taking the time to reply, I always teed up very low just over the surface, more habit then anything else. When getting a new driver at the start of the year I was analysed on a 'magic box' so to speak and It read that I hit the ball on the up so I presume I do the same with my irons or would that be the case?

Does anyone tee their ball high for par 3's?

You should be hitting up with the driver so that's all good.
It doesn't necessarily mean you are hitting up on your irons.

What are your scoring stats for par 3's?
Mine is 3.6 and I'm fairly happy with that as I've a shot on 2/4 of them.

charlieIRL

Easy to see my problem with par 3's (& every other hole) Stats for last 10 rounds.

spacecoyote

charlieIRL wrote: »

Easy to see my problem with par 3's (& every other hole) Stats for last 10 rounds.

Great numbers on 30th Sep Charlie!!

charlieIRL

spacecoyote wrote: »

Great numbers on 30th Sep Charlie!!

That was only over 9 holes unfortunately, but the best 9 holes I've played this year!!!

dan_ep82

super saints wrote: »

Does anyone tee their ball high for par 3's?

I play regularly enough with a 9HCP and he tee's it quite high.

I have a problem with Par3's but its all in my head, I can be striking really well and put me on a par3 tee box and I choke :pac: