Breaking 80: Your personal par near the green

By Kurt Stegbauer, PGA professional

At The Ridge we run the successful (Glen) Whittle/Stegbauer Short Game Schools. One of the most popular segments of the day is the scenarios section, where we go around the green and look at different situations that amateurs face out on the course.

Some of the amateurs put us in some tricky positions and we then have to explain our thought process of what we are trying to do and then try to execute the shots.

We talk about what our ‘personal pars’ are for each situation and what the amateurs should be trying to achieve.

So the question that we all should be asking ourselves around the green is: “What is my personal par from this situation.”

Essentially you have to ask yourself, what would be a good score from this situation? Saying that you want to get it up and down in two shots every time may be unrealistic as you want to make your goal achievable.

Look at the two situations here, which will give you an understanding of what your personal par might be.

SCENARIO 1

For a chip shot over a bunker to a downhill slope, a golfer with a handicap of ten or less might choose a personal par of two and aim straight for the flag (main photo, top). However, a personal par of three for all golfers, where you play around the bunker (above), would still be a very good score.

SCENARIO 2

For a chip shot with a lot of green to use, a low handicapper of ten or less would be trying to get it in the hole for a personal par of two. A golfer with a handicap of 11 or more would be happy to have a personal par of three.

KURT STEGBAUER is the PGA certified head professional and director of coaching at The Ridge Golf Course in Sydney. To book a lesson with Kurt, visit his website www.theridgegolf.com.au or call (02) 9541 4960.