I’m A Single-Figure Golfer: 7 Common Mistakes I See Every Week That Are Killing Your Score
Single figure golfer Carly Cummins on how to eliminate 7 errors every high-handicapper makes
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I pride myself on playing with golfers of all abilities, no matter what handicap, age or stage of their golfing journey. There are some common trends I see among higher handicappers that cause them to waste shots during a round. These scorecard killers are simple things that could easily be undone. Here’s the seven I see most frequently…
Carly Cummins is one of the golf industry’s best-known female writers, having worked for golf magazines for over 20 years. As a consistent two-handicapper who plays competitive club golf at Parkstone and the Isle of Purbeck courses in Dorset every week, Carly is well-versed in what golfers love. Her passion for golf and skill at writing combine to give her an unbeatable insight into the women's game.
Poor Putting Pace Control
Putting is nearly always the number one cause of wasted shots that I see during a round of golf. I am guilty of recording the odd three-putt myself. The most common cause for taking more than two putts on the greens is poor pace control.
The first putt is the critical marker. No matter how far away you are from the pin you should be concentrating on rolling the lag putt with the correct pace to get it to the hole to give it a chance of going in and not leaving it short or racing it past.
So many golfers I play with obsess over the line - even when they’re 50 feet away! In reality, although aiming is important, it is far more critical on short putts than long putts. You could be a few feet wide with your read, but if you have rolled the ball with the perfect pace then you’ll still only have a short putt to hole out.
There are a number of ways you can improve pace control. Making sure that you roll a few long putts on the practice green before you tee off might sound obvious, but even if I arrive with only two minutes to spare I always do. The practice green will give you an indication of how slow or fast the surfaces are rolling on that day. If you get to the 1st green without rolling a single practice putt you are guessing.
The best pace control putting lesson that I ever had was from a PGA professional who told me that the tempo of my putting stroke should remain the same no matter what length of putt I face. To alter the distance the ball rolls, simply alter the length of your stroke. This has always worked for me.
Coming Up Short
Selecting the correct club for the yardage is the one thing I believe differentiates good players from higher handicappers. The latter nearly always come up short, for two reasons. Firstly, they think that they hit the ball further than they do, and secondly because they are inconsistent.
By that, what I mean is that maybe 1 in every 10 shots might be struck perfectly and will travel the full distance they are expecting, the rest are marginally worse, and for every slight miss-hit you’ll lose a few yards.
So instead of picking the club for the distance to the pin, do as I do and check the distance to the back of the green instead. Assuming the pin isn’t hanging precariously close to the back and a whole lot of trouble, then take one extra club than you need. Adding 5-10 yards onto your distance to the pin will very rarely send your shot soaring over the green.
Not Knowing Your Yardages
Following on from the above point, the second part of the problem of poor distance control and golfers not peppering the pin with pinpoint accuracy, is that they simply don’t know how far they hit their clubs. Golf is a numbers game. Yet it’s amazing how many golfers I play with who are clueless about how far they hit their clubs and consequently choose poorly.
The most important number you need to know is your carry distance for every club. How far it travels on the fly. The total distance, which includes run-out upon landing, will vary throughout the year and depends on course ground and weather conditions.
The best golf watches and rangefinders make learning your distances easy. Simply have a session on a launch monitor, ideally one set up outside on the driving range with proper golf balls (not rubber practice balls that don’t travel as far), but an indoor simulator will also work. Hit 10 shots or more with each club and take the average carry distance. Then write your numbers down on a chart.
I did this with my son as a beginner, printed his yardage chart and stuck it to his trolley handle to help him select the correct club himself. Obviously as your technique improves you’ll start to hit the ball better and further, so it’s worth repeating this exercise at least once a year.
Likewise, if you get a new set of clubs your yardages may change. The best players in the world take this knowledge to a far more advanced level of detail. They know their numbers for full swing, half swing and three-quarter swing shots. Suddenly rather than having one go-to distance for every club they have three. This versatility adds a level of shot-making precision that will take your accuracy to another level.
Choosing The Wrong Club From The Rough
Every week, without fail, I walk into the rough to hunt for my playing partner’s ball, find it, usually in a poor lie, then wince when I watch them reach for a hybrid to hit it out. I think that the club manufacturers have a lot to blame for this by suggesting in their marketing that these clubs are designed to ‘rescue’ your game in their very name.
The only time I would ever consider using a hybrid out of the rough is if the ball was perched right up on top of the thick grass, almost teed up. Never from a buried lie. 99% of the time I will reach for a lofted wedge, take my medicine and just get the ball back out into play.
By choosing a hybrid because you think this club is designed to be used from difficult lies, getting you out and further down the fairway, you are limiting your chances of recovering at all. The lower loft will make it much harder to get the ball airborne from a bad lie. You also need to use much more of an aggressive downward swing action, almost like chopping wood, to deliver a downward blow into the back of the ball and pop it out. To do this successfully, you need the bladed edge of a lofted iron to cut through the rough.
Playing A Pitching Wedge For Every Chip Shot
When it comes to shot-saving, there’s no better place to do it than around the greens. Every golfer, no matter their strength or age, can become skilful on short game shots. There really isn’t a ‘one-club-suits-all’ option.
I remember making this mistake as a beginner. I’d have a chip to play so I always select the same wedge, not taking into account the distance it has to travel. Yet so many golfers I play with do just that. They lack versatility around the greens. They only have one technique, the basic chip and run shot, that they always play with the same club, usually their pitching wedge.
The difference you see with better players is how more advanced their short game skills are, they have mastered many different options. Having a large repertoire of short game skills in your armoury will undoubtedly save you shots. You’ll get up and down more frequently. Examples include using a hybrid like a putter when playing a long chip and run to a distant pin and using a sand wedge or lob wedge to play a very lofted flop shot over a bunker.
No Routine For Alignment
One of the basic fundamentals of golf is the ability to aim accurately. Understanding that the basis for good alignment is to get your feet aiming parallel to the target line, like you are standing on a set of train tracks, the upper track is the one that points to the target that your golf ball sits on, the bottom track is for your feet.
It’s crazy how many golfers I play with who get this wrong, aiming their feet and their upper body/shoulders at the target instead. So when I’m standing behind them they look like they are aiming way off to the right. In part, I think a lack of understanding is the cause, but more so it’s just that they aren’t following a simple routine to help them aim correctly. It’s lazy.
I was always taught to stand behind the golf ball, look at my target and then pick something on the ground just ahead of it (like a leaf or a blemish in the grass) to aim the club at. Then to imagine a parallel line for my feet to stand on, again look for something on the ground to help you aim them correctly. Forming your stance in the set-up this way will make aiming far easier.
Getting Stuck In Sand
No speed. No commitment. Fear. Common trends I see in golfers who fail to get out of bunkers. Sand shots are the bain of many golfers’ lives. The very sight of seeing their ball roll into a bunker fills them with dread.
A common mistake I see in golfers who struggle is that they rush in to play the sand shot and rarely consider all of their options for getting out first. If you genuinely lack confidence and clubhead speed then it’s unlikely that you’ll successfully splash a sand shot out from under a steep lip. But there’s always the option to play out sideways or backwards. This isn’t defeatist - it’s just sensible course management.
Bunkers are nearly always flat at the entry point where the ball rolls in. It’s far better to waste one shot playing out sideways or backwards than to take 10 attempts trying to get out from an impossible lie or tricky position under the lip. Sometimes you just need to take a minute, pause, assess the situation and consider all the options before you decide in what direction to play.
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