The WeekEnd Golfer

One thing I've noticed about my golf game is that my chipping has gone down hill this year. I used to practise chipping quite a bit, and my short game reflected that. But starting last year it got more difficult to get out to the range and my short game really suffered as a result.

After one particularly bad round when I flubbed a number of chips that ended up costing me several strokes, I decided a bit of dedicated practice was in order. So last Friday I headed out to a local range with just one club - my sand wedge - to see if I could figure out my problems (and yes, I know the sand wedge is not always the best club to chip with.)

That little bit of practice helped a lot. The next day I even made two fairly unlikely chip-ins.

So yes, the short game is very important when it comes to scoring. And yes, it is relatively easy to make major improvements to your short game - much easier than straightening out your driver or your irons.