Course Program

Vary your landing spot and see how close you can get

Vary landing spot, for a 18-handicap player, ~15 minutes at Desert Hawk At Pueblo West

Short GameAll teesProgram HCP 17.99 drills69% match to course practice profile

Program Snapshot

Handicap range

10 to 45

Average HCP

17.9

Duration (single session)

3 hr 54 min

or

1 drill/day: 9 days · 26 min/day

Ideal tee

All

Skill Distribution

Distance Control31%
Accuracy21%
Alignment15%
Aim10%
Scoring9%
Precision8%
Dispersion6%

Overview

Program Structure

Vary your landing spot and see how close you can get. Feel the green and stop on a dime. Focus on Distance Control, Accuracy, Alignment, Aim, Scoring, Precision, Dispersion. For a 18-handicap player, in ~15 minutes.

Skill

Distance Control

Shot

Pitch

What you will improve

  • Distance Control
  • Accuracy
  • Alignment
  • Aim

Program details

Sessions
9 focused drills
Recommended
2–3 sessions / week
Total duration
3 hr 54 min
or
1 drill per day
9 days · 26 min/day

Drill Framework

Program breakdown

Each drill is designed to prepare you for the course. Follow the program or repeat the drills to improve key areas of your game.

01

Pitch | Parallel Piles | 9 Stop Zones

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a pitch shot in the stop zone(s). The player with the most points at the end wins the challenge. One bucket of balls per player is needed.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Pitch | Parallel Piles | 9 Stop Zones
1

Set up 10 piles of balls in two lines, each line has 5 piles, piles in a line are 4 yards/meters apart, and lines are 5 to 10 yards/meters apart.

2

Put these piles on grass between 30 and 60 yards/meters from the hole, not on the green.

3

Mark 9 stop zones on the green with buckets, string, or tees. Space the zones evenly.

4

Use 36 balls. Make 9 groups of 4 balls for each stop zone.

5

For each stop zone, hit 4 balls trying to stop them inside it. Do this for all 9 zones.

6

Count how many balls stop inside the right zone.

7

Add up your total successes and enter your score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028262218141063
02

Pitch | Fairway | Uphill/Downhill

Short Game

Up to 5 players hit two buckets of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) from the sloped fairway; one bucket from the uphill slope and one bucket from the downhill slope.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Pitch | Fairway | Uphill/Downhill
1

Set up two target zones on the green: one uphill, one downhill. Use cones, clubs, or string to mark each zone about 6 feet wide.

2

From the fairway slope, 30 to 60 yards away, hit 36 pitch shots.

3

Split the 36 shots: 18 shots to the uphill zone, 18 shots to the downhill zone.

4

Keep your stance and ball setup the same for all shots.

5

First, hit 18 shots to the uphill zone. Then, hit 18 shots to the downhill zone.

6

Count a success if the ball lands and stays in the target zone.

7

When finished, add up the number of successful shots, and enter that number out of 36 attempts in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028262218141074
03

Pitch | Perpendicular Piles | Multiple Targets

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a pitch shot closest to the multiple target(s). The player with the most points at the end wins the challenge. One bucket of balls per player is needed.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Pitch | Perpendicular Piles | Multiple Targets
1

Arrange 10 piles of balls in two lines that cross each other at a right angle. Each line has 5 piles, spaced about 3 meters apart.

2

Place the piles on grass, 30 to 60 meters from the hole.

3

Set 5 different targets around the green, spaced apart.

4

Make 36 pitch shots, in 6 rounds of 6 shots each.

5

For each round, pick one pile and one target. Hit 6 shots from that pile to that target.

6

After 6 shots, move to a different pile and a different target for the next round. Keep going until all 36 shots are done and each target has 6 shots.

7

Count each shot that lands closest to the target as a success.

8

Add up the number of successful shots from all 36 shots and enter this score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score302825211713963
04

Pitch | Deep Rough and Other | Uphill/Downhill

Short Game

Up to 5 players hit two buckets of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) from the sloped deep rough and other extreme grass types; one bucket from the uphill slope and one bucket from the downhill slope.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Pitch | Deep Rough and Other | Uphill/Downhill
1

Prepare 36 balls in 6 groups of

2

Set up 2 target zones on the green: one uphill and one downhill, with markers 6 feet apart.

3

Hit 18 balls to the uphill zone and 18 to the downhill zone.

4

Hit 6 balls from the tough uphill spot to the uphill zone.

5

Hit 6 balls from the tough downhill spot to the downhill zone.

6

Do steps 4 and 5 two more times for all 36 shots.

7

Count each ball that stays in the right zone.

8

After 36 shots, enter your number of successes out of 36 in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028262218141074
05

Pitch | Rough | Flat

Short Game

Up to 5 players hit two buckets of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) from the flat rough grass.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Pitch | Rough | Flat
1

Make 3 piles of 12 balls each (36 balls total) between 30 and 60 yards from the hole on flat rough grass.

2

On the green, set up 3 target areas at different distances around the hole.

3

Hit 12 balls toward each target area (36 shots total, 12 for each zone).

4

Hit the first 12 balls to Zone 1, the next 12 to Zone 2, and the last 12 to Zone

5

Leave the balls in the same position; only change which target zone you aim at.

6

Count each ball that lands and stops inside the target zone as a success.

7

When all 36 shots are finished, count the number of successes and enter your score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score312926221713963
06

Pitch | Scattered Piles | Multiple Targets

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a pitch shot closest to the multiple target(s). The player with the most points wins the challenge. One bucket of balls per player is needed.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Pitch | Scattered Piles | Multiple Targets
1

Pick 3 targets on the green at least 6 feet apart.

2

Put 36 balls into 6 piles of 6 balls, between 20 and 40 yards from the hole, on different slopes and grass types.

3

Split shots into 3 sets of

4

For the first 12 shots, aim to stop the ball close to target

5

For the next 12 shots, aim to stop close to target

6

For the last 12 shots, aim to stop close to target

7

A shot counts if the ball stops within 3 feet of the correct target.

8

Keep the ball setup the same for every shot.

9

Count how many balls ended close to the proper target, and enter your score out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score302825221713963
07

Pitch | Deep Rough and Other | Flat

Short Game

Up to 5 players hit two buckets of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) from the flat deep rough and other extreme grass types.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Pitch | Deep Rough and Other | Flat
1

Put 3 target zones on the green: left, center, right. Each 5 feet apart.

2

Put 12 balls in a pile, 30-60 yards from the hole, in deep rough.

3

Hit 12 shots trying to land in Zone A.

4

Hit 12 shots trying to land in Zone B.

5

Hit 12 shots trying to land in Zone C.

6

Keep balls in the same spot and rough for all shots.

7

Count each ball that lands and stays in the right zone.

8

After 36 shots, enter your number of successes into the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score302825221713964
08

Pitch | Scattered Piles | Bullseye 2x

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a pitch shot in the bullseye. The best final score relative to PAR wins the challenge. One bucket of balls per player is needed.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Pitch | Scattered Piles | Bullseye 2x
1

Make two circles on the green: a small one with a 6-foot (2-meter) radius, and a bigger one with a 15-foot (5-meter) radius.

2

Put 3 piles of 12 balls each on the short game area, in random spots 30 to 60 yards/meters from the hole.

3

Hit 36 pitch shots total: 12 from each pile.

4

From the first pile, hit 12 shots and try to stop the ball inside the circles.

5

Move to the next pile and repeat, until all 36 shots are done.

6

Count balls in the small circle as birdies, balls in the big circle as pars, balls outside as bogeys.

7

Count how many balls are in the circles after all 36 shots. Enter your total score out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3129262218141063
09

Pitch | Scattered Ball Lines | 9 Stop Zones

Short Game

Scatter a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 8 equal lines of 5 balls and stop pitch shots inside 9 Stop Zones. Count the number of successful stops.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Pitch | Scattered Ball Lines | 9 Stop Zones
1

Divide 36 balls into 9 groups of 4 balls each. Space each group about 1 yard apart, between 30 and 60 yards from the hole.

2

On the green, mark 9 stop zones using buckets, string, or tees. Space the zones so you can aim at one at a time.

3

For each group of 4 balls, aim all shots at one assigned stop zone.

4

After 4 shots to the first zone, move to the next group and aim all shots at the next zone.

5

Keep going until you have hit 4 shots to each of the 9 stop zones for a total of 36 shots.

6

Count how many balls finished in the correct stop zone.

7

Add up your total successes out of 36 attempts and enter the score in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3230282520161285

Next Step

Ready to start this program?

Start the drills at your own pace or work with a coach to inside drills.golf.