Course Program

Vary your landing spot and see how close you can get

Stop close from 30 yards, for a 14-handicap player, ~15 minutes at River Run Golf Club

Short GameAll teesProgram HCP 14.39 drills

Program Snapshot

Handicap range

9 to 25

Average HCP

14.3

Duration (single session)

3 hr 54 min

or

1 drill/day: 9 days · 26 min/day

Ideal tee

All

Skill Distribution

Distance Control38%
Accuracy18%
Alignment14%
Dispersion9%
Precision7%
Scoring6%
Trajectory4%
Aim3%

Overview

Program Structure

Vary your landing spot and see how close you can get. Vary landing spot and stop close from 30 yards. Focus on Distance Control, Accuracy, Alignment. For a 14-handicap player, in ~15 minutes.

Skill

Distance Control

Shot

Pitch

What you will improve

  • Distance Control
  • Accuracy
  • Alignment
  • Dispersion

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 | 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
02

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
03

Pitch | Perpendicular Piles | Quadrants

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a pitch shot inside the quadrant(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 | Perpendicular Piles | Quadrants
1

Set up 10 piles of balls in two lines. Each line has 5 piles, and the piles are 3 yards apart. Piles are between 30 and 60 yards from the hole.

2

On the green, mark 4 circular target zones. Each is 9 feet in radius.

3

Make 36 pitch shots. For each target zone, make 9 shots.

4

For each shot, aim to land and stop the ball in the correct target zone.

5

After 9 shots in one zone, switch zones and repeat until all 4 are done.

6

Count each shot that stops in the right zone as a success.

7

Total successful shots out of 36 attempts and enter score in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028262218141064
04

Pitch | Fairway | Above/Below Feet

Short Game

Up to 5 players hit two buckets of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) from the sloped fairway; one bucket with balls above feet level, and one bucket with balls below feet level.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Pitch | Fairway | Above/Below Feet
1

Put 36 balls into 3 piles of 12 balls each.

2

Put 3 target zones on the green in a straight line, about 6 feet apart.

3

Pick one sloped fairway spot to shoot from (above feet or below feet).

4

Hit 12 shots to the first target zone.

5

Hit 12 shots to the second zone.

6

Hit 12 shots to the third zone. For each shot, count how many balls land and stay in the correct target zone. When done, count successful shots out of 36 and enter the score in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3230282520161285
05

Pitch | Parallel Ball Lines | 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. Up to 80 balls are needed.

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

Set up 9 stop zones on the green using markers, buckets, tees, or string.

2

Place 4 lines of 9 balls off the green, with each ball 1 foot apart. Keep each line 5 yards apart and between 30 and 60 yards from the hole.

3

Hit 36 pitch shots total, 4 shots for each of the 9 stop zones.

4

Start at any ball line. Hit 4 balls toward the first stop zone. Repeat for each stop zone, hitting 4 balls per zone.

5

After each shot, see if the ball stopped in the right zone. Count balls that stopped inside the correct zone.

6

Keep ball positions and distance the same. Only change your target zone after every 4 shots.

7

After all 36 shots, count the number of successful shots out of 36 and enter your score in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3129262218141063
06

Pitch | Perpendicular 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 | Perpendicular Piles | Bullseye 2x
1

Set up 10 piles of balls in two lines that cross each other, with each pile about 3 yards/meters apart.

2

Place the piles 30 to 60 yards/meters from the hole on similar grass.

3

Mark two circles on the green: a small 6-foot (2-meter) circle and a bigger 15-foot (5-meter) circle around the hole.

4

Take 36 shots: 18 try to land in the small circle, 18 try to land in the outer circle but not in the small circle.

5

Start with any pile and hit 18 shots for the small circle.

6

For the next 18 shots, try to land in the outer circle but not in the small circle.

7

Count a shot as a success if it lands in the circle you are aiming for.

8

After each shot, pick a different pile at random to hit from.

9

Count how many successful shots you made for each circle out of 36 attempts and enter your score in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028252218141075
07

Pitch | Parallel Ball Lines | Quadrants

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a pitch shot inside the quadrant(s). The player with the most points at the end wins the challenge. 25 balls per player are needed.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Pitch | Parallel Ball Lines | Quadrants
1

Set up 4 lines of balls on the grass, 30 to 60 yards from the hole, with 5 yards between each line.

2

Put 9 balls in each line, spaced 1 foot apart, for 36 balls total.

3

On the green, mark 4 circles (quadrants) with string or tees. Each circle should be about 9 feet wide and not overlap.

4

Start at the first line. Hit each ball, aiming to land about the same number (2 or 3) in each circle.

5

After one line, move to the next. Keep aiming to put about the same number of balls in each circle. Do this for all 4 lines.

6

Count how many balls end up fully inside the target circle after each shot.

7

At the end, enter the number of balls in the circles out of 36 attempts in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score282623191512963
08

Pitch | Scattered Piles | Quadrants

Short Game

Scatter a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 8 equal piles of 5 balls and stop pitch shots inside quadrants. Count the number of successes.

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

Make 4 piles of 9 balls each, with the piles 30–60 yards from the hole on different ground.

2

On the green, mark out a 15-foot circle around the hole and divide the circle into 4 equal parts.

3

Hit 9 shots from a pile to try and stop the ball in the first part of the circle.

4

Move to another pile and hit 9 shots for the second part.

5

Repeat for the third and fourth parts, from any pile.

6

Count each ball that stops in the right part as a success.

7

Enter number of successes in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028252218141063
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.