Course Program

Chip Close: Leave Inside 3 Feet

Avoid 3-putt, for a 27-handicap player, ~20 minutes at Walden Ponds Golf Club

Short GameAll teesProgram HCP 27.29 drills76% match to course practice profile

Program Snapshot

Handicap range

10 to 45

Average HCP

27.2

Duration (single session)

3 hr 54 min

or

1 drill/day: 9 days · 26 min/day

Ideal tee

All

Skill Distribution

Accuracy27%
Scoring19%
Distance Control18%
Aim15%
Alignment13%
Precision9%

Overview

Program Structure

Chip Close: Leave Inside 3 Feet. Pick landing spot and chip close. Focus on Accuracy, Scoring, Distance Control, Aim, Alignment, Precision. For a 27-handicap player, in ~20 minutes.

Skill

Accuracy

Shot

Chip

What you will improve

  • Accuracy
  • Scoring
  • Distance Control
  • 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

Chip | Parallel Piles | Bullseye 2x

Short Game

Align a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 10 equal parallel piles of 4 balls and stop chip shots inside the Bullseye. Count the number of balls in the inner and outer Bullseye.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Chip | Parallel Piles | Bullseye 2x
1

Set up 10 piles of 4 balls each in two rows. Each row has 5 piles.

2

Keep piles about 2 meters apart, rows 5–10 meters apart.

3

Place piles 5–30 meters from the hole, not on the green.

4

Mark two circles around the hole on the green: a small one (2 meters out) and a big one (5 meters out).

5

Take turns hitting balls from different piles, trying to stop balls in the circles.

6

Hit 36 balls total: 18 try for the small circle, 18 for the big circle.

7

Count how many balls finished in each circle.

8

Add these for a score and enter your total out of 36 tries.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score282623201612853
02

Chip | Scattered Piles | Bullseye 2x

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a chip 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 Chip | Scattered Piles | Bullseye 2x
1

Make two piles of balls for each player between 5 and 30 yards from the hole, anywhere in the chipping area, on any surface.

2

On the green, make two bullseye zones around the hole: inner circle with 6-foot radius and outer ring from 6 to 15 feet.

3

Each player hits 36 chips: 18 from each pile.

4

Try to stop the ball in the inner bullseye (best), then outer bullseye (good), or avoid missing both (bad).

5

Switch piles after 18 shots, finish all 36 shots.

6

Count how many balls stop in the bullseye zones.

7

After 36 shots, record the number of balls in the bullseyes as your score. Enter this total in the app out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score302826221713963
03

Chip | Perpendicular Ball Lines | Bullseye 2x

Short Game

Align a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 2 perpendicular lines 20 balls per line and stop chip shots inside the Bullseye. Count the number of balls in the inner and outer Bullseye.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Chip | Perpendicular Ball Lines | Bullseye 2x
1

Arrange 36 balls in 2 lines of 18 each to form an L shape.

2

Keep each ball 1 foot apart in each line. Keep 5-10 yards between the two lines.

3

Place two circles around the hole on the green: one with a 6-foot radius, and one with a 15-foot radius.

4

From 5–30 yards away, chip 18 balls from the first line, aiming for the circles.

5

Chip the other 18 balls from the second line, aiming for the circles.

6

Alternate hitting 3 to 5 shots between the two lines.

7

Shots inside the small circle = full success. Shots inside the big circle only = partial success.

8

Count how many balls stopped in each circle and get your score. Enter your total successful shots out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score282624201612963
04

Chip | Perpendicular Piles | Bullseye 2x

Short Game

Align a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 10 equal perpendicular piles of 4 balls and stop chip shots inside the Bullseye. Count the number of balls in the inner and outer Bullseye.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Chip | Perpendicular Piles | Bullseye 2x
1

Make 10 piles with 4 balls in each pile, for a total of 40 balls. Put these piles in two lines that cross each other, with 5 piles in each line.

2

Place the piles on grass, 5-30 yards from the hole. The lines should be 5-10 yards apart, and each pile should be 2 yards apart.

3

Around the hole, make two circle target zones using string or tees: a small Bullseye (6 feet from hole) and a bigger Bullseye (15 feet from hole).

4

Hit 36 chip shots, in 3 sets of 12 shots.

5

For each set, chip towards the Bullseye zones, switching piles each time.

6

Balls stopping in the small Bullseye count as higher score. Balls in the big Bullseye also count, but less. Both are counted as a successful chip.

7

When finished, count all balls in the small or big Bullseye out of 36 tries, and enter the total in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028262218141074
05

Chip | 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 Chip | Deep Rough and Other | Uphill/Downhill
1

Put 3 equal target zones on the green in a line, 3 to 5 feet apart.

2

From deep rough on the uphill slope, hit 18 chip shots, 6 to each zone.

3

Move to deep rough on the downhill slope and repeat: hit 18 chip shots, 6 to each zone.

4

Always chip from deep rough within 20 yards/meters of the hole. Don’t change setup.

5

Count shots that land and stop in the target zone as successes.

6

When you’re done with all 36 shots, count how many landed in a target zone and enter your score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3230282520161285
06

Chip | Parallel Piles | Bullseye 2x

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a chip 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 Chip | Parallel Piles | Bullseye 2x
1

Set up 10 piles of balls in two lines of 5 piles each, about 5 to 10 yards apart, and space piles 4 yards apart.

2

Put the piles 5 to 30 yards from the hole on grass, but not the green.

3

On the green, make two circles around the hole: one with a 6-foot radius, and another with a 15-foot radius.

4

Hit 36 chip shots from the piles: 4 shots from 6 piles, and 3 shots from 4 piles.

5

Try to land the ball in the circles. Inside the small circle counts as 'birdie', in the big circle as 'par', and outside as 'bogey'.

6

Count how many balls stop inside the big (15-foot) circle.

7

When finished, enter how many were successful out of 36 attempts in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3230282420151174
07

Chip | Scattered Piles | Bullseye 2x

Short Game

Scatter a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 8 equal piles of 5 balls and stop chip shots inside the Bullseye. Count the number of balls in the inner and outer Bullseye.

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

Scatter 36 balls into 8 piles of about 4 or 5 balls each on grass between 5 and 30 yards or meters from the hole.

2

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

3

Hit 36 chip shots, split into two groups of

4

For the first 18 shots, try to land the ball inside the small circle (6-foot radius).

5

For the last 18 shots, try to land the ball inside the area between the small and big circle (6- to 15-foot radius).

6

Take turns hitting shots from different piles for variety.

7

Count how many balls stop in the right circle for each group.

8

After all 36 shots, enter the number of successful shots out of 36 attempts in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score302825211612852
08

Chip | Scattered Ball Lines | Bullseye 2x

Short Game

Scatter a bucket of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 8 equal lines of 5 balls and stop chip shots inside the Bullseye. Count the number of balls in the inner and outer Bullseye.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Chip | Scattered Ball Lines | Bullseye 2x
1

Scatter 40 balls into 8 lines of 5 balls each, spaced 1 yard or meter apart, placed anywhere from 5 to 30 yards from the hole.

2

On the green, make two circles around the hole: one with a 6-foot (2-meter) radius, and one with a 15-foot (5-meter) radius, using string or tees.

3

Chip 36 balls during the test, divided into 3 sets of 12 balls.

4

Chip the first 12 balls, trying to make them land inside the small circle.

5

Chip the next 12 balls, trying to make them land inside the big circle but outside the small circle.

6

Chip the last 12 balls, trying to make them land anywhere inside the big circle.

7

Start from any line and move around as needed, but use only 36 balls.

8

Count each ball that stops where it is supposed to for each set.

9

Enter your score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score312926221713963
09

Chip | Fairway | Flat

Short Game

Hit two buckets of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) from the flat fairway.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Chip | Fairway | Flat
1

Divide balls into 3 groups of

2

Set up 3 target zones on the green: Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone

3

Start each shot from the flat fairway 5–20 yards from the hole, same ball setup every time.

4

Hit 12 shots trying to land in Zone

5

Hit 12 shots trying to land in Zone

6

Hit 12 shots trying to land in Zone

3

Enter score in app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3129262218141074

Next Step

Ready to start this program?

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