This is the time of the season for the high school teams’ matches. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. The teams come up to the course and practice. It’s usually not the greatest of weather but they deal with it.

It took a few years, but it seems the formats are changing to have track meet style events rather than one school vs another. It creates more of a tournament atmosphere, and I think the kids enjoy it. 

As far as the competition goes, it’s not what it was 15 years ago, but that’s happening in all sports. This is why it’s important for the kids to have fun and improve. Many quit because it’s hard at first. The coaches are terrific at getting them to hit balls and not just playing. The local professionals always seem to volunteer their time to help too. 

I’ve always told beginners to try to conquer the par 3s first. We have three par 3s on the front nine of the Villa Roma. If they can get the right club selection during the practice rounds, they’ll at least have a better chance to make a par or bogey. A bogey 4 on a par 3 isn’t a bad score for most players. 

Every high school player should keep track of their putts. In a nine-hole match, two putts on every hole should be the goal. 18 putts per round. If you are having trouble with putting, try to figure out if it’s the long putts not getting close enough or are you just missing short putts. The goal is, if you are ten feet away from the hole, imagine a one-foot circle around the cup. Aim to get it in that circle. If you have a thirty-foot putt imagine a three-foot circle around the hole. The odds of making those putts are slim so give yourself a bigger target. The goal was to two putt. 

Ok kids, get after it. We can all practice more putting to improve, not just the kids.