During his prime, Gary Player was one of the finest exponents of the short game in the world.
Player is still a dab hand around the greens at 90 years old.
However, in spite of his incredible skill level, the South African never overcomplicated matters.
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Simplicity was the key to Gary Player‘s success when chipping and pitching.
And sometimes, Player didn’t even pull out a wedge when he missed the green.
The easiest and quickest way for amateur golfers to shave strokes off their scores is to improve their short games.
However, sometimes that purely involves better decision-making.
Player shared a tip via his official Instagram account to help amateurs save strokes in and around the greens.
“When your ball is sitting on a tight lie close to the green and there is nothing between you and the hole, don’t make the game more difficult than it needs to be,“ the 90-year-old insisted.
“Forget the fancy chip, take your putter and keep the ball on the ground.
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“I believe a bad putt is more often better than a good chip.“
According to Arccos, Mid-high handicappers save 0.10 strokes on average per shot when choosing a putter from the fringe (5-15 feet from the edge of the green), rather than using some kind of wedge.
Their ‘worst’ putt will average three to five feet closer than their worst chip.
Meanwhile, their ‘best’ putt will average one to two feet closer than their best chip.
Mid-high handicappers save even more shots from further away (15-25 feet from the edge of the green) when they select a putter rather than a wedge.
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They average 0.15 to 0.25 strokes better with a putter.
Meanwhile, their worst putt will finish five to six feet closer on average than their worst chip.
As you can see from those numbers, amateur golfers can save numerous strokes per round simply by putting from the edge of the green rather than chipping.
