The Golf Shots You Need To Practice to Score Low

To score well, there are some golf shots that are just more essential to learn than others - ones you need to practice to lower your handicap and make you want to come back to the course time and again.

Legendary golfer Ben Hogan believed that your shot off of the tee was the most important shot in golf,

"You've got to hit the fairway before you have a good chance of putting the ball close to the pin. You can be the greatest iron player in the world, but if you're in the boondocks it won't do you any good."

Players like Dustin Johnson rely on their long drives to move them down the fairway and into position for an easier approach shot. At the 2018 WGC-Dell Match Play event, DJ smashed a drive a quarter of a mile (although it included hitting a cart path, this was still a "wow" moment).

Some golfers would argue that the most important golf shot in your bag is the approach shot because, if executed properly, you can get on the green in regulation and make possible birdie or par.

Other golf gurus, such as Dave Pelz, state that it isn't your putting which should consume your focus but, rather, you should work on your wedges, "Putting is not the most important part of the game – it’s your wedge game. Putting is the second most important because you do it half the time."

PGAprofessional.com states, on the flip side, that the "importance of putting cannot be overemphasized",

"If there are 18 holes on a golf course and each green is worth two putts that means that par for putting is 36. The majority of 18-hole golf courses are par 72. That means that half of par is putting."

Read: Three Smart Ways to Lower Your Golf Score

One question to consider is..."What is more important for your game... to start each hole well or to finish strong?"

As for my own personal game, I add strokes to my round on my approach shots and through lack of feel on the greens - hybrid clubs, mid-irons and putting are where I need to strengthen my game.

Titleist believes that hitting greens in regulation is a basic statistic which players should track, "golfers play more shots to the green than from the tee. The higher the score, the more shots that have been hit to the green."

Everyone's golf game is different and we all have our "pain points", so, it is necessary to practice all shots in your bag, identify weaknesses in your game, decide where you need work and focus on those shots.

What are the shots you need to practice? Comment at the bottom of our Golf for Beginners golf blog and tag us on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

3 Smart Ways to Lower Your Golf Score

Lowering your golf score doesn't have to be a difficult process - the easiest ideas often work best for most golfers...even the pros.

There is never a good time to see snowmen (or better) on your scorecard, yet blow-up holes occur, even on tour (remember Sergio Garcia's 13 at the Masters?)

Recognizing when you may in the throes of trouble and thinking about your next shot is often all you need to do in order to stop a downhill spiral.

Golf for Beginners' author, Barry Solomon, has a few tips for curbing doubles and triples on your scorecard, no matter what level you are at in your enjoyment of the game.

3 Ways to Lower Your Golf Score

1. Curb the blowup holes!
Hit a wayward shot? Here are a few ways to recover.
a. Just get the ball back in play - see an opening to the fairway? Take it.
b. Don't try those miracle saves (unless you are at the practice facility) - you will hit that tree trunk.

Read: What New Golf Rules Mean for the Average Player

2. If your approach is too long for your comfort and there is trouble all around:
Lay-up before the trouble, then you should have an easy pitch to the green. Maybe make the putt for par or 2-putt for bogey. Move on. It's better than dunking your golf ball into the water or hitting it onto the next fairway.

Read: Is Distance Overrated for Golfers?

3. Golf ball in a greenside bunker?
Unless you are confident of your skills, don't try to make that perfect shot and maybe thin it into the next county or into more trouble. Just get your ball safely out of the bunker - that is your #1 priority...then move on.

You will be surprised how many costly strokes these golf tips will save you; you may be surprised when you total-up a lower score than you have had in a long time!

Have more smart ways to lower your golf score? Post them in the comments section of this golf blog and tag us with your ideas on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

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