Master The Short Game With Dave Stockton

I got quite a lot from reading Dave Stockton's book, Unconscious Putting, probably because the master's approach very much mirrors mine: see the hole, role the ball into it. Sweet and simple. I consider myself a pretty good putter but not a great one, though, because I still don't have as many one-putts as I need to really get the putt count down. That's where Stockton's latest book, Unconscious Scoring, is helpful.

Why? Because one-putts come mostly from hitting your approach shot closer to the hole in the first place. That's what Unconscious Scoring is all about. Again, I really, really identify with Stockton's KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) philosophy.

Stockton says you only need two basic shots around the green to produce a fabulous short game--a low shot and a high shot. After explaining why this approach will work for players at all handicaps, he shows how to hit each one in two clearly-illustrated chapters.

Next, he carries these principles into various situations where he demonstrates how you don't need to create a whole new swing to get up and down every time you face a tough lie. Stockton covers numerous trouble shots--from a bunker, hardpan, a divot, off a side-hill, etc.--with some elementary modifications of his basic two-shot repertoire. The book is rounded out with chapters on the Mental Game, Practice, Equipment, and Putting.

The material in Unconscious Scoring came from Stockton's excellent five-major-championship career as well as his work with world-class players like Phil Mickelson, Annika Sorenstam, Yani Tseng, and Rory McIlroy, who also wrote the foreword for the book.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf