Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible

Chapter 1: Score Counts in Golf

Who Cares About Score?

1.1 Defining the Scoring Game

In golf, how you play inside of 100 yards is the prime determinant of how you score. I don't say this play completely determines your golf scores, just that it is the most significant factor when it comes to writing numbers on your scorecard. I base this statement on more than 23 years of studying golfers and compiling data, which shows that 60% to 65% of all golf shots occur inside 100 yards of the hole. More important, about 80% of the shots golfers lose to par occur inside 100 yards. These results led me to focus on what happens inside 100 yards, what I call the "scoring game," to concentrate my teaching there, and to found the Dave Pelz Scoring Game Schools.

Every golfer's scoring game is a combination of many shots and many decisions. In teaching players how to score, I simplify things this way: I define the game played from 100 yards in to the edge of the greens as the "short game"; the game played on the greens is obviously the "putting game"; and the judgments and decisions made on game management and shot selection constitute the "management game." As you can see in Figure 1.1.1, I've broken the game of golf into five categories, what T call "the five games of golf," which also include the "Mental Game" (fear, anxiety, confidence) and the "Power Game" from outside 100 yards.

Learn to play all five of these games well and you will become a good golfer. And the more you improve your performance in these games, the more you will enjoy your golf.

1.2 Why Is This Book Necessary?

My Short Game Bible focuses completely on play from 100 yards in to the edge of the green. To a true golfer, scoring is what the game is all about, and your short game plays a vital role in determining scoring ability. We don't all have the same natural talent, we can't all hit 350-yard drives like Tiger Woods, and we will never all look the same

Renowned golf instructor Dave Pelz is the technical and short-game consultant to GOLF Magazine. A former NASA research scientist, he founded the Pelz Golf Institute to perform research for the good of the game, and he operates four highly acclaimed and popular Dave Pelz Scoring Game Schools across the country. He has improved the games of over 15,000 amateur golfers, 48 PGA players, and 38 LPGA players, and he is also the host of  The Golf Channel's #1 instruction program, The Dave Pelz Short Game Show. He lives in Austin, Texas.

James A. Frank is the editor of Golf Magazine. He lives in New Jersey.

Praise for Dave Pelz and the Scoring Game System:

"Do I believe in Dave Pelz? I paid full price to go to his school, and it was the best money I've ever spent. I learned more about my short game and putting in three days than in all my previous years and lessons combined. I know for sure I could not have won my second U.S. Open without the help of Dave Pelz. He has sure improved my scoring game! I'm looking forward to working with him often in the years to come. I AM a believer."
--Lee Janzen

"Dave Pelz has added more irrefutable knowledge to golf instruction than any man alive. This new book is indeed the bible of the short game."
--George Peper, editor-in-chief, Golf Magazine

"In one day's work with Pelz, I learned more about putting than I had known my entire life. . . . None of us out here practiced our short games enough, but those of us who have paid attention to Pelz know it's the way to lower scores."
--Curtis Strange

"Dave Pelz is the most confident person, let alone coach, I've ever been around. His science-based knowledge is the best I've ever seen. I couldn't have won my sixth European Order of Merit without his help. His short-game system is improving my game, and has me the most excited I've ever been about my own ability to score."
--Colin Montgomerie

"Dave Pelz is the best. It's pure and simple. If you want to play your best, you work with the best . . . that's Pelz."
--Steve Elkington