This is a great game for improving your skills approaching the green, and at the end of a wedge play practice session it helps to focus your mind on what wedge play is really all about: scoring, getting the ball in the hole in as few shots as possible!
To score well, you’ll need great touch and imagination, to read and adjust to different conditions, to process all of the available information in order to make the right club and shot selection, and then to execute the shot with the chosen trajectory and spin. And with this game, hitting it close isn’t enough, you have to finish off by making a good putt!
How to Play
This game is played out on the golf course, only play it when the course is quiet and you can play extra shots without interfering with other golfers’ play and enjoyment.
To play the Up and Down wedge play game, do the following:
- Where the situation allows on the par 4s and par 5s, play an extra ball from within wedge play distance.
- On the first suitable fairway, drop your extra ball at about 30 yards from the pin and play it to the green. Chip and putt it as required until you hole out with that ball.
- On the next suitable fairway, repeat the process, this time from 40 yards. Then on the next hole 50 yards, and so on, in 10 yard increments all the way up to your full pitching wedge distance.
- Record your score, the total number of strokes required to get the ball in the hole, for each distance.
- Don’t Cheat! No mulligans, and there’s no such thing as a gimme in this game – every putt counts.
Print a scorecard for the Up and Down game: 
It is important that you perform your full pre- and post-shot routine for every shot. Read the conditions, and carefully determine the club required to “one hop and stop” the ball near the hole to give yourself the best chance of getting up and down each time. Take your time to visualise the shot, try the right amount and react to the target. Use your post-shot routine to actively build your self-image and learn from your mistakes.
When playing this game, you should be paying full attention and trying your best to make every shot. Be competitive!
With the Up and Down wedge play game, a total score below 30 is pretty good, and anything better than 25 is excellent. Any score above 32 is poor, indicating that you need to work hard on your wedge play skills, and that you have a lot to gain by doing so.
Always record your score in your practice session log, you can use the scorecard above, and try to beat your best score each time you play this game. The competitive edge is crucial.
After you play, take the time to record your score and make notes in your practice session log of any mistakes, and any distances or conditions that you particularly struggled with. Think about what you can do to improve before the next time you play.
This article is part of the Golf Loopy Score like a Champion series, the sensational new wedge play game improvement system that will help you to attack the pin from 120 yards and in. The improvements to your scores will be dramatic, and they will be permanent.
