A New Practice Green Coming To St.Louis West County

The Big Bend Golf Center has broken ground on a new putting green!  The green will be 1600 square feet and will give patrons the ability to work on the part of their game that accounts for 43% of their score.  The old tarped practice green out front will be re tarped as well to provide children a fun place to practice.  

Golfers in St. Louis County will now have a convenient location just off of 270 and Dougherty Ferry Rd. to practice putting and bring their scores down.  This improvement goes well with the numerous upgrades the owners Young and Yun Kim have added in recent years including:  new matts, fresh paint, a new roof, new siding, new ball machine, new range picker and a new mower as well.  To top things off they have fertilized, killed the weeds and aerified the grass tees.  The net separating the two grass tees will come down to provide one long tee line of healthy Bermuda grass. 

Here's a couple drills you can be doing on the greens to improve your putting:

1) The Clock Drill - an old favorite of tour players.  Take 6 balls and drop them around the hole (around the clock) 3 feet form the hole.  Go around the clock and sink all 3 footers.  If you miss one, start the drill over.  After you sink all the 3 footerss, then try it from 6 feet and so on.  Be sure to set yourself up on a sloping putt so as you go around the clock you can practice uphill, downhill, and sidehill lies.  

2)  The Flagstick Drill - a great drill for learning to control distance.  Take the flagstick and lay it behind the hole 17 inches from the cup.  This is the ideal distance for speed control for all putts whether  a 3 footer or a 50 footer.  Take 3 balls and score yourself  like this:  If you make the putt you get 2 points. If it ends up between the cup and the fladstick you get 1 point.  If you leave it short of the hole or hit it past the flagstick  you deduct a point.  Putt until you at least score a 3.  Again, be sure to pick a breaking putt so you also have to read the green correctly and play the break to get the perfect speed. 

Happy Putting!