I have a confession. I used to be a vanity handicap. I wasn't intentionally trying to do this, but the way I played golf led to that being the result. I always posted all my scores, but I played with a group of guys that was fairly liberal with gimmes and picked up at max double. This does not absolve me, I was a willing participant and was not above begging for gimmes. About a year ago a friend told me I was too good to take the gimmes I was getting. I thought "no big deal, I'll make em." Turns out I don't make them all. I also make more than double more frequently than I'd like to admit. But I now have a handicap that is a better representation of how I play golf. And I've gotten better at the shorter putts by making myself putt them. I'm still not above taking a 1-2' putt, but no more 3-4' gimmes for this guy. -a recovering vanity handicap

Have you ever tried heads up putting? Heads Up Putting involves looking at the hole instead of the ball while making the stroke. You basically stare at the hole (or your intended target) rather than at the ball when pulling the putter back and hitting the ball. I have been messing around with heads up putting again this year. I have been testing it from around 25 feet and longer. Inside of that distance I am still putting heads down. My distance control has been MUCH better with heads up putting. MUCH BETTER. SHOCKINGLY BETTER. I will likely stick with it for the rest of the year for putts outside ~25 feet. Where it has been ESPECIALLY helpful is with the Texas wedge. My distance control with putter when I'm 10-20 feet off the green has been SPECTACULAR. Dr. @SashoMacKenzie has done some interesting studies on heads up putting - finding that many players improve with this method. The research from Dr. MacKenzie suggests that this technique helps improve speed control because the golfer can better gauge the required force to reach the hole. I'll link to a podcast in the next post where Sasho talks about this at length. If you have never experimented with this method, I would suggest you give it a try.

🚨BREAKING: Viktor Hovland's stance on joining #LIVGolf has shifted significantly. As of 5 PM today, he’s in real talks to join the Global Golf League. Hovland is the current #4 Ranked Golfer and FedEx Cup Champion. I’m told #LIVGolf is expecting his signature by Monday AM.