For lower scores, try "horsing" around...
One of the wisest things I've done for my game in the past few years was to squeeze out as much fun out of my short game practice sessions as I could. I can't tell you how many times I've waited to tee off by spending time putting before being called out, only to walk away 3 minutes later because of total boredom. Practicing putting before your round is great for getting a feel for the greens, but the problem for most of us is that often times it's just way too boring.
The best way to solve this issue of boredom AND improve your game is quite simple; all you need is a friend and some imagination.
With the early sunsets that signal the end of the season, sometimes I can only fit in 45 minutes to an hour of time on the course after work. Rather than starting to play a few holes and being left out in the middle of the course as it gets dark, my friend and I (we'll call him Darkness) spend the time putting and chipping around on the practice greens instead, a tradition that we still keep at the beginning and end of each season, and everywhere in between whenever possible.
These practice sessions started as putting contests - fewest putts to the selected hole wins. We quickly discovered that we could turn this into some kind of game. Just like playing "HORSE" in basketball, we followed the same logic, except in our case we substituted "HORSE" with a creatively vulgar combination of words. ANY word works...it all depends on how long you want to play! The player that takes the most strokes to get in the hole is assigned a letter, and if a player completes the word he loses the game. This was a great way to practice both lag putting and short putts. Most holes would start from ridiculous distances away, followed by the short putts to get in the hole...hopefully simple tap-ins.
For us, this game evolved into another game in which each player used a couple of balls to putt to the hole. You can only putt each ball once. Then the second player would do the same. Now what you have is four balls around a single hole, which are then assigned a number of points. The ball closest to the hole receives 4 points, the next closest receives 3 points, and so on. If a player makes the putt outright, it is clearly the closest to the hole, and an extra point is added for a bonus. Without holeing out any of the balls, the highest score on any single hole you can recieve is 7 (the closest and 2nd closest balls) and the worst score is 3. We usually play until 21, yet another variation of a basketball game.
From putting we applied these games to chipping and pitching. Anything goes - downhill, uphill, sidehill lies, from deep gnarly rough to the short collars of the greens...the more creative you are with your shots and the more you play, the more you'll be prepared for all the situations you may encounter on the course. You'll discover the importance of understanding the lie that you are in, and how to best hit it out of that lie. If you're clowns like us, you'll even start creating a list of rules that supplement the game. For example, putts that roll off the green do no count as points, and knocking an opponent's ball out of the way can be used as a legitimate defensive strategy.
If you stick to practice sessions such as these, you will rapidly improve your scores. The majority of your shots are from 125 yards and in, and the more you practice the better you'll be. You may not be able to get up-and-down every time within 30 yards, but having the confidence to do it and the experiences of having practiced those shots are a tremendous asset.
