On average, a golfer records almost 50 percent of his or her strokes on the green. Thus, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the best way to lower your score is to become a better putter.
“There are so many people who are shooting 87 or 88 and want to lower the scores who are out there on the range hitting drivers for hours,” George Connor, Director of Instruction at Gillette Ridge Golf Course in Bloomfield, Ct., told me when I visited with him recently to find out what the buzz was about. “When I ask them how many three putts they have in an 18-hole round tell me four or five. Well, if you stop three-putting you’ll knock four to five shots off your score. They should be practicing putting rather than hitting drivers.”
Connor is a devotee and certified instructor of what some are viewing as a somewhat revolutionary system of putting. Actually, not so much putting but rather accurately reading putts, so that more rolls will get close to or go into the hole from any distance on the green. George said that AimPoint Green Reading promises to transform your game by teaching you the one aspect of putting that is never taught–exactly where to aim your stroke
Mark Sweeney has pioneered this green-reading method based on the highly accurate, Emmy Award winning AimPoint Technology that we have all seen at one time or another on the Golf Channel. After going through the AimPoint Green Reading education, golfers don’t have to guess at how much a putt breaks. The system, which has gained a loyal following on the professional tours, stresses that putting is always predictable, and allows users of the method to discover the most effective and reliable ways to determine the direction and precise amount of break for any putt, all based on gravity.
“This is really starting to catch on,” said Connor. He’s been conducting classes on the system at Gillette Ridge that have been growing in popularity.
“It takes a while to totally grasp the concept but good golfers know how important it is to understand the system and what benefits it can have. The most vital aspect of putting–whether it is from five or 50 feet–is speed and distance. But you have to know how the putt will break before you can get to proper speed and distance control. This really isn’t an art but a science.”
Connor got caught up in the AimPoint system excitement when he listened to Sweeney at a conference in Las Vegas. He went through a rigorous certification process that required hours of learning the system and its applications.
“In eight seconds I can read a green and tell you which way the putt is going to break. Each green is different, of course, but the system is the same for each putting surface.”
Students in Connor’s classes learn how to accurately identify slope, how slope direction and grade affect break, how your ball’s position on the slope influences break and speed, how to identify your position on the slope, how to determine precise break amounts based on position, how to handle changing or multiple slopes, how ball position relates to speed control, and how to determine optimum approach shot strategies. Golfers are instructed on how to use a simple chart that details how much percentage of break a given putt will have, once basic information is gathered and factored in.
For more information about the AimPoint system or to sign up for a class, visit www.connorgolf.com.
