Golf Challenges to Keep Things Interesting
By: Patrick Stephenson
While we all love golf, playing the same course from the same tees in stroke play can sometimes become monotonous. To keep things interesting and fuel improvement, it’s helpful to mix things up and embrace new challenges. Below are our top suggestions to spice things up the next time you find yourself bored with your usual game.
Switch Up Your Tees
We often find ourselves playing from the same set of tees every time we go out. We know what to hit off each tee and what a good score looks like.
To mix things up and introduce a new challenge, try playing from a set of tees you’re not familiar with. Playing from the front tees is a great way to practice shooting lower scores and improve your wedge game.
Playing from longer tees than you’re used to gives you a chance to face adversity and tackle a more challenging course. This will test your long game and force you to learn how to grind out pars.
Another fun option is to play from a different set of tees on each hole. You can draw numbers out of a hat or start at the shortest tee and alternate through the round. This approach provides a mix of easy and difficult opportunities, adding variety to every hole.
Play with a Limited Number of Clubs
Another way to challenge yourself on the course and break free from the routine of mostly hitting full shots is to limit the number of clubs you use.
For this challenge, you can choose to play with either your even-numbered clubs plus putter, your odd-numbered clubs plus putter, or go further by playing with just three or four clubs.
Using a limited number of clubs forces you to get creative and learn to hit in-between shots into greens. If you truly limit yourself to less than half your bag, you’ll also need to get inventive around the green, using different clubs for chips and pitches than you normally would.
In this format, focus only on the shots you’re hitting, not your score. This is meant to be fun and to help you learn different creative shots you don’t typically hit. Keep your expectations low and approach the game with a curious mindset, eager to discover how to execute new shots.
Play Worst Ball or Best Ball
Have you been playing really well and need a new challenge? You’re a perfect candidate for “worst ball” golf.
In this format, you play with 2-4 balls, hitting them all from the tee and then selecting the worst shot of the bunch to hit from for your next shot. You continue this process until you hole out.
The more balls you use, the tougher it gets. Even with just two balls, this can be quite challenging. Playing worst ball teaches you how to manage your game and avoid trouble. Birdies will be rare since you’ll need to make putts multiple times for them to count.
Don’t take yourself too seriously when playing worst ball, as it can be maddening on a bad day. Instead, embrace the challenge and use it as a measure of your consistency.
Conversely, if you’ve been struggling with your game, playing best ball with yourself can boost your confidence. This format works the same way as worst ball, but you play the best shot of the bunch instead of the worst.
In this format, you should play better than usual, giving you confidence and showing you your potential.
Play with Your Irons Only
Playing with only your irons is an intriguing way to explore the impact of a truly conservative strategy on your game.
It’s also a fun challenge to see what you can score when you’re consistently in the fairway but playing each hole from much further back than usual.
The biggest benefit of playing with only irons is learning how to miss in the correct spots on approaches. With short irons after hitting a driver, selecting the right miss isn’t always crucial since you’re likely to hit the green.
However, when you’re hitting longer irons into greens, knowing how to miss in the right spot is essential for scoring success, as you’re more likely to miss a few shots.
This challenge lets you see how close you can shoot to your average score using only your irons.
Compete With Two Balls Against Each Other
One of my favorite things to do when I’m playing by myself is to play two balls and pretend they’re competing against each other.
This approach not only lets you hit twice as many shots during a round but also adds some pressure with putts to take the lead, tie, or win the round.
It’s also a great activity when the course is crowded and you’re playing solo. It helps pass the time and reduces waiting. If the pace of play is particularly slow, you can even play with three or four balls to maximize practice and increase the competition.
Key Takeaways
Switch Up Your Tees: Play from different tees to introduce variety and new challenges. This can improve different aspects of your game, such as your wedge play from front tees or your long game from back tees.
Play with Limited Clubs: Use a restricted number of clubs, like even-numbered or odd-numbered clubs, to enhance creativity and shot-making skills. This forces you to adapt and learn new partial shots.
Try Worst Ball or Best Ball: Play worst ball to focus on course management and consistency, where you always hit from your worst shot. Play best ball to boost confidence and improve scoring by playing from your best shot.
Use Only Irons: Practice a conservative strategy and improve approach accuracy by playing with only irons. This teaches you to manage your misses and play strategically from further back.
Compete With Two Balls: Play two balls against each other to increase practice and add competitive pressure. This is a great way to pass time on crowded courses and improve your overall game by doubling the number of shots you take.
