When watching golf, it always seems that the caddies and players are reading their notebook. Forever checking distances to places on the green. 

There’s one number they look for more than any other. It’s not the distance to the hole or even the front of the green. It’s something they refer to as the ‘cover number’.

The cover number is the number they must get beyond to miss out on the worst trouble. The trouble that would make an up and down very difficult or even impossible. The trouble that causes frustration and spoils a good round.

In this example the number is 150. The number to the flag isn’t relevant. What they don’t want, is to find a short-sided, steep bunker at the front.

The best players will select a club that they know, even with an off-center strike, is going to clear the 150 mark. If they hit it perfectly and it flies 160, then that’s two putts and a par. Hit it slightly off and it only goes 152, then if they miss either side of the green it's an easy up and down, and if they find the green it’s a makeable birdie.    

There’s an amazing implication in that thought. It means that many of the birdies you see professionals make, are the result of IMPERFECT SHOTS.

Thinking golfers know that while “golf is the search for perfection, it is a game of misses”. 

In a playing lesson, we’re looking to help improve your golf so that the scale of your “misses” is reduced and the likelihood of you hitting good shots is increased. We’re also trying to help golfers adopt an approach to the game that reduces the frustrations, improves their enjoyment, and lowers their score. Book a playing lesson with us below.