The gate
Putting · 12 min · House
Two tees just wider than the putter, 4 feet from a cup or mug.
If the putter hits a tee, it doesn’t count. Make 8 of 10.
If they mash it, move closer, not farther.
Two sports · 02
Home Sundays
About 7–12
Locals you can actually keep. Regionals and states for the status you can’t earn skipping weeks. The other sports stay on the calendar.
A week on this rung
Nights after the other sport. Family on the weekend.
2–3 weeknights
Other sport. Golf is one short-game night if the sun and the legs are there. Event week: nights are rest.
The weekend
One day is the other sport. One day is a local, a family 9, or a regional if that’s the status weekend.
- Tue / Thu. The other practice. 15 min putting only if they still have a pulse for it.
- Saturday. Game, or U.S. Kids if this is a golf weekend. Not both.
- Sunday. Family 9 or the second day of a regional. Not a makeup local.
You, this week
- Enter the local only if you can keep the tee time.
- Use a two-day regional to lock status. That’s the honest path for multi-sport families.
- Stay off the green. Let them play the swing they have.
Clubs that fit
Keep fitting height. Same set for the local and the family 9. Don’t buy a travel bag because one regional is on the sheet.
Where they compete
- U.S. Kids local — only the Sundays that don’t sit on the other sport
- U.S. Kids state or regional (the multi-day ones) — that’s how you buy status when the local points get away from you
- Under Armour if the league nights aren’t already a practice
- Family 9 vs you. That’s better golf than most of the events you’d travel to
How We Practice this week
Weekend daylight. After school in March you’re strapped. Don’t chase putting after dark in the other season. It will come.
Around the clock
Putting · 12 min · Course
Four balls at 3 feet: north, east, south, west. Like a clock.
Make all four. Then take one step back and reset the clock. A miss restarts that ring. They call the time.
Three rings is a full session. Do not build a fourth because they ‘almost had it.’
One good 7-iron
The rest · 15 min · Range
Alignment stick on the ground, 7-iron only, 15 balls.
The session is over when they strike one that sounds right. They get to pick it.
Do not “just hit a few more.” That is how range rats are born.
Bump and run
Up & down · 12 min · Course
Fringe, a 7-iron or 9-iron that fits, a hole 8–12 paces on the green.
Land it one bounce on the green and let it roll. Five in a row inside a putter-length. Count out loud.
If they start opening the face, the 7-iron goes back in the bag and you walk.
Towel from 8 paces
Up & down · 12 min · Backyard
Towel, wedge, real balls if you have space, foam if you don’t.
Land, don’t roll. Five towels in a row is the round.
When the neighbors get a vote.
Shoot 36 from the green-side
Up & down · 40 min · Course
Nine starts, each 25 yards from a green (Operation 36 Level 1). Putter + wedge is enough.
Par is 4. Write every number. 36 or better is a party. 37 is data.
Nine holes. Not 12. Not “let’s redo 7.”
Your job
You pick the weekends the whole family can stand. Pool, friends, a cigar area — or stay home and beat each other. Status is so you can choose.
Skip lighting a weekend on fire for a local you don’t need. Skip chasing every point. You will not catch the kids who show up every week. Regionals exist for you.