Lag ladder
Putting · 15 min · Course
Putts from 15, 25, 35 feet. A club laid 3 feet past the hole as the backstop.
It has to finish in the 3-foot box. Three in a row at each station.
If the stroke gets short and stabby, go back to 15.
Two sports · 03
Pick the weekends
About 10–15
Travel is a choice. Worlds if they already have it. A trip the whole family wants. High school and the other varsity both get a vote.
A week on this rung
Nights after the other sport. Family on the weekend.
2–3 weeknights
In-season for the other sport: that practice is the night. Golf is a putting mat. Off-season: two short-game nights.
The weekend
The event you chose, or high school, or family 18. Not a hidden fourth start.
- School nights. The other practice, or 20 min they own. You stay out of it.
- Event weekend. They play. You caddie. That’s the job.
- Home weekend. Family 18 or the other sport’s game. Both count.
You, this week
- One honest season of the right starts beats 18 mediocre ones.
- The kids will ask about Worlds. Tell the truth. You don’t have to care as much as they do.
- Pick the events with friends and parents you like.
Clubs that fit
Fit them. Don’t re-bag because a ranking person said tour series. Height and a shaft they can get in the air.
Where they compete
- The events you pick — U.S. Kids Worlds, a regional, UA, a first HJGT Open if the number says they belong
- High school golf in the spring if they want teammates
- The other varsity in its season. That’s not a failure. That’s the map.
- Family 18 vs you on the weekends you stay home. I’m a golfer guy. That’s better than most of the lame ones you’d drive to.
How We Practice this week
Home weeks: two short sessions. Travel weeks: pack and sleep. Don’t sneak 40 balls the night before.
3–6–9
Putting · 12 min · Course
Three tees: 3 feet, 6 feet, 9 feet. Same hole. Same putter.
Make three at 3, three at 6, three at 9. A miss at a station restarts that station only. They keep the card.
One trip through. The 9-footer is allowed to stay a 9-footer.
Clock around the green
Up & down · 20 min · Course
Four lies: fringe, light rough, tight lie, a little downhill. One ball at each. Putter stays away until the chip is done.
Chip, then one putt. Score out of 4. Beat last week. They pick the next lie.
Four. Not eight because ‘the last one was a flyer.’
Land it, then putt it
Up & down · 15 min · Course
A towel two paces onto the green. Wedge. Then the putter they already have.
The chip has to hit the towel. Whatever they have left, they putt once. That’s an up-and-down. Play 8.
Eight chances. Keep the score. Leave.
50-yard ladder
The rest · 20 min · Range
Flags or towels at 30, 40, 50 yards. One wedge.
Three balls each. The miss you care about is short/long, not left/right.
Eighteen balls. Then water.
Nine from the right tee
The rest · 90 min · Course
Longleaf / a forward tee they can reach with a 5 they actually hit. One ball.
Keep a card. No second shots. You caddie. They decide.
If pace of play is a problem, pick up at double par and walk.
Your job
Budget the trip before the ranking. If it isn’t a solo father-son and it isn’t a good vacation, don’t go.
Skip stacking two states in one weekend because a neighbor did. Skip dropping basketball, lacrosse, hockey, tennis — whatever they actually play — for a start that doesn’t matter.