Up and down from 20
Up & down · 20 min · Course
Ten balls around a green, different lies. Putter lives in the bag until the chip is done.
Chip then one putt. Keep a score out of 10. Beat last week.
Ten. Not until the bucket is empty.
Two sports · 04
Still a golfer
About 15–18, then forever
Two varsities is allowed. College golf is optional. The game is still theirs at 40 even if they never posted an AJGA number.
A week on this rung
Nights after the other sport. Family on the weekend.
2–3 weeknights
They own 1–2. High-school practice counts. The other sport’s practice counts. You make food.
The weekend
Match, game, or family 18. All three are golf-adjacent. The last one is still golf.
- School nights. Team practice. You stay in the car.
- Saturday. Match or the other game. They post if they want.
- Sunday. Family 18 or off. Both are allowed.
You, this week
- Transport and food.
- Ask about hole 8, not hole 2.
- If they don’t want college golf, you didn’t fail.
Clubs that fit
Fit them like a person. Used irons after you know the length. Not a prospect bag for a kid who also plays Friday nights.
Where they compete
- High school golf if they want it — free competition with friends
- The other varsity in its season
- Club championships, the Sunday muni, family 18
- AJGA / Junior PGA only if they ask twice and the number belongs
How We Practice this week
They own the session. You don’t. Putting still wins.
HORSE from 15 yards
Up & down · 15 min · Course
They play from 15 yards. You play from 25. Same flag. Small stake: loser buys the slushie.
Call the shot (bump, regular chip). Make the up-and-down or take a letter. First to HORSE walks in.
One game. Protect the series.
Drawback
Putting · 12 min · Course
Start at 4 feet. Make it, stay. Miss, the next putt is one grip farther away.
Get back to 4 feet. That’s the game. They keep the tees.
If they’re putting from 20 feet in anger, you already lost. Reset to 4.
Boring routine
The rest · 15 min · Range
Ten balls. Same club. They must: look at a target, take one rehearsal, step in, go.
If they skip a step, the ball doesn’t count. You are the referee, not the coach.
Ten honest reps beat forty wiggly ones.
Three-hole match vs parent
The rest · 45 min · Course
They play their tees. You play from farther. Small stake: they pick dinner if they win.
Match play. You do not give putts you wouldn’t give in a tournament.
Three holes. Protect the series.
The little book
The rest · 10 min · Course
A cheap notebook in the bag. After each hole: club off the tee, miss, what they’d do again.
They write. You do not edit. Patterns show up in a month.
If it becomes homework, it dies. Three words is a complete entry.
Your job
If they pick the other sport in November, you didn’t waste the Sundays. You raised a golfer who can also hit.
Skip anyone selling a guaranteed D1 ride. Skip making them quit the thing that made them.