Golf practice plan: 28 days

Week 1

Week 1: foundations

Week 1 finds out where your strokes go and puts the habits in place that the other three weeks rely on. Nothing in it is hard. Most of it is honest measurement, and that is the point: you cannot practise what you have not seen.

Weeks run Monday to Sunday. Each week has three sessions of 45 to 60 minutes. The minimum that counts is set out in the published rule, the published election rule; three sessions a week gives you room to miss one.

The shape of the week

Session A: putting and chipping

Short game first, because for most golfers between 10 and 30 it is where strokes are cheapest to find. Putting and chipping need no great speed or strength, and they usually respond to practice faster than the full swing.

1. Warm-up (5 minutes). Roll ten putts from 6 feet with no target in mind. Feel the pace, not the line.
2. Gate drill (10 minutes). Set two tees a ball's width apart a foot in front of the ball. Putt 20 balls from 3 feet through the gate. Count the makes. Stop at 20; do not chase a perfect score.
3. Lag ladder (15 minutes). Putt from 15, 25 and 35 feet, 5 balls from each. The only aim is to finish inside a three-foot circle around the hole. Count balls that stop inside it.
4. Chipping to a landing spot (15 minutes). Place a towel on the green two paces onto the surface. Hit 10 chips with a 7-iron or pitching wedge so the ball first lands on the towel, then repeat with a sand or lob wedge.
5. Write it down (2 minutes). Makes, balls inside the circle, balls landed on the towel. Three numbers is enough.

Session B: wedges and pitching

1. Warm-up (5 minutes). Ten half swings with your sand wedge to a target about 30 yards away.
2. Clock-face swings (15 minutes). Hit 5 balls each with your wedge using a swing to hip height, a swing to chest height and a three-quarter swing. At the end, write down how far each one carried. You are building three known distances, not three perfect shots.
3. Distance windows (20 minutes). Pick targets at 50, 75 and 100 yards, or the nearest distances your range gives you. Hit 10 balls to each, one at a time, changing club or swing length to suit. Count balls that finish within a ten-step circle of the target.
4. Pitch and stop (10 minutes). Five pitches from the rough edge to a flag with the aim of landing on a chosen spot. Notice what the grass does to the ball.

Session C: long game and a first on-course task

1. Warm-up (10 minutes). Wedge to 7-iron, 5 balls each, ending with a smooth swing at about 75 per cent effort.
2. Corridor (15 minutes). Pick two markers about 30 yards apart at the range or place alignment sticks. Hit 14 drives or fairway woods through the corridor, one at a time with a full pre-shot routine. Count the balls that finish between the markers.
3. Pre-shot routine (10 minutes). Choose a routine of no more than twenty seconds that includes a target, a practice swing and a breath. Use it on every ball, including the poor ones.
4. On-course task (about 30 minutes, optional but recommended). Play three holes, or walk three holes and hit the second shot from where you would normally be. Write down, for each hole, where you intended to hit it and where you missed it. This is a first look at the Game Plan you will write in week 3.

Club Book and the Rules paper

Read the four chapters of the Club Book (pace, the course, guests and dress, and marking a card) in short sittings. They are written for the player who is about to play at a club for the first time. Then sit the paper. The pass mark and the retake rule are in the published election rule.

If you fail first time, the paper tells you which questions you missed, not the answers. Go back to the Club Book chapter and the Rule each one draws on: the Rule is what you will be asked again.

Checklist for the end of the week

• Baseline Card logged and saved.
• Three practice sessions logged, with the numbers from each drill.
• The four Club Book chapters read.
• The Rules and etiquette paper attempted.
• You know your own weakest Baseline drill. Week 2 spends more time on it.

Take a rest day before week 2 begins. The plan is built around three sessions because that is a load most people can keep for a month.

Read the injury and safety notice before you begin. If a drill hurts, stop.

Week 2

Week 2: short game and scoring

Week 1 told you where the strokes go. Week 2 spends your time on the weakest of the four Baseline drills and puts your numbers on a real golf course for the first time. Aim for three sessions of 45 to 60 minutes and one nine-hole round with statistics. The thresholds that count are in the published election rule.

The shape of the week

Move one of the practice sessions to the weakest drill from your Baseline Card if that drill is not putting, chipping or bunkers. Keep the others short.

Session A: putting

1. Speed ladder (10 minutes). Putt to a fringe or a tee line from 10, 20 and 30 feet. Aim to stop the ball no more than a putter-grip length past the target. This is distance control, the main cause of three-putts.
2. Short putts from 4 feet (15 minutes). Putt 10 balls from 4 feet around the hole, clockwise, so the break changes. If you make all 10, move back a foot. If you miss two, move forward a foot. Write down where you ended.
3. Pressure round (10 minutes). Make 10 in a row from 3 feet. If you miss, start again. Cap at 10 minutes. The task trains your routine under mild stress more than it trains your stroke.
4. Read and roll (10 minutes). Walk around a hole, pick the high side, then putt from 8 to 12 feet. Say the break aloud before you putt.

Session B: chipping and bunkers

1. Three clubs, one spot (15 minutes). From the same lie near the green, chip 5 balls with a pitching wedge, 5 with an 8-iron and 5 with a sand wedge to the same flag. Notice how far each rolls. This teaches club selection around the green, which matters more than technique.
2. Up-and-down game (15 minutes). Drop 9 balls in different lies within 20 yards of the green. Play each to a hole. Count how many are holed in two strokes (chip plus putt). Write down the total and the lie that caused most misses.
3. Bunker basics (15 minutes, if a practice bunker is available). Open the face of the sand wedge, aim slightly left of target for a right-hander, and hit the sand about two inches behind the ball so the sand carries the ball out. Hit 15 shots. Count how many land on the green.

If no practice bunker is available, practise the pitch and run and the lob from tight lies instead.

Session C: the Stats round (nine holes)

Play nine holes on a course. Walk if you can. Log, for each hole:

• Fairway hit: yes or no, on par 4s and 5s only.
• Green in regulation: your ball is on the green in two strokes fewer than par.
• Putts: the number of strokes played on the green.
• Penalty strokes: any penalty strokes, including those for lost balls and out of bounds.
• Up-and-down: when you missed the green, did you get on and hole out in two more strokes?

After the round, add the numbers: fairways, greens in regulation, putts, penalties, up-and-downs. Then mark where you lost the most strokes against your own target score for nine.

The numbers must be consistent: putts cannot exceed the score, and fairways and greens cannot exceed the holes available. The rule list is in the published election rule.

Reading the numbers

Ask three questions of the Stats round:

1. Where did I lose strokes: off the tee, approach, around the green or on it?
2. Which single hole cost most, and what was the first bad decision on it?
3. What is the smallest change that would have saved a stroke or two?

Write the answers as three lines. You will use them in week 3.

Checklist for the end of the week

• Three sessions logged, with numbers.
• Nine-hole Stats round logged with fairways, greens in regulation, putts, penalties and up-and-downs.
• Three lines on where the strokes went.
• Rules paper passed, or a retake planned for the time the rule allows.

Week 3

Week 3: course management

Most strokes lost by 10 to 30 handicappers are lost by decisions, not by swings. Week 3 turns what you learned in weeks 1 and 2 into a written plan for the whole course, then plays it. Aim for three sessions of 45 to 60 minutes and one 18-hole round. The thresholds that count are in the published election rule.

The shape of the week

Session A: wedge distances and a stock shot

1. Carry distances you know: hit 10 balls with each of your three wedge swing lengths from week 1. Note the median, not the best.
2. Choose a stock shot for approaches: a smooth swing with a club you can hit well, aimed at the middle of the green. Hit 20 with it, to a target at your most common approach distance.
3. Choose a stock shot off the tee: usually a club you can keep in play, not the driver unless the driver is your most reliable club.

Session B: the Game Plan worksheet

Fill in the Game Plan worksheet for the course you will play, before you play it. It takes about 40 minutes the first time. You need a scorecard, a yardage guide or a map of the course, and your carry distances from Session A. For every hole, write:

• a target for the tee shot and for the approach;
• the tee club;
• the miss side you accept, and the miss you will avoid.

Finish with 20 minutes of putting from 6 feet using your routine.

Session C: the miss-side drill

1. Pick a target with trouble on one side, such as a bunker or a boundary. Many practice grounds have this. Use two markers if not.
2. Aim away from the trouble, at the edge of safe ground, not at the centre.
3. Hit 15 balls with your stock tee shot. Count how many finish on the safe side and note where the others went.
4. Repeat with an approach to a flag: aim at the middle of the green, not the flag.

The drill makes one point: when your pattern is a miss to one side, aim so that the miss is safe.

The Game Plan round

Play 18 holes to your written plan. After each hole, tick a box: did you play the plan? You can change the plan mid-round if conditions change, but note why.

After the round, reconcile: for every hole, write what you planned, what happened and one thing you would do differently. The requirement is that every hole you played has a plan entry. The rule is in the published election rule.

If the weather or daylight allows only nine holes, play nine and say so; check the requirement in the published election rule before you rely on a short round.

Checklist for the end of the week

• Three sessions logged.
• Written Game Plan with target, tee club and miss side for every hole.
• The 18-hole Game Plan round logged and reconciled.
• Your carry distances written on one card you can read quickly.

Week 4

Week 4: the qualifying rounds

Week 4 is the shortest in practice and the longest on the course. You play the rounds that count, test yourself against Day 1 and write the Letter. The thresholds that count are in the published election rule.

The shape of the week

Qualifying rounds

A qualifying round is a round you play by the Rules, with a marker who keeps your score and confirms it afterwards. The marker is someone who plays or walks the round with you, on their own phone. You send each marker a link. They confirm the date, the course and the score with one tap, with no account.

• Ask your marker before the round, not after.
• Play the ball as it lies. Count every stroke. Take the penalties.
• At each hole, agree the score with your marker before you leave the green.
• Your own phone cannot confirm your own round; the marker confirms on theirs.
• If a marker declines to confirm a round, that round does not count. A second decline in one Candidacy ends it. The published rule is in the published election rule.
• If a marker does not answer, the round does not count, and that is not a breach.

Read Club Book chapter 4, on marking a card and the marker's duty, before you play.

The winter option

Nine-hole rounds are allowed for qualifying when the days are short. Simulator sessions count as practice, never as rounds. Check the exact count of nine-hole rounds in the published election rule.

The re-test

Repeat the Baseline Card exactly as on Day 1: same drills, same distances, same counts. Do it after your first qualifying round. Improvement in score is not a requirement; the card is there so you can see your own change. Compare each drill with Day 1.

The Letter

Write it after the re-test, when you know what has changed. The Letter has three labelled sections and is written in your own words. No person reads it to decide anything; the check is mechanical. Details are on the Letter page.

If the window closes

If the four weeks end with requirements still open, the plan gives you one automatic extension of seven days, once. If the requirements are still open at the end, the Candidacy is deferred; you keep your record and can apply to a later intake.

Checklist for the end of the week

• Two qualifying 18-hole rounds (or four 9-hole rounds), each confirmed.
• The Baseline Card re-test logged.
• The Letter submitted.
• Every weekly practice session logged.

Protocol

The Baseline Card

The Baseline Card is a self-scored test of four skills. It needs no launch monitor, no app and no helper: a practice green, a chipping area, a range or open field, some tees and a tape or your own stride. You take it on Day 1 and again in week 4. The only comparison that matters is yours against yours.

It takes 60 to 90 minutes. Do it warm, after ten minutes of easy swings, and do it on a day when you will not be rushed. Write each total on the card before you start the next drill.

Before you begin

• Use the clubs you would use in a round. Do not borrow better ones.
• Use the same balls for both tests.
• Record the date, the weather (dry or wet, windy or calm) and where you took the test. For the re-test, use the same place, and similar conditions if you can.
• Hit every ball once. No mulligans, no repeats, no averaging.
• A step is one normal walking step, about a yard. Use the same stride both times, or pace out and mark the distances with tees.

Drill 1: the putting ladder

Setup. Choose a flat putt with a modest slope. Mark spots at 3, 6 and 10 feet from a hole.

Reps. Ten putts from each spot, thirty in all. Play one ball at a time and putt out for the hole each time.

Scoring. One point for every putt that goes in. Maximum 30. Record the count for each distance as well as the total, for example 3 ft: 9, 6 ft: 5, 10 ft: 2.

Drill 2: the up-and-down test

Setup. Choose five lies within 20 yards of a green. Use a mix: one tight lie, one in light rough, one from a downslope or upslope, one from a bunker or bare ground, one to a short-sided pin. Mark each lie with a tee.

Reps. Two balls from each lie, ten shots in all. Play each ball until it is holed.

Scoring. One point for every ball that is on the green after the first shot and holed with one putt, so two strokes in all. Maximum 10. Do not count an up-and-down you needed three strokes to complete.

Drill 3: the wedge window

Setup. Mark targets 50, 75 and 100 yards away and draw a circle around each with a radius of ten steps, using tees. Use your own wedges.

Reps. Ten balls to each distance, thirty in all. Choose the club and swing length you like. Take your time and use a routine.

Scoring. One point for every ball that finishes inside the circle. Maximum

1. Record the count for each distance.

Drill 4: the driving corridor

Setup. Place two markers (alignment sticks, flags or tees at each end) about 30 yards apart, at a distance of about 200 yards, or the furthest your range allows. Aim down the middle.

Reps. Fourteen balls with your driver, or with the club you use from the tee on a long hole.

Scoring. One point for every ball that finishes between the markers, wherever it carries or rolls. Maximum 14.

The card

How the card is used

• There is no pass mark. Improvement is not a requirement of the Candidacy.
• You enter each drill total, and the server accepts only totals within the possible range for that drill. The exact ranges and the timing of the re-test are in the published election rule.
• The card is self-scored, and that is stated openly. It is an honour measure, not a verified one; it is in the plan because it is useful.

Reading your card

Look at each drill as a share of its maximum. The drill with the lowest share is where the next four weeks should start, and week 2 gives it extra time. Do not read the numbers as a ranking against other people: lies, wind and stride differ. Read them against your own later numbers.

If a drill hurts, stop. See the injury and safety notice.

Worksheet

The Game Plan worksheet

A Game Plan is a decision made on the kitchen table instead of on the tee. For every hole you write down where you intend to hit, with which club, and which miss you can live with. After the round, you write what happened. The gap between the two is the most useful thing you will learn in week 3.

It takes about 40 minutes for 18 holes the first time and 20 once you have the habit.

What you need

• The scorecard and yardage guide for the course you will play. Many clubs publish a course map; a satellite view works too.
• Your carry distances from the week 3 wedge session. Use the median distance, not your best.
• A pencil. The worksheet below can be copied to paper or typed in the Candidacy page.

Method

1. Rate the course. Mark each hole with the main danger: water, out of bounds, bunkers, trees, slopes, and where each sits.
2. Choose the tee club. Pick the club that finishes in the widest part of the hole, not the one that goes furthest. On many holes this is not the driver.
3. Choose the approach target. Aim at the middle of the green unless the danger is short of it and you have a clear shot. Aim away from a short-sided pin.
4. Set the miss side. Pick the side of the target where a miss costs least, and aim so the miss lands there. Write "left" or "right", or "short" or "long".
5. Note a stroke target. Write a realistic score for each hole. For most players on most holes, bogey is a good result.

The worksheet

Every hole you play needs an entry for target, tee club and miss side. The exact requirement is in the published election rule.

After the round: reconcile

Add four columns for the round itself and fill them in within a day:

Then answer three questions in your own words:

1. On how many holes did I follow the plan, and what was the score on those holes compared with the rest?
2. What was the first poor decision on my worst hole?
3. What one change to the plan would have saved the most strokes?

Notes on playing to a plan

• A plan is not a rule. If wind, a poor lie or a tee shot that goes astray changes the situation, make a new decision and write down why.
• Do not write targets you cannot hit. If your driver is not reliable, the plan should not need it.
• Your own stats from week 2 should shape the plan: if you miss right more than left, put the danger on the left in your thinking and aim accordingly.
• The same worksheet works for any round you play later.

Week 4

The Letter

The Letter is the last written task of the Candidacy. It is a short piece that says, in your own words, what the four weeks changed, what you will do next and what you would bring to the club. Its purpose is to make you say it plainly. It is for your own record and for the club's.

No person reads the Letter to decide anything. There is no reviewer, no panel and no mark out of ten. The server checks its shape, and the shape is published here.

The shape

The Letter has three labelled sections, in this order:

1. What changed
2. What comes next
3. What I would bring

The rules, as the server applies them, are published in the published election rule:

• each section must have the length stated there, and the whole Letter must stay within the total stated there;
• no links;
• the text must not match another Letter in the same intake once case and spacing are normalised.

If the same text is already in the intake, the Letter is refused at submit. This is not a breach and nothing is held against you: you write your own and submit it again.

What a good Letter does

What changed. Name two or three specific changes, with the numbers. Compare your Baseline Card with your re-test. Compare your Game Plan with what happened. Say what you stopped doing. A sentence like "my wedge window went from 11 to 17" says more than "my short game improved".

What comes next. Say what you will practise in the weeks after, and how often. Be honest about what you will not do.

What I would bring. Say what you would add to a club of keen players: perhaps you mark cards carefully, keep pace, replace divots, bring a newer player round, or keep a record of your own. Keep it concrete and modest. This section is not a sales pitch.

What to avoid

• Claims you cannot support. The Letter should read the same if a stranger checked it against your logs.
• Copying another Letter, or a template, or text from elsewhere. The duplicate check will refuse it, and it would defeat the purpose.
• Links of any kind.
• Personal information about other people, such as your marker's surname.

Drafts

Your draft is kept in your browser until you submit it. It never leaves your device before then.

The rule

The published election rule

Elected by the card: a Candidacy is elected automatically, at once, when every requirement R1 to R8 is met inside the window. A person reviews any outcome on request and can correct it.

The window is 4 weeks, Monday to Sunday, starting on the Monday after you confirm your application.

Requirements: every one, inside the window

1. R1

   R1 Baseline. Take the Baseline Card in week 1: the putting ladder, the up-and-down test, the wedge window and the driving corridor. Each drill total is within its possible range (Putting ladder (10 putts each from 3, 6 and 10 ft): 0 to 30; Up-and-down test (2 balls from each of 5 lies): 0 to 10; Wedge window (10 balls each to 50, 75 and 100 yd): 0 to 30; Driving corridor (14 balls): 0 to 14). The card is dated in week 1.

2. R2

   R2 Weekly practice. Practise in sessions of at least 45 minutes. The plan sets 12 sessions. At least 2 valid sessions in each of weeks 1 to 4, and at least 10 in total. Sessions in the extension count toward the total only.

3. R3

   R3 Paper. Sit the Rules and etiquette paper: 25 questions drawn from a bank of 60. Graded by the server. A pass is at least 20 of 25. A retake opens 72 hours after a failed attempt, up to 3 attempts.

4. R4

   R4 Stats round. Log a round of 9 or 18 holes in week 2 or later with fairways, greens in regulation, putts, penalties and up-and-downs. Every statistic is present and passes rules V3 and V4.

5. R5

   R5 Game Plan round. Play an 18-hole round in week 3 or later to a written plan, then reconcile it. A plan entry for every hole played: tee target, tee club and miss side, and afterwards whether the plan was followed and the score. A 9-hole round does not meet R5.

6. R6

   R6 Qualifying rounds. Play marker-confirmed rounds in week 4 or the extension: two 18-hole rounds, four 9-hole rounds, or one 18-hole and two 9-hole rounds. At least 36 holes in rounds your markers confirmed, each round with its own marker link (rules H1 and H3).

7. R7

   R7 Re-test. Take the Baseline Card again, after the first round you play in week 4 or the extension. Each drill total is within its possible range, and the re-test is dated on or after that round. Improvement is not required.

8. R8

   R8 Letter. Write the Letter in three labelled sections: "What changed", "What comes next", "What I would bring". Each section has 80 to 250 words and the whole has 300 to 600. No links. Not identical to another Letter in the intake. No person reads it to decide anything.

Validity rules: an entry that breaks one is refused

1. V1

   V1. A session lasts 45 to 240 minutes, with at most 2 a day.

2. V2

   V2. No future dates. The date must fall inside your four weeks, or inside the extension once it has started.

3. V3

   V3. An 18-hole score is 55 to 160; a 9-hole score is 27 to 80.

4. V4

   V4. Putts cannot exceed the score; fairways hit cannot exceed the par-4 and par-5 holes played; greens in regulation cannot exceed the holes played.

5. V5

   V5. Two 18-hole rounds may not start within 3 hours of each other.

Honour rules: applied as written, never by discretion

1. H1

   H1. A marker declines to confirm a round. That round does not count. You may play another qualifying round inside the window.

2. H2

   H2. A second marker decline in one Candidacy. The Candidacy ends as not elected, rule H2. The record is kept, and you may apply to a later intake.

3. H3

   H3. A marker link is unanswered after 14 days, or when the window ends. That round does not count. This is not a breach.

4. H4

   H4. The marker page finds your own Candidacy key on the device. The page refuses: a round is confirmed by your marker, on their own device. Nothing is recorded.

5. H5

   H5. The same Letter text is already in the intake. The Letter is refused when you submit it. This is not a breach; write your own.

The extension and deferral

1. Extension. If week 4 ends with a requirement unmet, a 7-day extension starts automatically, once.

2. X3

   X3. A third failed paper defers the Candidacy. You may apply to a later intake, and the record is kept.

3. Window end. If the extension ends with a requirement unmet, the Candidacy is deferred. You may apply to a later intake, and the record is kept.

• Improvement in score is not a requirement.
• Simulator sessions count as practice, never as rounds.
• The rule can only elect, or apply a rule stated here.
• A person reviews any outcome on request to the support address, including your own account of what happened, and can correct it. Every correction is recorded.

Before any drill

Injury and safety notice

The practice plan is general information about golf practice. It is not medical advice, physiotherapy or a fitness programme, and it has not been written for your body in particular.

You must be 18 or over to take part.

Before you begin

• Speak to a doctor or physiotherapist before starting if you have a heart, back, joint or other condition, an injury, are pregnant, or are unsure whether you are fit for repeated golf swings and walking a course.
• Warm up before every session. Start with easy movement and short swings, and build up.
• Stop at once if a drill causes pain, dizziness, numbness or breathlessness that feels wrong. Do not play through pain to reach a number.
• Increase practice gradually. The plan asks for three sessions a week of 45 to 60 minutes; do less if you are new to golf or to exercise.

On the course and range

• Look before you swing. Check that nobody is within range, in front or beside you.
• Call "fore" loudly if a ball is heading towards anyone.
• Stop and take shelter when thunder is heard or lightning is seen. Do not finish the hole. No round, score or plan is worth a risk to your safety.
• Drink water, protect your skin from the sun and wear clothing and footwear suited to the weather.
• Keep your own equipment in good condition and follow the rules of the range or club.

Your responsibility

You choose whether to take part in any drill and how hard to push. Use the plan at your own risk and within your own limits. To the extent the law allows, Elected Golf accepts no responsibility for injury or loss arising from practice or play you undertake. Nothing in this notice limits any right you have that cannot be limited by law.

The full terms are on the Terms page.