Spring 2026

TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT B Y L A I RD SMA L L The Fastest Way to Lower Your Score ore than 50 years ago, Manuel de la Torre—longtime golf professional at Milwaukee Golf & Country Club and a member of theWorld Golf Teachers Hall of Fame—was asked a simple but revealing question during his interview for the job: How would you improve every member’s handicap? De la Torre didn’t hesitate. He said he could lower the entire club’s handicap by two strokes instantly. Naturally, the interview committee wanted to know how.They invited him back for a second interview, pressing him for the secret. De la Torre smiled and replied that he would reveal it only if he were hired. He was— and his answer surprised everyone. He said he would remove the flagsticks from every hole. That was it. No swing changes. No practice drills. Just pull the flags. De la Torre’s reasoning was sim- ple and brilliant.Without a flagstick, golfers would stop obsessing over hitting the perfect shot tight to a tiny target. Instead, they would focus on something much larger: the entire green. By shifting the target from a narrow point to a broad, forgiving surface, players would swing more freely, strike the ball more confidently, and—almost immediately—hit more greens in regulation. The result? Lower scores across the board. Golf Isn’t About Perfect Shots At its core, golf is not a game of perfection. It’s a game of managing imperfection. By aiming for the middle of the green, golfers align their strategy with reality. They protect themselves from big mistakes, reduce stress, and turn more holes into routine pars—with the occasional birdie arriving naturally over the round. Why Aiming at the Flag Costs Strokes Despite feeling bold and skillful, firing directly at flagsticks actually costs strokes for nearly all players. Decades of performance data—from PGA Tour analytics to amateur shot tracking—tell the same story. The reason is shot dispersion. Every golfer, regardless of skill level, has a predictable spread of where shots land. Even PGA Tour players miss their intended target by an average of 20 to 25 feet from 150 yards. Mid-handicap amateurs miss by 40 to 60 feet, and higher hand- icaps miss by even more. When you aim at a flag located near the edge of the green, that normal dispersion dramatically increases the chance of missing the green entire- ly—finding bunkers, rough or water. Aim at the center of the green, and the same dispersion works in your favor. What the Data Shows From 150 yards, PGA Tour players average about 2.9 strokes to hole out when they hit the green. Miss the green, and that number jumps to roughly 3.15 to 3.5 strokes. For amateurs, the penalty is even steeper. A 10-handicap golfer can lose up to 0.5 strokes every time they miss a green. Over 18 holes, that adds up to three to five wasted strokes—the difference between shooting 82 and 87. Long Putts Aren’t the Enemy Many golfers worry that aiming for the middle of the green leaves them with long birdie putts and fewer scoring chances. In reality, from 20 to 45 feet, even professionals make only 5 to 8 percent of putts. Amateurs make less than 2 percent. However, two-putt rates from those distances exceed 90 per- cent, making par far more likely than when chipping from rough or sand. The Real Scoring Killer Statistically, the biggest enemy of a low handicap isn’t missed birdies— it’s double bogeys and worse. Middle-of-the-green targeting increases greens in regulation, reduces penalty strokes, keeps misses playable, and most importantly improves your fun meter! Sometimes, the fastest path to better golf is aiming smarter. Golf is a game we play for a lifetime—be a lifelong learner. Laird Small recently retired from a nearly half-century career as a golf professional. Most well known for his 19 years of leadership of the Pebble Beach Golf Academy, Small is a PGA Master Professional, one of GOLF Magazine’s top 100 teachers in America and was 2003 National PGA Teacher of the Year. Despite feeling bold and skillful, f iring directly at flagsticks actually costs strokes for nearly all players. M 98 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 6