Drill library · Short game

Putt to the Fringe

Short gameHandicap 10+10 minblock workputting

Why this drill

Take the hole away and touch appears. Lagging balls to die against the fringe line trains pure distance control — the skill that turns three-putts into two-putts — without a target small enough to tempt you into steering.

Setup

Ten balls and a clear run of green, twenty to forty feet, toward any stretch of fringe. No hole involved.

The drill

Putt each ball so it dies just as it reaches the fringe — touching the collar and stopping is perfect, a foot short is good, racing into the fringe is a miss. Ten balls from twenty feet, then ten from thirty or more, reading the pace of each putt from behind the ball like it matters. Score touches-and-stops out of ten at each distance. Then turn around and play the set downhill or across the slope; the fringe never moves, but the putt changes completely.

One thought to take with you

Roll the ball to the fringe like you are handing it there, not throwing it.