It’s Match Play time in the Golf Digest offices. At the start of golf season every year, everyone in the company is randomly drawn into a big bracket.
It’s a fun—and at times, heated—competition. And inevitably, it doesn’t take long for some drama to form around the subject of giving putts. Who should give whom a putt; who didn’t give whom a putt.
It flurries up around every Ryder Cup, too, so we thought we’d tackle some of the basics in our most recent episode of the Golf IQ podcast, which you can listen to below (and subscribe to right here!).
If you haven’t listened yet, here’s a quick rundown of the putt-giving strategies we discussed…
1. Good-Good What it is
This is when you and your partner both have similar length putts within about five feet from the hole. If you offer good-good, it means you both pick up your ball, assuming you each make the putt, and move onto the next hole.
When to use it
There’s a general perception that offering good-good is a sign of weakness, which sort of makes sense: You’re purposely giving your opponent a chance to make a decision that affects you. That said, going good-good does have two good uses:
- If you both have trivially short putts that aren’t quite gimmies but that you’re likely to make (~2 feet). Going good-good in that situation is a time saver.
- When you have a short putt in front of you that you’re really not confident in making. Maybe yours is downhill, whereas your opponent’s is uphill. Sure, offer the good-good and see if he takes it—just try not to act too eager.
2. Quid Pro Quo What it is
Similar to good-good in that you and your opponent both have similar length putts, but this is when you or your opponent preempts a standoff by giving the opposing putt while the other putt hasn’t been given.
When to use it
Unlike good-good, there is no agreement or obligation. It’s more etiquette-based. The value of the quid pro quo strategy, done right, essentially shames your opponent into giving you a similar putt because you already gave them theirs—it can make it awkward if he doesn’t. So again, if there’s a putt you don’t want to hit, but you don’t want to offer up an official good-good, the quid pro quo may give you the best of both worlds.
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3. The rust accumulator What it is
You give your opponent all his short putts early, then none of them later, when the pressure of the match is highest. Suddenly they haven’t hit a short putt in hours, and now they have to do it in a nerve-wracking situation.
When to use it
It’s best used when your opponent is a sketchy putter from short range. Get them into a comfort zone early of not putting the short ones, then pull the rug out later in the round.
4. The late concession What it is
You make it seem like you’re not going to give your opponent a putt, so you let them go through their full routine—then right before they hit their putt, you tell them it’s good.
When to use it
As I say on the pod: Personally, I think this one is kinda lame, and a little show-y. The best mind games are ones your opponent doesn’t know you’re playing on them. This one is so transparent it’s obvious; I wouldn’t use this one.
5. The madman What it is
You give putts to your opponent randomly, with no consistency. Make them putt a one-and-a-half footer, then give them a three footer.
When to use it
If you suspect your opponent is going to leave themselves lots of short putts, and that the lack of giving structure could get under their skin. You may look like a madman, but it could leave them thinking and wondering about why you’re doing this—and distracted as a result.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
