Should I Lag My Long Golf Putts Or Should I Try To Hole Them (Video) - by Pete Styles
Should I Lag My Long Golf Putts Or Should I Try To Hole Them (Video) - by Pete Styles

Should you try and lag your long putts or should you try and hole them? First of all let’s define lag. Lag is a putt that just goes somewhere close to the hole. Doesn’t necessarily go charging past the hole, but means that we should have a guaranteed 2 putt on the back of it. Now there’s no exact right or wrong answer for should you lag or should you try and hole them, because different people need to do different things at different times in their round of golf. What I would suggest is early on in the round of golf, lagging the putt is probably more appropriate to it. If we had a long putt of this nature early on in the round and we’re able to roll it up nice and close to the hole and close to the hole let’s define that as within one putters length. If I was one putters length away from that hole, I’d be quite happy, I’d walk up and tap it and I’ve made my 2 putts and I’m off to the next hole. But if later on in the round of golf, maybe let’s say I’m playing a match play game, and my opponents knotted it nice and close and I’ve had to give him the putt and he’s taken it for a 3 and I’m here in 2, well now I’ve got to have a go for it. There’s no point in me lagging this putt up. So the difference between a lag and a bit more aggressive is generally just the speed but don’t forget the speed changes the line.

So if it’s a lag putt would allow more break, less speed, curve it in and drop it in close to the hole, we probably won’t get it in, but we should get the next return putt and if we’re going for a little bit more of aggressive line, we’d be a bit straighter and a bit firmer, we’d give the putt chance to go into the hole but knowing we run the risk of having to return the next putt coming back. So if I take this first putt down here, roll it up towards the hole, try to be a little bit more aggressive and have a go at it, it just slips out but now I’ve got quite a tricky come back putt you know, I’ve e got 5 or 6 feet coming back to that hole, that’s not going to be the easiest thing to do. So on this next putt line it up, cozy it up there a little bit closer this time, so take a bit of speed out of that one, and just knock it up to the side of the hole and now I wish I’d rather have much rather have the lag putt, however the lag putt has not actually reached the hole, it’s just an inch short and an inch left, so I never had a chance of getting that lag putt in. So different times in my round the lag putt is the one I want, sometimes my round the slightly more aggressive trying to knock it in putt but the one I want. Practice both and work out which part of the round of golf you need to lag, and which part you need to be more aggressive. 2014-10-14

Should you try and lag your long putts or should you try and hole them? First of all let’s define lag. Lag is a putt that just goes somewhere close to the hole. Doesn’t necessarily go charging past the hole, but means that we should have a guaranteed 2 putt on the back of it. Now there’s no exact right or wrong answer for should you lag or should you try and hole them, because different people need to do different things at different times in their round of golf. What I would suggest is early on in the round of golf, lagging the putt is probably more appropriate to it. If we had a long putt of this nature early on in the round and we’re able to roll it up nice and close to the hole and close to the hole let’s define that as within one putters length. If I was one putters length away from that hole, I’d be quite happy, I’d walk up and tap it and I’ve made my 2 putts and I’m off to the next hole. But if later on in the round of golf, maybe let’s say I’m playing a match play game, and my opponents knotted it nice and close and I’ve had to give him the putt and he’s taken it for a 3 and I’m here in 2, well now I’ve got to have a go for it. There’s no point in me lagging this putt up. So the difference between a lag and a bit more aggressive is generally just the speed but don’t forget the speed changes the line.

So if it’s a lag putt would allow more break, less speed, curve it in and drop it in close to the hole, we probably won’t get it in, but we should get the next return putt and if we’re going for a little bit more of aggressive line, we’d be a bit straighter and a bit firmer, we’d give the putt chance to go into the hole but knowing we run the risk of having to return the next putt coming back. So if I take this first putt down here, roll it up towards the hole, try to be a little bit more aggressive and have a go at it, it just slips out but now I’ve got quite a tricky come back putt you know, I’ve e got 5 or 6 feet coming back to that hole, that’s not going to be the easiest thing to do. So on this next putt line it up, cozy it up there a little bit closer this time, so take a bit of speed out of that one, and just knock it up to the side of the hole and now I wish I’d rather have much rather have the lag putt, however the lag putt has not actually reached the hole, it’s just an inch short and an inch left, so I never had a chance of getting that lag putt in. So different times in my round the lag putt is the one I want, sometimes my round the slightly more aggressive trying to knock it in putt but the one I want. Practice both and work out which part of the round of golf you need to lag, and which part you need to be more aggressive.