The Art of Scoring: The Ultimate On-Course Guide to Short Game Strategy and Technique

by Stan Utley, Matthew Rudy

The hottest instructor in golf ?("Sports Illustrated") presents a revolutionary guide for lowering your score with a powerful new approach to strategizing, decision-making, and management for every part of your short game.
Stan Utley's breakthrough short game and putting techniques have made him one of the most sought-after golf instructors in America. Now he offers a breakthrough approach for golfers of all skill levels, with a course- management approach designed to help golfers at the crucial stages of a round of golf.
"The Art of Scoring" shows readers how to understand the way their short game handicap and overall skill level should dictate strategy. Breaking down pitching, chipping, bunker play, and putting into three proficiency categories, Utley presents customized techniques for saving shots simply by making better decisions. He leads us through a round with three amateurs two 10-handicappers and a 20-handicapper to show how improved strategy and execution can transform a player's game. With behind- thescenes pro teaching sessions, crash courses on the three hardest greenside shots, and one hundred black-and-white and color photographs, "The Art of Scoring" is like getting a brand-new set of state-of-the-art clubs, customized by one of the game's premier teachers.

204 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 29, 2009

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will lower your score

I love his books, but this one not only lowered my score but made the game more fun. I love the Strategy of the game the thinking part of the game and that’s what this book address.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 3 out of 5]

the wild Amazone

One of the best I have seen

A few months back I read an article in Golf Digest about the 30 to 50 yard pitch shot by Utley. Out of curiosity I tried it and was very pleased with the results. That prompted me to check out youtube videos and other sources which then led me to get this book.

I realize everyone is different but for my purposes this book has really transformed my short game; both the from the grass and from the sand.

I am amazed at how easily the ball comes out of the trap when I get the swing right. I still miss-hit shots but my bad shots are less bad and my good shots are much better. If I could stop my old habits from sneaking back in, I would miss-hit shots much less often.

This book is sort of a combination of Utley's books on the short game and on Putting.

I have read both of those. I have not had as much success with his book on putting but I also have not had much time to put his theories into practice.

[Dennis Willingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may revise this upward after trying out some of the techniques described. Stan details his approach to some basic and more difficult short game shots. Several of his techniques go against what is normally taught, but they make sense when reading them. Was able to implement some of the wisdom in this book, but I realized what it is I find troubling about Utley's books, their lack of diagrams and illustrations clearly indicating what the text is conveying. If you learn best by auditory methods, Stan may be better for you since the book is much like him explaining what to do verbally. If you're a visual/kinestetic learner like I am, it takes a bit of digging to get at what he's teaching.