There is nothing more frustrating than striking a beautiful drive, hitting a crisp iron onto the green, and then throwing away your hard work with a painful three-putt. If you want to drop your scores quickly, the putting green is the absolute best place to start.
In this video tutorial, PGA Professional Zoe North shares two of her favourite putting drills. Designed to build both pressure-putting confidence and visual pace control, these quick exercises will help you eliminate those costly three-putts for good.
Drill 1: The Compass Drill
If you struggle with short-range consistency or feel under pressure when standing over a must-make putt, this drill is for you. It forces you to practice putts from different angles, meaning you have to adjust to subtle changes in slope and break on every single shot.
The Setup: Pick a target hole on the practice green. Using a fixed distance (like the length of a practice putting flag as a guide), measure out four starting points around the hole, exactly like the four main points of a compass (North, South, East, and West).
The Goal: Hit a putt from all four starting points and see how many out of four you can hole. Keep track of your score and try to beat it during your next practice session.
Drill 2: Visual Pace Control
To avoid three-putts, your first putt doesn't always have to go in, but it does need to give you an easy second putt. This drill is all about lag putting and training your eyes to judge distances effectively from anywhere on the green.
The Setup: Imagine the compass layout from the first drill, but reduce it by half to create a small target square around the hole (this is your safety zone). Walk to a completely different part of the putting green and plunk down two golf balls.
The Goal: Take your putts from a distance and try to get both golf balls to stop safely inside that imaginary target square.
The Benefit: This drill trains you to visually focus on a realistic "landing area" around the cup rather than just the tiny hole itself, taking the pressure off your first putt and securing an easy two-putt.
Pro Tip: Spend just 10 to 15 minutes running through these two drills before your next round. Building that visual confidence on the practice green will instantly translate to calmer, smoother strokes when you’re out on the course!
