Par-3s breaking your score? Reconsider the length of your tee, says a senior teacher

Welcome to Shaving Strokes, the GOLF.com series where we share the progress, lessons learned and takeaways from novice golfers like you — including the speed bumps and challenges they’ve faced along the way.

My last few rounds of golf have been some of the best I’ve played in my entire life. I hit the ball off the tee with both distance and accuracy, and my approach shots put me in a position to make birdies and keep pars when necessary.

Yes, I’m still a mid-handicapper, so there are some weaknesses holding me back from my goal of breaking 80 (which is a short game, but that’s a story for a different day).

Other than chipping and putting, though, it’s the 3 holes that just ate me alive, my putts tend to land on the green and roll, roll, roll somewhere away from the pin. It’s like a magnet just won’t let my ball stay within 10 feet of the pin.

Now, look, par-3s are not as easy as they look, as many (myself included) see the short yardage and think it should be an easy scoring hole. Sadly, that is completely wrong.

Want to know the average score on par-3 holes from the PGA Tour this year? In 3.06.

If you’re an average-to-upper-class golfer, it may be time to change your approach — and it all starts with your kid’s height, according to GOLF Teacher to Watch Derek Swoboda.

Try a more tee height on par-3s

If you ask most beginner golfers how high their ball is on a par-3, most of them will tell you it’s low. It makes sense too, because this allows the ball to come closer to the bottom of the club. Simply take a good swing at it, release the club, press the ball, and watch for a safe shot onto the green.

Unfortunately, many mid-to-high handicappers struggle with using each of those parts, so Swoboda defies conventional thinking and says it’s time to lift the ball higher when playing par-3 holes.

“Whatever your normal height is, keep it high,” says Swoboda. “This will allow the golf ball to hit higher on the clubface, and it also allows the club to work higher on the golf ball than normal.”

Although this idea is doubtful for some players, Swoboda continued to say that due to the change in golf equipment, the ball no longer turns as it used to come out of the face of some teams.

“The advent of low-spinning golf equipment has been both beneficial and detrimental to the average to high handicapper,” he adds. “Now there are a lot of clubs in your golf bag that won’t stay in the air because of the lack of spin they allow, so when these clubs are hit on a par-3, they’re going to roll more than they stay and stick.

“The simple reason is that the golf ball is coming into the swing with less backspin than it needs. So if you lift the ball higher, you’re going to add length to the ball’s flight and allow more opportunity for the ball to land on the green and catch.”

So if you’re trying to hit the green on a par-3, too to keep ball on the face of the green, try this simple hack to start dominating your next round.

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Nick Dimengo

Golf.com Editor