Golf · Level 4: Intermediate · Sub-level 4.4

Lag and Short Putting

4 tests · 40 facts · updated 13 October 2026 · markdown

Putting in more depth: pace on long putts, holing short ones, putters and the stroke, and what the statistics say.

Each test below is ten questions on Insporta. The list under a test is what the questions check: one fact per question, with the source it was written from. Read it before the test, or come back from a wrong answer.

Test 1Lag puttingTake a test

A good line at the wrong pace still leaves a long second putt.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
Like looking at a target before a throw.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
A dying ball can fall in from the edges.
Source: General golf reference (club, teaching and course guides) · recall
Seventeen inches, enough to get through footprints round the hole.
Source: Dave Pelz, Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible (1999) and Putting Bible (2000) · recall
A one-metre circle is a common picture.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
A mistake in pace costs less uphill.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
Good lag putting avoids most of them.
Source: General golf reference (club, teaching and course guides) · recall
The goal sharpens as the putt shortens.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
Pace feel comes from seeing the length.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
Uphill putts can be struck firmly.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · applied

Test 2Short puttsTake a test

A still body keeps the face square.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
It strikes even top players under pressure.
Source: General golf reference (club, teaching and course guides) · recall
Long putters are still allowed if not anchored.
Source: The R&A and USGA, Rules of Golf 2023, Rule 10.1b · recall
Legal, because the forearm is not 'the body' for anchoring.
Source: The R&A and USGA, Rules of Golf 2023, Rule 10.1b · recall
The lead hand sits low on the grip.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
Less time for the slope to act.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
Peeking pulls the shoulders open.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
A near spot is easier to aim at than the hole.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
The make rate falls fast after about one metre.
Source: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts (2014) · applied
A bad start clips a tee.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · applied

Test 3Putters and the strokeTake a test

The path curves slightly inside on both sides.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
It suits a straighter stroke.
Source: General golf reference (club, teaching and course guides) · recall
It suits a stroke with more arc.
Source: General golf reference (club, teaching and course guides) · recall
A ball at rest sits slightly down in the grass.
Source: General golf reference (club, teaching and course guides) · recall
Good contact cuts the skid.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
It changes the feel and sound at impact.
Source: General golf reference (club, teaching and course guides) · recall
The weight spread makes it stable on off-centre hits.
Source: General golf reference (club, teaching and course guides) · recall
More hang suits more arc.
Source: General golf reference (club, teaching and course guides) · applied
Good contact shortens the skid.
Source: General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides) · recall
The more the toe hangs, the more arc it suits.
Source: General golf reference (club, teaching and course guides) · applied

Test 4Putting statisticsTake a test

It compares each putt with what an average pro takes.
Source: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts (2014) · recall
A professor at Columbia Business School.
Source: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts (2014) · recall
Poor approach play leaves long, hard first putts.
Source: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts (2014) · recall
About eight feet.
Source: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts (2014) · recall
Written by Mark Broadie.
Source: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts (2014) · recall
Well over 95 percent.
Source: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts (2014) · recall
Negative means worse than the benchmark.
Source: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts (2014) · recall
Longer first putts need more strokes on average.
Source: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts (2014) · applied
Holing a putt the tour average misses gains strokes.
Source: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts (2014) · recall
About 2.5 metres is the halfway point.
Source: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts (2014) · applied

Sources

PGA coaching and general teaching guides, named short-game, putting and statistics books (Pelz, Broadie), motor-learning research as used in golf coaching, tour statistics, and the Rules of Golf where a rule is named; original questions authored, nothing reproduced.

General golf instruction (PGA coaching and teaching guides)16
Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts (2014)11
General golf reference (club, teaching and course guides)10
The R&A and USGA, Rules of Golf 2023, Rule 10.1b2
Dave Pelz, Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible (1999) and Putting Bible (2000)1