Putting. Watch the ball go into the hole.

Try this. Stand on the practice green ready to put but without the putter. Hole the ball in your right hand. Take a look at the hole, now back down as if your putter was in your hand. Now toss the ball to the hole without looking at the hole.

Now, resume the position with the ball again but now look at the hole. Watch a spot on the edge or on the pin and toss the ball to that spot.

What is easier? Why not look at the hole while putting. Why look at the ball?

Drive for show, putt for dough. This expression has been around for as long as the game of golf. It is as true today as it was away back then also.

There is a lot of fun to be have by standing up to the ball on the tee, taking a practice swing or two and then driving that little pill straight and long down the fairway. What a great feeling of satisfaction surges through the body when it works perfectly. However, unless you are a very low handicap golfer, that feeling happens very rarely during the round. If you are human, more than likely your next drive may be in trouble. You try to fly it over the trap and you put it into the sand. You may hook or slice it into the trees, or worse, your ball decides to take a swim in the lake. Shots begin to accumulate on the scorecard quite quickly in this manner.

On the other hand, possibly you miss the green with your second shot, chip to within eight feet and make a nice putt. What a feeling.

There’s no doubt about it, putting well will have you smiling all the way home. So how do you become a good putter, consistently?

While playing golf for a good many years I was classified as a duffer. I could not putt consistently. My scores suffered and so did my brain.

One day while on the practice green I decided to try looking at the hole as I was setting up for a putt. I surprised myself by holing it out. A few more tries and I was hooked. It was tough trying to hit the ball with the center of the putter but I was dropping more putts than I was missing.

In a few days I was getting more comfortable with the system than before. Soon winter set in and the clubs went into storage. Soon I began to putt in our living room on the carpet. My wife and I placed a couple of old Christmas cards ten feet apart on the floor in an inverted V shape. The aim was to try to putt the ball into the V. It seemed that when I concentrated on an exact spot on the card the ball would hit that area.

With the coming of spring the clubs came out of hiding and the putts began to drop. Concentrate not only on the hole but an exact spot such as a blade of grass or a half inch from the right edge or some other point. More often than not, golfers think they are picking a spot when they are really picking an area.

Distance is a little tough to get used to. I found that I had to aim at a spot a foot short of my target. That worked for me as the ball would generally travel about a foot past the hole if it didn’t go in.

Try it. You may love it and win all of the dough.

Joe and Irma Mac Millan have enjoyed the Whistler Mountain and valley area of British Columbia for many years. They have camped, hiked and skied the mountains and fished and kayaked the rivers and lakes. Their website Whistler-outdoors is a must for anyone considering a trip to Whistler as well as the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. They invite one and all to take a look.