Simon Byford’s golf column: Always remember Dave Pelz’s putting lumpy donut analogy to stop your short game letting you down

The golf world lost a true legend this past week, Dave Pelz. Dave was known as ‘Professor Putt’ for his unwavering dedication to learning everything about the short game, and putting inparticular.

From the wedge matrix system that many players still use to dial in their short game distances, to wonderful putting drills that test every element of your requirements on the green, Dave produced it all. His short game and putting bibles are almost mandatory reading for anyone wanting to teach golf, and I use many of his ideas every single week on the lesson tee.

Today I’m going to give you one of his best tips that you can implement straight away, giving you a better idea of what to expect on the green.

The ‘Lumpy Donut’ is how Mr Pelz described it. Imagine the golf hole and 150-plus people per day reaching down to pick their ball out of the hole.

Now everyone is considerate and doesn’t step near the hole when they pick the ball up, but they all stand around the hole about 18 inches from the cup, producing an almost perfect circle of footmarks treading down the two foot diameter from the hole.

Your ball must navigate this trodden down area before raising up slightly to enter the hole. We sometimes call this the ‘crowning’ of the hole, but I like the visual of the Lumpy Donut. By knowing that your ball must navigate the Lumpy Donut, it will help you be more positive with your short putts, and any putts not hit with sufficient speed will veer offline. Always remember Dave’s Donut to putt better in the future.

Haverhill GC

The Haverhill Ladies participated in The Daily Mail Foursomes. This is a multi-round knockout across the country, with one pair representing each club. The rounds start locally and get less regional as you progress.

Haverhill are this year represented by Jackie Condon and Lyn Fish. In the first round the pair were drawn at home against Newton Green GC, and despite having to give seven shots acros the 18 holes, they ran out 4&3 winners.

This set up an away tie against Braintree GC. As well as giving away home advantage, Jackie & Lyn also had to give four shots to their opponents. This did no deter them in any way as they once again won comfortably, this time 3&2. They now await other results before the next round to be drawn after April 13.

Stowmarket GC

A busy week at Stowmarket saw five competitions held. Firstly, the Seniors held a Greensomes Stableford event. This is a pairs format where both players tee off each hole, then pick the best drive and take alternate shots with that ball until the hole is completed. Bill Smith & Paul Deeves returned the top score with 41 points, and ‘The Count’ popped in to determine Mike Heywood & David Riedel’s 40 points was superior to Steve Brown & Jonathan Brown’s identical score.

Next up was the Ladies’ Coronation Foursomes. Again a pairs Stableford event but this time only one ball, no choosing tee shots here. You would usually think this was a tougher format, but Pam Willshere & Sue Knights proved otherwise with a stunning 42 points. Second place went to Tracey Delaney & Lynn Rawlings on 39 with Linda Whipp & Fiona Ferriethird scoring 36 points.

The Men’s section firstly held a Midweek Stableford, and as is the norm at Stowmarket, this was across three divisions. Steve Ribbon had the best score in Division 1 with 37. Matt Lockwood was second with 36 and Matt Holbrook, a perennial podium finisher this year, was third with 32. Division 2 saw Paul Swallow return the highest score with 41, and ‘The Count’ ruled that Simon Ager was second and Matt King third with their pair of 37s. For a change it wasn’t Division 2 that had the highest score of the day, that went to Stephen Brown with a fantastic 44 points to top Division 3. Kevin Kent was second on 41 and Mel Clarke third with 37.

There was then a Weekend Medal held. On Saturday Ray Nicholls topped Division 1 with a nett 66 and Graham Tobin was second on 68. Division 2 went back to form with Robert Rush scoring a superb nett 62, Nigel Carrick was scond with nett 64. Division 3 saw three players tied on nett 68, Martyn Wright took the honours with Tony Gomez second and Alan Hurst third.

The Sunday iteration saw Jamie Young triumph in Division 1 with nett 68, Mark Turnbull took second place with 71. Division 2 was won by Martin Wilson on nett 70, Martin King coming second on 72. Division 3 saw Paul Deeves return the lowest score of the day with nett 67, Dave Kemp was second on nett 73.

The Suffolk GC

The Suffolk members put their Winter League to bed with the final of the six-round event. With the best four scores to count there was every opportunity for movement on the final day. Gavin Hogg & Stephen Haygreen had the best round of the day, scoring 39 points in this Greensomes format. Second on the day went to Dave King & Richard Budgen on 38 points. Hogg & Haygreen’s round propelled them into second place on 146 points, but it was not enough to topple the eventual winners Graham Chapman & John Dale. Their 37 points on the final day improved their total by five points and took them to 149 cumulative points.

Kieron Watson continued his early season form with a fine 39 points to win the first of the week’s Seniors’ Stablefords. Richard Graves was second on 38 and Nick Rippington was third on 34. In the second Seniors’ Stableford John Ellis hit top spot with 37 points, Alan Horne burrowed his way into second with 36 and Roger McGann was third on 31.

There was also a Midweek Medal for the main club members, Brian Hay returned a nett 72 for the win, James Laflin chipped in with a 73 for second and Chris Carnaby was third on 77.

Bury St Edmunds GC

The Bury Men’s section held their Weekend Combined Stableford, meaning scores could be returned on either Saturday or Sunday. Norman Salmon cleaned up in Division 1 with 41 points, Sam Peters was second on 40 ahead of Finlay Curr on the same score. Anthony Maggs topped Division 2 with 42 points, Mark Smith second on 41, again by virtue of ‘The Count’, ahead of Toby Beresford also on 41. Harold Block plastered over the field in Division 3 with 42 points, Jamie Crack was second on 38 and Martin Richmond finished off the job in third on 37.

With The Masters starting at Augusta National on Wednesday, this week will see the 2025 season in full flow. K J Choi will no doubt be the first round leader and all will be primed for a fantastic weekend of Major action. Have a great golfing week.