Around-the-clock putting

Setup

1. Choose a hole with a gentle slope around it. Push in eight tees in a ring about a putter length (roughly 1 m) from the hole: 12, 1:30, 3, 4:30, 6, 7:30, 9 and 10:30 on a clock face.
2. Put a ball beside each tee.
3. Up to three players per hole. Players waiting stand outside the ring and off the line of the putt.

How it runs

1. Start at 12 o'clock and work round clockwise, one putt from each tee.
2. Hole it and walk round the outside of the ring to the next tee.
3. A miss ends the go: the balls go back on their tees and the next player starts from 12.
4. Each player's score is their longest run of holed putts; the whole clock is 8.
5. Play three or four goes each and try to beat your best run.

Coaching points

• Every tee has a different slope. Look from behind the ball and choose which side of the hole to aim at, or straight in.
• Roll it firmly enough that a miss would finish just past the hole, not short of it.
• Same routine each time: look at the hole, set the putter, look again, stroke.
• Etiquette: walk round the ring, never across someone's putting line.

Common mistakes

• Treating every putt as straight.
• Downhill putts hit too firmly, uphill putts left short.
• Rushing the next putt straight after a miss.
• Looking up to watch before the ball is struck.