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Conceding Putts

DataDude

DataDude

I Hate LIV
Albatross 2024 Club
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This topic came up in the "What Rule Do You Ignore?" thread so I wanted to start a special topic on it because I think it is one of the hardest things to figure out for golfers. In a match play competition what do do you concede? I was playing in my clubs match play championship and I conceded several putts in the 2'-3' range, but one of my opponents conceded a couple of 5 footers to me. That made me feel uncomfortable because there is no way I am conceding one that long. What length do you all concede? Is too gamesmanshippy to concede putts early and then make them putt them when things get tight near the end? Let's have a talk about putt conceding.
 
Basically for my group I play with we considering if its within the length of a putter grip its good. Outside that we putt everything.
 
Stryker said:
Basically for my group I play with we considering if its within the length of a putter grip its good. Outside that we putt everything.
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Pretty sure I’m around the same. However, sometimes I’m much more liberal and if it’s a few feet and they’re putting well I don’t really care. 5 footers though? Probably not


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My regular group putts pretty much everything outside 12” unless it’s for a double or triple bogey. Wednesdays and Thursdays I play in leagues where everything is putted out. I’m not the type that often concedes even a 2 foot putt in match play. 18” sometimes, but 2 feet is easily missable under pressure. If no money is on the line, I could care less if people want to give 4 or 5 footers.

During a match play event if I know the guy is a good putter I will sometimes concede early putts in the 2-3 foot range and then make him putt them later in the round. Not really anything I need to worry about as I haven’t played in any real match play events in the last 25 years. All my leagues and our club championship are stroke play.
 
PKorf said:
Pretty sure I’m around the same. However, sometimes I’m much more liberal and if it’s a few feet and they’re putting well I don’t really care. 5 footers though? Probably not


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In our work league, if I've already won the hole by 2 strokes and my opponent has a 4 to 5 footer, I'll give them the putt. Doesn't much hurt my score (we award an extra 2 points for best net score) and if anything, it helps my opponents league handicap drop.
 
Well theres two different situations here.
1v1 Match Play I will typically concede any putt inside 3 ft unless he has shown a weakness putting, or he isnt giving me anything. It's very dynamic and always changing. Also, if I'm giving a pop on the hole, you aren't getting a conceded putt.

For stroke play/skins I have larger issues with it. First off, there are no gimmies for birdie. Secondly, I positively refuse to accept that a 22 handicap gets the same gimmie range as a 5 cap. It's the biggest fallacy in casual golf. If a higher cap player feels his 3 footer should be given, then he better start giving out 4 footers to his low cap buddies.
 
I'll concede anything 12" or less. Unless it's for double bogey or worse.
 
captaincaution said:
In our work league, if I've already won the hole by 2 strokes and my opponent has a 4 to 5 footer, I'll give them the putt. Doesn't much hurt my score (we award an extra 2 points for best net score) and if anything, it helps my opponents league handicap drop.
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The 2 the guy conceded me were for ties to his score. I just didn't get it. I almost argued with him that he should make me putt it just because I knew I wasn't going to give him the same treatment.
 
If I see a guy/gal putting well early, I will give some putts that are a bit longer, 3 foot range. Anything over that and you are putting, not going to give someone a 5 footer unless i have won the hole.
 
I basically concede within potter length but sometime is I am given them I put them out anyway for practice as I still need plenty of putting practice. More often than not I make them but there are times I miss them which is why i put them out sometimes

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Conceding Putts

I’ll need to see a couple made before I concede in match play, even then I reserve the right to have someone make a putt if the situation can favor me.


With friends and a casual round I’ll routinely give 3-4 footers unless they want to putt them for practice .
 
I'm usually playing for who buys beer or maybe once in a while a $5 Nassau. So I'm fine with conceding putts from a foot and a half or so as long as it's not one of those scary sidehill ones that has 8" of break on a 12" putt, he can putt those thank you very much.

If the other guy is a good putter he's going to make most short ones anyway. And if he's a bad putter I don't really get much pleasure out of seeing him grinding and white-knuckling putt after putt all day long. I do pretty much make my opponent putt everything if it's the deciding hole of a match.

And yes, I know every hole is equally important in theory. But the feeling of a 12" match-winning putt on the 18th hole with the match all square is more intense than that same 12" putt back on the 3rd hole.
 
It depends. I've given some 5 footers in match play to tie holes, but that was after the guy drained multiple 8-10 footers. Had he not done that I probably wouldn't have given him anything over 3 feet or so. He argued with me on one hole saying I shouldn't give it to him. He made it anyway.
 
I play a lot of 2 man scrambles. Playing Edgewood, our opponents were scuffling as the course was really too long for them. I was conceding pretty liberally...and this actually offended one of them. We argued over conceded putts as he thought I should not be giving him some that were shorter than some he had given us. I decided then and there it was not worth arguing with a friend over, much less a stranger. Since then I have not conceded a putt in those competitions nor will I accept one. That was actually a statement I made, "I will never give or take a putt in these again."

Note that in just a random friendly round, I will concede anything my playing partner(s) want to take, generally with a comment along the lines of "play your game how you like, take anything you think is good" but otherwise, everything gets holed out. If friends playing for ice cream can get upset over what is and isn't conceded, imagine how upset people might get with stuff on the line. And this thread already shows the discrepancies between expectations. One of them is pretty...I will say aggressive instead of offensive. This is an issue that can lead to bad feelings and for me, it is not worth it. For others they should do as they ought.
 
Year ago, before I learned better, I signed up for my then-club's Match Play tournament. I say "learned better" because it didn't take long to run into some serious, truly spectacular sandbagging. Unlike a stroke-play tournament, if you get paired with a sandbagging scoundrel in the first round of match play your entry fee is wasted when he closes you out 11 or 12 holes into the event.

Anyway, one first-round opponent (a gentleman I did not know) paused on the first tee to give me a lecture. It was something along the lines of, "Just want you to know I don't believe in this whole conceding putts thing. This is a tournament and I want you to know now that you're going to have to putt everything out all day. No hard feelings but that's just non-negotiable as far as I'm concerned".

I told him OK, no problem, let's play. On the first hole he has about a foot or so for par after I was in with my bogey. I said, "That's good" and walked to the next tee. He goes ahead and putts out, then catches up with me and says, "I thought we settled this back on the tee". I just smiled and said, "I'm one down, you have the tee".

Conceded him a bit longer one on the next green and he finally shut the hell up about it.
 
Don't play a ton of match play, but there is no rhyme or reason when to concede other than to keep the player off balance. I'd concede a 5 footer and make them putt a 1 footer, depending on the circumstances. Don't let them get into a rhythm.
 
DonJuan said:
Don't play a ton of match play, but there is no rhyme or reason when to concede other than to keep the player off balance. I'd concede a 5 footer and make them putt a 1 footer, depending on the circumstances. Don't let them get into a rhythm.
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That is some stone cold assassin level stuff right there. I like it.

My group usually concedes within about a foot, give or take a few inches. More than that, its presumed you are putting unless its for double or worse. I played this last weekend on some fairly slick greens with a buddy and a random twosome. The twosome were conceding some very long putts, like 5 feet, for par and bogey. I didn't case since nothing was on the line, but it did make me a bit uncomfortable knowing that they would have likely scored a bit higher if they would have had to make those putts.
 
Funny this came up. Last night I was watching the Men's Division 1 Semifinals and after a player conceded a putt you could see his coach mouth in the background "why did you concede that?"

In league play it depends and like someone said it's a fluid thing through the round. Alot of the times it comes down to how much of a "Richard" the guy is being. I'm alot more generous if we are out having a good time and enjoying the round. If it turns out to be more of a competitive round I'm not as forth coming. Typically anything over 3' I still make them putt, especially if they are in the skins game. Any birdie/par putt will always have to be putted no matter the length just because there could be money involved. I'm pretty open at the beginning of the round with guys I haven't played with, if they are in skins they'll be putting alot more. As the round progresses usually they have to putt more and more also, especially if it's a close match.
 
It might also be good to consider when in the routine of the opponents putt to concede. Do you let them read the green? Do you do it before your in? Does it even have to be a putt before you give the hole?

I have hardly ever played in match play. I have league night, but there is stroke play going on as well.
 
BigDill said:
The twosome were conceding some very long putts, like 5 feet, for par and bogey. I didn't case since nothing was on the line, but it did make me a bit uncomfortable knowing that they would have likely scored a bit higher if they would have had to make those putts.
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In my experience, those type of guys would also have scored higher if they weren't taking illegal drops and if they were counting their first ball off the tee every time!
 
Trmpt98 said:
Funny this came up. Last night I was watching the Men's Division 1 Semifinals and after a player conceded a putt you could see his coach mouth in the background "why did you concede that?"

In league play it depends and like someone said it's a fluid thing through the round. Alot of the times it comes down to how much of a "Richard" the guy is being. I'm alot more generous if we are out having a good time and enjoying the round. If it turns out to be more of a competitive round I'm not as forth coming. Typically anything over 3' I still make them putt, especially if they are in the skins game. Any birdie/par putt will always have to be putted no matter the length just because there could be money involved. I'm pretty open at the beginning of the round with guys I haven't played with, if they are in skins they'll be putting alot more. As the round progresses usually they have to putt more and more also, especially if it's a close match.
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Your group pays out skins in a game where people pick up 2-3 foot putts? Yikes. If my club played skins like that there would soon be murders, or at least grievous bodily harm.
 
I'm in a league where I'm giving shots on every match I'm playing, so I'm already behind on strokes starting out.
I make my opponent putt everything out until I feel that I'm far enough out in front that I don't need to be a "Jerk"
I'll give 2 footers and in, past that, you have to make it.
 
Et Tu Brute? said:
Your group pays out skins in a game where people pick up 2-3 foot putts? Yikes. If my club played skins like that there would soon be murders, or at least grievous bodily harm.
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Well technically yes but it is in the rules that if you are in the skins game and under double bogey you should be putting it out. Of course like sandbagging, not everyone follows the rules like they should. Typical payout is $10-12 as there are usually a few guys who win and usually have to do so with a birdie which most make you putt. I just have to hope that people do follow the honor code but you always have those people. I chose not to buy into the skins each week since I hardly win with my handicap as I would need a birdie. Seems like everytime I birdie a hole so does someone else so I chose to keep my $2 lol.
 
For me it depends what it's for and how far into the match it is.

If it's for bogey or worse than chances are anything in the 2-4 foot range will be a pick up. For birdie or par, it's going to have to be inside of that range. Also if the match is tight with only a couple of holes remaining, don't expect much unless it's inside 12-18 inches.
 
I always give everything around 4', if the match is close I may not give them one later on as the pressure is really on, and they have not made one all day. It has worked in a tight match before for me.
 
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