David, its not as bad as you might think. Try this out to fix your short par 3 play. Aim for the center of the green and continue to make your swing nice and smooth, always focus on the swing plane, and keeping that head down. You maybe thinking of the wrong thing on par 3s, like will i get on this time or not, or will i go in the sand, think positive and make the swing. Assuming you know your distance control that also plays a good part which you can practice on the range. In my game i hit a draw normally so i always try to play from right to left to ensure i get to the center of the green. It can be a few things David, but the main thing is always think positive have the right club for the distance and swing easy, good luck.

Jeff Y.

hit em straight, hit em long 

Visit a near by executive course or par 3 course. That's how I sharpened up my par 3 scoring average.

Hi David, 

From what I have seen, most par 3's are set up to mess with you mentally, Just figure out your yardages and be honest with yourself with what you can carry. Combine that with knowing where to miss and you should be able to frequently get par at the worse with a simple chip & putt.

All four par 3's at my home course can easily cause doubles by hitting past the hole or in a bunker. Oddly enough, they all favor missing short left of the green for most pin positions. some cases you kind of have a better chance at birdie chipping up from off the green than you do putting downhill on the green.

David,

I had a Par 3 at my club that i had not hit the green in 14 rounds of golf,175 mts downhill.

Finally said to myself "STOP THINKING ABOUT IT AND JUST HIT THE BALL"

Conclusion: if you are hitting the greens on your approaches on the Par 4, then there is no possible reason you shouldn't be doing it on the Par 3's.Ist in your head!

Play it the same way ,tee the ball level with the ground and play it like any normal iron shot.

On the other hand ,if you are not hitting greens then get your swing checked ,take a video of your swing and have a look at it.

By the way, my 15th round on the 13 hole i hit the pin half way down on the full and the ball still ran off the green,BUGGER!!   

Just take one extra club and swing smooth, thinking only about the biggest, safest part of the green.  Ignore the hazards, ignore the flagstick, just a smooth swing with that extra club to the meat of the green. 

I have recently had the par 3 woes and it has been driving me crazy and hurting my score. I have my yardage down but for what ever reason once I would tee the ball up I had trouble putting a good swing on it. I actually started putting the ball down on the ground and hitting it as if I were hitting a fairway shot. Last week when I played I didn't miss any par 3s. It's help me get my confidence back and helped my score by a couple of strokes.

Best of luck!!

Gary

Someone had mentioned it above, but don't always aim right at the stick. This is a common mistake for most amateurs seeking the infamous hole-in-one. If you aim for the center of the green or safe spot you will increase your chances greatly at scoring a par. Greens in regulation wins.