About
What Is Scoring Zone? The Golf Short Game Practice App
50+ Scored Drills. XP Progression. Performance Tracking. All Free.
April 8, 2026 · 6 min read · Stephen Pickering
50+ Scored Drills. XP Progression. Performance Tracking. All Free.
April 8, 2026 · 6 min read · Stephen Pickering
Key takeaway: Scoring Zone is a free golf practice app built entirely around the short game. 50+ scored drills, XP progression, performance tracking, and pressure tests — all designed to make your practice count.
Around 60% of your golf shots happen within 100 yards of the hole. Yet there isn’t a single app built specifically to structure, score, and track your short game practice. That’s why I built Scoring Zone.
I’m Stephen Pickering. I’ve played competitive golf since I was a teenager — off scratch for years, currently a 3 handicap. I’ve seen first-hand what separates golfers who improve from golfers who don’t. It’s never talent. It’s practice quality. Scoring Zone is the tool I wished existed every time I turned up to the putting green with no plan and left an hour later with no data.
This post explains exactly what Scoring Zone is, what’s inside it, and who it’s built for.
Scoring Zone is a golf short game practice app. It’s a PWA — a progressive web app — which means it works on any phone, in your browser, with no app store download required. Save it to your home screen and it behaves like a native app.
Inside, you’ll find 50+ scored drills across putting, chipping, pitching, bunker play, and distance wedges. Every single drill has a points system, performance benchmarks calibrated to handicap level, and progress tracking so you can see exactly how you’re improving session to session.
The app runs on an XP progression system. You start with a core set of drills. As you complete challenges and earn XP, harder drills and advanced features unlock. It gamifies your practice without dumbing it down — the drills are real, the benchmarks are meaningful, and the pressure is deliberate.
Scoring Zone is currently in early access. That means every feature, every drill, every stat — completely free. No credit card. No trial period. Just sign up and start.
Putting is where most amateurs leak the most strokes. The average 15+ handicapper three-putts 3.2 times per round. Scoring Zone’s putting drills are built to fix that — not with tips, but with structured pressure and measurable targets.
Five-Foot Circle — Place the ball five feet from the hole. Make ten in a row. Miss one, your streak resets to zero. A 15-minute timer runs. If it expires, you fail. Your score is total putts taken — the lower the better. This drill builds the pressure tolerance you need over three-footers on the course.
Lag King — Hit ten putts from 40 feet or more. Measure how many finish within three feet. Focus on speed, not line. Benchmarks are calibrated to your handicap. This is where you stop three-putting.
Clock Drill — Place eight balls in a circle, six feet from the hole. Make all eight without missing. Record total putts to complete the circle. The fewer the better. It trains confidence from the range where most putts are missable but makeable.
Speedmaster — Five putts from 30 feet to the same hole. Three points if you hole it. Two points if the ball finishes within 18 inches past the hole. One point if it finishes 19–36 inches past. Zero if it’s short or more than 36 inches past. Record your total out of 15. This drill trains the single most important putting skill: speed control.
Defstar — Sixteen consecutive putts from three, four, five, and six feet. Any miss resets to zero. Record total putts needed to complete all sixteen. Maximum 30 minutes. This is a pressure test — pure and simple.
Chipping drills in Scoring Zone follow the same principle: real targets, real stakes, real scores.
The Ten Yarder — Chip ten balls from just off the green to a hole ten yards away. Count how many finish inside three feet. Use whichever club you prefer. Points are based on proximity. Simple setup, clear benchmark.
Par 2 — Set up nine different chip shots around the green. Try to hole out in two or less — one chip, one putt. No gimmies. If your chip finishes close, you still putt from at least a putter length. Count your pars (two or less).
21 Points — Chip to scoring zones around the hole. Inside one foot scores five points. Inside three feet scores three points. Beyond that, one point. Reach exactly 21 — go over and you bust. Record attempts needed. The fewer the better.
Ladder Up — Place five clubs or alignment sticks on the green, starting at 10 feet, each two feet apart. Chip four balls to land between each pair, closest to furthest, then four balls back from furthest to closest. Miss a gate and you restart from the beginning. Record total attempts to complete the full ladder.
The SIM Lab is for golfers who use a launch monitor or simulator. These drills test distance control and accuracy with full data feedback.
Dial-in 20 — Distance control mastery from various wedge yardages.
Pitching Accuracy Ladder — Pitching from progressive distances, scored on proximity.
Random Pitch Seeker — 20 pitches from 50–100 yards, random distances each time. Tests your ability to adjust on the fly.
Morris Short Game Challenge — 30 shots: 10 each from 8, 20, and 45 yards. Record your distances. A full short game stress test with data you can track over time.
Explore the full putting drill library — scored challenges with automatic tracking.
Putting Drills →The Performance Hub is where you get a proper assessment of your short game. The main test is 60 shots from various distances and lies. At the end, Scoring Zone calculates your Short Game Handicap and your Putting Handicap — two numbers that tell you exactly where you stand.
You get a PDF report you can keep as a personal baseline or hand to your coach. Inside the Performance Hub you’ll also find the Clutch Putt Challenge (a pressure putting test from 3–6 feet), the Century Drill (100 putts from various distances), and the 15-Minute Blitz (a timed chipping test that pushes you to perform under the clock).
The Practice Assistant is built to eliminate the biggest problem in amateur golf practice: showing up with no plan.
It includes a clock wedge distance calculator — the classic 7 o’clock, 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock positions for gap wedge, sand wedge, and lob wedge. Record each position and look back at your yardages any time.
There’s a practice notepad for technique notes between sessions. A structured one-hour session builder that covers technical work, random practice, and a performance test. And dedicated putting and pitching warm-up routines you can use pre-round or before any session.
You can add full stats for every round you play. Every course in the world is available — pick the course, pick the tees, and the app populates it straight away.
After two rounds, you get strokes gained data benchmarked against your handicap. You can set the benchmark handicap in settings so you see how you compare to players in your bracket — both ball striking and short game.
Track approach shot proximity and miss direction during your round, and the stats section generates a heat map showing where you’re missing and what your tendencies are. At a quick glance: fairways in regulation, greens in regulation, up-and-down percentage, and putts per round.
Elite Mode unlocks at higher XP levels. It gives you tour-level analytics, strokes gained around the green, and harder drills with tougher benchmarks. It’s designed for low handicappers and competitive golfers who need more than standard benchmarks to keep improving.
See how the Performance Hub calculates your Short Game Handicap and Putting Handicap.
Performance Hub →If you’re new to golf and your practice sessions consist of hitting a bucket of balls on the range, Scoring Zone gives you a system. You’ll know exactly what to do, how to score it, and whether you’re improving. No guesswork.
If you’re a 10–20 handicapper, you already know your short game is costing you. You three-putt too often. You chunk chips. You leave bunker shots in the sand. Scoring Zone gives you the drills and the data to fix the specific areas where you’re bleeding strokes. Most golfers in this range can drop 3–5 shots per round just by practising their short game with purpose.
If you’re a low single-figure player, you need pressure in your practice. Scoring Zone’s drills are designed to simulate on-course intensity — miss penalties, streak resets, timed challenges. The benchmarks are calibrated to your level. Elite Mode gives you strokes gained analysis and tour-level data so you can find the margins that separate you from scratch.
The PGA Coaches Founders Programme launched on 6th March 2026. Within two weeks, 32 coaches signed up. The programme gives teaching pros access to Scoring Zone plus tools to track student progress, set drill targets, and monitor improvement between lessons. If you’re a coach, this is a structured system your students can use on their own time — and you can see the results.
Getting started takes about 60 seconds.
Sign up at scoringzone.net. No app store download needed. It works in your browser on any phone.
Save it to your home screen. Scoring Zone is a PWA, so once it’s on your home screen it looks and works like a native app. Loads fast, works offline for most features.
Start with the unlocked drills. You won’t have access to everything on day one — and that’s deliberate. Complete drills, earn XP, and progressively unlock harder challenges and advanced features.
Track your scores. Every drill result is stored. Session by session, you’ll see your scores trending — and you’ll know exactly which parts of your short game are improving and which still need work.
Yes. Scoring Zone is completely free during early access. All drills, stats, features, and assessments are included. No credit card required. Sign up at scoringzone.net and you get full access immediately.
No. Scoring Zone is a progressive web app. It works in your phone’s browser and can be saved to your home screen so it looks and feels like a native app. App Store and Google Play launches are planned, but right now the PWA gives you everything.
For putting drills, you need a putter, a few balls, and access to a practice green. For chipping drills, add a wedge. SIM Lab drills require a launch monitor or golf simulator. No special equipment beyond what you’d normally bring to the short game area.
Yes. The PGA Coaches Founders Programme gives teaching pros access to Scoring Zone plus tools to track student progress and set drill targets. 32 coaches signed up in the first two weeks. If your coach isn’t on it yet, point them to scoringzone.net.
Stephen Pickering
3-handicap golfer with 25 years on the course. Built Scoring Zone to bring structure and pressure to short game practice. Writes about what actually works from the practice green, not the press box.
60% of your shots happen inside 100 yards. Scoring Zone gives you the drills, the data, and the structure to actually improve. Free during early access — one session shows you exactly where your strokes are hiding.
Download Scoring Zone Free →Full access to all drills, stats, and features. No payment required.
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