opportunity. Which is why the other day, I opened the big zipper on my golf bag and took a moment to appreciate the minor miracle I found within.
It’s called the Bullseye Cup. A yellow, C-shaped piece of plastic that’s designed to be put inside the cup as you putt into it.
I’ve had this thing in my various golf bags since my days playing junior golf, which means it’s going on 20 years old. That makes it one of my oldest possessions. My relationship with this piece of plastic pre-dates my relationship with my wife. I’ve earned three different degrees since I bought this thing. Incredibly, somehow, I haven’t misplaced it during that time, which is astonishing considering I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached to my body.
The company that made it, Eyeline Golf, has transformed into one of the biggest training aid companies on the planet over this time, though it doesn’t make this product anymore. There aren’t even that many floating around online.
Yet there remains one in my golf bag. And the best part is that it’s still useful.
When you put this Bullseye Cup into the cup, it blocks off about 90 percent of the hole, creating only a small doorway for you to sneak your ball through. When you approach it at an angle, it means the only way the ball is going to go in the hole is when you match both the speed and the line perfectly.
That’s why I busted it out the other day, after noticing my stats lagging in the seven-to-15 foot range. Matching speed and line is imperative from this range, and you can see how it works below.
Here’s a subtle left-to-right breaking putt. All three of these putts would’ve gone in the hole—but only one did with this contraption. I hit the middle putt too firm for the line I played; I probably had the correct speed on the putt on the right, but didn’t play enough break.
Here’s a more severe right-to-left breaker and you can see the same thing. I think I had the right speed on all three, but played one too low and the other too high. If this cup wasn’t in the hole, I wouldn’t have picked up on those subtle misjudgments. They’d have been masked by the ball rolling into the hole.
Specifically, it helps me do a few important things that pros do very well. Stuff to keep in mind for the rest of us.
Specifically, it helps me do a few things that pros do really well—stuff we all can benefit from,
🎯 Forces me to get ultra-specific with my target
🔍 Makes it easier to evaluate what went wrong—even on makes
↩️ Helps me visualize the full length of the putt by working backward from my intended entry point
🧠 Reinforces that there’s more than one way to make a putt—as long as speed and line match
This working-backwards-from-where-you-want-the-ball-to-enter-the-hole method is one that helped Dustin Johnson win the Masters for all these reasons when I interviewed him up about it. DJ said he’d keep looking at the point he wanted the ball to enter as he adjusted his feet until it felt natural (Legendary putting coach Mike Shannon talks about that method right here).
No, you don’t need this piece of plastic to do it. Lots of coaches help students work on this by putting tees at the ideal entry point of the hole. For you, it might be as simple as just focusing on that point more.
But I’m going to keep using this piece of plastic. The unsung hero of my golf bag.
