Round data, specifically putting

[TIBA_Putt - Kyle 139]

I've always tallied score, fairway hit, gir, and putts. But I think I may start keeping track of total distance of putts made. Might give me a better idea of how I'm actually putting.

 

What kind of data do you guys keep during a round??

[fozcycle 15,077]

FIRs

GIRs

Putts

[PlaidJacket 7,737]

I don't specifically keep track of putt distances. Just number of strokes. After a round I enter all my stats for the day a think about my putts made or missed. Were they short ones or longer putts. Which ones gave me the most trouble if any. Over all I'm a good putter. However, I will concede that just lately I've been missing several 3-4 footers. Normally I make 90 % of those. I've been making some weird move as pointed out recently. WTF !!!

[Kor.A.Door 5,843]

I generally don't try to keep stats on each round, I know hat my weakness is putting, my FIR, and GIR, are quite acceptable for me average around 10-14 fFIR, and 12-18 GIR, putting however ranges from 35-40 putts per round. That's nearly half of my score most days. That's about 2 putts every hole, but mixed in are about 4-5 putts for birdie from 10-12 feet and I rarely if ever make any of those.

[evershady 877]

I use the OOB Golf App that  keeps track of GIR, FIR (Miss, Left, or Right, Putts, Sand Shots, and Penalty Strokes, and Score. 

[jbil8802 801]

Yesterday I hit 12 GIR which I think is a new personal best for me. I didn't have any 3 putts, but I didn't make any birdie putts. I need to spend less time on the range and more time in the short game area at the club.

[evershady 877]

Yesterday I hit 12 GIR which I think is a new personal best for me. I didn't have any 3 putts, but I didn't make any birdie putts. I need to spend less time on the range and more time in the short game area at the club.

 

That's what they say is the fastest way to lower the handicap I personally just cant stay focused while putting practice and it is the worst part of my game. 

[Kor.A.Door 5,843]

Yesterday I hit 12 GIR which I think is a new personal best for me. I didn't have any 3 putts, but I didn't make any birdie putts. I need to spend less time on the range and more time in the short game area at the club.

I rarely spend any time on the range, I spend and range time I would have on putting, if I am playing in a tournament match I will warm up with about 10-15 balls, just to start getting the back loosened up, I finish with the tee shot for the first hole, I do that right before heading to the tee box.

[Undershooter 4,131]

Score

Putts

Balls OB.

I could give 2 rips about fairways. The short grass isn't always the best way to the hole!

[revkev 25,157]

The big four GIR, Grs, PPrs and up and downs are simple and tell a story. IMO the best story to tell is proximity to the hole in regulation because without ball striking nothing else matters.

 

I realize that this is not what you want to hear or read in this thread but let's face it, putting only really separates at the top. If I am the best ball striker in the field I will win because 10 feet closer to the hole matters more. jordan Spieth makes 30 percent of his 25 footers, I will make that many or more of my fifteen footers. I've read every shot counts, I've played lots of golf and I'm convinced that putting is over rated beyond distance control and inside of eight feet.

 

Over time people whom I play with think I'm a great putter. I'm not, I hole more putts than they do because.... I have more make able putts. It's not magic. But making those short ones is huge! I'm thinking you help with that. So thanks!

[Undershooter 4,131]

The big four GIR, Grs, PPrs and up and downs are simple and tell a story. IMO the best story to tell is proximity to the hole in regulation because without ball striking nothing else matters.

I realize that this is not what you want to hear or read in this thread but let's face it, putting only really separates at the top. If I am the best ball striker in the field I will win because 10 feet closer to the hole matters more. jordan Spieth makes 30 percent of his 25 footers, I will make that many or more of my fifteen footers. I've read every shot counts, I've played lots of golf and I'm convinced that putting is over rated beyond distance control and inside of eight feet.

Over time people whom I play with think I'm a great putter. I'm not, I hole more putts than they do because.... I have more make able putts. It's not magic. But making those short ones is huge! I'm thinking you help with that. So thanks!

You know I agree with you bc we have talked about this before but it's not always ideal to break out the tape measure on the course Rev.

[Undershooter 4,131]

A friend of mine just keeps score and dots. What I mean by this is he will put a dot on the card any time he makes a major error. For him short game, usually a chunked pitch shot. Although it could reach to balls OB, bladed wedges, mental errors, missed 2 footers if you wanted it to.

 

Actually not a bad idea for those looking to keep a stat

[TIBA_Putt - Kyle 139]

I went out and played 9 today and while I had 15 putts(not terrible but not great), I didn't feel like I putted well. Some one putts from good short game shots.

Thought the distance thing might help assess my game vs how I "felt" about it. Granted, I didn't really give myself a lot of good, makeable putts, so proximity might be more valuable.

Rev, do you write down rough proximity or just more of a mental note on the round of how close you were on approaches??

[mizuno_lover 546]

I used to use the OOB golf thingo online but found it to be a little bit annoying for some reason.  I then found the Golflogix App for smartphone that is also a GPS rangefinder.  It is a brilliant app and keeps great stats that are also online on their website.  It has a proximity to the hole feature for putting too so it is very handy for people that want to know that stat.  There is a free version that is not as good as the pay for version but if you are keen to keep stats it is worth a look.  The pay version is very inexpensive too which is what attracted me to it

 

You can check it out here www.golflogix.com/

[PlaidJacket 7,737]

I think I'm going to have to call BS on Undershooter. Not sure where you play but on any course I play I aim for the mow. I have yet to find an instance where I'd rather take a shot from thick grass or out of the woods etc. But, if FIR isn't important to you lets go play. I'll take the fairway off the tee and you take the rough. Loser buys lunch.

[revkev 25,157]

The big four GIR, Grs, PPrs and up and downs are simple and tell a story. IMO the best story to tell is proximity to the hole in regulation because without ball striking nothing else matters.

I realize that this is not what you want to hear or read in this thread but let's face it, putting only really separates at the top. If I am the best ball striker in the field I will win because 10 feet closer to the hole matters more. jordan Spieth makes 30 percent of his 25 footers, I will make that many or more of my fifteen footers. I've read every shot counts, I've played lots of golf and I'm convinced that putting is over rated beyond distance control and inside of eight feet.

Over time people whom I play with think I'm a great putter. I'm not, I hole more putts than they do because.... I have more make able putts. It's not magic. But making those short ones is huge! I'm thinking you help with that. So thanks!

I went out and played 9 today and while I had 15 putts(not terrible but not great), I didn't feel like I putted well. Some one putts from good short game shots.

Thought the distance thing might help assess my game vs how I "felt" about it. Granted, I didn't really give myself a lot of good, makeable putts, so proximity might be more valuable.

Rev, do you write down rough proximity or just more of a mental note on the round of how close you were on approaches??

I got you Kyle, I do agree that distance of putts holed is significant as a measure of putting. Historically I've been a huge putting guy. It's only been the last two years that I've become convinced that it's more about ball striking.

 

I think it's a great discussion as to what makes the putter, three putt avoidance, number of feet of holed putts per round or short putting. The only issue I see with the number of feet is that I could chip in and stuff a few irons during a round and sway the stat. The tough thing about putting is that there is always something else that goes into it, one two, three or four other shots that impact the difficulty of that first putt.

 

I know too that proximity to the hole is tricky to measure. I started getting into it and onto it when I did a MGS test last summer. I'd got when the course was empty and literally measure 3/4 approaches a hole. I pace off my putts or chips in a regular round so I spot keep track of paces, not every round but every others or third round. So I check paces. I average 7 paces with my wedges, 9 with my short irons, 12 with my middle irons. So that's 21 ft, 27 ft, 36 ft give or take a foot.

 

That doesn't take long, I have a little book that I write this stuff down in. I know, I'm whacked, you should see the reams of stuff I have accumulated for my doctoral project.

 

I really like this topic, thanks!

[TIBA_Putt - Kyle 139]

I think I'm gonna start tracking proximity now. And I was thinking about it last night, and you're right, Rev, there's too many factors that can affect distance of putts made. It might be a decent stat, but probly not the best means of assessing your game. Two putting from 10' and making the 1 footer tap in looks the same as two putting from 40' and making the 1 footer tap in, but are drastically different in gauging your putting.

But looking at a 2-putt from 40' and a 2-putt from 10' tracking proximity shows where you really need to focus attention. Ball striking for the first example and putting for the second.

[revkev 25,157]

Having written all that though you can't be a good golfer if you aren't a good putter.  It's a great sport, isn't it!

 

I was thinking about this thread at the course today, a round that never happened because the thunder hit during our warm up.  We waited it out over lunch but there's too much moisture out in the Gulf, looks like a lost weekend golf wise.

 

At any rate consider the Jordan Spieth 4 putt in the Open on Monday.  Sounds like terrible putting.  But his tee ball was a half shank, he had over 100 feet to the hole because he was well onto the wrong side of a double green.  There's little doubt that he was still upset about the tee ball when he hit that first putt and basically just whacked the thing off the green and then took three more putts from there.

 

So was it a putting issue or a total game break down that led to the double bogey?  Physical error on the shot, mental error on the first putt setting up three more putts?

 

The more I think about it three putt avoidance on putts over 25 feet and short putting may just be the very best way to measure putting ability.  Even overall 3 putt avoidance doesn't work because if I'm hitting it closer to the hole I'm taking fewer putts.

 

Any thoughts on that duo Kyle?  You are the putting man and it would be nice to find a good way to measure how much better a player is getting at putting beyond traditional less accurate means.

 

So how about 3 putt avoidance over 25 feet and percentage of putts made inside of 10 feet? 

[TIBA_Putt - Kyle 139]

It's really all about trying to get the whole picture the fewest stats. And thats tough with this game. I mean, how do you get the whole picture without like 15 stats?? And who has the time or even wants to track that?? I sure know I don't.

 

Fairway hit, GIR, proximity(both on greens hit AND greens missed), and total putts might be the best combo. GIR and Prox would give you a picture of ball striking and short game. And then total putts combined with proximity would tell you how you're putting from certain distances. Approach to 35' and 2 putts is solid putting, maybe lacking ball striking. Approach to 8' and 2 putts is solid ball striking but lacking putting. And if you have a 3 putt on there, Prox would tell you if it was really bad or not. 3-putt from 60 ft I'm less concerned about than from 30 ft.

 

And if you wanted to get a little more info out of your proximity data, add in approach dist. But that might be a bit much.

 

I really like this discussion. Certainly going to help me get the most out of my rounds and let me know where to spend my practice time.

[Undershooter 4,131]

I think I'm going to have to call BS on Undershooter. Not sure where you play but on any course I play I aim for the mow. I have yet to find an instance where I'd rather take a shot from thick grass or out of the woods etc. But, if FIR isn't important to you lets go play. I'll take the fairway off the tee and you take the rough. Loser buys lunch.

Just to clarify I do AIM for the fairway. Its always better if I hit them but I don't really care that much if I'm in the rough or not as long as there aren't any trees or in front of me or anything like that. I will take 300+ in the rough(as long as its in play) over 240 down the middle. I want the short iron or wedge in my hand. A normal round for me is probably 6-9 fairways. If I hit more thats great, if I hit less than that's fine too as long as they are in play. Last round I played I hit 6 and shot 76. Should've been lower but I wasn't hitting good wedge shots and the greens had just been punched so I didn't make anything over 4.5 feet. Now certain courses I may play differently and lay back more but only if there is a reason too. 

And your on Plaid! PS I like my steak medium rare