Tip Of The Week: Keeping Stats
Many golfers struggle with knowing how to practice correctly. A session at the driving range consists of simply beating balls without seeing any improvement. Too often golfers take comfort in hitting their favorite club or only hit their driver because they want to hit the ball as far as possible. Keeping stats while playing is one helpful idea to know what to practice. Some examples are fairways and greens hit in regulation and keeping track of putts. Write this information down on a separate scorecard for the corresponding hole. At the end of your round, study your stats and use that information while practicing in-between rounds. Let’s dive deeper into a few of these stats to give you a clearer picture of how to track and use the information.
Fairways In Regulation
Starting from the tee box, recording the number of fairways hit helps determine if you need to practice more with your driver on the range. The most accurate drivers on the PGA Tour hit the ball in the fairway off the tee 65-70% of the time. Hitting your second shot from the fairway makes it easier to hit the green, which leads to lower scores. To record, write “fairways” in one of the name boxes on the scorecard and put a Y or N in the score section for each hole that is not a par 3. Total them at the end of the round and see how you faired. Achieving a similar percentage of fairways hit to those on Tour should be your goal.
Greens In Regulation
Greens in regulation is another important statistic to keep track of. Successful PGA Tour players tend to hit the green in regulation 65-70% of the time. “In regulation” refers to hitting your golf ball onto the green with two putts needed to make par. Succeeding at this will naturally lower your score as you aren’t taking more shots to reach the green. Similar to recording fairways hit, use a name box labeled “greens” with a Y or N for each hole. Studying the total will let you know how much time to practice approach shots with your irons.
Number Of Putts
The last helpful stat to keep track of is the number of putts per hole. Successful PGA Tour players average 27-28 putts per round. Reducing your putts is one of the fastest ways to lower your score, therefore spending the most time on this skill needs to be a top priority for those looking to improve.
By keeping stats during your round and not just your score, shows you exactly what you should be practicing on the range between rounds.
Summary:
- Missing Fairways – Hit driver
- Can’t Find The Green – Execute iron shots to common and specific distances
- Putts Not Dropping – Spend time with the flat stick before and after your round
More Tips From Our PGA Professionals:
Alan Unruh
Alan Unruh is a Class “A” member of the PGA of America, and holds PGA Certifications in General Management, Golf Operations and Player Development. With these certifications, he is among the 1% of PGA members that hold multiple PGA Certifications. He has a profound passion for the game of golf along with extensive experience and knowledge regarding planning and strategy for golf operations, rules of golf, tournament operations and golf swing fundamentals. Alan has also played a crucial role helping manage multiple high profile tournaments throughout his career including the USGA Women’s U.S. Open, PGA and LPGA Tour events, and multiple NCAA and AJGA events.