# how much emphasis do you put into personal golf statistics?



## indiginit (Jun 13, 2007)

ignore gross score. we all want that one... :laugh: 

a. stats: Fairways hit(driving %), GIR, Putting average, Putts per round(18 holes), Putts per GIR, first putt length, chips, driving distance, penalty strokes, eagles, birdies, pars, bogeys, double bogeys, other scores (dreaded) % of eagles pars ....., handicap, handicap adjusted (per round, for us higher numbered HCP's), handicap differential.... jeez .. etc.

1. which stats (if any) do you guys and gals track? 

2. which stats do you care about more than the others? me, i'm looking for GIR improvement and first putt length. 

3. if you track 'chips' (i do, because of a the program i'm using now) how do you differentiate between 'chip' and 'pitch'? i decided if i'm playing it behind the center, its a chip. roughly  

4. when people say, 'ballstriking' what stat comes to mind? what stat would you track to judge? 

5. if you were a single statistic, who would you chose as a mate? :cheeky4: 

6. if you have a stat index, post it. may as well do something. mines 531.8 at the moment. 

the numbering was included to make ease of responses. if you dont keep stats, post 1. none

add numbers (letters), i dont care. this thread was intended for participation, just put a number in it. add to the stat list (a.) if you want... 

statistics are the bane and bonus of high level golf, IMHO. and i refuse to believe that a 40 HCP cant play high level golf within their realm. sometimes its just fun to squeeze that much more out of a good round, though i try not to pay attention to the numbers within the round.

questions, rote recitation, speculation... its all fair game.

have fun all


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## blue3715 (Aug 29, 2006)

GIR and fairways are helpful. Its a quick guage of how you are playing in general. Putts is not so helpful, since if you have a lot of chips, putts can seem low.

I also track (on par 4s) how far from the green I am after the tee shot. The average distance left from the green usually trends quite accurately to my average score. Other ways are to track what iron you hit and the result. This should quickly pinpoint which irons you are not playing as well as you can. It may seem obvious but usually you don't think about which irons you hit when you had some bad shots. You might see you are less accurate with your pw,9i than your 8i,7i.. this should help you in your next lesson.

finally, try never to 3 putt.. if you can lag better, you can easily cut 2-3 shots off per round.


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## GlennM (Mar 19, 2007)

I'm a stats person... but that's a lot of stats to track while playing. I try to keep in mind how many fairways hit, putts and GIR. At one point I wrote done the club, the distance I hit each club, GIR, putts but it was to much work. Anyway to do it easier? I have too much to think about already and the person I'm playing with might think I'm too anal.


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## Foster4 (May 2, 2007)

i enjoy stats ...fairways greens putts up and downs...


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## Chipmunkslayer (Jun 17, 2007)

Well, it doesn't actually count for anything, but the only thing I really track is driving distance. Mainly because I'm so new to the game it seems to be the only thing I do truly well right now.

I mean yeah, who cares if the ball ended up in the fairway of the -next- hole on my drive - it still went 330 yards :cheeky4: (plus, in the above mentioned example, there was only about 15 feet of rough between the 2 fairways)


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## 373 (Jun 9, 2006)

Fairways and greens in regulation. I don't do it all the time, more when I have been playing badly and want something to remind me to concentrate.


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## Topflite_d2 (May 7, 2007)

The only statistics I have tracked before were fairways hit, and number of putts.


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## JPsuff (Jan 9, 2007)

.


Without a doubt, the most important statistic in golf is greens in regulation. Driving distance and putts-per-round, on the other hand, are the two most overrated stats out there.

There's a rather simple way of looking at this and it goes like this:


3 greens break 90
8 greens break 80
13 greens break 70

Hit more greens shoot better scores.

Putts-per-round is misleading because it's possible to have a 27-putt round, for example, and still shoot over 100. That's because someone can take, say, six shots to get on the green of a par 4 hole with the sixth shot being a short chip which ends up a few feet from the cup. He then sweeps in that two-footer, scores a 7 but one-putted the hole. But what good is a one-putt if the rest of the hole is a disaster?

Driving distance is meaningless unless it can be followed by a solid approach shot (or second *and* third shot on a par 5) and follow that with good putting. So a guy hits a 280 yard drive but then chunks his second shot, blades his third into some heavy rough, chunks the next one, skulls the one after that and finally manages to get on the green and putt out. He might have scored a 9 or worse, but he hit a 280 yard drive. 

Big deal, right?

But greens in regulation doesn't necessarily require a career tee shot or even hitting a fairway. Hitting a green in regulation is a combination of both a tee shot and the susequent approach shot(s). Follow that with even just a decent putting game and you're well on your way to a good score.

The game of chess consist of three basic parts: The opening, the middle-game and the end-game. To be a good chess player you need all three parts to work in harmony and golf is no different. The analogy is this: In golf, the tee shot is your opening, the approach is your middle game and putting and chipping is your end game.
If all of your emphasis is on your opening (the tee shot), or on your end game (putting), that's only one third of the equation. You can surprise an opponent in a game of chess with a killer opening (big drive), but if you can't follow that with a solid middle and end-game (approach and putting), you're gonna lose because you didn't finish what you started.

Balance is the key and the best indication of that balance is greens in regulation. If you can get that stat up into the high single digits, or higher still into double digits, you're well on your way to shooting great scores, unless you're the world's worst putter or you simply collapse from the pressure.
If you set a goal of hitting eight greens in regulation and assuming you're a good enough putter to two-putt those greens, you're even par for eight holes. Even if you bogey everything else, you'll still shoot an 82 on a par 72 course. Then get to nine greens, then ten and so on. Par all of your greens in reg. and the rest will take care of itself.

Hitting a green in regulation means hitting two good shots on a par four. Not one great shot followed by junk. Practice with all of your clubs and practice hitting targets rather than simply swinging for the fences and you'll improve your greens in regulation. 


Hit more greens shoot better scores.

It's as simple as that.


-JP


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## blue3715 (Aug 29, 2006)

Chipmunkslayer said:


> Well, it doesn't actually count for anything, but the only thing I really track is driving distance. Mainly because I'm so new to the game it seems to be the only thing I do truly well right now.
> 
> I mean yeah, who cares if the ball ended up in the fairway of the -next- hole on my drive - it still went 330 yards :cheeky4: (plus, in the above mentioned example, there was only about 15 feet of rough between the 2 fairways)


Remember, golf isn't a game of "how", but "how many".


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## white_tiger_137 (Mar 23, 2006)

I don't find much use in tracking stats. The different aspects are too interconnected to try to seperate. Driving distance and accuracy determine greens hit, which determines chips and putts. A round with 33 putts could be because you really so suck at putting, or it could be because you hit 17 greens. 

Luckily, there is one handy little statistic that wraps it all up very nicely. It's called your score. And if you want to take it one step further, there is a stat that wraps up all your scores very nicely. Handicap. 

Everyone knows what they need to work on. I don't need to see the % of 5 foot putts I've made in my last 10 rounds to know that I need to work on putting.

EDIT:


> Remember, golf isn't a game of "how", but "how many".


Reposted for truth. You have to know how to score well even when you're not on your game.


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## Golfbum (Oct 14, 2006)

The only "STATS" I keep track of are the ones that go on the scorecard. I could care less how many fairways I hit, how many GIR or putts per round. When you have played the game as long as I have (longer than most of you have been living quite likely :laugh: ) Stats mean nothing. I know when I am driving the ball well, I know when I am putting well, there is no need to keep track of that stuff, at least for me there isn't.
At the end of the round it goes like this "I shot 75 today" Not, I shot 75 with 12 GIR's and 8 fairways hit and 32 putts"
No, it is just "I SHOT 75" There are no cameras where I play, no one is watching me on TGC and no one cares how many fairways I hit. All we care about is the final score! CAUSE THAT IS WHAT COUNTS towards the BIG STAT, your index.


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