Average Putts Per Round

[Vardon11LDN]

I have just started tracking the stats on my rounds. I have mentiond my putting woes on here before so I will not go into that. I have just picked up my first comp handicap of 18 and my goal is to get down to 15 this year. The question is how many putts per round should a 15 handicapper be aiming for? To give you an idea I had 39 putts at the weekend that included a chip in! I want to give myself a PPR score to aim for.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Well, you want to be 36 or below for a start off, that being 2 putts per hole.
Then take into account the odd 1 putt where you've either holed a long one or chipped close to get up & down. Plus the occasional 3 putt.

So I would think somewhere from 30 to 34 average would be ok.

 

[bobmac]

Almost impossible to say.
You might hit every green and 2 putt them all.
You might miss all the greens and chip close and one putt half the time
You might hit lots of greens but leave yourself difficult putts.

Better to count how many unforced errors you have ie the times you 3 putt when you should have 2 putted or how many easy putts you miss.

Having said that, if you are taking more than 36 putts, you probably need to do some work on your putting.

 

[UlyssesSky]

The average number of putts per round doesn't really say much about your putting.

It really depends on how many greens you hit and how long your putts are...

Let's say you play two rounds and have 35 putts each time. But in one round, you hit 8 greens in regulation, in the other just 3.

All else being equal, your score in the first round will be 5 shots better than the second one. The difference may as well be in your putting as in your chipping, so you don't get clear pointers what to work on.


That being said, 39 putts including a chip in is really a lot. Your first goal could be to bring your average number of putts per hole down to no more than 2, so no more than 36 putts per round.

I haven't seen you putt, but I think it's safe to say that to achieve that, you need to lower the number of three putts and get up and down more often.
Three areas to work on could be:

- lag putting, to leave you shorter second putts
- chipping, to get the ball closer to the hole from off the green
- shorter putts from 3 to 10 feet to make more putts even if your first putt or chip weren't good

 

[patricks148]

ive no clue how may putts i take in a round, maybe i should have a count up next time i play

 

[louise_a]

A putting lesson would be useful, I have improved my putting massively after having a putting lesson.

 

[Norrin Radd]

having just looked on HDID stats my putting is absolutely atrocious. it says [from all the rounds embellished] i take an average of 43.21 putts per round.
i play off 14 and generally play to within one or two shots of that .
i knew my putting was a bit iffy but looking at the stats i think im going to have a bit of practice ,after a lesson or two.

 

[selwood90]

I track my number of putts per round quite regular. My worst has been 41, my best being 31. Makes a big difference to the card, most un practised part of my game I think. Definately needs work

 

[BTatHome]

Putts per GIR useful to know, below 2 is good (more birdies than bogeys)

Putts per non-GIR is good for knowing your recovery game is working, closer to 1 better as your either chipping close to tap in, or holing some good putts to only single putt.

Either way having a total record isn't good for me, but is certainly a good start to stats keeping

 

[User 105]

I'd say if you're in the 30-34 range your doing ok and should be reasonably easy to achieve unless you usually play on a course with really tough greens.

 

[woody69]

having just looked on HDID stats my putting is absolutely atrocious. it says [from all the rounds embellished] i take an average of 43.21 putts per round.
i play off 14 and generally play to within one or two shots of that .
i knew my putting was a bit iffy but looking at the stats i think im going to have a bit of practice ,after a lesson or two.

That's insane! I can only guess you're hitting a lot of GIRs so leaving long 1st putts. But yeah, just getting down to 36 putts and you could play off 7!

 

[BTatHome]

Also worth noting that if you want to make comparisons to others then you need to be sure you are using the methods for counting. Therefore a putt should only be counted if you are on the green, not the fairway, nor the fringe. Have seen many comparisons were people are talking about different methods of counting, which is worthless.

 

[Ross61]

Also worth noting that if you want to make comparisons to others then you need to be sure you are using the methods for counting. Therefore a putt should only be counted if you are on the green, not the fairway, nor the fringe. Have seen many comparisons were people are talking about different methods of counting, which is worthless.

Totally agree. My average dropped from about 37 to about 31 when I realised putts from off the green were "chips".

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I average 31.71 putts per round. Not sure what that tells other than it improved from 33.16 in 2014. I do feel I'm a good putter especially holing out and so it does help my scoring but it doesn't stop me being prone to three or even four putts