Curls
Journeyman Pro
I don’t know, I think there’s more to it than averaging, taking the mean or the mode. Let’s say this is your 8 iron.
You need to know how far a really solid strike goes because that’s what you’re trying to do every time, no point standing over it hoping you don’t nail it in case it goes too far over the back. What’s a good strike? That’s your good yardage. Let’s say 130 with 5 yards run out. If the pin is at the back and the back is 135, with a steep runoff behind, then club down. Better have a longer uphill putt than hit a perfect shot an shortside yourself.
You also need to know how far a bad one goes, so if you hit 3 squiffy fadey ones that don’t go the distance, what’s the carry of those? 110 with 10 yards run out. That’s enough information to know whether the pin you’re going for is accessible or if you should be aiming for the centre of the green. If the trouble is at the front, you need to carry 110 over water (on the right side in the example above), you’re marginal with a dodgy one, so maybe you shouldn’t be aiming over that line, or taking more club and going for the back portion.
So imo you need much more info than a number - but it’s all completely doable and will make a huge difference if you’re also doing the strategic thinking above and aiming for the right parts of the green when the pin isn’t on, so you don’t end up in trouble ??
You need to know how far a really solid strike goes because that’s what you’re trying to do every time, no point standing over it hoping you don’t nail it in case it goes too far over the back. What’s a good strike? That’s your good yardage. Let’s say 130 with 5 yards run out. If the pin is at the back and the back is 135, with a steep runoff behind, then club down. Better have a longer uphill putt than hit a perfect shot an shortside yourself.
You also need to know how far a bad one goes, so if you hit 3 squiffy fadey ones that don’t go the distance, what’s the carry of those? 110 with 10 yards run out. That’s enough information to know whether the pin you’re going for is accessible or if you should be aiming for the centre of the green. If the trouble is at the front, you need to carry 110 over water (on the right side in the example above), you’re marginal with a dodgy one, so maybe you shouldn’t be aiming over that line, or taking more club and going for the back portion.
So imo you need much more info than a number - but it’s all completely doable and will make a huge difference if you’re also doing the strategic thinking above and aiming for the right parts of the green when the pin isn’t on, so you don’t end up in trouble ??
