What to read into stats?

[fat80b]

A bit of background before the requests for advice at the end:

I have recently joined a local club after taking up the game a few years ago and am hoping to put in my 3 cards for handicap purposes in the next month or so.
Hopefully this results in me getting a handicap of around 25/26 and then I can enter a few comps.
My goal for the year is to get to a handicap of ~20 through practising for a several hours a week on both the practice ground and driving range as well as by playing about 3 times a week and taking the odd few lessons.

Since joining my club, I have been monitoring my stats – recording FIR, GIR, putts, and average scores per 3,4,5 hole.

I am now looking at them and trying to figure out what they all mean?
My hope was that this would obviously indicate where I should be looking to improve and what to focus the practice on….

For example:
Last night, I was hitting the ball well enough and hit 60% of fairways and made 3 GIR, I still fluffed a few shots as expected but overall felt as though it was a good round.

I took 37 putts and scored an average of:

4.8 on the par 3’s (only one of the GIRs)
5.7 on the par 4’s and
5.5 on the par 5’s

(if only they were all par 5’s ….?)

I went round in 98 (which I was very pleased with) as it was my second round under 100 on this course.

Last time I managed it (a few weeks ago), I did better on the par 3’s (averaging 4) but worse on the par 4’s and 5’s. I also made fewer pars and recorded fewer GIR but stayed on the fairway a bit more as I left the driver in the bag.

I know that others record stats and that the general advice is to record them to help figure out your weaknesses but having recorded some, what can be read into them?

What are the expected FIR / GIR percentages for a 25 handicapper and how many putts should I be taking?

How many pars / bogies etc should I be targeting per round?

Alternatively, should I just ignore the stats as a higher handicapper and focus on getting the ball in the hole….? (going to be hard now that I have started recording them)

Thoughts and suggestions please?


Bob

 

[Imurg]

Well, according to SS2 (the stats program I use) as a 25'er you should :-

Hit 22% fairways
Hit 6% Greens in Reg
Take 39 putts
Par scramble 10% (getting up and down when missing the GIR)

As a 25'er you should be bogeying every hole apart from 7 tht you should double bogey. Technically, you shouldn't be getting pars so if you do you're on to a winner!

Take care to assess your stats carefully. Look at the reasons why, for example, you take 39 putts. Is it that you're putting is rubbish or is it that you leave yourself too far from the pin to make many single putts but make a few three-putts. If its the latter then could it be your approach play/short game is leaving you too far from the hole. If its the approach play, could it be your driving is leaving you with tricky shots to the green.

So taking 39 putts might have nothing to do with your putting but everything to do with how you drive..

See?

 

[19th]

Well said that man!!

Now get out and do it!!

 

[pokerjoke]

IMO you dont really need stats if your just beginning,in my opinion you need to improve in all aspets of the game[espescially the short game]practice is the key.

 

[Ethan]

GIR

Average distance from the hole in regulation (i.e net par -2)

number of putts

These are the three key stats, and they all go hand in hand. You need to hot fairways to maximise GIR, and the distance from the hole predicts the number of putts. If you miss a lot of greens, then scrambling percentage (% up and down in 2) becomes important too.

 

[JustOne]

I don't think stats for an individual round are of much consequence. Find out your stats for 10 rounds and try to beat all of them for the next 10... whatever you don't beat you need to work on... then play another 10.

Hope this helps.

 

[sev112]

(Regular playing) Handicap (in the 20s) shoudl be around the 25th percentile for all your rounds, so lets say that ameks your average round somewhere around 27 to 30 over par.

Typically most players' handicaps is dominated by 3 to 4 bad holes (what this means is that we play to a much better standard for 14 to 15 holes, and 3 or 4 holes are what makes the hanidcap). So say 3 treble bogeys is 9 over par, leaving 18 shots for the other 15 holes; which is something like 3 pars, 8 bogeys and 4 double bogeys.

According to your Par3,4,5 hole scores (with 2 ish puts per hole) you are better at the long holes, which suggest perhaps your mid irons and short game would be ones to practise on.

To get your score down, practise chipping and pitching fomr 50yds out wherever you can, and whenever you are in the c**P chip out sideways and dont try miracle shots from rough/trees - that's what runs up the triple bogeys.

All the best

 

[RGDave]

I didn't get into stats in the early days as such. I did however record my putts. I always took notice of GIR, not with any particular plan in mind, but to congratulate myself when I hit a few.
Golf is a complicated and frustrating game for beginners.
I am currently trying to help a friend score better without necessarily playing better. We talk a lot (in friendly games) about course management and also "attitude" to short game.
The most meaningful stat to me is his ability to save bogey when things go wrong, much in the same way as saving par to a player who really can't afford to drop too many shots. I'm somewhere in between. Obviously, from tee to green this is just considered course management, but I like to make a sub-section just for "around the greens".
If you hit a bad tee shot (nowhere near the green) on a par 3 then clearly making a 4 is going to take 2 or 3 good shots from that point. Once you are getting near greens most of the time, then it's all about the short game.

3 shots from "around the green" is a must. Duffed chips and pitches, 3 putts from no distance, all these things need to be ironed out as soon as possible. I'm sure you're already doing this a great deal but the right decisions at the right time can save so many shots at the end of the game.

Learn a stock bunker shot, a reliable chip shot and some sort of wedge to take out bunkers etc. and playing off 18 is possible quickly.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think you need to look at it on a longer time scale over say 10 or more rounds to see the patterns emerging. Are you playing the same holes badly and is it the same missed drive causing the problem. Are you coming up short hitting into the greens and leaving too much to do chipping and putting. Are you hitting greens but 3 putting (long way from the hole, misreads etc).

Get some simple software that can help interpret the numbers. SS2 is the way to go for me. Its really opened up my eyes and I can see clearly now when things are going well or badly where the problems are.

 

[fat80b]

Cheers guys –
I went out again last night and shot my best score ever so can only presume that poring over stats helped improve my game!

I think everyone is right that number of putts is probably the most important one at this stage. I have been of the belief that if I sort out the consistency in the rest of my game, then the putting can be fixed later – maybe this is a false economy and I should spend some quality time on the putting green?

Last night for instance, I took 38 putts and my partners were joking that I was missing far too many makeable putts
After 6 holes, I was 4 over having had a single 3 putt and 2 putting all the rest from 3 GIR on 6 holes.
If I had holed those easy putts, I could have been 1 over after 6!! (what is it they say – a glimpse of my true potential)

Stats for the round though showed that I managed 4 pars and 8 bogies which has to be a record for me and improves the 10 rounds worth of stats quite a bit.
I did hit 69% FIR and 22% GIR along the way, which again is a new best for me.

Sev112 – you are right about the bad holes – that is exactly what I did last night, blowing up twice on the front 9 (3 in the sand on one and a long 3rd approach with a 3 putt on the other) and twice at the end of the back 9 (I am however putting the 17th and 18th down to the fact that I could barely see the ball leave the club with the added pressure of finally having what I would call a good round.

I like RGDave’s “ability to save bogey” which perhaps makes more sense than scrambling for par for me – I would take 18 bogies all day long…

I also like Ethan’s distance from the hole in regulation – not sure I can record this one so easily but it does seem to make sense.

I have had a look at the SS2 software – I am currently using GolfShot for the iPhone but would consider changing if it would help – I guess first, I need to get a few more rounds in to make more out of the numbers.

Cheers
Bob

p.s. that round was the first of my marked cards and would (by itself) put me on a h/cap of 20 which seems ridiculous considering I have only had 3 rounds under a 100 - is this a good or a bad thing?

 

[Region3]

What do your partners say is a 'makeable' putt?

As for your last question, if your aim is to eventually get as low a handicap as you can, then it's best to do it when you're handing your cards in because it's much harder to do chopping away 0.4 at a time.

 

[19th]

I would now consider starting new stats as your improved scores will get lost as the old recorded scores average them out.

JustOneUk's idea of comparing a batch of new stats against the same number of historic stats will allow an easier view of areas of improvement.

If you keep this improvement going however you will have the 'bandit' tag in no time at all!

 

[fat80b]

In terms of makeable putts, I would say I tend to make a decent effort at long putts and either lag it close or at worse leave my self something within 4 feet. After this, all of them are makeable?

I am tending to miss several shorter putts a round - from 4 ish feet and in – I would have thought that most people would not be doing this. I miss both high and low, long and short…for me, it is definitely in the mind……

I think yesterday, I 3 putted the second from about 12 feet for bogey and then missed a 4 foot par putt on the 3rd for another bogey. Of the 3 of us playing, I was definitely missing more from this distance.

-

In terms of handicap – my goal for the year was to a) get a handicap and b) get it down to around 20 for the end of this year. It now looks as though I am going to start off at around 20.

I am not in it for the winning of competitions as such – my goal is to be good enough to enjoy competing without looking like a clown!. I have previously joked to my friends that I strive to be average at golf……

I think what worries me is that I would like my handicap to be a true reflection of my ability. Facing a 20, I feel as though I would be in clown territory, i.e. I did it once, but I am not at all confident in doing it again.

For example, in the society I play with, I have been playing off a handicap of 25, I track all of my scores and calculate stableford points for all rounds played (not just the society games) as if I was playing off 25,
In my last 20 rounds, I have scored over 30 stableford points 6 times with the highest being 35pts yesterday. i.e. playing off 25, I would not once have received a cut !!!!

A potential 20 handicap is great and I am happy about this as I did play the round and would never consider not submitting the card.
But in all honesty, I am really not a 20 handicapper. 4 weeks ago, I had never broken 100.



Bob

 

[Region3]

Sorry, I'm confused now.

Your best score would give you a handicap of 20, but you've not scored more than 35pts playing off 25?

As for makeable putts, 4' seems a sensible distance to expect to get more than you miss, but they're by no means automatic.
Looking at last years PGA Tour stats, the pro's average about 9/10 from 4', but I'd be very happy with 7.

 

[fat80b]

Sorry, I'm confused now.

Your best score would give you a handicap of 20, but you've not scored more than 35pts playing off 25?

Thats exactly my point,
The card I have to submit has me scoring 95 on a par 69 with only 2 double bogeys, 2 trebles and 2 quadruples

(the others being 4 pars and 8 bogeys)

Adjusting these to double or worse (that is right isnt it?)

means 26-6 = 20

in terms of stableford, this had me scoring 19 on the way out and 16 on the way back in.

or am I doing something wrong?

Bob

 

[viscount17]

I think I'm right in saying that your handicap will be based on your Score - SSS (not par).
The Stableford Adjustment (rounding down to double) will be against par.
So on that score, an adjusted 91 - SSS (say 68) gives you 23 (happier?)

next, you should only be playing to your handicap around 20 - 25% of the time, if you're doing noticeably better it's too high (or you're a mexican)

lag putting, have you heard of the dustbin? on longer putts
aim to get it within a dustbin, these you should be sinking. 4 ft is still maybe territory at your stage

(you putt better than me! and on those stats you should get below 20 quite quickly - just a matter of developing course sense - something else I don't have in abundance)

 

[sev112]

fatb06 - it's great to see a real enthusiasm, realistic but challenging targets, all alongside a desire to enjoy the game

Keep it up -it's going to beinteresting to see your progress

Steve

 

[NickSwan]

As well as general improvement to all areas of your game (easier said then done! ), as has been said - a killer short game will really get your handicap going down and is something that will keep benefiting you more and more as your handicap comes down.

There's a practice game you can do called Par 18 that is good fun and will help you see how your short game is doing, here's the blub taken from a web site I've built:

Par 18 is an effective way to practice that really does lower your scores. This practice will put you under pressure by keeping your score, making your practice sessions more realistic. Par 18 is a game you can practice out on the course or on the practice green. The aim is to choose 9 different hole locations and try and get the ball in the hole in as few shots as possible. Chip the ball close to the hole, hopefully sink the putt - and write the score down.

Do this two or three times a week and things will improve. A good short game gives you more confidence in all areas of your game.

You can use the web site in my signature to track your Par 18 scores as well if you like

Hope this helps
Nick

 

[fat80b]

cheers everyone - I am feeling even more encouraged to get out and improve.
If only I didn't have to work for a living

my motto for the next few weeks is going to be
"short game, short game, short game"
and see where I get to.

Bob