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If a picture is worth a thousand words then – in my book at least – a statistic is certainly

worth a photo album or two…

With the modern game dominated by new technologies I’ll grant you that some have become less

reliable than others; take Driving Accuracy for instance – the sheer length that players are hitting

their tee shots, combined with the wide, deep and sharp grooves on scoring Irons means that

players can now find the green with their approach from just about anywhere.

This, in turn, has an effect on the ‘Greens in Regulation’ statistic, with most Tour players well in excess of the 70% mark. The two most important – and reflective – stats for me are ‘Putting’ and ‘Scrambling’. The Tour Pros who consistently score the best are the ones who get up and down more often when they DON’T hit the green, and take the least putts when they DO; and I guarantee they hit more GIR than you do!

So, next time you head out onto the course, keep a spare scorecard with you and record a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ if you hit the green ‘in regulation’ (on in one on a Par 3, two on a Par Four and three or less on a Par 5) THEN for those where you’ve got a ‘No’ make a record of whether you got ‘up and down’, if ‘yes’ then record the number of regulation putts. You’ll be surprised at just how many shots are getting away from you.

If you can keep regulation putts below 2 per green (Pros average around 1.70 – 1.80)

and scrambling (from 25 yards in) up over 60% you’ll improve your score dramatically.

Give me a call, pop into the shop or drop me an Email any time and we’ll arrange for a

short game lesson to help you work on your technique around – and on – the green.