From Tee 2 Green

Well 2010 is over and I spent a few minutes today reflecting on the past year. More to the point, I have been thinking about my golf game in 2010. This is the first year that I truly kept stats on most (over 90%) of my rounds in order to really help diagnose my game. First let’s look at the numbers and then try and decipher their meanings.  

Rounds: 50
Index: -.5
Average Score: 76.1
Low Round: 70
High Round: 84
Rounds Under Par: 4
Rounds that broke 80: 42
Under Par for Nine Holes: 8
Hit Fairways: 59.2%
Hit Greens: 55.9%
Putts Per Round: 31.5
Sand Saves: 31%

Average Score to Par:
Par 3’s: 3.3
Par 4’s: 4.3
Par 5’s: 5.0

Holes Per Round:
Birdie: 2.2
Par: 10
Bogey: 4.9
Other: 0.9

All in all not bad stats for the year. When I started the year, I set a goal of at least one round under par and six nine hole sub-par instances. I was able to shoot four rounds under par this year after not having one for two years. I compared these to the PGA tour and found that my Driving Accuracy is good enough to be 148th on the PGA tour, granted they are hitting to much smaller fairways, but they also have many more opportunities. My GIR and putting of course is nowhere near Tour averages.

I think that these stats show that I really need to focus on my iron play this year. The high par 3 average (3.3 per hole) shows that I miss those greens a lot as I don’t three putt much. Par 3’s are a good indicator of your iron play.  The par 4 average (4.3 per hole) is probably also higher because of my iron play. I put the ball in the fairway off the tee enough that I should be able to score better on the par 4’s. I am able to compensate for the mediocre iron play on par 5’s with my length and short game. I have to give myself more birdie chances on the par 3’s and 4’s.

I feel as though my putting has come a long way in the last few years. I am a much more confident putter and as I said, I don’t three putt very often (1.8 putts per hole). I want to continue to improve my putting, and I feel the best way to do that is to improve my ability to read the greens. I am hoping that the Pelz Putting Tutor from Dave Pelz will help. This is the only tool that Phil Mickelson endorses from Pelz, so that says something about it.

I feel as though my game is as good as it has ever been and that includes back when I was trying to qualify for the US Amateur and US Open. I played more back then so although my swing wasn’t as good, it was more consistent from round to round. I am not as consistent as I used to be in the past, but my short game and putting are better, allowing me to make up for inconsistent play.  Consistency is definitely something I need to work on and that is only accomplished through practice. I now have a driving range across the street from my office and five minutes from my house. This year I will need to use them both a lot more often. But since beating balls is not very helpful without a plan, I also feel like it is time for me to take some more lessons. It has been about 5 years since my last lesson, so I am ready for a refresher.

I highly recommend that, if you are serious about improving, you need to start tracking your game. Statistics like these will help you focus your practice and see better results. I use a simple program on Facebook from SI Golf Nation. It tracks my stats and allows me to see how my buddies are doing at the same time.

Tags: Golf Buddies, Lessons, Thoughts // Add Comment »