Putting: Where are All These Strokes Going?

I've never thought of myself as a bad putter. In fact, I thought that I was actually pretty decent and could get on a roll from time to time. My 29.6 putts per round from 2022 stacks up pretty well next to the average of 33 for the 6-10 handicap range. However, my Shot Scope Strokes Gained - Putting data shows a drop of 2.12 strokes from the previous season. Now, I'm not going to go into a big description of Strokes Gained data (if you'd like that, check out down below) but a simplistic explanation for how it relates to putting is that the further away from the hole you are when you sink a putt the more strokes you gain. For example, if I sink a 15-foot putt I'm going to gain more strokes than if I two-putt from that spot15 feet from the hole or if I one-putt from 8 feet.

My strokes gained data from 2021 & 2022 from Shot Scope

What Changed in 2022?

Last season I made it a focus to lower my chance of three-putting by concentrating more on the pace of the putt for long-distance putts rather than always trying to get the putt to drop. The goal was to just get it close. If it dropped, awesome. If it didn't, I wanted a tap-in for my second putt and to avoid any long second putts that may lead to the dreaded three-putt. I lowered my putts per round by 0.6 but my Strokes Gained took a severe hit. So why did my Stokes Gained for putting drop so far below zero?

Shorter Putts = Fewer Strokes Gained?

I tend to miss a lot of greens, but not by much. The course I play most often has some of the smallest greens around so a Green in Regulation is a big win. There are usually more than a few approach shots that don't hold the green in a round. I like to think I’m decent around the greens when it comes to chipping and I don’t tend to leave myself very many long putts. From the strokes gained graph above, we can see that my Strokes Gained - Short Game for 2022 was much better than in 2021 which shows that I was landing more shots from inside 50 yards closer to the pin - leading to shorter first putts.

In 2021, I had a higher percentage of long putts drop when compared to 2022 which resulted in higher Strokes Gained per putt. So while I may have had (very) slightly fewer putts overall, I wasn't making near as many long putts as the year prior. My Distance of Putts Made in 2022 was 74 feet on average and the average First Putt Distance was 13 feet. Compare that to 2021 when those figures were 96 feet and 16 feet, respectively.

As mentioned earlier, putts made from further away will lead to higher strokes gained versus those made from a closer distance. At each distance, my make percentage is lower than in the previous season. But I had a significantly higher amount of putts from further away in 2021. My make percentage from 9-12 feet in 2021 was pretty good for the 10-handicap benchmark. I plan to start the season by treating all putts within 12 feet as makable putts with the goal of holing the ball whereas, for most putts outside of 12 feet, my goal will be to roll it close and avoid costly three putts.

What's the Plan for 2023?

1. Spend more time practicing putting

   1. Especially before a round to help with getting a feel for the speed

   2. A lot of great ideas for putting practice in this episode of the Hack it Out podcast that I'm hoping to incorporate when I've had a chance to listen again

2. Expand my makeable range out to 12 feet

   1. So long as there's no wild break, I'm going to be approaching every putt within 12 feet as a makeable putt

   2. I'll still be focusing on pace control and three-putt avoidance outside of 12 feet

3. Take another look or two at the putt

   1. Take a breath and really focus on what the ball is going to do on the way to the hole

I need to be more deliberate with my putting. I often rush on the greens and take on a bit of a “whatever happens, happens” approach to putting, which is a pretty terrible approach to putting or golf in general. If I can consistently commit more time to practice my putting and take a couple more looks while on the green, I feel pretty confident that this could be the absolute lowest-hanging fruit for me to improve my game and drop some strokes.

Additional Thoughts and Resources

If you haven't started tracking your Strokes Gained, I highly suggest it. As shown throughout this post, I use Shot Scope which automatically tracks this for me each round through my watch. Others such as Arccos and Garmin can do this for you too as well as various apps out there. I highly suggest to any golfer who is serious about improving their scores that they start taking advantage of Strokes Gained data to help them find the areas they need to focus on to improve their game.

Strokes Gained data provides a far better idea of how we perform on a golf course than the "traditional" stats like Fairways in Regulation, Greens in Regulation (this one is still pretty good) and our friend Putts per Round. If you'd like to dig deeper into the benefits of Strokes Gained data and how you can use it to help yourself, Practical Golf provides an easily digestible explanation regarding Strokes Gained in the article here.