Golf Stats, Important to Amateur?

I am a 12 handicap on my course.  I am hitting 45% of fairways, 35% of greens, get up and down at 40%, 31 putts per round, 2 penalty strokes per round.  Average score is 83 on a par 71.  My best is 77 with only 2 fairways hit, but 11 greens.

Looking at it, I have to hit more greens, especially on par 3's.  I also have to eliminate the OB or water ball that bites me each round, though my course is narrow and on a lake so the water and OB are in play on some holes with a reasonable miss.  Putting is aided by the up and down, but I miss every stinking birdie putt.

How important is it to improve on these numbers, or am I wasting mental energy trying to track and improve these numbers?  Is improvement more a matter of playing each shot and striking it well with a good decision on club and shot type?  Or, do I need to think fairway, green, 2 putt on every hole?

For instance, on some greens and pins, I would rather miss the green and chip than have a 40 footer.  Not good for the stats, but better for me mentally.  Just wondered what folks thought, especially if you evaluate your rounds outside of the basic stats.

While it's important to play to your strengths, most people will agree that you are better off putting as opposed to chipping a majority of the time as statistically you'll bet closer with the putter. I think worrying about your numbers are less important than thinking about making good shots and decisions, but I'm not exactly a great golfer so take that with a grain of salt.

I use The GRINT app and it gives me charts and trends and per hole analysis.  I feel like a total nerd but love looking at it.

Different players have very different outlooks on stats. I think they're a great way to identify weaknesses or areas of improvement. They can also give you very specific goals to work on. For example, you may play a round and say "I want to hit 50% of the greens in regulation". If you do that, regardless of the score on the round, you've met a goal.

I love the stats.  I keep them for a while and then I'll slack for while.  I think they can be helpful and maybe at times misleading.  I think the biggest problem with them is that they might be a better gauge of how you did than of what you need to work on.

For instance, you see from yours that you need to get more GIR.  Well no shit.  Sorta like saying I need to be better at golf or I need to score lower. The problem is this doesn't tell you why you aren't getting the GIRs.  What you really need to know is what is the bad shot or bad decision that led to bogey or double bogey (or whatever hurts a person's particular handicap).

For a while, I tracked this.  Whatever shot on a given hole led to me not making at least a bogey - I recorded it.  Stuff like: sliced driver / went for it instead of laying up / hit in the bunker / thinned short iron / duffed chip shot / bad lag putt, etc. Then put it into a MS Excel spreadhseet (go ahead and laugh).  After 10 rounds or so I had a picture of what was costing me shots.  I had thought that errant tee shots was killing me - but oddly fat long irons hurt me more than anything.  Now I know what to work on very specifically.

It is a lot easier to hit the range and work on long irons or solid chipping than to work on "get more GIRs".  That isn't actually a thing you can work on.  A GIR is often composed of 2 good shots following 2 good decisions from different distances with different clubs on holes laid out differently.

Just a thought.

I track stats, it's good for me to see where I played good and bad through a round. But it's really pretty simple. The lowest scores come with the highest percentage of FIR and GIR. Everything else is somewhat insignificant for me. The biggest surprise of 2013 was along with increasing my par average came an increase in double. I wish there was a stat for taking risks because I am certain that is the reason.

We should create a stupid shot statistic.  The R (risk) factor.  I miss greens for many reasons, but often, even from the fairway, I get too cute and try to hit a shot that I have a low percentage of executing.  Actually, I can't think of one instance the cute shot has led to a lower score.  I went OB in a good round (81 with an 8 on a 5) because I was tying to drive to a long distance and narrow landing spot to avoid water and have a shot at birdie.  Instead it cost me 3 strokes and a round in the 70's because I didn't lay up like usual and just take my par.

1 R factor = +3 strokes.  On average, I bet an R factor shot costs most of us +1.5 shots per hole increasing as the handicap of the player increases.  The hero shot from the trees, trying to carry water, overswinging to hit a green in 2, the ill fated shot at the pin on a short side flag, the perfect bunker shot instead of just getting out.

I am going to track the R factors in my next round.

I don't hit many stupid shots but I hit plenty that end up looking stupid after they are hit badly.

Of course if I had known I was going to hit a bad shot I would have done something else.

I play 9 holes a week and maybe get in a 18 hole round every other week. For me I dont pay attention to stats much except for tracking my 3 putts. I am coming off a six year lay off been back at it for 2 years now. I currently have a 7.7 index which was pretty much what it was when I stopped playing. For me its all about putting. I actually hit the ball way better now than I ever have putting not so much lol I just bought a new putter and have been devoting any practice time to practicing my lag putting and the dreaded 6 footers. I am happy to report my stroke is coming back. If I do not have any 3 putts I can usually shot 2 or 3 over for nine. I also roll in the occasional 20 footer now.

It's important to me, too.   It tells me what to work on.  The stats I keep track of are GIR, big numbers (double or worse), pars/birdies, total putts, and FW percentage.   The FW percentage is the most irrelevant to how I am playing.   GIR tells me how accurate I am with my 2nd shot (iron, hybrid).  More often than not, big numbers tell me how bad I am with my short game.

I also keep track of my practice session stats, e.g, accuracy percentage for each club.  It tells me which club I need to focus practicing on.

In keeping practice session stats are you recording things after each shot?  Do you create a gameplan or game?  I tend to just bang it on the full range because of time restraints.  When I chip I take ten balls and pick a location and pin.  I get 1 point if it is within 4 ft. and I should be able to convert the u/d.  I get 0 points if it is on the green in two putt range.  I get -1 points if i miss the green.  I pick hard locations and set a par for points based on difficulty.  For instance, over the bunker, downhill slope to short side pin may be a 0.  Fairway lie, 10 feet off, 30 feet total may be a 5.  This has helped me hit more solid chips and realistic expectations on my chips, also developing different shots that get closer.  Do you do the same and does the practice tracking help your game?

There should be a stat for layups with would correlate with up and downs.  There may already be but I am not aware.  For example On a par 4 a dangerous green I will decide to hit a shorter iron that has no chance of reaching water/bunkers surrounding the sides of the green, but 0 chance of landing the green.  Whether this shot is 10 yds left or right of intended target will not matter because I only have 15 yards or so to get up and down for par.

Come to think of it I guess there are stats to measure this.

Edit: it would be difficult to compare a layup up and down save for par with a mised green up and down save for par.  Difference being a layup "I'm short on purpose" versus missed green "I'm 5 yards left of green in second cut, on accident."

I hit 10 balls with wedge, mid-iron, hybrid, wood, and driver and record the result after each 10 balls.   Then, I go back and focus on a shot with lower percentages.  Yesterday, I hit only 6 of 10 wedges on imaginary green.  Normally, I hit much better (8 or 9 out of 10).   I did well on others.  Afterward the initial 50 balls, I hit some more wedge shots until I was satisfied with outcome.

After some advice from a couple of people here i track my stats with oobgolf now,

Just after each hole i make a note if i hit the fairway or miss it left or right.

Amounts of putts, bunkershots and penalties.

Not only do i find it usefull for myself but also for my pro who is teaching me.

This morning i had a meeting with him and could show him the progression and were we should lay our focus on in the upcoming weeks.