Category: The Numbers Game

I have friends that have had their golf bag stolen or lost. I’ve also heard stories of a bag being destroyed with all its contents… think of a Seinfeld episode here. Regardless, your bag and clubs not only hold a real value, but a sentimental one as well. The question is, how much is it all worth to you? I’ll run down my bag and tell you what mine is worth not only to be physically replaced, but in my mind (or heart) as well.

Continue reading “What’s Your Bag Worth?”

Imagine yourself in his shoes. Most everyone is rooting for you, but there are others. Others that doubt you and doubt that you can return to form. Then you start your first round of your last exempt year with a double bogey and follow it up later with four straight bogeys. Imagine yourself standing on #9 tee with that on you. What goes through your mind?

If you’re David Duval, you just shrug it off and make a birdie. Then four holes later, you make another. You salvage a 75 and proceed to make the cut. Which, by the way, is just as many as you made in 20 tournaments last year.

Continue reading “David Duval”

I’ve ignored the women too long. Sorry, its just a habit us men have. So far nearly all of my research has been based on the PGA Tour. This week, I’m going to look at the LPGA Tour and see if I come to the same conclusions.

Some of the first research found that Greens in Regulation (GIR) correlated closest to scoring followed by Putting (PA), Driving Distance (DD) and then Driving Accuracy (DA). Will it be the same for the ladies? Read on to find out. And, of course, check the “Numbers Game” archives for the original articles on these trends and numbers.

Continue reading “LPGA in Numbers”

We’ve seen a lot of things over the last 11 years in golf. Most notably is the emergence of Tiger Woods. But there have been technological advances, course lengthening and a fitness revolution. All of these have had an effect on golf.

Some of these may negate others. Some may not. Hopefully the past numbers over the years will give us a little bit of insight into how future trends of stats will play out. Those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it, they say. We can’t save you from such a fate, but we can look back and learn a little about the (possible) future of golf.

Continue reading “1995 to 2005 in Numbers”

In the past week or so there has been a good discussion in the forum and a comment in last week’s Numbers Game (thanks to valued reader Rafi). One sparked a lengthy discussion and the other peaked my thirst for all things numbers related.

In the heat of the “Drive for show, putt for dough” thread, I thought some things through. GIR is important, but driving is a component. The question is which part, accuracy or distance, is a more critical component. The second area had to do with GIR and its relationship to putting stats. The question raised was, if you hit more greens do your putting stats suffer? Read on and I’ll answer that.

Continue reading “Tying Up Loose Ends”

Sergio Garcia burst onto the scene in the late 90’s. He showed us flashes of flair reminiscent of a young Seve Ballesteros. Sergio had a deft short game and a knack for making the amazing shot. Nobody will forget Sergio bounding up the fairway after his cut 6-iron from behind a tree at the 1999 PGA Championship.

Now Sergio has honed in his ball striking. He ranked first in GIR this year hitting over 70% of his greens. But somewhere, amid his ball striking improvements, Sergio forgot how to putt. Of course he can putt, but he can’t do it like he did when he first came on Tour. That is an undeniable fact. So where does this leave him? Read on to find out.

Continue reading “Where Has Sergio’s Putting Gone?”

During any type of research you are going to come across some things that peak your interest. Whenever I would come across something I would store it somewhere. After a while I got a bunch of these nuggets and thought it would be interesting to share them with you. So without any more delay, here are 10 facts that may only interest me… well, maybe you too.

Continue reading “Nuggets, Volume One”

Yes, there is such a word. At least in golf there is. It is the term given to those golfers that try and hit the ball as far as they can, not caring whether or not they hit the fairway or not. This gives them a short distance into the green and a supposed advantage. Notice the stress on supposed. I’ve said before that the numbers don’t lie. I’ll show you some figures about flogging that will dispel the myths. Read on…

Continue reading “Flogging”

In my musings before, during, and after the Tour Championship, I came across some more fodder on our favorite topic: driving distance and how equipment is ruining the game. Readers of this site know where I and most here at The Sand Trap stand on this, so I won’t rehash.

The question remains, how do I prove it? How do I prove that it isn’t all about distance? I’ve beaten it into you about Greens in Regulation like a dead horse. Well, the answer is in a formula… something that over time can be tried and trued… something a bit more tangible than “I’m right and you’re wrong.” The difficult thing about formulas is creating one that is just that: right.

Continue reading “Formulating a Formula”