The myth if GIR

[Fourputt]

GIR is probably the most important stat to raise to lower the handicap. The worst tour player averages 58% of greens in regulation. That's about 10-11 greens in regulation per round. The worst average proximity to the hole is about 40 feet. The number of greens in regulation is paramount to playing well.

By the same token, if you missed every green in regulation then got up and down for par only once, with up and 2 putt for bogey on the other 17, you shoot the same as the guy who 3 putts so much. Yet a person who gets that many opportunities is usually going to have a much better up and down percentage than that. That's my game... for more than 20 years I've kept my handicap in the 10 - 13 range because I do miss greens, but I also get up and down a lot.

Once again, statistics don't always tell the whole story.

[sean_miller]

By the same token, if you missed every green in regulation then got up and down for par only once, with up and 2 putt for bogey on the other 17, you shoot the same as the guy who 3 putts so much. Yet a person who gets that many opportunities is usually going to have a much better up and down percentage than that. That's my game... for more than 20 years I've kept my handicap in the 10 - 13 range because I do miss greens, but I also get up and down a lot.

I had a round last year with 6 GIRs on the front nine (43 strokes total) and 1 GIR on the back (37) for an 81. On the back nine, I got up and down for par 7 times and chipped in for birdie once.

I get my best scores when I either hit the green or miss in a good spot to chip from.

[Fat Slice]

What that stat tells me is that the top GIR tour guys are aiming for the center of the green because they are not super accurate and want to play it safe. The players who are super accurate are going to be more aggressive with their approach shots for two reasons: first, they have a better chance of dropping it on the flagstick, and second, they are probably better and going up and down and even dropping the occasional chip near the hole.

[saevel25]

Look at Furyk, he's one of the most accurate players on the tour and he finally had a good year because he got his putting fixed. When it comes down to it, putting is huge, you spend about 2.0 putts per hole, thats 36 shots, thats usually over 1/3rd the strokes taken on the course.

To me putting is what people should be working on the most, then irons, then driver. If you are having short game issues, then stop worrying about getting up and down for par and start with just getting the ball with in 10 feet of the hole. Learn the basics and go for that 10 foot circle and work it down. I find i play better when i just try to get with in 10 feet, instead of trying to make the chip or get it with in tap in distance.

Also, if you can putt the ball instead of chipping, you'll get it closer.

[JML22]

For the GIR stat to mean anything for the tour players you would also need
Average distance when on in reg
And % of putts
or if oyu want to get really detailed
split up distances of % of holed putts

[iacas]

To me putting is what people should be working on the most, then irons, then driver. If you are having short game issues, then stop worrying about getting up and down for par and start with just getting the ball with in 10 feet of the hole. Learn the basics and go for that 10 foot circle and work it down. I find i play better when i just try to get with in 10 feet, instead of trying to make the chip or get it with in tap in distance.

There's more to it than that. Which would you rather leave yourself: a downhill four-footer with a cup and a half of break or a straight uphiller from six feet?

Leaving your ball in the proper position when chipping is critical too, and almost more critical than "how close to the hole" it finishes. That said, GIR is still huge. Maybe not as much over an incredibly small and closely packed sample size (the PGA Tour), but even then it's still important, along with putting.

[enis750]

There's more to it than that. Which would you rather leave yourself: a downhill four-footer with a cup and a half of break or a straight uphiller from six feet?

great quote and so true

i have used this anology before and ill use it again golf is alot like pool .... your always looking at the next shot, as much as your looking at the shot at hand having a good "leave" is just as important as the shot your about to hit when you trying to get up and down w a greenside chip, "leaving" your ball w a proper next putt is something to get good at as Iacas said, "Which would you rather leave yourself: a downhill four-footer with a cup and a half of break or a straight uphiller from six feet?" personally....the straight up hiller from 6 feet i putt waaaaaay more when i hit GIR's - well over 30 putts a round when im scrambling to get up and down, and missing GIR's, putts are well below 30 (as most people's would be too) im just saying, you dont HAVE to hit a tonne of GIR's to score really low just be good at everything....

[The Recreational Golfer]

GIR to me is an indicator of your swing, not a goal in itself. I don't stress over it. But, to score your swing has to be a good one. This, from Percy Boomer's, On Learning Golf , probably my favorite golf quotation:

"It is true that if you cannot putt, you cannot win, for no hole is won until the ball is down--but good scores are only made possible by good play up to the green."

In regard to chipping, I much prefer leaving my chips two feet away than 10. No that hard to do if you practice. But that's another thread.

[Chief Broom]

Average golfers lose more shots getting on the green than they do once they're on it. To me that's one of the key benchmarks for when your game is improving overall is when you begin getting on or near the green in regulation. That's when the importance of putting begins to take prominence in your game.

[goblue107501]

Found it interesting in the latest issue of Golf that the top 5 GIR players on tour, not one was in the top 20 in scoring average.

What that tells me is that the top 5 GIR players need to work on their putting, and/or hitting the ball closer. Some of these greens are HUGE. You can have a GIR and be 100 feet away.

Also, the top 5 in scoring average on tour, not one was in the top 20 for GIR.

My first thought with this is that they are great putters, and/or hit the ball closer, since they probably make more putts with their fewer chances and that they have a good enough short game to make pars when they miss a green.

For me, GIR is very important. That is my #1 goal on any hole. If I hit a bunch of greens, I will have a good day.

[Shanks A Million]

Look at Furyk, he's one of the most accurate players on the tour and he finally had a good year because he got his putting fixed. When it comes down to it, putting is huge, you spend about 2.0 putts per hole, thats 36 shots, thats usually over 1/3rd the strokes taken on the course.

Yeah, putting is important, but for tour pros, not double digit handicaps. 99.9% of all double digit handicaps are double digit handicaps because they have a bad swing, bottom line. You can rationalize putting all you want, but comparing yourself to Jim Furyk, a +7.5 handicap, is silly at best. In his "off" season, he failed to win a tournament. You or me could play 1,000,000 events on the PGA tour at our current skill level and never win a tournament either.

If you placed the ball on the green 18 times for the average 20 handicap, they'd probably shoot par or near it, maybe better. Now, if you made all greens an automatic two putt, not one of them would shoot anywhere near par. I play mini golf regularly, and my favorite mini golf course is the longest, hardest mini golf course in the world, where the greens run around 15 on the stimpmeter. My last 3 times out, I shot -10, -3, and -10. So, if you give me all greens in regulation, I'm going to play to a near tour pro level. It's the getting to those greens that's so hard, and even tour pros can't get there all the time. A 20 handicap is a 20 handicap because they can't hit the ball well enough to get it to the green in regulation. A 20 handicap loses most of their strokes in the long game.

[B-Con]

Not only does that have the opportunity to translate into 3 fewer strokes, but it probably means that on average their shots.

Wow. I think I'm leaving one incomplete sentence per post these past few

Anyway... What I originally meant to write (and did write but deleted?) was that "on average their shots that miss the green are closer or in better lies than missed greens by amateurs."

[Shanks A Million]

Wow. I think I'm leaving one incomplete sentence per post these past few

Not only that, but their missed GIRs aren't 150 yards short, or for penalty strokes. When tour pros miss the green, they often are a few feet off of it. Amateurs don't even get

near the green in regulation. They slice a drive 200 yards on a 400 yard par 4. Now, in the first cut, they duff a 5 iron, then with 170 yards, hit a half assed 7 iron but miss the green and land behind a bunker, duff a flop into the bunker, hit out of the bunker, then two putt for a triple. Then what do they do? They say, "if only I could putt better." What!?! You threw away multiple strokes missing the green, but had you hit it, and made that same two putt, you'd have made par.

[bwdial]

Not only that, but their missed GIRs aren't 150 yards short, or for penalty strokes. When tour pros miss the green, they often are a few feet off of it. Amateurs don't even get

Bingo. When your birdie putt is a full 7 iron, you aren't going to score very well.