I Average 38 Putts Per Round!

[Guest]

30 putts is generally a benchmark for good lower handicappers. staying under 30 is a standard goal to have a low round, but if you are a higher handicapper and are in the low thirties in putts, that would be very good. don't forget that a putt from the fringe does not count as a putt in your statistics.
I played yesterday, hit alot of fairways and greens in regulation but I had 34 putts and shot 5 over par...under 30 putts and I would have been par or better....putted like a dog! ...blind dog... ..three legged blind dog........

[Sharkgolf]

the answer to all the above: The Dave Pelz Short Game Bible, and anything he says on putting.

Dave is so sincere, so serious about the short game, so experienced, so eloquent, so able to instruct and communicate all his knowledge.

His emphasis on routine, on how to swing a club well for the inside-100yd shot, from any lie, from any sand, across any obstacle, on how to putt on any type of green, will and should grab your attention and lower your scores dramatically.

Hail Dave!

[eddeejayz]

totally agree, improving ur chip is always the best way to improve the # of putt, thus the # of stroke.

[NZ Golfer]

Very interesting to know myself if my putting is hurting my game more than other parts

 

 What should a mid HC player be aiming for putting wise... did 38 putts today wasn't happy overall with my putting ...scored 81 for the round ..my guess is 36 should be my target per round  

[Killa]

1 hour ago, NZ Golfer said:

Very interesting to know myself if my putting is hurting my game more than other parts

 

 What should a mid HC player be aiming for putting wise... did 38 putts today wasn't happy overall with my putting ...scored 81 for the round ..my guess is 36 should be my target per round  

First you need to make sure you are counting correctly. If you use your putter that doesn’t automatically make it a putt. So fringe “putts” and off the green “putts” don’t count into this statistic. 
 

If you only counted on green putts and hit 38 putts in a 81 score round than that is high. On the other hand you might be playing massive greens and if you shot so low you probably hit a lot of them and had several long putts. 
 

So though the number of putts in a round is somewhat telling it’s not as important as the average number of putts. 
 

And then again, the average won’t tell you a lot if your average first putt length is over 40’...

[pganapathy]

On 6/15/2007 at 7:18 PM, elivate said:

Just how bad is that? I am now a 22 handicap, so is it my putting that is really killing me? I am just wondering what a "decent" number of putts per round is for someone in my range...

Consider it like this.  2 putts a hole is 36.  Assuming that, you are 2 putts over par, which means of your 22 strokes, you are losing 2 putting and 20 for other shots.  Don't worry so much about your putting and far more about the rest of your game

[NZ Golfer]

3 hours ago, Killa said:

First you need to make sure you are counting correctly. If you use your putter that doesn’t automatically make it a putt. So fringe “putts” and off the green “putts” don’t count into this statistic. 
 

If you only counted on green putts and hit 38 putts in a 81 score round than that is high. On the other hand you might be playing massive greens and if you shot so low you probably hit a lot of them and had several long putts. 
 

So though the number of putts in a round is somewhat telling it’s not as important as the average number of putts. 
 

And then again, the average won’t tell you a lot if your average first putt length is over 40’...

Right had two just off the fringe putts ..so 36 for the day 2 av. per hole so not so bad....but generally from history I see from my last several recorded game I've averaged 2.15 putts per hole ... thinking my goal should be to bring that below 2 to give me any chance to score sub 80s more often .... 4x 3 putts today didn't help my chances

Edited April 29, 2020 by NZ Golfer

[boogielicious]

5 hours ago, NZ Golfer said:

Very interesting to know myself if my putting is hurting my game more than other parts

 

 What should a mid HC player be aiming for putting wise... did 38 putts today wasn't happy overall with my putting ...scored 81 for the round ..my guess is 36 should be my target per round  

I average 32-33 per round. I think you should target that range. Up and downs should help lower your putts per round, so examine your short game too for weaknesses. If your chips and pitches aren’t getting you in the 5 foot range, then improving there could help.
 

Are you three putting a lot? Then look toward distance control. Missed reads? Then look into something like AimPoint.

[NZ Golfer]

5 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

I average 32-33 per round. I think you should target that range. Up and downs should help lower your putts per round, so examine your short game too for weaknesses. If your chips and pitches aren’t getting you in the 5 foot range, then improving there could help.
 

Are you three putting a lot? Then look toward distance control. Missed reads? Then look into something like AimPoint.

Yes far too many three putts ...yes I have issues with distance control at times esp. today as Golf Club has only just came out of

lockdown and the greens are slightly overgrown= slower than usual ..and I'm not adjusting my game (outside putting on my carpet very little real world putting practice)

have been working hard on my short range chipping which is playing off today along with just a much better swing 

looking over 2020 I would say to date its been mostly made up of good driving on average with solid fairway with weaker short game esp around my putting at times ...the amount of times over my last 20 games I've put myself 50-100yards out going for my 2nd shot (PAR-4) or 3rd(PAR5) to then double bogey is gutting ... esp. when your playing in a comp where your out playing many single HC players on most fairways to lose it within the last 50yards etc ...

Would be great to get my own putting green set-up (maybe oneday)

 

 

[Killa]

2 hours ago, NZ Golfer said:

Yes far too many three putts ...yes I have issues with distance control at times esp. today as Golf Club has only just came out of

lockdown and the greens are slightly overgrown= slower than usual ..and I'm not adjusting my game (outside putting on my carpet very little real world putting practice)

have been working hard on my short range chipping which is playing off today along with just a much better swing 

looking over 2020 I would say to date its been mostly made up of good driving on average with solid fairway with weaker short game esp around my putting at times ...the amount of times over my last 20 games I've put myself 50-100yards out going for my 2nd shot (PAR-4) or 3rd(PAR5) to then double bogey is gutting ... esp. when your playing in a comp where your out playing many single HC players on most fairways to lose it within the last 50yards etc ...

Would be great to get my own putting green set-up (maybe oneday)

 

 

Again, the distance of the first putt is very important. If your average first putt is 30’ long then you are expected to 3 putt on 10-15% of times for an 80s golfer. If it’s 40’ then it goes up to 20-25%...I used to have a great putting average. Below 2.0. But I hardly hit any greens. So I thought my putting was great when in reality I was chipping decent enough to have a one putt here and there and I was chipping on nearly every hole. 
 

When I improved my long game I started hitting more greens but it left me with longer putts. So my 3 putt number shot up, as I really was a poor putter. I only have two 9 hole rounds this year but it seems like my putting has improved a lot over the winter and the drills I’ve been doing indoor. And remember, from 50’ even a tour pro will 3 putt 17% of the time. And they average under 2 putts only if their first putts are shorter than the 30”

[Double Mocha Man]

18 minutes ago, Killa said:

Again, the distance of the first putt is very important. If your average first putt is 30’ long then you are expected to 3 putt on 10-15% of times for an 80s golfer. If it’s 40’ then it goes up to 20-25%...I used to have a great putting average. Below 2.0. But I hardly hit any greens. So I thought my putting was great when in reality I was chipping decent enough to have a one putt here and there and I was chipping on nearly every hole. 
 

When I improved my long game I started hitting more greens but it left me with longer putts. So my 3 putt number shot up, as I really was a poor putter. I only have two 9 hole rounds this year but it seems like my putting has improved a lot over the winter and the drills I’ve been doing indoor. And remember, from 50’ even a tour pro will 3 putt 17% of the time. And they average under 2 putts only if their first putts are shorter than the 30”

I quit keeping track of total putts a long time ago. It is virtually a meaningless number.  Your best bet is to keep track of strokes gained-putting.

[DuckDuckFoose]

I had 38 putts just yesterday, I had 3 three putt holes. The 3 putts were Greens that I hit and was a good distance from the hole. I do need to improve my putting though because a lot of my putts were after chips and short pitches and were between 6 to 12 feet. The number itself doesnt tell the whole story but you'll know how you putted based on your round. I need to get closer to the pin on approach shots, and make the ones I'm supposed to make. My speed was good, but I'm not too good at green reading so very few of my putts actually had a chance to drop.  

[CarlSpackler]

44 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

I quit keeping track of total putts a long time ago. It is virtually a meaningless number.  Your best bet is to keep track of strokes gained-putting.

Me too, but then GameGolf reminds me. My strokes gained for putting is over 5. They suggest I practice putts inside of 10'.

[Killa]

27 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

Me too, but then GameGolf reminds me. My strokes gained for putting is over 5. They suggest I practice putts inside of 10'.

Do you manually change your green positions during/after the round?

 

I mean I use gamegolf but I just don’t really put a lot of worth in the putting stat as I don’t move the position of the pin and the exact position the ball on the green. I do change the on green/off green info when I remember

[gbogey]

10 hours ago, NZ Golfer said:

Very interesting to know myself if my putting is hurting my game more than other parts

 

 What should a mid HC player be aiming for putting wise... did 38 putts today wasn't happy overall with my putting ...scored 81 for the round ..my guess is 36 should be my target per round  

I would have guessed that you should average 34-35 putts per round.  Found this via google:

If you are averaging 38 putts per round, it could be that

• You are a below average putter
• or you are an averaage / good putter but any of the following could be true:
  • The courses you play have really big greens
  • Your short game is below snuff and therefore leaves you more difficult putts
  • Your approach game is below snuff and your approaches are too far from the hole (and interesting as mentioned before, most golfers think that their putting gets worse as their swing improves - the real issue is that they are just hitting more greens and giving themselves more chances to three putt).

Total putts can generally tell you if you're putting really well or really badly at the extremes, but as mentioned it is hard to get a gauge unless you are at the extremes and a strokes gained is going to be more meaningful.

 

[CarlSpackler]

15 minutes ago, Killa said:

Do you manually change your green positions during/after the round?

Yes. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close.

[gbogey]

46 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

Me too, but then GameGolf reminds me. My strokes gained for putting is over 5. They suggest I practice putts inside of 10'.

I'm surprised by that.  I wouldn't typically expect to make that high of a percentage form 10', unless your percentage is exceptionally low.

[CarlSpackler]

Just now, gbogey said:

I'm surprised by that.  I wouldn't typically expect to make that high of a percentage form 10', unless your percentage is exceptionally low.

Me too. My putting is pretty solid. I've had more 3 putts lately than I care for, but that is mostly shaking the winter dust off my game.