How many putts within 15" do you think you miss? (Within the length of a club's grip)

[DirtCheap]

We play "in the leather" gimmies. As far as we are concerned, if you are within 15" of the hole, the odds of you missing the putt are so great that you just take your stroke and pick up your ball.

There are those who argue about how incredibly often those 15" shots are missed. I personally think it's an incredibly rare occurance that even a novice golfer misses a 15 incher (or shorter) .
So my question is; How often do you miss a putt that's "In the leather."

The pic is of the absolute extreme distance you can take your gimme.

[MrSandman]

I say less than 1%. Probably have 10 of those a round, and maybe miss one in 10 rounds? Maybe more like one miss in 20 or more rounds. Probably about 80% from 3-4 feet,mbut outside of 6 feet it drops quickly to -50%. I definitely practice the 3-4 footers compulsively. One of those things one can practice when apartment living.

[zipazoid]

I'm a solid 50% from that distance.

[Mattplusness]

Maybe 1 in 20.

I made my dad putt one out from 18 inches today because we play skins. He ended up missing it and it rolled 3 feet off the lip and he had a little bender on the way back. He made it, but I saved myself a dollar by making him finish up.

[DirtCheap]

Originally Posted by Mattplusness

Maybe 1 in 20.

I made my dad putt one out from 18 inches today because we play skins. He ended up missing it and it rolled 3 feet off the lip and he had a little bender on the way back. He made it, but I saved myself a dollar by making him finish up.

15" is really the extreme of a "gimme." But think about how often its 3" or 5" or 9". You would have to be #1 on the golf god's sh!tlist to miss a three inch putt.

[GaijinGolfer]

1 in 100.  From that distance, unless there is some severe slope theres no excuse to miss that putt.

[David in FL]

We play "in the leather" gimmies. As far as we are concerned, if you are within 15" of the hole, the odds of you missing the putt are so great that you just take your stroke and pick up your ball. There are those who argue about how incredibly often those 15" shots are missed. I personally think it's an incredibly rare occurance that even a novice golfer misses a 15 incher (or shorter) . So my question is; How often do you miss a putt that's "In the leather." The pic is of the absolute extreme distance you can take your gimme. [URL=http://cdn.thesandtrap.com/a/a0/a09bc9de_Golf_hole.jpeg][IMG]http://cdn.thesandtrap.com/a/a0/640x480px-LL-a09bc9de_Golf_hole.jpeg[/IMG][/URL]

Prob one in 50 or so. Not many...... .......20 + hcps who are used to not having to putt them will be a lot higher. Btw.....just measured "inside the leather" on my 34" Scotty and it's 24", not 15".... You either have a really short putter or a really long grip! ;-)

[DirtCheap]

Originally Posted by David in FL

Prob one in 50 or so. Not many......

.......20+ hips who are used to not having to putt them will be a lot higher.

Btw.....just measured "inside the leather" on my 34" Scotty and it's 24", not 15".... You either have a really short putter or a really long grip!

I was wondering when someone was going to call me on that..
I didn't actually measure my grip. I was told by someone else that they were "about 15 inches," so I ran with it.

But that's fine because we arent asking "How many 24 inch puts can you make?" The question is, how many WITHIN 15 do you miss?

[MrSandman]

I prefer to hear the ball drop in the cup, and those aren't stressful putts. I don't mind this as gimmes, but the problem becomes when they start stretching out to 30-40 inches, which are not gimmes and are good practice to make.

[David in FL]

I was wondering when someone was going to call me on that.. :-) I didn't actually measure my grip. I was told by someone else that they were "about 15 inches," so I ran with it. But that's fine because we arent asking "How many 24 inch puts can you make?" The question is, how many WITHIN 15 do you miss?

Actually, the question was, and I quote..... "how often do you miss a putt that's " in the leather"? Regardless, not many. But unfortunately, the answer isn't "never". Which is why we putt 'em all out, unless given in match play. I continue to recommend that new players, high handicappers, and anyone who genuinely wishes to improve their game do the same.

[GolfGhost]

I had one from 9 inches or so the other day that if given to me would have been a par, but I missed it.  I putt 'em all out

[DirtCheap]

Originally Posted by MrSandman

I prefer to hear the ball drop in the cup,

There is no more beautiful sound in the world.

[chenwood]

I think the percentage of misses is higher than you might expect totally because they expect it to be so easy.  If everyone steps up to the ball and takes it seriously they'll hardly ever miss.

The real question imo is why don't you hit it in?  Why not increase it to 16 inches?  Why not increase 16 to 17 inches? on and on and on.  avoiding a continuous spectrum of subjectivity is necessary for good rules. I say put the ball inside the cup.  It doesn't bother me what anyone else does though.  One guy I play with tells people to "pick it up" when they are 4 feet away sometimes.

[Mattplusness]

Originally Posted by DirtCheap

15" is really the extreme of a "gimme." But think about how often its 3" or 5" or 9". You would have to be #1 on the golf god's sh!tlist to miss a three inch putt.

Well that was just an estimate, it was probably more like 12. We usually play by if it's within the distance of your putter's grip.

[DirtCheap]

Originally Posted by chenwood

Why not increase it to 16 inches?  Why not increase 16 to 17 inches? on and on and on.

It's the length of the grip. You have to lay your club down and prove that it's "in the leather." Fairly standard.

[Mattplusness]

Originally Posted by DirtCheap

There is no more beautiful sound in the world.

Maybe the cracking of an ice cold beer or the pouring of an ice cold cocktail.

[Jmdmbike]

I thinking 1 in 20 is about right. Those putts are often given when we play, but I prefer to putt them all out.

[hokiebound]

I always finish. They don't give you gimme's in tournaments.