What do you think I need practice with?

[tuffluck]

I played 9 holes today, 3600 yards and shot a 48. I wrote down a few things: 18 putts 4 chips from just beyond the fringe that i could have used a wood/putter 4 regular <25 yard chips including a sand shot 3 penalty strokes Driver and irons were okay, a few errant shots but i was usually hole high in the required number of shots. What do you think the weak part of my game based on these stats?

[SloverUT]

Well you shot 18 putts over 9 holes which obviously means you averaged a 2 putt per hole, which is good.

The obvious thing you need to try to eliminate is the penalties you had to take.

Other than that I think your area of improvement, based on the stats listed, would be hitting more GIR.  If you are two putting on average and shooting a 48 over 9 that means you aren't hitting many GIR.  So if you claim your drives were pretty good then I think working on your approach shots would be a good area to work.

[tuffluck]

I hit 1 GIR today, usually over 18 I hit 3-4. I play about 7000 yards on most courses, whether thats tips or blues. Nevertheless even from 100 yards away i hit the ball cleanly and miss the green a lot. Obviously today i missed 4 by only the fringe or just off of it. A lot of the time i prefer going for the flag and chipping vs going for the green and having a 50 foot+ putt. I chip pretty well usually.

[Harmonious]

Hmmm....18 putts after only hitting one GIR, and four of those were chips?  Either your short game or your putting, or both, need a LOT of work.

Here's something to think about - One GIR equals 2 putts, on average.  4 chips should take no more than 5 putts. The other 4 short pitch shots should take 7 putts at most.  That's 14 putts.

Subtract the 3 penalties and the 4 "wasted" strokes around the green and your 48 becomes a 41.

Obviously you need to hit more greens and should practice toward that goal, but even if you never improve your ballstriking, just getting better around the greens would show immediate lowering of your scores.