Questions On Stat-Keeping

[Maddog10]

So I have started an Excel spreadsheet to track the various stats of my rounds as a tool to target areas of improvement, but I've ran across a few scenarios that I wasn't sure how to put in the sheet. Tell me how you would mark the following scenarios.

1) Missed a GIR by a couple inches, but close enough where I chose to putt the ball instead of chipping. Should this be marked as a GIR or not? I've had a couple instances where I've done this and 3-putted, so is it a GIR and 3 putt (what I usually put down), or a missed GIR and a 2-putt?... Or should it be marked as a missed GIR and still 3 putts?

2) Hit a ball OB so I took my penalty and then re-teed. Went on to hit the fairway on my 3rd shot and green on my 5th shot (Par 5). Should this be marked all the way around as a missed fairway and a missed GIR, or do I add an extra attempt and count both the misses and hits. For example, on that set of 9 holes should I account for 10 possible GIR's and an extra fairway?

I want to keep my stats as accurately as possible so that I can really see my strengths and weaknesses. I know in #2 it should probably just be misses all the way around, and if that's the case then that's how I'll mark it. By doing so though it just kind of highlights a weakness that really wasn't there in the missed GIR. Aside from the drive OB, I hit 3 great shots which left me a two footer for bogey (should have been birdie). Played the hole perfectly, but I'm guessing the proper ruling would be missed FW, missed GIR, and 1 putt?

Thanks guys.

[sigfan2340]

For number 1 it's a missed GIR..... you aren't on so "close enough" doesn't matter. Putts only count once you are on the green. So mark it as missed with a 2 putt.

For number 2 it's this/... "Played the hole perfectly, but I'm guessing the proper ruling would be missed FW, missed GIR, and 1 putt?"

[TourSpoon]

1). Missed GIR, failed up/down, 2 putts

2). Missed fairway, missed GIR, 1 putt, 1 penalty stroke and distance (yes, keep track of these as they tell the story).

[Maddog10]

For number 1 it's a missed GIR..... you aren't on so "close enough" doesn't matter. Putts only count once you are on the green. So mark it as missed with a 2 putt.

For number 2 it's this/... "Played the hole perfectly, but I'm guessing the proper ruling would be missed FW, missed GIR, and 1 putt?"

Okay thanks. I appreciate the help. Your responses are what I thought they would be. I just hate when I hit a good iron from 180 yards into a tough green and miss by a couple inches. Then display a poor short game and turn what should be an easy 2-putt (even though I'm an inch off the green) into a bad 3-putt. When I look back at my sheet, it appears that I hit a poor iron shot, chipped on, and 2-putted for bogey. The truth is I hit a good iron shot and 3-putted. Regardless though, I want to record my stats correctly.

1). Missed GIR, failed up/down, 2 putts

2). Missed fairway, missed GIR, 1 putt, 1 penalty stroke and distance (yes, keep track of these as they tell the story).

Thanks TS. I felt like the second scenario was more straighforward and I knew it was misses all the way around. Just wasn't positive because I never really attempted the GIR until my 5th shot, which I stuck 2 feet from the flag still. Still though, hitting a par 5 green on your 5th shot is far from a GIR.

[MEfree]

I agree with tracking penalty shots as this will encourage you to get more accurate and/or play smarter.

As far as the GIR goes when you are on the fringe, I think it depends.  On the PGA Tour, the guys are correct that this is a missed green and the putts don't count until you are on the actual surface.

However, in terms of self improvement, I don't think this always tells the whole story.  If you are on the fringe 18 feet from the cup on a 440 yard par 4 and use the putter 3 times, then you blew it with the putter, not tee to green.  OTOH, if it is a 495 par 5 and you put your 3rd shot from 150 yards on the green with a 65 foot putt from the wrong tier, and take 3 to get down, then much of the fault lies in your ball striking.

I am not currently entering my stats into a spreadsheet, but will put a dot instead of a check mark on the score card when I am on the fringe in regulation and will mark my putts as 2+ if I take 3 to get down.

[Maddog10]

I'm still on my way to assembling a good sample size, but I can already see trends or patterns in my game when I play well and when I don't. Aside from the obvious data such as the course name, score to par, etc., I always try to record fairway percentage, GIR %, putts, birdies, pars, bogeys, others, and penalty strokes.

The one thing I have noticed already is that I typically hit a high percentage of GIR's, but my days that are exceptionally high coincide with the days that I have the most putts. This tells me that I need to work on my lag putting. I'm hitting the green, but I'm a ways off and suffer a few 3 putts over the course of 18 holes. On the other hand, the days that my GIR % is lower are the days I have the fewest putts due to barely missing the green and chipping close. Lots of 1 putts on those rounds to save an up-and-down... Now if I could just hit lots of GIR's and get those 1-putts.

[sigfan2340]

I don't keep track on a spreadsheet either, I take an extra score card with me and keep track on that. and if the card has a course layout on it I will sometimes even mark my shots on that. It's a recap of my round and helps remember shot by shot since getting old sucks (only 37!).

[Maddog10]

I don't keep track on a spreadsheet either, I take an extra score card with me and keep track on that. and if the card has a course layout on it I will sometimes even mark my shots on that. It's a recap of my round and helps remember shot by shot since getting old sucks (only 37!).

This is what I do as well, though I don't mark my shots on the course layout. Then I just take the scorecard home with me and type it in the computer. If I'm playing by myself I track it all on one card, but if I'm playing with a group then we have the group card and I keep my own personal card. After each hole I just mark my stats. Then when I'm done I take the card home, total it up, and type it in the computer. Just takes a few seconds and allows me to assemble a database that includes an entire season's stats. Then I can do monthly averages as well to see where I have improved/regressed each month. I just started doing it about a month ago, but I really think it's going to be a useful tool.

[TJBam]

I usually mark down Putts per hole and GIR Y/N on the scorecard at the bottom.  Sometimes Fairway hit y/n. Then after the 3rd hole I get in the zone and forget completely about it.  My best rounds have nothing but the score written down.

[Slice of Life]

I usually mark down Putts per hole and GIR Y/N on the scorecard at the bottom.  Sometimes Fairway hit y/n. Then after the 3rd hole I get in the zone and forget completely about it.  My best rounds have nothing but the score written down.

Bingo. That's me exactly.

[boogielicious]

I mark my card with the following, which I got from Stan Utley's, The Art of Scoring

1.a straight arrow for fairway hit. I add an "L" left or "R" right at the end of the arrow if I miss and "S" at the end of the arrow if in a fairway bunker.

2. G for GIR

3. number of putts and first putt distance.

4. I will put an S for sand and P for penalty.

5. U means up and down and an "S" next to the other S means sand save.

I put all this into ScoreCard, which runs the stats for me.  Most cards have four player spaces, so there is enough room

[Meltdwhiskey]

I think the stats miss something - which is the actual bad shots.  I used to record (and need to start again) which shot cost me making at least bogey.  At a 6 cap, you might want to do it for par.  But not making the GIR doesn't tell the whole story IMO.

It could have been an inaccurate tee shot or an inaccurate approach shot.  Missed GIR doesn't necessarily say witch.  Also within that, it could be a fat approach, thin approach, faded, hooked, long, short, etc.  And from what distance? is it more wedges you are having trouble with? or mid irons? (although I'd say for most of us the closer the better).  When I was recording this, I kept a log of the 'bad shots'.  This could be anything like fat long iron, missed 4-footer, pulled 3-wood, bad lag put, etc.

After several rounds, something might stand out.  For me - at the time, it was fat long irons.  Which I would not have thought was the worst problem I had - but the numbers showed it CLEARLY was.  And if I had just been tracking weather or not I got the GIR - I would not have discovered this.

[Dave2512]

I mark my card and input everything later, I use GolfNet to track stats. It's worth the $20 a year or whatever it is to be able to run reports and sort HBH stats. I look at everything from scoring average for certain holes to average driving distance at different courses.

[TourSpoon]

Since this is your spreadsheet you can keep track however you want. If you get a GIR "N" then you could put an "F" for fringe or a value in yards to how far you missed the green. Then you could track up and downs based on from the fringe, from 1-5 yards, 6-15 yards, etc. As far as up and downs, I only count them for pars, but I know that by looking at my stats that if I get a bogey with a 1 putt that I got up and down from somewhere.

[Chris223]

Okay thanks. I appreciate the help. Your responses are what I thought they would be. I just hate when I hit a good iron from 180 yards into a tough green and miss by a couple inches. Then display a poor short game and turn what should be an easy 2-putt (even though I'm an inch off the green) into a bad 3-putt. When I look back at my sheet, it appears that I hit a poor iron shot, chipped on, and 2-putted for bogey. The truth is I hit a good iron shot and 3-putted. Regardless though, I want to record my stats correctly.

Thanks TS. I felt like the second scenario was more straighforward and I knew it was misses all the way around. Just wasn't positive because I never really attempted the GIR until my 5th shot, which I stuck 2 feet from the flag still. Still though, hitting a par 5 green on your 5th shot is far from a GIR.

Just because you're a couple inches onto the fringe but still putting for birdie you shouldn't get all bent out of shape over a missed GIR.  Big deal... you're still putting for bird.  That's the way I'd look at it.  If you're 180 yards out... heck I don't even have an iron in my bag that will get me on the green (well ok a 5 iron... maybe 2 out of 10 trys).  That's me though.  I guess if your handicap is truly a 6 then that's the difference between you and I.  You're usually putting for birdie and I'm usually putting for par from 10+ feet.

But I made it easy to keep track of stats this year (if I want too) by downloaded the GolfPad GPS app for my iPhone.  I only use it for keeping my score and basic stats (such as GIR, number of putts, 2 putt percentage, 3 putt percentage) but it does have additional capabilities to track what club you used for each shot and so on.  I just don't have the time to input all that stuff when I'm playing.

[turtleback]

I've only really dealt with this situation in counting putts. What I do is a( if I am putting from more than about 5 feet away I don't count it as any kind of putt.  If I am putting from within 5 feet of the green I would mark the putts on the green/total putts.

So if I am in the fringe and take 3 to gt down I would write down 2/3.  If I got down in 2 I would write 1/2.  If I sink it I write 0/1.  Then I add them up that way.  So if I have 28/34 at the end of the day I'll know I was in the fringe near the green a lot but did a lousy job of profiting by it.  It is the information you can get from the stats that matters, IMO, not the stats themselves.

[Maddog10]

I think the stats miss something - which is the actual bad shots.  I used to record (and need to start again) which shot cost me making at least bogey.  At a 6 cap, you might want to do it for par.  But not making the GIR doesn't tell the whole story IMO.

It could have been an inaccurate tee shot or an inaccurate approach shot.  Missed GIR doesn't necessarily say witch.  Also within that, it could be a fat approach, thin approach, faded, hooked, long, short, etc.  And from what distance? is it more wedges you are having trouble with? or mid irons? (although I'd say for most of us the closer the better).  When I was recording this, I kept a log of the 'bad shots'.  This could be anything like fat long iron, missed 4-footer, pulled 3-wood, bad lag put, etc.

After several rounds, something might stand out.  For me - at the time, it was fat long irons.  Which I would not have thought was the worst problem I had - but the numbers showed it CLEARLY was.  And if I had just been tracking weather or not I got the GIR - I would not have discovered this.

That's a good idea really. I may try to incorporate that into my stat-keeping. Like others, if I make it too complicated then i tend to say forget it and end up with nothing though. Right now it's easy because once I get the card laid out, after each hole I just right my score, put a check or "X" in the "FW" and "GIR" categories, and then write down my number of putts.

Just because you're a couple inches onto the fringe but still putting for birdie you shouldn't get all bent out of shape over a missed GIR.  Big deal... you're still putting for bird.  That's the way I'd look at it.  If you're 180 yards out... heck I don't even have an iron in my bag that will get me on the green (well ok a 5 iron... maybe 2 out of 10 trys).  That's me though.  I guess if your handicap is truly a 6 then that's the difference between you and I.  You're usually putting for birdie and I'm usually putting for par from 10+ feet.

But I made it easy to keep track of stats this year (if I want too) by downloaded the GolfPad GPS app for my iPhone.  I only use it for keeping my score and basic stats (such as GIR, number of putts, 2 putt percentage, 3 putt percentage) but it does have additional capabilities to track what club you used for each shot and so on.  I just don't have the time to input all that stuff when I'm playing.

In this particular instance, I wasn't bent out of shape at all. In fact, I was very pleased to be 2 inches off the fringe from 180 out. It's a long par 4 and a tough GIR to get. That's why I was wondering how to mark it. The way it's supposed to be done, it's a missed GIR and a 2 putt for bogey. The truth is I hit a nice approach shot and a poor putt which ultimately led to a 3 putt. A more accurate marking would be a hit GIR and 3 putts, but I didn't really hit the GIR either so neither way tells the whole story.

My friends give me a hard time because they say I'm boring to watch. I'm not a long hitter, and I don't hit spectacular iron shots very often, though I almost always strike the ball well. I don't make a lot of birdies or bogeys. Just hit a mediocre length drive, hit an iron shot to 20ish feet, and two putt for par. Pretty boring, but it leads to good scores for me. Yesterday's round was 2 birdies, 4 bogeys, and 12 pars.

[Dave2512]

Honestly that's why I prefer a subscription program to a spreadsheet. More than just compiling stats you can actually make good use of the data because the work is already done and it's presented in a way that golfers are accustomed to seeing. I want to know more than just GIR and FIR, I want to know if I miss left or right, short or long and be able to sort that by where and when. Then I can compare that to my scoring average. I want something easy to absorb so I can take the knowledge out on the course.