Study: Overall Golfer Performance By Handicap

[NJpatbee]

I am not familiar with the Grint or the golfers they represents so it is difficult to evaluate the sampling.  That being said, I would much to prefer smaller groupings for average strokes over par.  I hover around an 18 HCP and my gane is nowhere near that of an 11 HCP, so the average is not a very precise number given such a large variation of skil level in each reported group.

[dkolo]

The link is a bit wonky - give it a second. It'll look like nothing is happening, but then it'll appear.

Study: Overall Golfer Performance By Handicap

This is so accurate for my 22 hcp, it's kind of scary.

The graph is coming from inside the house!

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nevets88

The link is a bit wonky - give it a second. It'll look like nothing is happening, but then it'll appear.

Study: Overall Golfer Performance By Handicap

This is so accurate for my 22 hcp, it's kind of scary.

The graph is coming from inside the house!

It must be nice being right in the middle of one of the key categories give or take 2 strokes.

[Dave2512]

I don't doubt that there isn't huge scoring average variances for the ranges they have listed. I play with some low single digit guys once in a while and the differences I see are more how they score. If I get paired with a guy playing to 3ish the difference is he makes one more birdie a couple more pars and a couple less bogeys. What separates us is ball striking. I have to scramble for 30%ish of the pars I make and he hits more GIR.

When I was playing bogey golf often I was literally playing bogey golf. On par 4's it was 3 mediocre shots and 2 putts. When I got down to low double digit golf not much changed other than I got up and down a few more times and made a couple more "regulation" pars. But my average strokes over per hole didn't change much.

[Lihu]

I don't doubt that there isn't huge scoring average variances for the ranges they have listed. I play with some low single digit guys once in a while and the differences I see are more how they score. If I get paired with a guy playing to 3ish the difference is he makes one more birdie a couple more pars and a couple less bogeys. What separates us is ball striking. I have to scramble for 30%ish of the pars I make and he hits more GIR.

When I was playing bogey golf often I was literally playing bogey golf. On par 4's it was 3 mediocre shots and 2 putts. When I got down to low double digit golf not much changed other than I got up and down a few more times and made a couple more "regulation" pars. But my average strokes over per hole didn't change much.

Interesting. This is pretty much the case for me.

[RFKFREAK]

I'm going to check this against my stats for the year but it seems pretty accurate for me from what I can recollect

[Pretzel]

Something interesting I noticed looking through my stats is that my hole scoring averages to par are equal/better than a scratch golfer. I average 3.4 on par 3's, 4.2 on par 4's, and 5.0 on par 5's.

[Spitfisher]

Actually, it's pretty easy to get a double. Take 3 to get on and 3 putt. Here's a scenario one of my partners did. He hit his drive about 250 yards, pitched 110 yards past the hole, chipped past again, used the putter to hit from the fringe (it was an island green and everything was sloping 30 degrees or more) rolling it 10 feet past the hole, and 2 putt. Every move he did seemed reasonable, he even setup for every shot and yet he doubled it. Shots add up pretty quickly.

He did this three times before taking a deep breath at the tee box and relaxed a bit. Then he started making pars. He's a 6-8 handicap or somewhere in that vicinity. I guess it didn't help that the two double digit players (including me) parred the first two holes and bogeyed the 3rd.

Chipped 110 yards past the hole???? he deserved a double.

Being a single I am much more likley to get a double on a par three than I do on a par 5.

[Spitfisher]

Well over a decade ago Golf Digest had an article where they mapped out shots, shot distances, where all shots ended up, scores for 4 groups ( scratch,handicap 7-12, 13-20 and 20-28 handicappers) each group had the same amount of golfers, each group played their appropriate tees, each group played the same course 10 times all in the same week. All the pins were centered in the greens They plotted all the shots, it was quite fascinating if you are into this stuff. I know I was, I loved statistics in HS and Collage.

The interesting take away that I recall when you compare the low handicappers from the very high handicappers, what was really the glaring difference was their second shots on par 4s. The 2nd shot distances were not radically different between the groups.The scratch and single handicapper hit their second shots beyond the hole in a much higher % of the time, than the higher handicappers who often would miss the green short and only rarely hit the ball to pin high & beyond the hole.

The article lead the reader to break it down further of an "average"par 4, forget distance because they were playing from the correct tees. The average par 4, slopes from back to front, often has a sloping apron in front of the green- again sloping back towards the fairway or golfer. More traps are located towards the front portion of the green, other obstacles that required to be flown or cleared are typically on the front half of the green or within 10-15 yards in front of the green. Even the grass fairway tends to be groomed better, allowing for a tight lie in front of the green,

For the scratch or low handicap golfer who as a percent hit the ball pin high or beyond the hole, often have the luxury of avoiding these hazards entirely, holding the green or a relatively decent lie or higher percentage 3rd shot closer to the hole.

The point here was not only the high handicappers hitting it much shorter but now their 3rd shot was in a much more difficult area of the hole design. The 3rd shot of the higher handicappers was once again short of the hole on average of 15 feet.

Moral, high handicappers should play at least on club more,(perhaps even 2 clubs more with an easier tempo) on all of their 2nd shots. The never up never in statement is true with mid irons as it is with putting.

[Lihu]

[QUOTE name="Lihu" url="/t/78476/study-overall-golfer-performance-by-handicap#post_1082054"]   Actually, it's pretty easy to get a double. Take 3 to get on and 3 putt. Here's a scenario one of my partners did. He hit his drive about 250 yards, pitched 110 yards past the hole, chipped past again, used the putter to hit from the fringe (it was an island green and everything was sloping 30 degrees or more) rolling it 10 feet past the hole, and 2 putt. Every move he did seemed reasonable, he even setup for every shot and yet he doubled it. Shots add up pretty quickly. He did this three times before taking a deep breath at the tee box and relaxed a bit. Then he started making pars. He's a 6-8 handicap or somewhere in that vicinity. I guess it didn't help that the two double digit players (including me) parred the first two holes and bogeyed the 3rd. [/QUOTE] Chipped 110 yards past the hole???? he deserved a double. Being a single I am much more likley to get a double on a par three than I do on a par 5.

I could have worded that better. He pitched 110 yards, and shot past the hole. :-D Off topic, BTW, does anyone else have a phone that revises what you write?

[No Mulligans]

Par 3s are the easiest for me also.

1)  I have fewer opportunities to screw up with a miss-hit ball (top, fat, off the toe etc.)

2)  I get to tee up my 'approach' shot.  A big advantage for a high handicapper who has difficulty with consistent ball striking.

3)  My occasional slice is a non issue with my irons as what may have been a slice ends up just being a fade.

4)  I play a lot on executive/short courses so I play a disoproportionate number of par 3s.

That article is good marketing for Grint, I now have the urge to check that app out.

[iacas]

Off topic,

BTW, does anyone else have a phone that revises what you write?

No, must just be you. You should patent that and call it "autocorrect." Then when it does funny things you could set up a website of auto-correct fails that are humorous. You could call it "damnyouautocorrect.com" but you'd have to buy that domain from someone… probably someone whose car corrects their driving or something.

;)

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Off topic,

BTW, does anyone else have a phone that revises what you write?

No, must just be you. You should patent that and call it "autocorrect." Then when it does funny things you could set up a website of auto-correct fails that are humorous. You could call it "damnyouautocorrect.com" but you'd have to buy that domain from someone… probably someone whose car corrects their driving or something.

;)

I need to get a iPhone again. My international phone accommodates too many words. It even replaces numbers like 110 with 91100. Blech. . .

[DrvFrShow]

Very close to my stats. I play in the 16-20 range for pars (make the birdie a par), throw in one double in place of a bogey, and one of those triples is usually worse than that, so it's within the ball park. I do better on the par 5s. That worse is happening on a par 4 (woods, water, OB or combination). If I can cut out that....  It's happening on one of the first holes or one of the last.

[Dave2512]

Being a single I am much more likley to get a double on a par three than I do on a par 5.

Oh yeah without a doubt it seems most single digit golfers have problems with the par 3's. Just takes one bad shot to mess it up where longer holes offer the chance of recovery due to more available shots. I make par on 5's playing sloppy all the time simply because I can make up lost ground, literally. If I duck hook it from the tee on a par 5 and it grounds out at just 190 even a mediocre fairway wood will still get me somewhere between the 150 and 100 yard marker.

I mentioned it earlier but it's the distance that I struggle with on par 3's. At the course I played most this summer only one par 3 plays less than 170 yards and just barely. It's listed on the card as 155 but I hit it with a laser every time and it's typically 160-170 to the flag and it plays uphill. The others are 179-210-170-188 tough to hit the green from that far.  My par 3 scoring average is 3.6 but I am usually scrambling to make par. I made more doubles on that 210 yard par 3 than any other this year.

[Pretzel]

Oh yeah without a doubt it seems most single digit golfers have problems with the par 3's. Just takes one bad shot to mess it up where longer holes offer the chance of recovery due to more available shots. I make par on 5's playing sloppy all the time simply because I can make up lost ground, literally. If I duck hook it from the tee on a par 5 and it grounds out at just 190 even a mediocre fairway wood will still get me somewhere between the 150 and 100 yard marker.

I mentioned it earlier but it's the distance that I struggle with on par 3's. At the course I played most this summer only one par 3 plays less than 170 yards and just barely. It's listed on the card as 155 but I hit it with a laser every time and it's typically 160-170 to the flag and it plays uphill. The others are 179-210-170-188 tough to hit the green from that far.  My par 3 scoring average is 3.6 but I am usually scrambling to make par. I made more doubles on that 210 yard par 3 than any other this year.

Even though par 3's are some of the most challenging, some of them are my favorite partially because of this.

I was very happy when I heard that the 4A state tournament would be at Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo, because it's a fun course and has one of my favorite holes on it. The 12th hole is a 163 yard par 3 that has the desert equivalent of an island green. The green is similar in size to what the 17th at Sawgrass is, but it's a mostly blind tee shot and the green is divided into 3 distinct sections. The front half of it is bisected by a tall ridge that can make a putt a whole lot more interesting if it has to traverse said ridge, and the back of the green drops off low compared to the front. It also has a a grass pot bunker on the back left corner (which I unfortunately found during the state tournament) that has no back (it feeds into the canyon scrub behind it) and a front wall that's taller than I am (it's a little over 6' tall). This hole is really fun to play, just because it's so different from everything you usually see on a desert course from a design perspective but it fits in perfectly with the landscape making use of the canyon as a hazard instead of a pond. It's challenging, but just overall a fun hole (it also helps that I hit the stick and almost got a hole in one here).

Key:

Green = Grass bunker

Black = Ridges and line of play

[Dave2512]

Looks cool and I don't mind stuff I can hit an 8i in to. It's the longer stuff that I struggle with. Even if I hit a green on a longer par 3 it's often not in a good spot. I'll look at my HBH stats, my guess is I 3 putt par 3's more than any other.

[RFKFREAK]

I'm going to check this against my stats for the year but it seems pretty accurate for me from what I can recollect

So, looking at my stats from the past year in comparison (with chart number for HC 26-30 in parentheses): Birdies: 0.2 (0.1) Pars: 1.76 (1.7) Bogeys: 5.2 (5.2) Double Bogeys: 5.32 (5.9) More than Double Bogeys: 5.52 (5.1) Even though I'm a 30.9HC, I seem to fit this range pretty well. Biggest difference is that I have slightly fewer double bogeys than expected and get a greater amount on average of more than double bogeys. My over par stats are: Par 3: 1.7 Par 4: 2.1 Par 5: 1.8 All my stats here fall between the ranges given for the 21-30HC and 31+. It's interesting because my stats from the last month of play (5 round so small sample size) breaks closer to the 21-30 HC range except for my Par 5's (21-30 HC range in parenthesis): Par 3: 1.6 (1.46) Par 4: 1.8 (1.79) Par 5: 1.1 (1.73)