Golf is full of opinions and views about how to shoot lower scores or swing better. Video analysis of the swing has helped reduce speculation on golf swing theories and a book by Mark Broadie has changed the way each shot is measured. In the book every shot counts he takes data from over 10 years of PGA tour events and crunches the numbers on the value of every shot. Some conclusions are obvious but others may be a bit of a surprise. 
I highly recommend reading the book which is available on Amazon.
“Drive for show and putt for dough” has been a mantra of many over the years. Would you be surprised to know that adding 20 yards to a tour players average drive will reduce his or her score by an average of .75 per round. Three shots per tournament is a big number. Statistically 20 yards of distance is worth loosing a little accuracy. It is harder than ever to compete on tour if you don’t hit the ball 290 on average!
Many believe the difference between good players and tour players is in the short game. The statitics show that the biggest difference is in approach shots first then distance off the tee.
Why was Tiger Woods the best player in the world for over a decade, do you have the answer in your mind? Was is driving, putting or short game? Tiger may make a lot of important putts but statistically he is just a really good putter. He had a great short game year in 2008 but was in the top ten only three out of the ten years measured. The statistic that shows why Tiger dominated is approach shots from 150 to 200 yards. He was #1 in approach shots six times between 2003 and 2012 and never worse than fifth. He was about one to two strokes better per round than the field in this area which is huge!
One of the themes of the book was that putting is over rated. The author illustrates that the difference in good players verses average players is larger with longer shots not putting. I play with a lot of amateurs and think most of them have room for improvement with their putting but their approach shots are pretty poor from 175 yards. Check to see if you have room for putting improvement by checking your putting stats against the PGA tour from 2003 to 2012. Check to see where you line up compared to the best.
One putts from distance
2′ 99% 3′ 96% 4′ 88% 5′ 77% 6′ 66%
7′ 58% 8′ 50% 9′ 45% 10′ 40% 15′ 23%
20′ 15% 30′ 7% 40′ 4% 50′ 3% 60′ 2%
Players win on tour from great putting occasionally from exceptional putting but much more often the win is from great approach shots and great driving of the ball. When VJ Singh was number one in the world it was not from his putting. His putting was worse than average but he gained nearly two shots per round against the field in ball striking.
So working on your approach shots is probably a good idea. Not that you necessarily want to play on tour but if you did the numbers below indicate what the average tour player takes to get the ball in the hole from different distances.
Average shots on tour from the tee or fairway needed to hole out
Yards Tee Fairway
60 2.70
100 2.92 2.80
140 2.97 2.91
160 2.99 2.98
180 3.05 3.08
200 3.12 3.19
240 3.25 3.45
280 3.65 3.69
340 3.86 3.88
400 3.99 4.11
460 4.17 4.29
500 4.41 4.53
600 4.82 4.94
Next time you play track how many shot it takes you not by the par of the hole but by the distance of each shot. After tracking your numbers for a few rounds you will learn where your weakness is and what to practice.
Golf is much more fun when we are improving. The first step to improvement is knowing what to work on. After you understand your weakness you can set a plan for improvement and make playing golf more fun!
Jim Hartnett
www.myhome4golf.com
