Shot Scope 6

A troublesome tee shot is one that results in a lost ball, is hit into a hazard, or is hit into trees off the tee.

As the saying goes, drive for show putt for dough, but if you are putting for a treble bogey after a lost ball off the tee, there is little dough to be had.

Would you rather have a 5i into the green or a 7i? The average golfer is twice as likely to hit the green with a 7i as opposed to their 5i. 

Shot Scope data reveals that with every 10yds a player moves back, their chances of hitting the green decrease by roughly 5%. Put simply, longer drives lead to lower scores.

One of the more ‘traditional’ statistics to track on your game, but one that truly encapsulates performance, is greens in regulation.

A GIR is when a player hits the green in one shot on a par 3, two on a par 4, and three on a par 5.

Many golfers have visions of hitting a shot that threatens the pin from this distance but the reality can be somewhat different. 

Multiple chips inside 50yds refers to the number of times per round where a player will fail to hit the green with their first attempt.

If there is one thing guaranteed to frustrate golfers of all abilities, it’s the dreaded three putt. They’ve done the hard work, getting the ball onto the green, only to hand a shot straight back to the course.

Three putts usually don’t come from poor mechanics, they come from poor distance control. Lag putting is an underrated skill, but the data makes it abundantly clear: players who struggle to control their pace leave themselves far too many testing second putts.

Whilst putts inside 5ft are by no means a gimme, being able to hole more than you miss is crucial for scoring, it can be the difference between a par save and a bogey. 

When every stroke counts, developing short range putting proficiency is a key component of lower scores.