Plan to Hit More Greens in Regulation

The best way to lower your scores is to land on more fairways, hit more greens in regulation and make more putts. That’s easier said than done. The most important shots in golf which hold mid- and high-handicappers back are hitting more greens in regulation. That’s the key to getting more two-putt pars and the occasional birdie. If you are missing greens you are faced with bunker shots, short sided chips out of the ruff and bladed or chunked chips which really boost your scores.

In a recent issue of GOLF Magazine, using data from ARCCOS Caddie Link, they shared how many greens in regulation their users are hitting. [NOTE: ARCCOS is a system that records your golf statistics for every shot on every round your play.] Five handicap golfers average 8 greens in regulation per round, while ten handicap golfers average 6 GIR per round and fifteen handicap golfers average over 4 per round.

Cameron Smith is the current PGA Tour leader of greens in regulation (GIR) by hitting 80.56 %, and the Tour average is 68.20 %, which is about 12.5 greens in regulation per round (based on 18 holes, including the par 3’s). Those two numbers are not too realistic for weekend warriors.

The following chart lists the handicap (in the white circles) and corresponding GIR percentage for golfers

who use the ARCCOS data recording system

Based on my personal experience with Greens Hit In Regulation, these percentages seem to be lower than they should be. This chart shows that 15 Handicap golfers are hitting Greens In Regulation a little over 4 times every time they play. [That seems to be surprisingly low.] To hold a 15 handicap those golfers must be chipping and 2 putting on 14 holes for about 14 bogies. I suspect that these golfers are taking a lot of gimmes.

Practice with your GOLFSTR+ to improve your drives and to hit more greens in regulation. Everyone’s goal should be to hit 50% or 9 Greens In Regulation but you still need some amazing chipping and putting to hit the Handicaps in this chart. Buy your GOLFSTR+ today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Golf Truism #85: Golf is harder than baseball. In golf, you have to play your foul balls.