putting stats

Hello all

If I'm off the green and choose to putt and then proceed to 2 putt on the green- do I record this as a 3 putt for my round stats? How do the pro's record there no of putts in the same circumstance?

I record my putts as shots on the green only, but there again I use GolfShot to record my round and if i take 5 on a par 4 with a 3 putt it would count it as a GIR

Touring pros official stats would show 2, I would record 2 personally some would call 3, there's no definative rule .It's personal preference John as amateurs.

I only count them if the ball is on the green. If I'm six inches off the green and I elect to use my putter and the ball goes in the hole I put it down as a 0 on my putting stats.

in our society we include a putting comp in the round and record the lowest putts scored so if you have a putter in your hand then we count it as putt taken before we done this, in the past we have seen players using a putter fron 20 feet of the green, this soon stopped, i suppose all groups will have there own rules

if i use the putter its a putt - dont care where its a putt in my opinion

Was thinking about this yesterday. On Sat I played at my club (Malden GC) and putted dreadfully 7 3 putts inc 5 when had had GIR and 42 putts in all. On Sunday I had a knock about on my own elsewhere and managed to avoid a 3 putt altogether and had quite a few 1 putts - including a few tap ins after decent chips and almost a hole in one!

Anyway I undoubtedly putted better on Sunday (after a trip to the practice green after Sat round, a tip from the pro and an observation about Luke Donald standing away from body so having nice free hands) but on Sunday I was chipping a lot more and the greens seemed a lot smaller so there was less long putting opportunity. I think I was about 30 putts - need to enter the round here.

Anyway 12 shots difference in 2 days! Take 12 off Saturday and would have shot my best ever by 6!

But anyway my point is that the 2 scores are aren't really directly comparable. even though I at least I felt I had sorted a few things... Funnily enough my overall scores weren't much in it - amazing how easy is it to lose a ball on your own. I hit one I thought dead at the green with an 8I but into the sun so lost the flight and could I find it...

thanks for the response everyone. I only aksed because I have always included all putts as putts no matter where they where hit from but on saturday i had a shot that got me thinking. I was a good bit out from the green (20 foot perhaps) with a smooth fairway to the green, the green itself was below my feet with sharp bank down on to the green I decided to putt with the thinking that any type of chip/pitch would have to be inch perfect or I'd end up 30 foot from the pin or off the back of the green even.

It seemed strange to include this as a putt as i had an option to chip and i thought part of me might even be tempted in the future to opt to chip instead of putt as this would improve my putting stats haha

Tim i agree putting stats for individual rounds can be very misleading. i.e. hit a lot of GIR's and putting stats will probably get worse because you'll have longer putts but i suppose averaged out over time they are worth looking at.

A ball should be on the green to count as a putt. Liam, if you chip dead and knock it in with the wedge, do you count that as nil putts?

Your 'Stats' go together, so FIR, GIR, 2 putts is a solid regulation Par. But 2 putts for a par with no GIR doesn't add up.

Agree with Russell & David. If its not on the green its not a putt. Period. Dave CAC handed Geordie.

Personally, I am not so fussy or as stringent as most of you. For Stats to be meaningful then there has to be leeway. I would rather have a 250 yard drive 1 yard off the fairway than a 190 yard drive down the middle, likewise a putt from off the green is always counted as a putt, the technical GIR does not mean a thing if one can get a putter on it.

How many times have you hit pin high just on the fringe leaving an easy putt, then, on the other hand hit the green in regulation leaving a 40 foot putt. I know where I would rather be.

JP,

I agree that at the end of the day Stats only mean something to you personally, but as with other things in life you have to draw the line somewhere.

In the end, it's the score you enter on the card that means most.

True indeed, Lyth, but the drawn lines are not very conclusive. I very rarely hit a green in regulation these days and a 190 yard drive down the fairway is not much use to anyone.

I'd certainly find it useful! As a 28 H/C player, who is beginning to wonder if I'll ever get to even 27? I would love to be able to hit 190 yards down the fairway!

It's all relative to ones level of ability of course. The bigger you can hit, if you can control the direction, inevitably means you are going to get more chances of pars or better.

Because I can't hit more than 150, I am still waiting for my first ever birdie, and pars aren't exactly a regular occurrence! But keeping the ball on the short mown areas, certainly gives one the best chance of the next shot being a good one, even if it doesn't travel as far as you would wish, and others can achieve!