How Many Putts On Average Do Golfers Take During A Round?

Dan Parker runs through how the performance of different handicap golfers compares, with help from Shot Scope data

Transcript

00:00It has been widely documented that hitting longer drives is the best way to fast track

00:04your game to lower scores, but given you hit more shots during a round of golf with your

00:07putter than any other club, it would be foolish for golfers of any ability to completely ignore

00:13their flat stick.

00:14But how good at putting do you actually need to be to make inroads on your handicap and

00:18how do some of your stats compare to others of a similar ability?

00:22With data provided by ShotScope, we can reveal how many putts golfers take per round as well

00:26as some of the other startling putting stats that will certainly provide some food for

00:31thought.

00:32On average, a PGA Tour player takes just under 29 putts per round.

00:36So even the world's best aren't holding everything they look at.

00:39However, they very rarely three putt, doing so just 0.48 times per round.

00:44A scratch golfer averages 29.9 putts per round.

00:48They also only three putt 0.5 times per round, meaning that during a round of golf they are

00:52two putting nearly 66% at the time and one putting for a third of the time.

00:58For a five handicap golfer, the average putts per round climbs slightly to 30.3 and jump

01:03up again to 31.2 putts per round for a ten handicap golfer.

01:07A five index golfer three putts every 16.7 holes, so once per round, while the ten index

01:13golfer three putts on average once every 14 holes, which works out roughly four three putts

01:19every three rounds.

01:20For a 15 handicap golfer, they're expected to take 32.1 putts per round, while a 20 handicap

01:26golfer would take 33.4 putts per round on average.

01:31Interestingly enough for 20 handicap golfers is that of all the putts they miss, 55% of

01:35them are missed short of the hole.

01:37So if you sit within this index, a focus on getting the ball to the hole or past it from

01:41those mid and long range putts would be a good starting point to try and reverse these

01:45numbers more in your favour.

01:47A 25 handicap golfer will miss 59% of their putts short of the hole.

01:52This index of golfer also averages 34.3 putts per round.

01:57This equates to nearly two putts per hole and when you consider 25 handicappers also three

02:01putting on average 13% of the time or every 7.6 holes, improved pace control from distance

02:08and being more prolific from short range would be a quick way for a high handicap golfer to

02:12lower their scores.

02:14Hopefully this gives you an idea about how many putts golfers take per round on average.

02:19If you want to gather data like this for your own game, be sure to visit the ShotScope website

02:22to try out its range of game tracking devices.