- 9 minutes ago
7 Stats About Scratch Golfers You Won't Believe.
Dan Parker runs through the 7 most surprising stats about scratch golfers you won't believe are true! From data gathered by Arccos, the leaders in shot tracking and performance analysis tech, Dan is able to unpack some interesting truths around how a scratch golfers plays and - spoiler alert - you might not be as far behind a scratch golfer as you think!
Dan Parker runs through the 7 most surprising stats about scratch golfers you won't believe are true! From data gathered by Arccos, the leaders in shot tracking and performance analysis tech, Dan is able to unpack some interesting truths around how a scratch golfers plays and - spoiler alert - you might not be as far behind a scratch golfer as you think!
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00:00Scratch golfers are only top 1% of all amateur players in the world, so they're obviously very, very good.
00:06In this video with data from Arcos, I'm going to be talking through 7 surprising stats about some of the
00:11best amateur players in the world.
00:17Before we get on with the rest of this video, I want to thank Arcos again for supplying us with
00:20this data.
00:20I've been using their tech now for the best part of 3 years to help learn more about my game
00:24and how I play, how I can get better.
00:26If you want to start that journey as well, put some handy links down in the description where you can
00:30find the best price in your area for a set of their smart sensors to get yourself started.
00:37Okay, so the first start I want to talk about is how prolific, or perhaps not so much, scratch golfers
00:42are from 150 yards and out.
00:45So from this distance, they're only making up and down, or probably a birdie in most cases, 7% of
00:51the time.
00:51Which, you know, when you think they've probably got, depending on how far they hit it, a 9 or an
00:558 iron in their hand, you might conceive they're going to be doing that more often, but it's only 7
00:59% of the time.
01:00I suspect, though, they're not making worse than bogey from here that often either.
01:04Another interesting one is if I move 10 yards back to 160 yards, and I think this speaks to how
01:09good a scratch golfer is,
01:1120% of the time from that distance, they'll be hitting it within 20 feet, which I think is going
01:16to give them a really good birdie look, isn't it?
01:17So two stats and two opinions there on how prolific or how classy scratch golfers can be.
01:23It's interesting what the stats can give you.
01:25I'm going to have a go at trying to have one of those 7% moments and try and make
01:29up and down from here.
01:32It's a long way away, and it's a bit of a stinking lie for me.
01:34And I'm also not playing that well at the minute, but hey, let's have a little go. It's fun.
01:43Well, I've hit it all right, you know, but I don't think it's going to quite be within that 7
01:46foot.
01:48Barely made front edge. I'm definitely not making birdie from there.
01:54So probably a surprising stat about scratch golfers is how not prolific they are from this range here, outside 15
02:00feet.
02:01I've measured 16 feet out here, which, to be honest, looks a lot longer than when you just say it
02:05out loud.
02:05But scratch golfers in this range only hold around 16% of these putts.
02:10They're not, you know, raking in putts in this range all the time, less than a fifth of the time,
02:15in fact.
02:16Now, what might be more surprising is when I flip that stat on its head and say that the average
02:2012-index golfer from this range will three-putt more often than they hold out.
02:27So the lesson there is that scratch golfers, while they're not prolific from this range, they're not three-putting that
02:32often, as the 12-index golfer is.
02:34They're probably giving it a look, giving it a run, and then making the one back.
02:40And I'm going to try and do that right now and just do what a scratch golfer does.
02:45Gave it a little look. That was a bit low, to be fair.
02:47But make sure I'm not three-putting and just tinying up.
02:56Okay, so my next surprising stat is that from this distance here, which is 100 yards to the pin, scratch
03:01golfers are more likely to make a bogey or worse than they are birdie.
03:06That's according to the ARKOS data.
03:07And I think this gets rid of a really, a misconception that people have that from this distance with a
03:11sandwich in their hand, scratch golfers just make it up and down all the time, attacking pins.
03:15They're not. Maybe they are in making some poor decisions on occasion, which is why that bogey happens a bit
03:20more.
03:20But I think it's helpful for us higher handicappers to realise that 100 yards and in isn't always a green
03:27-light birdie option.
03:28Perhaps it makes more sense to find the middle of the green, have a go at one-putting, and if
03:32you don't, two-putting, get out of there, right?
03:34This example I've brought up here is a really good one as well.
03:37Bit of a sucker pin on the left, the wind's out the right, I've got a hanging lie for me
03:41as a left-hander that's going to want to push the ball left.
03:43The worst thing I could do here is go at that pin, thinking I've got to make up and down,
03:47and putting it left, short-siding myself and making a high score.
03:50What I'm going to do, which is probably what most scratch players are going to do, is aim at the
03:53middle of the green, try and bring it back in, and just stay nice and safe over there, right?
03:57But it's an interesting stat nonetheless, isn't it, that scratch golfers aren't that prolific from here.
04:02I'm going to have a go at this myself, see if I can just find the middle of the green
04:06and do something nice and sensible for a change.
04:12See, the wind has brought that back in.
04:15Bit short.
04:16Bit short, but nice and safe, wasn't it?
04:18So, from this range, when you're playing, just realise that scratch golfers aren't that great themselves from here.
04:24You don't have to be either.
04:28So, the next surprising stat, I think, speaks to how efficient scratch golfers are on certain parts of the golf
04:33course, specifically short par fours like the one I'm stood on here.
04:37So, on golf holes that measure around 290 yards, scratch golfers will average under par.
04:42So, they're averaging under par on these short par fours.
04:46Now, granted, they average 3.99 strokes.
04:49So, it's 0.01 strokes under par, but that is an average, and that's showing you how well they're playing
04:54these holes.
04:55And a few more Arcos stats can help us dive into why that might be the case.
04:59So, 8% of scratch players strike the ball over 275 yards.
05:03That means on a hole that's 290, they're going to be within 15 yards a lot of the time, right?
05:08And even those golfers, those scratch players who don't quite hit it that far, are still very efficient on these
05:13holes.
05:14So, a scratch golfer out of the rough with 40 yards remaining, their median finishing spot is 17 feet and
05:228 inches.
05:23So, not far from that sort of 16-foot putt we were looking at a little bit earlier.
05:27Now, as those golfers get closer to the hole, and this is still out of the rough, by the way,
05:31so they can miss the fairway, but still be close.
05:34So, if every 5 yards they get closer, that reduces by 2 feet.
05:40So, if a scratch player is 35 yards away from the pin on a short par 4 out of the
05:45rough, which is niche, I know, but it's good stuff, they will then be about 15 feet away from the
05:49pin.
05:50So, kind of adding those stats up together and those facts about what scratch golfers are doing out on the
05:54golf course just shows you how efficiently they play short par 4s.
05:58And to average under par, to make no worse than a par, and attack a hole and make a birdie
06:03fairly often, just shows you why they're so good.
06:09Okay, so this next stat, again, speaks to the efficiency and the quality of the scratch golf when it comes
06:13to their scoring.
06:14So, in nearly half of their rounds, scratch golfers won't make a double bogey.
06:18So, 43% of the time, they will not make a double bogey, which, you know, I'm sure a lot
06:23of scratch golfers are going to want to be pushing that more above 50%.
06:26And you can read this in two ways.
06:27You can read that as being highly efficient, because if I compare that to a 10 handicap golfer, they're not
06:32making double 7% of the time.
06:34So, very rarely, they're going through a round without making a double.
06:37Or you could read it that, actually, over half of the time, scratch golfers are making at least one double
06:42bogey in their round.
06:43So, a bad score is on the card.
06:45So, depending on how you want to read that stat is what you can learn from it.
06:48I would take it as a six-index golfer.
06:51Even scratch golfers are making at least one double, so it's okay if I am as well.
06:55Don't lose your head on the course.
06:56A double's probably coming.
06:58Something like that.
06:59So, following on for the double bogey stat, let's look at bogeys.
07:02And scratch golfers do make a fair few amount of bogeys.
07:05Again, something we can learn from, I think, is high-handicap golfers.
07:07According to the Arcos data, they'll make bogey or worse almost 30% of the time.
07:11So, that is about 5.4 holes per round.
07:15They're making that bogey or worse, which is an average of 4.6 bogeys and just 0.7 doubles or
07:21worse.
07:23Again, it could be seen two ways, can't it?
07:25You see a lot of tour golf and they're barely making bogeys.
07:28Obviously, these guys are a big step ahead of scratch golfers.
07:30Scratch golfers are obviously still making bogeys and plenty of them.
07:33So, it's fine when you do it as well.
07:35I think the thing that sets them apart, 2.2 birdies per round on average.
07:40So, minimum of two birdies per round on average.
07:42I certainly do that.
07:43And that will certainly help that occasional trip that the scratch golfer makes.
07:50Right, next up.
07:51And stick with me on this one as I try to explain it.
07:53But, to get a 50% green in regulation percentage, the scratch golfer can be furthest away of all golfers
08:01on the handicap index, as you might expect.
08:03That number, is where I'm stood now, is 165 yards away.
08:06So, to hit the green, 50% of the time, they can be this far away.
08:09Does that sort of make sense?
08:11So, this drops for a 5-index player to 147 yards away.
08:15So, just by the 150 yards, for them to hit the green 50% of the time.
08:19So, for a 10-index handicap, that's 129 yards.
08:23For a 15-index, that's 110 yards.
08:25And for a 20-index golfer to hit the green 50% of the time, they have to be 92
08:31yards out.
08:31So, that's such a huge difference between that 20-index and that scratch golfer.
08:36What's that?
08:3670-yard yards?
08:37That's pretty huge.
08:38Obviously, we might expect that.
08:40But I think it's a really interesting stat to get an idea about how scratch golf is playing.
08:44That from this far away, 165, 7, 8-iron, I don't know how far they hit it.
08:48Probably a 7-iron.
08:49They're hitting the green 50% of the time.
08:52Giving them the shelves, those chance of birdies and probably not making worse than part, really.
08:56So, I'm going to have a go.
08:57Can I hit this green?
08:58For a much better lie this time, from 165.
09:04Gloveless, with no practice swing.
09:10Oh, hold it, wind.
09:12Oh, no.
09:13Go!
09:15Ah!
09:18Maybe front edge.
09:19I don't know.
09:19It's just span off.
09:20The wind held it.
09:21But, listen, to be that accurate from this far away, it's obviously very impressive.
09:28Okay, my final surprising stat comes around chipping and short game and what scratch golfers
09:33are up to.
09:34And this speaks to how, again, they're not as prolific as you might have presumed.
09:38And that is a third of shots from out of the rough, from 15 yards away, will remain outside
09:4515 feet.
09:46So, 32% of attempts of scratch golfers from this distance will be outside of 15 feet,
09:52which I think is quite surprising.
09:53And we spoke about putting stats earlier from 15 feet, right?
09:56That when a scratch player is outside of that 15-foot circle, they're only making, what
10:01was it, 19%?
10:03Less than 20% of those putts?
10:04No, it was 16% of those putts, so even less.
10:06So, a third of the time, they're not getting up and down from here, pretty much, which I
10:11think is quite surprising.
10:12Obviously, two-thirds of the time, they're doing quite well, but it's not all the time.
10:17And I, as I have been all day today, I'm going to have a little go at this.
10:20I've short-sided myself, which isn't great, but it's a very soft day and I'm backing myself.
10:26Oh.
10:28Oh.
10:29That was a bit fly-y.
10:30That's going to be right in the bubble.
10:32I'm going to say that's within 15 feet and therefore, I am as good as a scratch golfer.
10:36So, there you have it, seven surprising stats about amateur golfers.
10:39And I hope what you can take from that, if you are a scratch golfer, congratulations,
10:43you're in the top 1% of all golfers, all amateur golfers.
10:47That's a bit about your game.
10:48But for the rest of us, the 99%, I still think there's some really interesting nuggets we
10:52can take from that about how scratch golfers don't compound errors too much and about how
10:56they are making the same mistakes we are, perhaps just less often.
10:59So, don't beat yourself up too much.
11:00Scratch golfers are doing it as well.
11:03I hope you enjoyed this video.
11:03I hope you learned a little bit.
11:04Thank you for joining me.
11:05I'll see you next time.
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