Keeping your personal golf statistics...

[PCCraig]

Does anyone here keep detailed track of their golf stats? For example % of greens hit, # of putts, etc? What stats do you keep? Do you keep a record of them someplace, in excel or elsewhere? Do you find it helpful to keep track of everything, or have you tried it and found it useless?

[Joe Hellrung]

I keep GIR, fairways, putts, penalties (OB, water), and hazards (sand).  I am a 10 handicap golfer, and I don't find it helps much to lower my score (though I haven't really tried to plot it over a long period as you suggest).  I mostly keep stats so that I can look at the card on the 19th hole and talk about the round. 

[John Kavanaugh]

I keep GIR, fairways, putts, penalties (OB, water), and hazards (sand).  I am a 10 handicap golfer, and I don't find it helps much to lower my score (though I haven't really tried to plot it over a long period as you suggest).  I mostly keep stats so that I can look at the card on the 19th hole and talk about the round.

How is that new rule about not posting scores while playing alone working out?

[Ryan Taylor]

I mostly keep stats so that I can look at the card on the 19th hole and talk about the round. 

How is that new rule about not posting scores while playing alone working out?

So true. How can some folks be so oblivious? Are they that self absorbed and do they really think I care about that blocked drive on hole 16!!

[Jon Heise]

FW/GIR/PUTTS/SCORE/GARBAGE SHOTS...  Used to be more useful and relevant when I was playing and practicing more - and trending downward.  It's just a habit now, I dont get much out of it other than a reminder of how nice it was to play and practice enough for those state to matter!

[Jon Cavalier]

I use the Golfshot app to keep my card while I play, and it not only archives the cards but automatically collects stats like Fairways, GIR, Putts, average score to par on 3/4/5s, as well as scoring average by hole during my round.

While I don't much care about the stats, I do prefer keeping score this way to the card and pencil approach. 

[Mickey Boland]

Keep stats on an Excel spreadsheet.  From left to right, the columns are:  Date, Course Par, My Score, Over/Under par, Course Played, score to par on holes 1-6, 7-12 and 13-18, 3-putts, Total Putts, Greens in Regulation, followed by columns for eagles, birdies, pars, bogies,etc.  I've been doing this since 1988 and it's now become as much force of habit as anything else.  Last year was my best year ever statistically, and I considered discontinuing my practice this year, but a friend of mine convinced me to keep going.  Since I also have a column for the course I played, it also helps me go back and see when I might have played a certain course.  I also keep a separate spreadsheet with hole-by-hole scores on my home course.  I have to say that I am able to spot trends from time-to-time that show me what I need to work on. 

[Jason Topp]

I have done it a few different ways and sometimes will track for a particular round or two.  In almost all cases, the stats confirm what I know anyway.

The most insightful method I have found is to simply keep track of greens in regulation and score.  For most courses, your score is likely to equal  95 minus twice the number of greens you hit.  If you hit 5 greens expect to shoot 85.  If you hit 10 , expect to shoot 75. 

If your score differs markedly, something went awry (chip yips or water balls or horrible putting) or well (great short game, a hole out or great putting). 

If a sample of 10 scores on a course show variation, you either have a significant strength or weakness or there is something about the course that skews the numbers.  For example, I doubt the  formula would hold up well at the Old Course. 

[Josh Tarble]

I use GameGolf.  It takes a few rounds to get into the habit of using, but it's awesome.  Gives you all the typical stats plus strokes gained and you can get into detail about specific types of shots e.g. GIR % from 75 to 100 yards from the fairway.

I also like it because I can reference back to specific holes or courses and remind myself how I played or what a hole was like.

[David Davis]

Maybe Ulrich Mayring will chime in here. He's got a sick method of keeping track of every single number that he's ever run into on a golf course. Never seen anything like it. He created his own program for it (IT genius) and uses it very well. He's kept track of and has a detailed record of every single shot he's ever hit and what course it was on and his own rating method for every single course he's ever played.


Me I keep track only for official rounds (most at my own club or in tournaments), but it stops there and I don't keep them unless I break my own records. (imagine, records like 0 GIR and 0 Fairways)

[Joe Hellrung]

I don't talk to people who weren't playing with me about my round (except for my wife, and she only pretends to care).  That said, if I'm playing with someone then it is fun (for me anyways) to discuss the round over a beer with my playing partner - both his (or her) memorable shots and mine.  If I play alone and someone asks how I played, I have a pretty standard answer that "I had a lot of fun" (which is almost always true), but I don't go into details .   

I mostly keep stats so that I can look at the card on the 19th hole and talk about the round. 

How is that new rule about not posting scores while playing alone working out?

So true. How can some folks be so oblivious? Are they that self absorbed and do they really think I care about that blocked drive on hole 16!!

[John Kavanaugh]

Do you guys ever say what you shot without prefacing the round? Like 81 with 3 three putts or 78 with an OB.

One of the things I love about playing at an overly penal course is that no one ever asks what you shot. They're afraid you might ask back.

[Kalen Braley]

My online golf game keeps track of my stats for me... 

I too used to keep stats, but didn't see much point to doing it.  When ur a high capper, even when things are going well for a few rounds(relatively speaking), you always know it won't stay that way for very long. 

[BHoover]

For some unexplained reason, I generally am able to recall my rounds in my head. I can usually remember how I played specific holes, whether I hit the fairway, greens, and how many putts it took to complete each hole. I can't remember important details that actually matter, but I usually have no problem retaining useless minutiae. Go figure.

[Jason Topp]

Do you guys ever say what you shot without prefacing the round?

A friend of mine described golfers in conversation as four guys talking about their round and paying no attention to anything else. 

I find giving a number without explanation to be the best approach.  If someone wants more information they can ask. 

[Joe Zucker]

I've been using Arccos for my last 10 rounds (which is similar to Game Golf that Josh mentioned above) that tracks all your shots through sensors on the end of your grip.  It's not horribly intrusive on the round, but it uses the GPS on your phone so it has to be in your pocket.  I'm not sure if it useful yet, but it does track a lot of stats that are pretty detailed, like percent of greens missed on the right by club.  I'm not entirely sure what I'll do with this data once I have more rounds stored, but I suppose it won't hurt.

[John Kavanaugh]

The only thing worse was a few years back when poker was hot, what I would have given for a drink without a bad beat chaser.

[Ken Moum]

Do you guys ever say what you shot without prefacing the round? Like 81 with 3 three putts or 78 with an OB.

i have a couple of stock answers.


"I played badly, well."  Just checking to see if they're listening. I actually do have days where I am good at playing badly. No bad behavior, no self-loathing, nothing....


It's my version of George Carlin's bit

"[/size]There is a problem with the term, "Have a nice day." It puts all the pressure on you. Now you have to go out and somehow arrange to have a positive experience. All because of some loose-lipped clerk. Have a nice day, indeed! Maybe I don't like feel like having a nice day. Maybe - just maybe - I've had 27 nice days in a row, and I'm ready for a crappy day. You never hear that, do you?[/color][/size]"Have a crappy day?"
[/color][/size]"Why, thank you. Right back at ya!"
A crappy day, that would be easy. No trouble at all. No planning involved. Just get out of bed and start moving around.
[/color][/size]Some people always seem to be "great." Not me. I don't give them any superlatives; nothing to gossip around. I tell them I'm "fairly decent." Or "relatively okay." I might just say, "I'm moderately neato." And if I'm in a particularly jaunty mood, I'll tell them, ""I'm not unwell, thank you."[/size][/size][/font][/color]

[/size][/size][/size][/font][/color][/color]The other stock answer...[/font][/size][/font][/color][/color][/font][/size][/font][/color][/color]"I'm thinking of changing my name to Dyson Hoover, 'cause I suck."[/font][/size][/font][/color]

[Matt_Cohn]

I created a spreadsheet on Google Drive a few years ago. It tracks fairways, greens, three types of up-and-downs, scrambling (PGA Tour definition), putts per GIR, and putts per round. It also tracks all of these stats cumulatively, along with scoring average.


Anyone can access the blank template at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-vmKb-UOmwhCunIVbsw_iPLEj7bo4kk2CaPuJ8CFUlI/edit?usp=sharing. Just make a copy and you're good to go; it has room for 50 rounds.

[James Brown]

Does anyone here keep detailed track of their golf stats? For example % of greens hit, # of putts, etc? What stats do you keep? Do you keep a record of them someplace, in excel or elsewhere? Do you find it helpful to keep track of everything, or have you tried it and found it useless?

I have what might be the nerdiest golf spreadsheet ever.  I keep 90% of the PGA tour stats and have every round played since 1993.

[Wayne_Freedman]

Used to do so religiously.
Got too depressed.


Some days, instead of score, I keep track of intent and execution of intent.
Works real well.

[Ulrich Mayring]

As David said, I've written my own tool for that (download link in my signature). The reason is that I used an online service before, basically something not much different from what a few people here reported to use. But that online service went belly up and lost a good amount of my data. Therefore my principle now is: post only copies online, keep everything locally, make backups.

Ulrich

[PCCraig]

Thanks for those who have been so helpful, both here and via PM.


Despite having an analytic-based career, I have been anything but analytic with my golf game in the past. I'm thinking about trying to track my rounds a little better this upcoming year, if for nothing else out of curiosity. And if anything, perhaps my findings might help focus my limited practice time better?

[Mark Smolens]

Pat,
Though I don't compile my statistics anymore, out of habit I still keep track of fairways, greens, putts and up and downs. In the upper left corner of the box I put a dot or an X for the fwys, same in bottom left corner for greens, putts in upper right corner, and y or n for up and down in bottom right. After lots of years spent trying to figure out what it all means, I spend most of my limited practice time on the chipping green, hitting pitches, chips and sand shots. I will never be a great ball striker, but with practice can hit decent shots around the green. I find that on a good day I will still miss 1/2 of the greens, which makes the short game practice paramount for me...

[John Kavanaugh]

Who doesn't lie to themselves now and then when a ball is on the first cut of fringe and is really a putt. Come on, you didn't get up and down, or oops another three putt. It is all a load of crap. You are not a great putter just because you never hit a green. Oh, and you're not a great ball striker when you hit a 100 yd wedge 30 feet above the hole. I love those guys, if I could only putt I'd be sooooo gooood.


People who keep performance stats are compiling evidence for St. Peter to keep them on the wrong side of the fence. Destroy the compilations of your deceptions.