I went through a torrid time with my putting last winter. Although the wet weather and course conditions undoubtedly played a role in my inability to roll the ball truly and successfully into the hole, my confidence took a hit. Where I would normally two-putt, the dreaded three (and dare I say it) even the occasional four-putt crept onto my scorecard.
It was mainly those critical short putts that I was missing. I know this because I keep my putting statistics. This is a simple and straight-forward task to do. Just add the putts tally in the empty column on your scorecard. Count the number of putts you take, jot them down next to your score and add up your total at the end of the round.
(Image credit: Carly Cummins)
Any decent golfer should be averaging less than 32 putts a round. Two putts a hole (36) is acceptable for the mid-high handicapper, but anything above this is a complete waste of shots. I was averaging 40 putts a round. Shot Scope, Golf Monthly’s official data partner, highlights why holing out for some (or failure to hole out) can be destructive to their scorecard.
Shot Scope data reveals that 10 handicappers make 94% of putts inside the three-foot range. This reduces to 89% made by a typical 20-handicapper and 85% by a player off a handicap of 30 or higher. Nevertheless still a really high percentage across the board.
But faced with a putt between three and six feet in length these statistics dramatically change. The low handicapper now only holes 57% of these putts, the 20 handicapper holes 48% and the high handicapper (off 30 plus) holes just 40%.
Armed with this knowledge I knew that I was failing to achieve where others at my ability level were holing many more short putts. I had to do something, but I still liked my putter, so I invested in a new putter grip instead, and wow what a difference it made.
When I took my putter into the pro shop to have the grip changed, the fitter told me that my old putter grip had twisted out of position on the club. Effectively, when I was trying to line the putter up square to the hole the grip was twisted, throwing my hands and the whole stroke out of alignment.
Carly Cummins opted for a 2 Thumb putter grip
(Image credit: Carly Cummins)
It was also so old and worn out that it was shiny and slippery. On those…
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