Home About Us The Instructors Clinics Private Lessons Junior Golf Instructional Tips Oak Marsh Golf Club Phone: 651-730-8886 Fax: 651-730-6711 institute@wpgolf.com Numbers Don’t Lie - June 2003 By David La Pour Statistic by nature are non-emotional. We on the other hand like to add drama to these hard facts. Golf is an excellent breeding ground for emotion and bias. The reason I bring this up is in order for us to improve our golf game we must know where all of our shots are going. Did you know that 80% of your handicap is from 100 yards and in? Did you know that 43% of your score is putting? Did you know that only 10% of golfers in America break 100 consistently? Don’t get me wrong, the tee shot and woods are important, they make up 25% of your score. It doesn't matter how good your short game is if your hitting 3 off the tee. But once the novelty of hitting the ball wears off, your left with scoring. Why not try keeping your own statistics for a month? My suggestion is to keep track of your putts per round, if you’ve missed above or below the hole on your first putt, are you short or long on the first putt, and how many finesse opportunities (inside 100 yards) you had during a round. Use the score card to keep track and at the end of the month see what the statistics show you. You can tell a lot from these numbers and most importantly, they will guide you to the areas that need the most practice. Remember, we should be practicing the things we are bad at, not the things we can already do. Next month we will talk about the most dominant club in your bag in relation to score, your putter. Until then, good luck with your golf. MORE TIPS Home / Putting / Short Game / Full Swing / Mental / Health / Other "I get up near the green in 2 or 3 and walk off with a 6 or worse. Help!"