How to Track Golf Stats to Lower Your Handicap (Complete Guide)

Without proper golf stat tracking, it’s nearly impossible to know where your golf game needs improvement. Tracking golf stats is easier now than it ever has been with the use of modern technology.

This guide teaches you how to track golf stats and which metrics are essential to keep an eye on.

After reading this guide, you will know what to track, how to monitor it, and why it helps in your quest to improve your golf swing.

Golf Stats to Track Progress (Key Takeaways)

• Fairway and Greens in Regulation determine tee shot and approach accuracy; on the PGA Tour GIR percentage for the best players is in the 65% range, and Fairways hit is in the 60% range.
• Scrambling highlights your ability to get up and down from around the green; scrambling is a score saving stat it can make or break a round.
• Putts per round indicate how many strokes you are using on the greens. Par allows for 2 putts per green, but one putts are essential to shoot great scores.
• The total score shows whether there is positive or negative progress in your game.
• In addition to tracking on course metrics, it is essential to track metrics off the course as well. Use HackMotion to monitor your wrist movement throughout the swing to ensure consistency, stability, and forward progress.

What Golf Stats Should a Beginner Track?

Beginner golfers can start to make some progress in their golf game and really understand what makes them the player they are when they start to track their stats. Golf stats that beginners should track will be a little different than those that professionals track because they don’t need to be quite as detailed at this stage.

Fairways Hit

Starting at the tee box, beginners should track their fairway hit to ensure that they are getting the ball in the fairway as often as possible. Playing a golf hole from the fairway is incredibly easier than playing it from the rough.

Identify whether hitting fairways corresponds to more birdies, pars, or bogey.

On a standard par 72 golf course, you find 14 fairways per round because your tee shot on par 3’s does not have a fairway.

Ultimately the more fairways you hit from the tee, the greater your chances of a favorable position on the fairway. Hitting an approach shot with a 7 iron out of the rough as opposed to a 7 iron on the fairway is markedly different.

Shots from the fairway have an easier time spinning on the green, so you can stop the ball much easier.

Take a look at which clubs used off the tee give you the highest fairway hit percentage. For instance, I know I can hit the fairway with my 5 wood almost every time, where the driver has a slightly higher dispersion rate. This is good information to have to start to lower your scores.

Greens in Regulation (GIR)

Unlike fairways hit, where there are only 14 fairways to hit, there are 18 greens to hit in regulation, so you have your work cut out for you here.

A green in regulation is:

• Hitting the green in one shot on a par 3
• Hitting the green in two shots on a par 4
• Hitting the green in three shots on a par 5

It’s very hard to hit every green in regulation; it’s not something that happens on a consistent basis. Even professionals struggle with this. Akshay Bhatia achieved this feat at Pebble Beach in 2021, a rare occurrence for seasoned professionals.

Golf Magazine suggests that 15 handicap golfers hit 26% of greens in regulation in a round, while 20 handicappers are down at 20%.

As we descend the handicap ranks, we find 25-plus handicappers only reach 16% of their greens in regulation.

The more greens you hit in regulation, the more two-putt pars you enjoy, which is less stressful than chipping to get up and down.

To determine where your weaknesses lie in your greens in regulation percentages, you must consider which club you hit.

After each approach shot, mark down the golf club in hand and whether you hit the green. At the end of the round, see how many times you used it and calculate your GIR percentage.

If you notice a low percentage with one club, work on it at the range or ask your instructor for assistance. Most of the time, with iron approach shots to the green, the inconsistency comes from improper wrist angles at setup, the top of the swing, and impact. The HackMotion sensor can be worn to determine where the weakness is and why it is leading to inconsistencies at impact.

Scrambling

No day on the golf course is perfect; you are always going to run into some kind of trouble. Scrambling is how you fix this trouble.

Scrambling refers to a golfer who missed the green on approach, chipped on, and put the ball in. It is also referred to as an up and down.

Using the 15 handicap example above, we notice they hit 26% of their greens, equating to approximately 5 per round.

Therefore, you are left to scramble to get up and down for par on 13 holes. If your ball ends far from the cup and you miss the putt, it is an unsuccessful scramble.

Instead of percentages, we should look at that in strokes.

Every time you cannot get up and down, you lose a stroke. For example, you do not get up and down on ten of the 13 holes and end up chipping and two-putting. As a result, you lose 10 strokes. If your net score after 18 holes is 103, you will realize how much a weak scrambling game costs you. For some players, this is the key to breaking 100, 90, 80, etc.

Putts Per Round

Once on the green, it is time to track your putts per hole and total putts for the round.

Like scrambling, it is another area where amateur golfers leak strokes and miss out on breaking a milestone score.

A Golf Digest article suggests the average golfer records 34 putts per round. Following our discussion on scrambling, you would think this is solid, equating to fewer than 2-putts per hole.

However, we have to remember how many greens the average golfer misses. If you miss those greens, chip on, and two putt, the number of strokes is really starting to add up.

The fewer putts you card per round, the quicker strokes are shaved from your net score and handicap.

The quantity of shots hit with a putter explains why it is an integral part of your game, which helps you transform your game, net scores, and handicap.

I recommend getting a better idea of where your putting game is struggling by recording the distances of the putts you miss. For instance, after each hole, just say that you missed a 12-footer, made a 2 footer. Start to categorize these and see where the inconsistencies lie.

Most golfers struggle with that 5 to 15 foot range where putts are actually makeable. The problem can often be tied to an inconsistency in the putting stroke. If you don’t approach the ball the same way each time how will you also factor in things like slope and speed.

The HackMotion can be worn on your wrist as a putting feedback tool. Record data about your putting stroke and mostly look at how inconsistent it is from one stroke to the next. If you are not keeping your wrist motion constant, the club head is returning to the ball in a different way each time.

Penalties

Most penalties are assigned to golfers because they hit the ball in the water or out of bounds.

However, you may receive a penalty for your ball moving on your backswing and other rules in the game of golf.

Track these penalties and analyze how you can avoid them going forward.

If you fall victim to balls in the water, I suggest laying up and avoiding the water instead of bringing it into play. Identify a safe zone and the distance to the marker, and select the relevant club to post the ball in a safe spot.

Proper golf course management will help you ensure that you are not racking up too many penalties. Finally, familiarize yourself with the rules of golf to reduce your susceptibility to silly violations which cost you a stroke or two.

Total Score

Finally, I suggest beginners track their total score, which you should be doing with a handicap tracking system. Watching your handicap decrease over time is a very powerful way to track your golf progress.

Set yourself long-term milestones to work towards, like breaking 100, 90, or 80. Then use the provided statistics above to identify crucial areas of improvement and strong points in your game.

Assess every scorecard to determine the holes you struggle with and where it went wrong to avoid repetitive mistakes.

For example, did you hit a driver off the tee and send the ball out of bounds when you could have struck a hybrid and still reached the green in regulation?

In addition, look at which nine you were stronger. A shaky front nine may stem from an unsatisfactory warm-up, unfavorable weather conditions, or a layout not ideal for your shot shape.

Advanced Stats to Measure Golf Progress

After you have become an expert at tracking the basic golf stats, you can now start to get into the more advanced. With more advanced stats in golf, you can pinpoint the exact areas of your game that need your attention.

Misses

I always mark down the side of the fairway or green that I missed to analyze whether my aim was off or I induced an undesired shot shape.

This information helps me plan my attack for the next round to avoid the same mistake and deliver more accuracy. Besides accuracy, look at the distance control of your approach shots.

Did it land short or over the green?

In this case, you must change your club for that distance for greater precision.

By keeping track of your misses, you can see if it was a random miss or if it’s a reoccurring issue that continues to haunt your golf game.

Proximity to the Hole

Proximity to the hole determines how close your ball finishes to the cup on approach.

Naturally, the nearer your ball is, the higher your chances of making the putt.

In addition, players stand a higher chance of making uphill putts, as the speed is less demanding to judge than lightning downhillers.

You will make fewer birdies when you find your ball consistently finishing beyond 40 feet from the cup.

Furthermore, players are more susceptible to three putts as they struggle to judge the pace and line from this distance. If you are continually noticing a 2 putt from the 15 foot range, try to work on making these putts on the putting green, they can have a big impact on your scoring.

Sand Save Percentage

If it still takes you two or three shots to get out of a bunker, you need to fix this.

As a beginner golfer, first, make yourself the goal of getting out of the bunker in just one shot. As you get better, you can work on getting it closer to the hole.

Think about changing up your golf wedge from time to time. Sometimes it’s good using a gap wedge or lob wedge to vary the distance.

Work out how many bunker shots you had in a round and how many times you managed to get up and down.

If you had 6 bunker shots and got up and down on one occasion, it equates to a 17% record.

Club Distances

The final stat to track requires a distance-measuring device for precise reads.

A rangefinder or a golf GPS device can help you decipher the average yardage of each golf club in your bag. The better you understand how far you hit each club, the easier it is to make correct selections.

Pay close attention to carry distance. Total distance is how far the ball carries plus the total roll, but the most important yardage for you to know is carry distance.

Wrist Angles and Club Path

Experienced golfers track intricate details of their swing, including wrist angles, club path, and angle of attack.

Wrist angle stats enable golfers to identify why their clubhead speed is dropping, or the clubface is opening at impact and causing a slice.

The best way to monitor wrist angles is the use of the HackMotion sensor. The HackMotion will monitor your wrist angle at setup, at the top of your backswing, and at impact.

We know after analyzing and tracking more than 1,000,000 golf swings that there are certain wrist angles that all golfers should aim for in their swing.

One of the most important parts of this is ensuring that your wrist is square or even slightly flexed at impact.

How do I Monitor Golf Performance?

To monitor golf performance, you can use one of the following methods.

• Track on your phone with a stat tracking app.
• Use strokes gained app or calculator to monitor your performance.
• Write everything on the scorecard and use an Excel sheet after the round to plug your stats in.
• Digital Scorecard when playing a round of golf.
• Launch monitor analytics, save your sessions, and compare progress.
• HackMotion wrist sensor and practice session history.

FAQs

Should I track my golf shots?

Yes, you should track your golf shots to see where your game stands and if you are improving or struggling to progress. In addition, monitoring your strikes adds an element of competition to an individual sport as you see how your scores compare to your buddies.

What do you keep track of on a golf scorecard?

A golf card helps you keep track of your gross and net score for each hole, the front and back nine and 18 holes. You can also track things like number of putts, fairways hit, etc.

Does tracking wrist angles help me improve my golf game?

Tracking your wrist angles can help lead you to become a much better golfer. The most important thing to look for is controlling extension at the top of your swing and impact and creating a more consistent position with your wrist each time you swing.

Final Thoughts

Our guide on how to track golf stats highlights the importance of monitoring your performance to help you get better at golf.

Start with basic metrics like fairways and greens in regulation, total score, putts per round, and penalties. Then graduate to advanced stats like sand saves, club distances, wrist angles, and club path.