We often hear the phrase “drive for show, putt for dough” but how true is it, and which would help you get better at golf? I dove into the Shot Scope data to find out if should you be prioritising practising your swing or your pace putting…
How to get better at golf: Drive for show
The average scratch golfer drives the ball 248 yards off the tee, if they are solely using a driver they average 285 yards. They hit 50% of fairways through the bag, the most with their 4-iron at 59% compared to 48% with driver.
Comparing this to a 20 handicap golfer which is nearest to the UK average handicap of 17 you can see a big difference. Their average carry distance off the tee is 189 yards and 225 yards when they use their driver. They hit 45% of fairways through the bag, interestingly they hit the most fairways with their 3 wood up at 48%.
So not only are scratch golfers hitting it further, but they are also more accurate with the big stick. The big advantage of the extra distance is not only that you are further down the fairway. It also means you have less club into the green, so you can be more accurate with your approach.
If a scratch golfer hits a driver and a 7-iron down a par-4 it would travel 463 yards. In comparison, a 20-handicapper needs to hit a driver and a 3-wood, and they would still be left with a 43-yard pitch into the green.
How to get better at golf: Putt for dough
Scratch golfers have 2.8 fewer putts per round than the average club golfer. They average 29.9 putts per round, compared to 32.7 putts per round by a 20 handicapper.
This doesn’t tell the full story though, as scratch golfers hit more greens and chip the ball closer, so they should have fewer putts as a by-product. They average 1.85 putts per green hit in reg, compared to 2.16 for a 20 handicapper.
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The biggest difference is in the volume of 3 putts, a 20 handicapper on average has a 3-putt every 8.2 holes, whereas scratch golfers manage 35.7 holes between 3-putts. That is a huge difference!
If you are a mid-high handicap golfer wanting to improve you putting, the stats say you should work on your pace control.
So should you be practising your driving or your putting?
Overall, if we look at total putting performance out on the golf course 20 handicappers are 2.24 shots per round worse than a scratch golfer. To say there is a 20-shot difference in handicap, I think this is pretty good!
When we come to driving, the difference is much more stark. Scratch golfers are 7.54 shots better off the tee thanks to their extra distance and accuracy. In fact, carry distance is the biggest correlating statistic to handicap when we look through the Shot Scope statistic database.
So if you want to get better at golf and get closer to scratch golf, I suggest practising your driver rather than your putting. In fact, getting out some speed sticks and working on your swing speed, could be the best thing you can do for your game!
What do you think of these tips to help you with how to get better at golf? Let me know on X…
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