As you begin to progress in taking ownership of your game one big step is learning to keep up with your own stats. I know it may seem hard to juggle your stats while trying to keep up the pace but if you can learn a few tricks then it will make it much easier. Start by keeping your stats during practice and keep the stats simple to begin with. Grab a scorecard and after each hole simply write an F if you hit the fairway and a G if you hit the green. Then mark a slash for each putt. If you miss the green and get up and down then write u/d or sand if it was out of the bunker. If you don’t get up and down, then mark an X through it. These are just a few basic stats to get started with.

As you get better at keeping your stats you can take it to another level and be even more detailed. Some of these are ones that may be easier to go back after your round and track. Mark where you miss the fairway (left or right) and same for the green (left, right, long or short). Also mark what iron you hit into the green so you can identify if you are struggling more with short or long irons. Total putts is a relative stat because that number can be based on the amount of greens you hit. If you hit a lot of greens you are more than likely going to have more 2 putts, if you miss greens but chip close to the hole then you may more 1 putts. So the better stat is “putts per green in regulation”, this will help you determine your birdie conversion rate and give you a better assessment of your true putting percentage. Also track your lag putts and chips, are you getting them inside of 3 ft or not. This will help you determine if you need to work on those areas. Maybe you are making a lot of 3-10 ft putts but not getting your chips and lags close to the hole.

These are a few stats to help you begin to understand your strengths and weaknesses better. Once you have reviewed your stats you will have something more specific to email coaches about after your tournament rounds, and you can set some goals to improve before your next tournament. For more information contact Recruit PKB College Consultant Brandi Jackson at bjackson@pkbgt.org.