Being straight with yourself will improve your game

Most golfers record their score on each hole, tally it up after the round and reminisce about the good, the bad and the ugly at the 19th hole with their playing partners. Your scorecard can actually be used as a key tool in better understanding your game and reducing strokes.

There are four main statistics you should keep track of on your card:

1. Score
   

   Keeping track of your score is important if you are serious about establishing a handicap and improving your game. Make sure to include all of your penalty strokes, even whiffs (when you intend to hit your ball and you miss). When you record your score you can use symbols for quick reference. The pros typically put a circle around their birdies, a diamond around their eagles and a square around their bogies. If you are a single digit handicap this might be a good system for you. However, if you are a regular golfer, birdies and even pars are pretty exciting. Therefore you could circle your pars, diamond your birdies and square your double bogies. It is also a good idea to keep track of your equitable score. This is the maximum number of strokes over par you can take per hole for handicap purposes. If you are a zero or plus handicap the maximum score you can record is 1 over par, 1-18 handicap: 2 over par, 19-32: 3 over par, 33+: 4 over par.

2. Putts
   

   Focusing on your total number of putts will help you realize just how those missed three-footers add up. Assuming you two-putt every green, you should have 36 putts. Even that is too many. Top touring pros average 27-28 putts per round. By honing in on your short game skills you should be able to chip it close and one putt or get up and down from the sand more frequently.

3. Greens in Regulation
   

   This is an easy statistic to keep. Did you reach the green in regulation (GIR)? On a par 3 GIR is being on in 1, a par 4 GIR is being on in 2 and a par 5 GIR is being on in 3. You can also consider being on a GIR if you are on in fewer than the required strokes (eg: hitting on a par 5 in 2).

4. Fairways
   

   This is a statistic that you keep just for par 4’s and 5’s. To count being on the fairway you must land on the short grass, not in the rough. This is a good area of your game to focus on. The more you are on the fairway off the tee with a good lie, instead behind a tree, in a bunker or in the bush, the better your scoring opportunities will be.

Keep track of your stats and you will be pleasantly surprised how much more you focus on your game during your round. Make sure to celebrate your success when your stats improve! Lisa is the six-time Canadian Long Drive Champion, a golf entertainer and motivational speaker.