Hitting more greens in regulation (GIR) makes scoring easier but knowing that doesn’t tell you how to hit more greens. It also doesn’t tell you how many greens other golfers with your handicap are hitting. The truth is that most amateurs don’t realize just how many greens they’re missing or how many strokes that’s costing them. Let’s break down how many greens you should hit and what it takes to raise that number.
How many greens you should be hitting (based on handicap)
The average PGA Tour player hits about 65 percent of greens in regulation. Quick math tells us that’s roughly 12 greens per round. I bring that up because it’s important to understand that hitting all 18 greens isn’t a realistic goal for amateur players. Most pros don’t even come close.
The real goal is simpler: Hit one or two more than you are now.
| Handicap | Greens in Regulation (Avg) |
|---|---|
| 0 | 10.6 (11) |
| 5 | 7.4 (7) |
| 10 | 5.8 (6) |
| 15 | 3.8 (4) |
| 20 | 2.5 (3) |
| 25 | 1.6 (2) |
Want to hit more greens?
Now that you know how many greens you should be hitting, here are a few strategies to hit more. The strategies to hit more greens in regulation will change relative to your handicap.
For higher handicaps (15+)
Higher handicaps hit between one and four greens per round. The biggest issue these players face are long approach shots to the greens. It’s mostly a distance problem.
- Prioritize gaining distance off the tee: Average approach shots in this handicap group can reach over 200 yards, which makes hitting GIR difficult. Gain 10-15 yards off the tee, and you’ll give yourself more of a chance at hitting the green.
- Take an extra club: Higher-handicap players miss short of the green more than 60% of the time, think about clubbing up and ensuring your yardages are accurate.
- Aim for the center: While the cup may be small, the green is big. Stop aiming at pins and go for the center of the green regardless of where the pin is.
- Make sure you are playing the right tees: Check to make sure you are playing from a location that is fair to you and your current playing ability; if it’s not, move up a tee box.
For lower handicaps
Lower-handicap players are hitting anywhere from six to 11 greens per round. Generating distance is not as much of an issue here as are distance control and overall accuracy of the approach shot.
- Sharpen distance control with wedges: You must take advantage of all GIR opportunities with a wedge or short iron. Work on half and three-quarter wedge shots where you can manage trajectory and feel confident hitting the greens.
- Track your round to learn tendencies. When you miss greens, is it because you come up short, miss left, miss right, etc? Aiming at the center of the green and working on clubface control can help.
- Treat the range like the course: Don’t just hit 7-irons to a flag on the range. Mix clubs, change targets and rehearse shot shapes and pressure situations.
Final thoughts
The bottom line here is to stop putting pressure on yourself to hit every green in regulation. Chances are you won’t. Start small by trying to hit one or two more per round and watch closely as it gets much easier to walk away with a par on those holes.
HikingMike
1 year ago
“Take an extra club: Higher-handicap players miss short of the green more than 60% of the time, think about clubbing up and ensuring your yardages are accurate.”
I see this a lot, and it definitely has merit. But it is almost always easier to get into the hole in less shots from the front of the green rather past the green. Sometimes over the green is really penalizing. So I guess I would want to see more data on that. We do have strokes gained from grid squares for instance. And higher handicap players have a wider (longer) distance dispersion.