If you’ve ever looked at your stats after a good ball-striking round and wondered why you had so many putts, you’re not alone.
A lot of golfers expect their putting numbers to drop as their greens in regulation go up. On the surface, that makes sense. More greens hit should mean easier scoring and fewer putts. But when you look at real performance data, that assumption doesn’t hold up the way most players think it does.
Using a large data set from Shot Scope, we can see exactly how greens in regulation affects total putts per round and why some of your better ball-striking rounds include more putts, not fewer.
What Shot Scope looked at
The goal of this analysis is simple: When golfers hit more greens in regulation than they normally do, what impact does that have on putting?
To answer that, Shot Scope looked at round data from two handicap groups: 15 handicaps and scratch golfers.
For each group, they compared:
- Rounds where the golfer hit fewer greens than their personal average
- Rounds where they hit about their normal number of greens
- Rounds where they hit more greens than their personal average
These tables show how total putts per round changed as greens in regulation increased.
15 handicap golfers
| Greens Hit | Total Putts |
|---|---|
| 2 | 28.1 |
| 4 | 32.3 |
| 7 | 35.4 |
When 15 handicaps hit significantly more greens than normal, their total putts increase by more than three per round.
Scratch golfers
| Greens Hit | Total Putts |
|---|---|
| 7 | 27.4 |
| 10 | 31.1 |
| 13 | 32.6 |
The same trend appears at the scratch level. More greens hit leads to more putts, even for elite players.
Why this happens
The key factor here is proximity to the hole.
When a golfer hits a green in regulation, their first putt often comes from 20, 30 or even 40 feet. When they miss the green, they’re usually chipping or pitching from much closer range. That creates shorter first putts and more tap-ins.
So as greens in regulation increase:
- First-putt distance increases
- Three-putt risk increases
In other words, the golfer reaches the green sooner in the hole, which is a good thing, but it naturally leads to more putts being taken from longer range.
Why total putts per round can be misleading
Total putts per round doesn’t tell you how well you putted. It only tells you how many times you putted.
Better ball-striking rounds often come with:
- More long first putts
- More birdie chances
- Fewer chips and pitches
That combination frequently results in higher putt totals but lower scores. Because of that, total putts alone is a poor way to evaluate putting performance. It doesn’t account for how far your first putts are or how often you’re reaching the green without needing a short-game shot.
Smarter ways to evaluate putting
Instead of focusing only on total putts per round, pay attention to:
- Three-putts per round
- Lag putting performance from 20-plus feet
- Putts per green in regulation rather than per round
- Average first-putt distance
These metrics do a much better job of showing whether your putting is improving or if you’re simply reaching the green earlier in the hole.
The bottom line
Hitting more greens doesn’t guarantee fewer putts but it does create better scoring chances. Two-putting on the green is still a better outcome than relying on repeated up-and-downs. Be mindful of three-putts, not total putts.
Andrew
4 months ago
Strokes gained is the only one that’s consistent. Putts per GIR can change because your approach shot proximity improves, either through better ball striking or because you stop going for par 5s in two and instead lay up to 40-100 yards out.