The most widely used putting stat is also the most misleading. Most golfers count their total putts per round, see a low number, and conclude they putted well. But that number depends almost as much on your iron play as on your putter, and it can easily fool you into practising the wrong thing.
Think about why. If you hit a lot of greens in regulation, your ball is often a long way from the hole, so two putts is perfectly normal even on a good day. If you miss greens, you chip on, and a good chip leaves you close, where you tap in the short one and record a single putt on the hole. Two players can post the same total putt count where one putted superbly and the other simply chipped it tight. The total can’t tell them apart. That is why it pays to look at the numbers that actually describe what happens on the green. At Golfsocial you can log your putts per round and watch the trend over time, so this stays more than a gut feeling.
The numbers that actually mean something
Rather than one combined figure, it is more revealing to split your putting into a few measures, each of which isolates something you can practise.
Worth measuring
- Putts per green in regulation: count only the holes where you hit the green in regulation. That removes the chipping effect and shows your putting on its own. If you sit steadily at two putts from there, you are putting fine; if the number drops, you are doing something right.
- Number of three-putts: the single habit that costs the most strokes. A three-putt gives away a full shot, and it almost always happens either because the first putt from distance finishes too far from the hole, or because the short return putt is missed. Track how many you make per round.
- Make rate on the short ones (1 to 2 metres): the putts you are expected to hole, and the ones that hurt most to miss. Note how many you face and how many you close out. This is where confidence is built or eroded.
- Lag putting from distance: from long putts the point is not to hole out but to control distance. The right measure is simple: did you leave yourself close enough for a stress-free next putt? If your long putts regularly finish within a putter length, you avoid most three-putts almost automatically.
What you can safely ignore
You don’t need to drown in data to putt better. Total putts per round is fine to note out of curiosity, but never use it to judge your putting on its own, precisely because it gets tangled up with your play into the green. You also don’t need to keep a ledger of attempted one-putts from every distance, or your average putt length down to the centimetre. That sort of thing belongs to a tour player with a caddie and measuring tools, not an ordinary weekend round. For most people it creates more bookkeeping than insight, and bookkeeping you won’t keep up is worse than no data at all. Stick to the few numbers above.
Total putts measures your iron play as much as your putter. Measure what happens on the green, not on the way to it.
What the numbers tell you to practise
The point of measuring is knowing where to spend your time. The numbers point fairly clearly.
- Lots of three-putts? The culprit is almost always distance control from long range, not the stroke itself. Practise long putts where you aim to stop the ball inside a circle around the hole rather than holing it.
- Missing the short ones? That is routine and setup, not power. Repeat the same short putts from the same distance until they feel automatic.
- High putts per green in regulation? You are leaving the first putt too far from the hole. Again it comes back to distance, not chasing every birdie.
How to keep an eye on the trend
A single number from one round means little. What matters is the trend across several rounds. Log your putts per round in Golfsocial, and read the curve across a season instead of fixating on one bad day on the greens. A three-putt on the 18th doesn’t mean you putt badly; ten rounds in a row with falling putt counts means something is working. That kind of overview is what keeps you practising the right thing instead of whatever simply felt off last Sunday.
Final thoughts
Putting decides a large part of your score, but only if you measure it properly. Drop total putts as the verdict and look instead at putts per green in regulation, your three-putts, how many short ones you close out, and whether you leave yourself close from distance. Those four numbers tell you what is really happening on the green and what is worth practising. The rest you can comfortably leave alone.
