How Many Putts Should You Make?

Keeping track of how many putts you have after a round can be misleading.  You can have 36 putts for 18 holes and shoot even par, or you can have 18 putts in a round and shoot even par.  A more accurate guide to how well you are putting would be to look at how many putts you make from a certain distance.  Below are the PGA Tour stats from 2008 and 2009 on percentage made from a certain distance.

Distance          Make % 2008      Make % 2009
Less than 5’    96.1%                   96.1%
3’ – 5’              86.5%                   86.8%
5’ – 10’           55.4%                    55.6%
10’ – 15’         29.7%                    29.9%
15’ – 20’         17.9%                    18.6%
20’ – 25’         11.9%                    12.3%
Over 25’          5.5%                      5.4%

As you can see the percentages of putts made drop off when the length gets outside six feet, and they dramatically drop off outside of ten feet.  The next time you go out, keep track of the putts you made and what distance you made them from.  Calculating the putts you made from a certain distance will show you exactly where you are throwing strokes away during a round, plus it will force you to focus on the “money putts”, putts inside ten feet.