How many 3 putts do you make per round?

[dfeldss]

3 hours ago, North Butte said:

That brings up an interesting point.

 

I count it as a 3-putt if my first "putt" is from 3-4 feet into the fringe, not actually on the green. But I don't count it as a "putt" if I'm using the putter from 10-15 yards short of the green in the fairway. 

 

I don't count it as a putt unless I'm on the surface. Even if do use my putter. 

Edited July 17, 2023 by dfeldss

[North Butte]

4 minutes ago, dfeldss said:

 

I don't count it as a putt unless I'm on the surface even i do use my putter. 

I want my stats to represent as closely as possible which element of my game produced a given result.

 

At my home course at least, with fairly short and well tended fringes, a 25-foot putt that starts off rolling over a couple feet of fringe reacts exactly like a 25-foot putt that starts off on the green. I have played a courses with pretty lush or gnarly fringes (or worse yet with a first cut of rough that goes right up to the green, yikes!) where putting through 2' of fringe means needing to hit the ball differently than from on the green. In those cases I do not count a putt from the fringe as a "putt".

 

For me it's all about how the ball rolls. If I make a normal putting stroke and the ball rolls smoothly through the fringe at about the same speed as on the green it's not IMO useful to lump that in with my "chipping" statistics. 

 

Years ago when I first started doing analytics I made the mistake of treating every shot even 1" off the green as a "chip". Since I have so many of those shots, the stats were trying to tell me I was a world-class chipping from inside 20 yards or so. When in fact, back then I had the chipping yips so bad I couldn't even count on making contact with a 30-foot chip shot unless I used a putter. 

[JD3]

Probably around 2 without much variance per round. I make a lot of one putt up and downs too, so it evens out. 

[bluedot]

We had our Senior club championship this past weekend, and I had one 3 putt each of the two rounds.  Both we’re approach shot issues in which I left myself a very difficult first putt.

 

I was disappointed with the three putt both times, but it was more of a situation where my putting didn’t save me after a bad approach shot.  The knee jerk default reaction of blaming my putting is one I really try to avoid.  

[getitdaily]

I don't really track 3putts but I've gotten a lot better at avoidance. I might have 1 every 2 or 3 rounds.

 

However, I'm more likely to have 1 on greens that are really slow. I had 2 last week on grainy bermuda greens thst were running about 7. 

 

I have to keep a backup putter available that has a more forward CoG for super slow greens. My big mallet gets to hopping off the face on slow greens. 

[larrybud]

1 hour ago, nvr3putt said:

How do you gauge (or what is your swing thought) the first long putt? Other than "I gotta get it inside 3ft".

I don't think anything like that. Just trying to make center contact. Distance generally takes care of itself. If you're hitting it all over the face, then it's really difficult to control distance. So I do mirror work on a semi-regular basis to make sure I'm setting up square with everything. Using a line helps me determine if I'm rolling it end over end, which is an indication of center contact and square face.

[Kuuuch]

Average 1 to prolly 2 a round at my home club. Lots of 2-3 tiered greens where it can be impossible to get inside 15ft if you manage to find yourself on the wrong tier. 

[phizzy30]

Less than 1 per round.  Putting is the best part of my game.  Aimpoint Express has been a game changer for me.  I don't think golfers emphasize green reading as much as they should and ams usually don't read enough break.  Distance control is also very important. 

[North Butte]

1 hour ago, nvr3putt said:

How do you gauge (or what is your swing thought) the first long putt? Other than "I gotta get it inside 3ft".

@larrybud has already answered for himself but for me I never thing about "getting inside 3 feet" or anything result oriented like that. 

 

I try to imagine the path the putt will roll on, then try to start it on that line and put a good roll on the ball. The goal is to make the putt, even from 50' away but my focus is visualizing the path and then starting it with a good roll.

 

The only exception would be if I'm far above the hole and it's cut right on a false front where hitting the long downhiller even 2-3' too far results in "de-greening". I will absolutely hit what's in effect a layup in that situation, where I'm visualizing putting it to a spot a foot or so short of the hole. Fortunately there are only a few of those hole locations at my home course so I'm only forced to do that maybe once every dozen or so rounds after a particularly ill-advised approach shot leaves me in that predicament. 

[ThinkingPlus]

I average 1 three putt every 2 - 3 rounds or so. That is very approximate. I also don't typically putt on overly fast or difficult greens.

 

I have been working on what I always work on, rolling the line on the ball end over end and speed control. I have changed my setup (closer to the ball while keeping putter head flat on the green) which has improved roll. When I practice on the putting green, I work on lagging putts then making the short one leftover (if necessary ). Mostly 30' to 50' putts so challenging lags.

[kiawah]

I usually three putt once every other round or so, but it depends on the day. 

 

I usually spend an hour on the practice green. 30 minutes working on speed control from 15-45ish feet and 30 minutes doing some kind of drill from 3-10 feet and see a lot of putts go in to boost my confidence. If I can have confidence that I can get a 40 footer to inside 5 feet and make the putt then I likely won't three putt much. 

[doctor220]

Type of course you play on has significant influence on this number too. If you play on big greens that permit 80-100 ft putts, on smaller greens you’d be chipping. Tour pros 3 putt around 20% of the time from 60 feet so something to consider. 

[bogeyczar]

Averaging a single 3 put per round over the last 17 rounds, 2/3rds of those are when the first putt is 40ft+. I had one round a month ago where I 3 putted three times. Trying to hit better lags.

 

[MattC555]

I probably average close to one a round.  Our greens are tricky. 

[Hawkeye77]

Not very often and . . . . nothing. I despise practicing putting. 

[Anthony Stevens]

On 7/17/2023 at 8:12 AM, getitdaily said:

I have to keep a backup putter available that has a more forward CoG for super slow greens. My big mallet gets to hopping off the face on slow greens. 

I'm interested in this - how did you come to this realization? I can't envision a scenario where a putter fitting would expose that. And what kind of mallet?

[TLUBulldogGolf]

I have kept stats for the last couple years and sit at 1.08 per round on average. If I really want to avoid them I will spend more time on the putting green before the round, otherwise I typically focus on strike/roll consistency and related speed when I do work on putting. And start line and roll for short putts. 

[nitram]

0.33.

 

I take it and carry on . . .

[getitdaily]

28 minutes ago, Anthony Stevens said:

I'm interested in this - how did you come to this realization? I can't envision a scenario where a putter fitting would expose that. And what kind of mallet?

Just experience from being a putter tinkerer.

 

I really like big mallets...og spider tour, pxg operator, odyssey 11 ch...

 

But those putters have most of their weight back. Combine that with my hands forward address position and it's easy to hammer the ball into the ground. The slower the greens, the worse it is.

 

I have a pxg hercules...mid-mallet with a forward CoG and it doesn't hop.

 

CoG hugely impacts launch. Even with some added loft, I still get the ball hopping occasionally. Slower greens, ball sits down more, hops.

[3PuttLefty]

My answer is i 3 putt too often!
 My issue (and my excuse) is that i play many different types of courses …from the crappiest public track to high end private clubs.  The green speeds vary immensely.  One of my local State run “course” had fairways that you could

lose your ball on and greens that looked like the first cut.   
I switched putters last year to no avail …its the Indian not the arrow (probably cant use that saying anymore 😬).  

[ThinkingPlus]

3 minutes ago, 3PuttLefty said:

My answer is i 3 putt too often!
 My issue (and my excuse) is that i play many different types of courses …from the crappiest public track to high end private clubs.  The green speeds vary immensely.  One of my local State run “course” had fairways that you could

lose your ball on and greens that looked like the first cut.   
I switched putters last year to no avail …its the Indian not the arrow (probably cant use that saying anymore 😬).  

Use Neanderthal. None of them around to complain. You might want to change arrow to spear for prehistorical accuracy though. 

[PracticeSwinger]

1.12 - pretty useless on its own.

[Sean124]

2 hours ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Use Neanderthal. None of them around to complain. You might want to change arrow to spear for prehistorical accuracy though. 

There’s one in my bowling league 

[North Butte]

It's the Caveman, not the Spear?

 

Although it was probably the Cavewomen who did the hunting while the Cavemen were out throwing rocks at each other.  

[northgolf]

I have at least 1 too many 3 putts a round.  My solution is looking for a course with smaller greens.

[iacas]

It's not uncommon for me to go many, many rounds without a 3-putt. I generally have good speed control.

[Geoff_Dickson]

2 handicapper.  Averaging 2.4 three-putts per round.  It's improved since I changed from Ping Anser to Ping Tyne 4....and started to use a faster and longer backswing.

[bogeyczar]

I had three today…agh…frustrating day with the flat stick.