Best way to measure a putt length?

[acarty]

Guys, I wonder if any of you have a decent and easy method to measure your putts out on course? I'm trying to boost my stat gathering when I'm playing, but don't want to take a tape out there, or hold the guys up behind me. I really want to be able to measure during competition rounds or at least have a good estimate so I can see my averages from certain numbers out under pressure.

 

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

Pace it off. There's no other way that's practical during a round of golf.

You just gotta figure out your pace length by taking 10 paces out back in the garden, then measuring the distance with a tape measure and divide by 10.

P.S. By the way, on long putt (more then 20-25 feet) being off by several feet matters not at all. And with practice you can get real good at eyeballing the short putts (inside 10 feet) plus or minus about a foot.

[acarty]

[quote name='Fourmyle of Ceres' timestamp='1389018942' post='8407499']
Pace it off. There's no other way that's practical during a round of golf.

You just gotta figure out your pace length by taking 10 paces out back in the garden, then measuring the distance with a tape measure and divide by 10.

P.S. By the way, on long putt (more then 20-25 feet) being off by several feet matters not at all. And with practice you can get real good at eyeballing the short putts (inside 10 feet) plus or minus about a foot.
[/quote]

Thanks Fourmyle. That'll work!

[Dpavs]

Would a laser digital measuring device work? Never really thought about how you could do this if you really wanted to be accurate. I think most are just going to eye it up and guesstimate the distance. Even doing things like using the pin to measure distance is too complicated for those over 20 foot puts.

[acarty]

[quote name='Dpavs' timestamp='1389019362' post='8407543']
Would a laser digital measuring device work? Never really thought about how you could do this if you really wanted to be accurate. I think most are just going to eye it up and guesstimate the distance. Even doing things like using the pin to measure distance is too complicated for those over 20 foot puts.
[/quote]

My Bushnell won't go that low I don't think... Actually maybe it will for longer putts. Didn't even consider that.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

Another good number to have in the back of your mind (for the medium-length putts of 6-12 feet) is the length of your feet. Put on your golf shoes, walk heel-to-toe for ten shoe lengths and measure that distance.

Because until you get good at eyeballing, you might want to do that around the 10-foot range. In that range being a couple feet shorter or longer noticeably affects the chances of making the putt. I think Tour players make 8-footers around half the time and 12-footers on one-third of the time for instance.

[acarty]

[quote name='Fourmyle of Ceres' timestamp='1389019958' post='8407599']
Another good number to have in the back of your mind (for the medium-length putts of 6-12 feet) is the length of your feet. Put on your golf shoes, walk heel-to-toe for ten shoe lengths and measure that distance.

Because until you get good at eyeballing, you might want to do that around the 10-foot range. In that range being a couple feet shorter or longer noticeably affects the chances of making the putt. I think Tour players make 8-footers around half the time and 12-footers on one-third of the time for instance.
[/quote]

That's useful too! I like to know what the guys on tour are making, and it makes me practice a lot harder, but this might help too! Thanks again!

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

Here's some numbers I've used over the last several years. I think it was based on some now slightly out of date PGA Tour stats for how many putts a Tour player will take on average from various distances. Probably 2008, 2009 or 2010 stats.

So you can see from about 33 feet they three-putt as often as they one-putt, on average, which means about 2.0 putts from that distance. This is the basic rubric from which the Strokes Gained-Putting and similar stats are computed.

1 1.001
2 1.009
3 1.053
4 1.147
5 1.256
6 1.357
7 1.443
8 1.515
9 1.575
10 1.626
11 1.669
12 1.705
13 1.737
14 1.765
15 1.79
16 1.811
17 1.83
18 1.848
19 1.863
20 1.878
21 1.891
22 1.903
23 1.914
24 1.924
25 1.934
26 1.944
27 1.953
28 1.961
29 1.97
30 1.978
31 1.993
32 1.993
33 2.001
34 2.009
35 2.016
36 2.024
37 2.032
38 2.039
39 2.047
40 2.055
41 2.062
42 2.07
43 2.078
44 2.086
45 2.094
46 2.102
47 2.11
48 2.118
49 2.127
50 2.135
51 2.143
52 2.152
53 2.16
54 2.168
55 2.177
56 2.185
57 2.193
58 2.202
59 2.21
60 2.218
61 2.226
62 2.234
63 2.242
64 2.25
65 2.257
66 2.265
67 2.272
68 2.279
69 2.286
70 2.293
71 2.299
72 2.306
73 2.312
74 2.318
75 2.324
76 2.329
77 2.334
78 2.339
79 2.344
80 2.349
81 2.353
82 2.357
83 2.361
84 2.364
85 2.367
86 2.37
87 2.373
88 2.375
89 2.377
90 2.379
91 2.381
92 2.382
93 2.383
94 2.384
95 2.384
96 2.384
97 2.384
98 2.383
99 2.383
100 2.382

[acarty]

Now that's interesting. I'll spend some time analysing all that and then I guess I can grab some more stats from the PGA website or something? And then I can compare my own.

Thanks for your input - much appreciated!

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

I can't upload spreadsheets as an attachment but the idea is, you put those two columns of numbers in columns A and B. Then column C is where you put the number of FIRST putts in a round that were from that distance (usually either 0, 1 or occasionally 2 putts in a given round). Finally column D is computed as column C time column D and summed up. That will give a total "expected putts" for the round.

So if your 18 putts totaled up to an "expectation" of 16.55 putts for a given round then your Stroke Gained-Putting works out to 16.55-18.0 or minus 1.45 strokes. Meaning you did about a stroke and a half worse than Tour average for that same set of first-putt distances.

I have occasionally had a positive number (better than Tour average) for a round but typical rounds for me are in the minus 3.5-ish kind of range. Which in theory means I'm only a couple strokes a side worse than a Tour player (although in reality I putt under easier conditions and face a less demanding distribution of first-putt distances so I would not do nearly that well on a Tour setup).

[stuey01]

I'd love to see someone on course eyeing up a putt through a laser DMD. That'd be hilarious.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

Maybe they could sell a combined laser rangefinder and laser level for plumb-bobbing.

[acarty]

[quote name='Fourmyle of Ceres' timestamp='1389025366' post='8408115']
I can't upload spreadsheets as an attachment but the idea is, you put those two columns of numbers in columns A and B. Then column C is where you put the number of FIRST putts in a round that were from that distance (usually either 0, 1 or occasionally 2 putts in a given round). Finally column D is computed as column C time column D and summed up. That will give a total "expected putts" for the round.

So if your 18 putts totaled up to an "expectation" of 16.55 putts for a given round then your Stroke Gained-Putting works out to 16.55-18.0 or minus 1.45 strokes. Meaning you did about a stroke and a half worse than Tour average for that same set of first-putt distances.

I have occasionally had a positive number (better than Tour average) for a round but typical rounds for me are in the minus 3.5-ish kind of range. Which in theory means I'm only a couple strokes a side worse than a Tour player (although in reality I putt under easier conditions and face a less demanding distribution of first-putt distances so I would not do nearly that well on a Tour setup).
[/quote]

That's super useful. So I can figure strokes gained for myself against tour. But you're right I guess that we're mostly always going to be negative numbers, and that positives are not really that comparable because of conditions etc. I mean I've putted on greens that are prepped and cut for tournaments before, and they're so much more difficult to putt on because of pure speed most of the time.

Anyway thanks! I'll get that saved into a sheet and keep a track!

[acarty]

[quote name='stuey01' timestamp='1389025386' post='8408123']
I'd love to see someone on course eyeing up a putt through a laser DMD. That'd be hilarious.
[/quote]

I'll get a picture next time I'm on the course and see if people around me think it's odd!

[epixep]

I split my putt distances up into ranges, which allows me to eyeball them fairly accurately.

Please have a friend take pictures if you use a Bushnell on a 40 foot putt.

[acarty]

[quote name='epixep' timestamp='1389029464' post='8408669']
I split my putt distances up into ranges, which allows me to eyeball them fairly accurately.

Please have a friend take pictures if you use a Bushnell on a 40 foot putt.
[/quote]

Would you then use the average of the distances strokes gained list from above?

I don't think many of our greens are as big as 40 foot! They're certainly not massive greens anyway!

[epixep]

I am not the ideal model of statistical analysis.

Pardon the humility, I'm an incredible putter and a mediocre wedge player from 60 to 120 yards. I track my proximity from the hole from that range to see if my putting wasn't up to par or if my wedge play is preventing opportunities.

If I hit eight shots from 60-80 yards at my home course and six of them were in the 20-30 foot range, I know my issue isn't on the green.

[acarty]

No problem! I'm a good ball striker, and hit it long, but my putting is average at best, so I'm working on hitting more GIR, worrying less about proximity and working on my putting from there.

[epixep]

[quote name='acarty' timestamp='1389030461' post='8408831']
No problem! I'm a good ball striker, and hit it long, but my putting is average at best, so I'm working on hitting more GIR, worrying less about proximity and working on my putting from there.
[/quote]

Are you three putting often? Don't take it from me, I'm sure someone on this board has the educational background and statistics to back this up, but if you're hitting a lot of greens and not making many putts it is possible your issue is proximity rather than putting.

You know your game best of course, but as Fourmyle's list showed earlier it is unrealistic to expect to make the majority of your 15-20 footers.

Edit: I misread your post, thought you said you hit plenty of greens. Whoops.

[acarty]

[quote name='epixep' timestamp='1389030819' post='8408877']
[quote name='acarty' timestamp='1389030461' post='8408831']
No problem! I'm a good ball striker, and hit it long, but my putting is average at best, so I'm working on hitting more GIR, worrying less about proximity and working on my putting from there.
[/quote]

Are you three putting often? Don't take it from me, I'm sure someone on this board has the educational background and statistics to back this up, but if you're hitting a lot of greens and not making many putts it is possible your issue is proximity rather than putting.

You know your game best of course, but as Fourmyle's list showed earlier it is unrealistic to expect to make the majority of your 15-20 footers.

Edit: I misread your post, thought you said you hit plenty of greens. Whoops.
[/quote]

No problem! I hit maybe 50% GIR, so I need to get that number up first. Working on fairways and greens this off season rather than trying to smash the 7i 200 yards. Hopefully with more GIR comes better scoring, kinda makes sense that the less you scramble, the better you "should" get. As a consequence of my current game, I scramble pretty well.

But, I must keep an eye on putting, and I will be using the data above, plus a couple of your posts!

[FLOGMR]

[quote name='stuey01' timestamp='1389025386' post='8408123']
I'd love to see someone on course eyeing up a putt through a laser DMD. That'd be hilarious.
[/quote]

I played in a pretty big tournament a few years ago...and a guy in our group did that.......He would walk onto the green with his putter and his Laser...he would shoot the distance and make his putt, then shoot the distance for his second putt as well.....Even if it was close (I doubt that he got reading inside 10-12 feet) He also lasered every other shot too...chip shots....bunker shots...etc etc

I believe that if you killed the guy it would be ruled as "Justifiable homicide" we were really close to doing that and dumping his body in a swampy hazard!!!

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

Laser a putt seems pretty nuts to me. But the best golfer I've ever had the pleasure of playing regularly with used to laser any shot where he intended to hit a pitch or lob shot. Even if it was just a 20-yarder over a bunker or something.

When I first started playing with him, I thought that was just an affectation. He still played quite briskly (probably because he takes about 15-20 shots a round less than me!) but at least three or four times a round he's lasering something inside 50 yards.

Then I noticed he had holed out about three of those shots the first half-dozen times we played together. And darned if he didn't hit it close enough to one-putt every single time, almost without exception. Dude made more up-and-down pars in a round than I hit GIR. One round I think I hit seven GIR and he hit eight. I shot something like 85 or 86 while he missed a birdie putt on eighteen and settled for even par.

So maybe there's something to it!

[braincramp52]

This sounds like way too much work!

[4Wedges]

I suggest learning a distance by heart. For me, I know how far 10 yards is to within a foot. I used to bow hunt, so I needed to know fairly specific yardages...I chose 10 yards because out in our shop we happened, at that time. to have white dots to delineate safe walking zones and they happened to be 10 yards apart. By walking them day after day it just became ingrained in me how far 10 yards was visually and I use that today in golf. I can stand off from the 150 yard marker and count back or up to my ball and be within a yard of the correct distance.

If you're concern is putting distance, learn by heart how far five feet is from various distances away so you can stand off from your ball and hole, count the number of five feets to your ball and go from there.

[acarty]

Thanks guys. All good ideas, so I'll certainly work on pacing a 10 yard and learn that. It's just to give me some idea of my numbers so I can measure my putts, and then use the data above from Fourmyle to calculate something like the strokes gained putting.

I've never seen anyone use a laser for it on the course, but I have seen people use it for small pitch shots like Fourmyle said. I'm more of a feel player there, and have always worked on feeling the yardage rather than working to a set number, but I'd seen some others do that!

Thanks again all!

[Jack Pearsall]

Laser measuring? Really?

[jWohlhueter]

How is a putt distance measured?

 

1. From center of ball to the center of the cup?
2. From center of ball to front of cup?
3. From front of ball to the front of cup or center of pin?
4. From front of ball to front of cup? (a putt at exactly this length will not go in!)
5. Or … ?

 

Because of green undulations the length the ball travels may be longer than the straight line distance. Is the distance traveled included in the calculation.

 

I've tried sending emails to the PGA but no one wants to field my questions. Thanks for any help or direction you can give me.