Manual Shot Entry for Strokes Gained: Track Your Golf Without Your Phone

Getting accurate strokes gained data requires shot-by-shot tracking, but many golfers prefer not to use their phones during a round. Manual shot entry on a paper scorecard offers the best of both worlds: you stay focused on your game while collecting the data needed for comprehensive analysis.

Three Ways to Track Your Round in golfity

When you track a new round in golfity, you have three options:

1. Total score only - Quick entry, minimal insights
2. Score per hole - Standard scorecard data
3. Shot-by-shot tracking - Full strokes gained analysis

The shot-by-shot option delivers the most valuable insights, including strokes gained breakdowns by category (off-the-tee, approach, around-the-green, and putting) plus detailed stats per club. The tradeoff is that you need to record the distance to the hole and lie for each shot.

Why Manual Tracking Works Better for Some Golfers

Unless you have exceptional memory, you need to record shot data during your round. Two practical approaches exist:

Phone tracking - Enter each shot directly into golfity while playing. This works well if you’re comfortable using your phone between shots and can do it quickly without slowing down play.

Paper scorecard tracking - Write shot data on your scorecard during the round, then enter everything into golfity afterward. This keeps your phone in your bag and forces you to review your round when entering data—a valuable learning exercise.

If using your phone while playing feels disruptive to your rhythm, the paper method is clearly superior. You always have a scorecard available at the course, so there’s nothing extra to remember or print.

The Mike Carroll Method for Scorecard Notation

Mike Carroll, the fitness-for-golf expert behind the Fit For Golf app, shared an elegant system for tracking shots on a standard scorecard. The approach uses each row to record distance to hole and lie type.

How the Notation System Works

First shot of each hole: The distance is already printed on the scorecard (adjust mentally if the tee is forward or back). The lie is always “T” for tee.

Subsequent shots: Write the distance to the hole and a letter code for the lie:

• F = Fairway
• R = Rough
• S = Sand/Bunker
• G = Green (for putts, use feet instead of yards)

Practical Example from a Par 4

Looking at Mike’s example from the first hole:

• Shot 1: Tee shot (distance printed on card)
• Shot 2: 125 yards, fairway (125F)
• Shot 3: 22 yards, sand bunker (22S)
• Shot 4: 18 feet on green (18G)
• Shot 5: 3 feet on green (3G)
• Result: 5 shots (bogey on a par 4)

This notation captures everything golfity needs to calculate strokes gained for each shot and show you where strokes were lost.

Adding Club Tracking to Your Notation

Want even more detailed analytics? Add club information to your notation. Use the same square to write distance, lie, and club abbreviation:

125F-7i = 125 yards from fairway with 7-iron

This extra data enables golfity to generate club-by-club performance statistics, showing you exactly which clubs are helping or hurting your scores.

Benefits of the Post-Round Entry Process

Beyond keeping your phone away during play, manual entry offers another advantage: the review process itself becomes a learning tool.

When you enter shots hole by hole after your round, you relive each shot and naturally analyze what happened. Did that approach shot from 150 yards end up 40 feet from the pin? You’ll notice patterns you might miss when entering data immediately after each shot.

This forced review creates a feedback loop that accelerates improvement. You’re not just collecting data—you’re processing it in real-time.

Getting Started with Manual Shot Tracking

Try this approach on your next round:

1. Pick up a standard scorecard from the pro shop
2. After each shot, note the distance to hole and lie in a single cell
3. After your round, sign up for golfity if you haven’t already
4. Enter your shots hole-by-hole using the shot-by-shot tracking mode
5. Review your strokes gained breakdown to see where you gained and lost strokes

The strokes gained calculator shows you exactly how each shot contributed to or detracted from your score. With consistent tracking, you’ll identify the specific areas of your game that need the most attention.