What Is a Good Putting Average? Benchmarks by Handicap

A good putting average for most amateur golfers sits between 32 and 34 putts per round. Scratch players average closer to 30, and PGA Tour pros hover around 29. But the putting average number on its own is one of the most misunderstood stats in golf, because two players can both shoot 32 putts and have wildly different putting performances.

The reason is simple: putts per round depends heavily on how many greens you hit. Miss a green, chip it to two feet, and tap in for one putt, and your putting average looks great while your short game did the work. Hit every green to 40 feet and lag two-putt, and your putting average looks mediocre while your putter actually performed fine.

This guide gives you realistic putting average benchmarks by handicap, then shows you why the number needs context to mean anything.

Putting average benchmarks by handicap

These figures come from amateur tracking data and align closely with the patterns in Mark Broadie’s research at Columbia University. They assume a standard 18-hole round.

Notice the gap between a 25-handicap and a Tour pro is only about 6.5 putts. That feels small for such a huge difference in scoring, and it points straight at the problem with putts per round as a standalone metric.

Why putts per round can fool you

A higher-handicap golfer misses more greens. When you miss a green and pitch on, you often leave yourself a short putt, and short putts go in more often. So a 20-handicap who misses 12 greens gets a lot of one-putt opportunities from inside 5 feet that a green-in-regulation player never sees.

Consider two golfers on the same hole. The first hits the green to 35 feet and two-putts. The second misses the green, chips to 3 feet, and makes it. Both used two strokes after the tee shot, but only the first one took two putts. On the scorecard, the green-hitter looks worse at putting. In reality, their putter did exactly what it should from 35 feet.

This is why low-handicap golfers sometimes post higher putts per round than mid-handicappers. They hit more greens, so they face more long first putts and fewer tap-ins. The stat punishes good ball-striking.

The fix: strokes gained putting

The way to measure putting honestly is to compare every putt against the expected number of putts from that exact distance. That is what strokes gained putting does.

From 8 feet, a scratch golfer makes the putt roughly 50% of the time, so the expected putts value is about 1.5. Hole it and you gain 0.5 strokes. Two-putt from 8 feet and you lose 0.5 strokes. The metric does not care whether you hit the green or chipped on, only how you putted from where you were.

Strokes gained putting removes the green-hitting bias completely. A round where you two-putt every green from long range scores neutral, exactly as it should. A round full of one-putts from inside 4 feet after pitching close gives putting no extra credit, because anyone makes those.

What good putting actually looks like

Once you switch to strokes gained, the picture sharpens. Here is roughly what putting performance looks like across levels, measured against a scratch baseline:

A 15-handicap loses roughly two strokes per round on the greens compared to a scratch golfer. That is meaningful, but it is usually smaller than what they lose on approach shots. Putting is rarely where mid-handicappers leak the most strokes, even though it feels that way after a three-putt.

A sharper traditional stat: putts per GIR

If you do not track strokes gained but still want a fairer number than total putts, count putts per green in regulation. This isolates putting from your short game, because every putt counted started from a green you actually hit in regulation, not from a chip you stuck close.

Here is where putts per GIR tends to land by level:

A scratch golfer who hits 12 greens and takes 22 putts on those greens is putting at 1.83 per GIR, which is genuinely good. Total putts would not tell you that, because the putts from missed greens are mixed in. Putts per GIR is not perfect either, since a 60-foot first putt and a 15-foot first putt count the same, but it is a clear step up from the raw total.

How to track your own putting average

You can count putts on a paper scorecard, but you only get the raw number, which we have seen is misleading. To know whether your putting is genuinely good or bad, you need the distance of each putt and the expected value from there.

golfity calculates strokes gained putting automatically from your shot data, no sensors or extra gear required. You enter where each putt started, and the app compares it to the Broadie baselines so you see whether your putter helped or hurt. You can also run a quick estimate in the strokes gained putting calculator to see how a single distance scores.

The practical takeaway: stop judging your putting by the total alone. A 31-putt round after hitting 14 greens is excellent putting. A 31-putt round after hitting 5 greens probably means your putter cost you strokes and your short game bailed you out. Track the context, and you will know exactly which part of your game to practice next.

For the bigger picture on where your strokes actually go, see how putting fits alongside the rest of your strokes gained profile.