Golf Analytics

A launch monitor shows how a club performs in a fitting bay. Your round data shows how it performs in your bag. Here are five tests that tell you which club to question before you book a fitting.

Ten extra yards off the tee is worth about one stroke a round on paper. Round-to-round noise is often bigger than that. Here is what new clubs can realistically change and how to tell a real gain from a good month.

A scratch golfer beats par on par 5s. A 25 handicap plays them two over. Here are par 3, par 4 and par 5 scoring averages from 0 to 25, and where the strokes over par come from at each level.

A scratch golfer pars almost two holes in three. A 15 handicap pars about one in four, and a 25 handicap one in seven. Here are pars per round from 0 to 25, next to the birdies, bogeys and doubles that make up the rest of the card.

A scratch golfer saves par from greenside sand a little more than one time in three. A 25 handicap does it one time in ten. Here is sand save % by handicap from 0 to 25, with the rest of the stat line next to it.

A 40 handicap shoots 112 on a good day and roughly 115 to 118 on a normal one. Here is what the published data says about golfers from 36 to 54, what it leaves out, and how a 40 compares to scratch through 30.