Additional Tips for Collecting and Entering Hole Data
Golfer Tracker for Excel is able to analyze and report on a plethora of
statistical information about each round of golf, but requires a good deal of
information in order to accomplish that goal. As an avid golfer and developer of
the program, I've been testing/using it for two years and have entered well over
100 rounds into the program by collecting just a few pieces of information for
each hole on a blank scorecard. This is the information I collect:
- Location of tee shot (FW, FC, R, B, PA, OB).
- Distance to pin on approach shot.
- Location of Approach shot (G, FW, R, B, PA, OB).
- Club used on approach shot.
- Distance to pin from where approach shot came to rest.
- Distance of first putt if the approach was not on the green.
- Club used on chip/pitch where I missed the green.
Using this information, I can get my drive distance by subtracting my approach
distance from the hole yardage, adjusting for off line shots and unusual tee
locations. I can also estimate my 2nd shot distances on par 5's this way.
There's no reason to get too precise with distances. Most approach shots you'll
get the distance from a rangefinder, yardage marker or GPS device. For shorter
shots and putts, just use your best estimate. Once you've paced off a few shots,
you'll be amazed how good you become at estimating your distances.
For rounds on courses I know well, I can recreate most of this information
from memory, except the approach, chip/pitch and putt distances, which I write
on my scorecard. I usually remember where I hit each shot from, so in some cases
I go on Google Maps after the round, turn on the satellite layer, zoom in all
the way on the course I played and use the Measure Distance function to measure
the distance to the hole. I've recreated complete rounds from memory just by
doing this.
Here are a few more tips that will help you out.
- Don't agonize over distances and collecting every bit of data. Make your
best guess and move on. Use Google maps to measure distance feature with the
satellite layer turned on and zoomed all the way in to get better estimates
if you need them.
- Don't worry about capturing all your shots on blow-up holes. Just record
your tee shot, an approach, and whatever you did around the green. The
program also provides a "No Approach" option so you can skip
recording your
approach shot on a hole. This is especially useful for punch out shots where
you didn't really have an approach shot. It is best not to record a punch
out shot as an approach unless you had a legitimate chance to get it on the
green.
- Don't bother recording shots that are complete statistical
outliers. You'll have so much data that ignoring a few shots won't
matter. For example, suppose you hit a good drive, completely top
your 2nd shot and then hit a good approach shot onto the green. Just
record your drive, your approach and whatever shots you played on
and around the green. If you hit the green with your approach,
select the green for the location but uncheck the Green in
Regulation box. You can still record the correct score for the hole
but there's no value in recording a shot you completely topped, or
whiffed. This is true for tee shots also that you might completely
muff. For example, say you top your tee shot on a par 5 and it only
goes 25 yards, then pull out 5-wood and hit it 230 down the middle.
Just record the 5-wood shot for your tee shot, ignore the topped
drive, and record your 3rd shot for your 2nd, etc.
- The program doesn't care how many holes you played so if you just sneak
out and play 4 or 5 holes, you can easily record them in the program and the
data will be saved and included in your reports. Or, if you play a few extra
holes after your 18 hole round, record the extra holes as another round with
however many holes you played. The more data you enter, the better.
Managing Rounds
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