January stats

Solid start to the new year: a great lesson, improved ball striking and control, a more consistent pre shot routine and I'm really pleased with how things are going. I have probably lost about six weeks of golf to the weather so have now been playing on a full course for about nine months. That time has taught me a number of important lessons. I most definitely play the percentage shot more often. I've learnt a bit about course management and club selection. I have a better idea of when to take my medicine. Most importantly though, I no longer feel as daunted by a full size golf course. My swing remains a work in progress but it is far more consistent and stable than it was six months ago. With two months to go to the new season things are looking up.

Practice
Armed with some new training aids my practice time has taken on a whole new dimension. The SKLZ flytrap has allowed me to work on my chipping technique in the garden, while the No 3 Putt has made putting practice much more challenging. Given the course closure problems at the start of the month, I am pleased with getting in just over 13 hours practice. I'm really looking to take my chipping and putting to the next level by April when the greens will be firmer and faster. That said there are drills I do for my long game that don't involve hitting balls and therefore don't end up on this list. However, as the nights get lighter my preference will be to grab nine, or even six holes of golf rather than hitting the range.

Distance	Time (minutes)	% of practice time
Driver	20	3%
Other Woods	20	3%
200 - 250 yards	40	5%
150 – 200 yards	30	4%
100 – 150 yards	95	12%
Short Approach	320	40%
Bunker Play	0	0%
Putting	275	34%
Total	800	100%

Rounds
Conversion is still a problem for me. More often than not it is still taking me two putts once I land on the green to get the ball in the hole. This obviously translates to low stats for birdie conversion and par scrambles. That said rounds of bogeys and pars will inevitably see my scores tumble, so while I'd love to see those stats tumble, keeping my putting average at the 32/33 mark and my GIR improving are my two main aims. Unsurprisingly, I am far more likely to hit GIR from the fairway and my most recent nine holes with FIR at 71% was a case in point, leading to 44% GIR.

Despite all this statistical back story my on course mantra is relatively straight forward. Get it on the short stuff, keep it on the short stuff, get it in the hole!

Statistic	Performance	SS2 Handicap level
Fairways in Regulation	46% (37%)	13 (18)
Greens in Regulation	20% (11%)	14 (17)
Putts per Round	33.53 (36)	15 (19)
Birdie Conversion	0% (8%)	28+ (25)
Par Scrambles	5% (8%)	28+ (27)
Sand Saves	0%	28+
Penalties per Round	3.18 (4.6)	28+ (28+)

The SS2 handicap level is a calculation made indicating your performance on different facets of your game.

However, these stats do not reveal what I believe is a marked improvement in my putting. So I looked at my putting and GIR stats. Comparing the past two months with the rest of the year my GIR stats have gone up from 11% to 14%. In that same timeframe my putts on GIR has dropped from 2.33 to 2.08. Hoping that all the work I've been putting into my chipping will start to have an impact on my scrambling stats soon. So progress has been limited but I did start this journey working from green to tee and things are looking much improved with the flat stick!