I use a very specific 'putting quality' tracking system and I wondered if anyone else uses something like this. My 'system' is basically a table that gives the average number of putts that I think that it should take to hole out from every distance from 1 foot to 99 feet. Obviously the 1 foot entry is 1 (as is the 2 foot entry). A summary of the other entries are:

3' - 1.1
5' - 1.5
7' - 1.65
10' - 1.74
20' - 2.0 (equal number of 1 putts and 3 putts)
30' - 2.08
45' - 2.2
60' - 2.35
75' - 2.47
99' - 2.64

What this means is making a 3' putt is 0.1 strokes 'better than expected'. Two putting from 20' is 'equal to expected'. A two putt from 45' is 0.2 strokes 'better than expected' or a 3 putt from that distance is 0.8 strokes worse than expected. Of course the real table has an entry for every distance from 1 to 99'.

I record this data on the course and when I evaluate "am I putting well" I simply add up how I did against this table for all the holes. FWIW, I average 1.8 strokes 'worse than expected'. I have a couple of questions.

1) Does anyone use anything like this in evaluating 'am I putting well'. I have found putts/round to be 'less than enlightening' in many cases.
2) Would you consider this to be 'good putting', poor putting, or what?

I didn't have a good data source when I built this table so it is simply based on conversations with a few golf buddies and my instincts about 'what is achieveable for me'. And BTW this is useful for things other than putting evaluations.

For example using this table I can take putting totally out of the equation (subtract all my putts from my final score and add back in 'expected putting results' from the table). This then represents how I am doing "tee to green" and allows me to determine how much putting (vs. non-putting) is contributing to (for example) the recent approx. two stroke rise in my handicap (interestingly, the answer was almost all of it).

I'd be interested in comments from Geoff and others.

Thanks.

Dave
I use a simplier system to assess my putting on a particular day. For every green I hit in regulation the standard is 2.0 putts, irrespective of how close I hit the ball to the pin. If I miss the green by landing in a greenside bunker or reasonably close so my next shot is a chip, the standard is 1.5. If I miss the green by a long way or am well short, I again use a standard of 2.0 putts. Using this system the standard for the day to assess my putting may be 32.5 putts. Anything less than that means I putted better than average.
Using this method I can quickly assess how I putted that day.
Regards

I am not as elaborate/scientific as you guys(though I probably should be.) I play on a course with fairly small greens. So I feel that I should at least 2-putt everything outside of 10 feet. And make everything inside of 4 feet. By no means does this always happen, and I know the standards that I place is very high. This is probably why I get frustrated with my putting--but it also motivates me to improve.

Neville, am curious as to how close you consider 'close enough to warrant 1.5 strokes'? I do up/down measurements when 35 yards or less from the pin. Was curious as to what your cut-off is.

Scott, I play on some relatively large greens so would be thrilled to get my 3 putt average down to 1.0 per round. And I putted into a bunker once - am still somewhat puzzled as to how to exactly how many putts that was

dave

David
I play off a 12 handicap so I have to be realistic with my expectations. I belong to a group of golfers that play a different course each week apart from my once a week game at my home course. As such I am constantly experiencing different greens which is a true test of one's puting ability. I use about 30 yards as my cut off. I don't have the expectations of say VJ Singh who leads the averages of hitting it to just under 8 feet from 75 yards out. Beyond 30 feet I am happy to hit the green and make 2 putts. As part of my assessment I also set a standard of 6 one putts per round and no 3 putts. Typically a good day of putting for me is 29 to 30 putts.
Regards
Neville

Neville, thanks for the input. Looks to me like you are a better putter than I am.

dave