We take a deep dive into the shot data supplied by Arccos and compare an 18 index handicapper with a scratch golfer. Using these statistics, you can learn how to tune your game with the goal of getting down to a scratch handicap.
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00:00It's every golfer's dream to play off scratch, right?
00:02But what a scratch golfer is doing on the course right now to play off that index?
00:06And what are you not doing that you should be? Well, I've got all the data and all the stats to explain more.
00:17So in our deep data dive to get you down to a scratch golfer,
00:21we're going to be comparing a scratch golfer, a zero index handicapper, to an 18 index to really see the
00:27differences between these two. Now, I'm not going to say every 18 index we're watching now is suddenly going to play off scratch.
00:32I'm looking at these stats, but it's going to give us a great idea of key areas that golfers,
00:38you know, between scratch and 18 can work on to get down to that target, if that is your goal.
00:44So all the data we're referencing from this video comes courtesy of R-Cross Golf.
00:48They have a vast bank of data, over 750 million shots from real golfers on real golf courses.
00:56Just like you. So if you use R-Cross right now, your data has been plugged into this,
01:00and we're getting a real idea of what's going on out there, basically. And if you want to try R-Cross for yourself,
01:05I've put some handy links down in the description that will find you the best price in your location for a set of their smart sensors.
01:16Now, the first area we're going to look at, and probably most obvious difference between 18 indexes and scratch golfers in that journey to get down to scratch, is
01:24scoring. It's really obvious he's going to be different, but let's just take a look at them anyway, because it's interesting,
01:29and we can see where the biggest differences lie, right? So scratch players average 2.2 birdies per round,
01:3510.5 pars, 4.6 bogeys, and just 0.7 doubles or worse. I could only dream of such efficient golf.
01:44So for me, this less than a double bogey per round is the key stat, right? When we look at 18 index golfers,
01:51they're making 5.7 doubles or worse. So there's five whole double bogeys or worse between these
01:57two golfers. The rest of the 18 index golfer, they're making 0.4 birdies per round, 4 pars,
02:04and 8.9 bogeys with that 5.7 double bogeys on the end there. Listen, I'm not expecting golfers to
02:11suddenly have a birdie fest next time they go out, but the clear difference between that 18 indexer
02:15and scratch golfer, and on your journey down through that handicap index range, is just to
02:20chip a few doubles off here and there. Chip one, two, three off per round if you can. They'll convert
02:26to pars, bogeys, maybe a few birdies here and there, and that will help. Now, you know, you've got to
02:31admire the quality of a scratch golfer to not have that many double bogeys, but in that scoring area,
02:36let's really focus on bringing those down.
02:41Now, I think around the green is somewhere where there's going to be a big golfing class here,
02:45and somewhere on that journey down to scratch, we can all look to tighten up our game a little bit,
02:51so let's look at a scratch golfer's up and down percentage, right? Up and downs from around the
02:55green. To start from 0-25 yards, we'll place them somewhere in the rough near the green.
02:59They get up and down 57% of the time, and that's compared to an 18 index golfer who achieves that
03:05just 26% of the time. Again, sat back, admiring you scratch golfers out there for getting up and
03:10down more than every other time. It's pretty impressive. If we move ourselves out a little bit,
03:1525-50 yards, in the fairway or in the rough, it doesn't really matter here.
03:20Very similar results for the efficiency of a scratch golfer, basically. They're getting up
03:25and down from this range 35% of the time, whereas 18 indexes from 25-50 yards are doing that just
03:3212% of the time, so another golf there, really. While that golfing class is really clear, and I
03:37know I'm not breaking news with this, we all know 18 indexes are worse, I think that stat
03:44from 25-50 yards, where scratch golfers are getting up and down a third of the time,
03:48it's something we can all hold on to, I think. It's not mad percentages, is it, really? We can
03:53all achieve that, I think, if we work on our short game and our pitching. For you 18 index golfers,
03:59or anyone who's on that journey down to scratch, I think it's proved that incremental gains and
04:04getting that up and down percentage up from 25-50 yards, and from inside 25 yards, but especially
04:10that mid-range, is a real easy thing to work on and to try and achieve out on the golf course
04:15to get down to scratch. A reason for these lack of up and downs is probably down to putting,
04:23isn't it? Let's take a look at the putting stats between an 18 index golfer and a scratch golfer.
04:29Let's have a look on the green. Scratch golfers, some pretty good stats again. Again,
04:32not breaking news here, but interesting. They're averaging a whopping 5.21 putts per round,
04:3911.5 two putts, and just 1.33 putts per round. Pretty impressive, right? Again,
04:46let's compare to that 18 index golfer who is one putting, just 3.1 times per round,
04:52two putting, 11.1 times, and another big gap here, three putting, 3.7 times. For me,
04:59this compares to those scoring stats in that there's a lot more three putts for 18 index
05:05golfers and a lot more double bogeys when we looked at that scoring stats earlier.
05:09Now, I think this is the biggest difference in putting between scratch and higher index
05:13golfers. On your journey down to scratch, let's try and chop out some of those three putts
05:17and work on our putting. Now, I don't have any stats for this, but I imagine scratch golfers
05:22work on their putting a little bit more than higher indexes. They don't just go to the range
05:26and start blasting drivers, but they're really dialing that short game. Let's avoid a few three
05:30putts and we can get up and down a bit more and we can get to scratch.
05:37Okay, let's move further back down the hole and look at approach shots. Compare this scratch
05:41golfer and 18 indexer on that journey down to scratch. How do you have to get better?
05:46Now, there's quite a big difference here and we're going to look at green in regulation
05:49percentage. A scratch golfer hits a green regulation 56% of the time and that translates
05:54into 10 out of 18 greens over the course of a round. Again, impressive work. That might not
06:01sound like a lot. I think it does, but it might not sound like a lot, but compare that to the 23%
06:06of greens in regulation that an 18 index golfer hits and we can see the big difference. Now,
06:11not breaking news there, but something really interesting I found when working our way
06:16through this data is that when an 18 index handicapper does hit the green in regulation,
06:21their proximity to the hole isn't that much different to that of a scratch golfer.
06:26Let me explain that. When a scratch golfer hits the green, their average proximity to the hole
06:31is 26 foot, which again, I'm not saying it's very close. It's very good golf,
06:35but when an 18 index handicapper does do it, only 23% of the time, but when they do do it,
06:41that proximity to the hole is 35 foot. There's only nine foot difference there. What I'm saying
06:49is anyone between scratch and 18 watching this now, when you do hit that green in reg,
06:54and that percentage obviously differs a lot, you're very close to the hole as a scratch golfer
06:58would be. It's not that much different. Then if we even look at an eight index golfer, so something
07:02sort of in the middle of these two, when they hit a green in regulation, they're 30 foot away from
07:08the hole. It shows the value of hitting that green in regulation. I think on your journey
07:14down to scratch, if you really value a high green regulation percentage, you should be able to start
07:19chipping off shots on your handicap. Now, I can't tell you how to do that, but maybe identify a few
07:24areas as to why your percentage, green in regulation percentage isn't that high. Are
07:29your drives putting you out of position? Are your iron shots poor? Work out which one of those it
07:35is, go and work on that, and hopefully you see that green in regulation percentage skyrocket.
07:40Finally then, back to the tee box. Now, it's not going to be any great surprise that scratch
07:47golfers hit the ball a lot further than 18 handicap golfers. A scratch golfer averages 251 yards off
07:53the tee, compared to an 18 indexers, 217 yards. Now, to some, and I know a lot of mid to high
08:00handicappers who might hit it a bit further than 251. That might not feel like a long way away,
08:05but that accuracy is where we need to look at. Scratch golfers hit the fairway 51% of the time,
08:11so more than half, which I think is a very good effort, compared to 18 index golfers who hit the
08:17fairway at 42% of the time. Now, that's actually quite a close number again, isn't it? We looked
08:22at proximity to the hole in greens and regulations a minute ago. They weren't that far off, 9 feet,
08:2811 feet. This is only 9% difference in fairways. Obviously, that chunk of distance
08:35is important, but I think it shows on your journey down to scratch or a lower handicap,
08:39accuracy isn't that important in the grand scheme. I'm going to leave you that little
08:43line there. Accuracy isn't that important. Maybe work on a bit of distance. I think distance does
08:47work because 217 yards, 251 is a big golf. Listen, wherever you are on the handicap index,
08:53even scratch golfers are missing every other fairway pretty much. You don't need to value
08:57accuracy, maybe let's value a bit more distance. There you have it, the stats and the data that
09:02should give you a path or some sort of guiding light to becoming a scratch golfer. Now, which
09:08ones do I think are most important there? I want you to go away with the accuracy. You don't need
09:12to be that accurate to be a scratch golfer. It helps, but not that accurate. Proximity to the
09:19hole on greens in regulation hits, rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? If you remember that one
09:23somehow, you'll think how valuable greens in regulation are because the proximity isn't that
09:29different from a scratch golfer. Now, I know you watching at home will be on different parts of the
09:33handicap spectrum, but I hope that comparison from an 18 index to a scratch golfer gives you some
09:38idea of what parts of the game you can go away and work on. Start your journey down to scratch.
09:45If there's any more videos you want to see just like this of deep data dives,
09:49we've got all this R-Class information to go off, let me know down in the description.
09:52I'd love to hear from you and put this data to good use. I want to hear what you guys
09:56want to see. For now, thank you so much for joining me. I'll see you next time.