After one day of tracking my approach shot stat of distance and where I missed, I am calling Uncle. Yup, it was an eye opener and I realized that the amount of data I was going to collect was folly! I actually felt like I was drowning in information that really offered no substantial value….as I found out!

I played a stroke game with my friends Rick and Blair. It was during this round I decided to change the stats I wanted to collect as outline in my post a few days ago called: Changing Golf Stats To Measure GIR. I think my thought process was correct, but the execution proved my hypothesis was definitely wrong.

As you will recall, I was planning to capturing approach shot distances thinking that it would identify if I was having problems with a specific iron or distance. Well, after playing 18 holes I realize that this information was useless. I missed shots from 90 to 200 yards. I made shots from 90 to 200 yards. The distance had not impact how successful I was with my approach shots.

I missed the green on my approach shot 11 times. This seems to be about average lately, hence my reason to wanting to change my stat collection. As it turned out, I missed short 6 times, right 2 times, left 2 times, and long 1 time.

Obviously, I zeroed in on the 6 times I was short. Every time, I hit the ball poorly. Some were fat and the others were thin; overall, they were just poor swings. The one ball I hit long, I hit it very thing and sailed it over the green. The left and right misses were well struck, I just pushed or pulled my ball a bit. So, that was the gist of my 11 missed approach shots.

Have no fear, I am not discouraged. I am actually excited because I can focus on what the real challenge is: ball striking. I know this sounds really crazy because I shot a 4 over par 75, but I attribute my success to great scrambling and missing in play. So, my next steps will be stop worrying and keep my stat collection at a minimum. I want to thank my friend Andre that reminded my that “Can’t play your best if you’re worrying about anything about your game…just play”! Great advice and I am going forward with this with the following: fairways, GIR, putts and approach misses (L, R, S, Long).

I also want to thank everyone who offered suggestions on potential golf apps that would help with my quest. The discussions were very fruitful and I enjoyed reading and learning.

After one round, I have invoked my right to change my mind and adopt a new path. This quick change has happened before in my journey and I am not fussed. My approach is about playing better and finding the easy way to identify my challenge areas. As always, I think I am on a better path.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!