There are many different statistics that a golfer can track. Personally, I think greens in regulation (GIR) is the most important. After that there are many different stats that rise and fall in importance depending on how my game is on any given day. Whether the stat is focused on putting, hitting fairways, or sand saves (for examples) there is one other stat that stands out as very important to lower golf scores. That stat is our scramble percentage.

The scrambling in golf is defined as: The percent of time a player misses the green in regulation, but still makes par or better. This particular definition focuses more on the elite golfer who has multiple opportunities to improve their GIR percentage. As an amateur player who does not fit into the elite category, my definition of scramble percentage expands in order for us mere mortals to track our chipping ability.

When I tracked my scramble percentage in the past I would consider any up and down success within 15 yards of the green. I felt that this distance was reasonable for the better than average amateur golfer. Hitting the ball to within 3 feet from within 15 yards is a very realistic possibility. As my skills improved over the years, I expanded my distance to 25 yards and tracked my success rate to bogeys or less. Now, I do not track my scramble percentage, but I am wary when I not hitting the ball up and down very often.

Increasing your scramble percentage will save many strokes during the course of one round. The skill of chipping close from around the green is an important one to learn. Having a strong short game will reduce the pressure of misses on approach shots.

Golf has a plethora of stats that can easily be tracked. As I stated earlier, GIR is the top stat and for my game, my scramble percentage is a close second. You can track whatever stat you want, but knowing your scramble percentage will help point out whether your short game requires more practice.

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