Do You Hit More Greens In Regulation Than A 15-Handicapper?

The putting surfaces can look very small when we’re not playing our best, and it wouldn’t be unusual for even a fairly handy golfer to go 18 holes without finding more than a couple of greens in regulation. In fact, there are probably times when you’ve recorded a big fat zero in this column.

For those who aren’t familiar with the term, ‘green in regulation’ (G.I.R) is a statistical category that identifies when a player reaches the green in the expected number of strokes in relation to par.

Another way of putting it is that a green is considered hit in regulation if any part of the ball is touching the putting surface and the number of strokes taken is two or less than par (first stroke on a par 3, second stroke on a par 4, third stroke on a par 5).

As you’d expect, the best players in the world hit a lot of greens in regulation. The best of the best in 2024, Scottie Scheffler, averaged 73.16% (698 greens hit out of 954 holes). The PGA Tour average was 66.75%, and only two players bettered the World No.1 in this department.

On the LPGA Tour, Jeeno Thitikul topped the G.I.R table in 2024 with 77.20%. Nelly Korda, meanwhile, averaged 76.02%, which, like Scheffler, put her third. When you consider the pair won an incredible 16 times between them, it shows what hitting lots of greens can mean.

So, how does the average golfer compare? We’ve obtained the G.I.R stats from our official data partner, Shot Scope, which are revealed in the table below.

Greens In Regulation By Handicap

Source: Shot Scope

Of course, this is just one statistic. On its own, G.I.R won't tell you everything about how a player has performed. For example, a player might miss a lot of greens and still score well or have a fairly low handicap because of their scrambling and putting ability.

There are lots of different ways you can look at greens in regulation statistics. So far as Tour professionals are concerned, the extra distance they're able to achieve off the tee can make it easier to find greens, especially if they're hitting lots more wedges with their approach shots.

However, what makes the tour level player greens in regulation statistics so impressive is the difficulty of the courses and greens they are playing from week to week.

The bottom line is this: it's a lot easier to put a good score together when you're hitting greens in regulation.

What can you learn from this? Your first thought might be to improve your approach play and work on your irons. However, maybe you're missing lots of greens because your driver is wayward and putting you in too much trouble off the tee.

The best way to find out what you need to work on is to start analyzing your own data.