10 Surprising Stats About How Regular Golfers Play The Old Course

As the very best golfers in the world negotiate the famous Old Course in St Andrews during the 150th Open Championship this week, we average golfers will marvel at their power and skill. We’ll also inevitably wonder how we would be getting on over the hallowed links.

New data collated by Shot Scope might just give us some idea. From a database of 6,780 rounds, with over 564,000 shots recorded, the GPS and automatic shot tracking technology company has analysed amateur golfers’ performances over the Old Course to deliver insights including: How does The Old Course compare to other Open Championship courses in the UK? What holes are the hardest? Where can you expect to make a rare birdie? Which green causes the most 3 putts? Where do you need to hit your ball off the tee in order to score well?

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How do regular golfers play the old course

1) The Old Course is the third easiest course on The Open rota - With Royal Troon and Royal St. George's ranking easier amongst Shot Scope users.

2) The 13th green, shared with the 5th, produces the most three putts of any hole on the course. One reason for this is that it is the largest green on the course - in fact, you could fit the first 12 greens at Pebble Beach on this green!

3) The 9th hole is the easiest on the course amongst Shot Scope users. With a scoring average of 4.15 vs a par of 4. In contrast, the 17th is the hardest hole with an average of 5.31 vs a par of 4. This average score is higher than that of the par 5 5th hole, which has an average of 5.28.

4) The 1st hole tee shot scoring zone indicates that the far right of the fairway, short of the burn, produces an average score of bogey or worse. All birdies on the first came from the middle of the fairway.

5) On the 11th hole, par 3, of those missing the green most miss short (34% of total shots end up short of the green). Shot Scope stats show that this is the toughest area to get up and down from, with only 31% of users achieving it.

6) “Strath” bunker short of the 11th green punishes shots, with only 15% of players getting up and down from it. 55% make bogey and 30% make double or worse.

7) The 17th, par 4, sees only 20% of users making par – almost half (45%) miss the fairway left and golfers who end up on the 2nd fairway or further left, have always dropped shots.

8) Around the green on the 17th, Shot Scope users are more likely to get up and down from the Road Hole bunker (15%) compared to only 4% who end up on the path or road through the green.

9) The 18th hole par 4 tee shot scoring zone shows that 71% of birdies come from users who hit over the road (Granny Clarks Wynd). In terms of direction, users on the left hand side or centre of the fairway have a lower scoring average than the right hand side of the fairway.

10) On the 18th hole, the Valley of Sin is perhaps not as harsh a penalty as expected – with 43% of players getting up and down from it.