Golf skills assessments: tests, stats, and what to track.

Why test

Golf is noisy. One round can swing ten shots on weather, course, and nerves, so round scores alone make it hard to tell whether a lesson worked. A skills test fixes the conditions: same distances, same ball count, same scoring. Run it before a lesson block and again after, and a change in the number reflects the player more than the day.

Testing also changes the conversation with students and parents. "Your 50-yard proximity went from 24 feet to 14 feet" is something a student can feel good about and a parent can understand.

Traditional stats from rounds

Fairways hit counts tee shots on par 4s and par 5s that finish in the fairway; par 3s are excluded. Greens in regulation (GIR) counts holes where the ball is on the green in par minus two strokes: one on a par 3, two on a par 4, three on a par 5. Putts per round, and putts per green hit in regulation, separate putting from approach play. Scrambling, as the PGA TOUR defines it, is the percentage of time a player misses the green in regulation but still makes par or better. Sand saves, penalty strokes, and three-putts round out the list.

These are easy to keep on a scorecard and good at finding big leaks. Their weakness is that they are not in the same units. A missed fairway can cost almost nothing or a full shot, and fairways hit cannot tell you which.

Strokes gained, in plain terms

Strokes gained compares each shot to what a benchmark golfer would do from the same spot. It comes from Mark Broadie's research at Columbia, published as "Assessing Golfer Performance on the PGA TOUR." For any shot: strokes gained equals the benchmark average strokes to hole out from where the shot started, minus the benchmark from where it finished, minus one for the shot itself.

Broadie's worked example: from the fairway 40 yards out, the benchmark is 2.6 strokes to hole out. A shot that finishes one foot from the hole, where the benchmark is 1.0, gains 2.6 minus 1.0 minus 1, which is 0.6 strokes. Putting works the same way. From 16 feet the PGA TOUR field averages 1.8 putts, so holing a 16-footer gains 0.8 strokes and two-putting loses 0.2. Tour players one-putt about half the time from eight feet in Broadie's 2003 to 2010 data.

Because everything is in strokes, tee shots, approaches, short game, and putting can be compared directly, which is the advantage over fairways and GIR. The benchmark matters: tour benchmarks are useful for elite juniors and college players, while most amateurs need a benchmark closer to their own level, which is what consumer strokes-gained apps provide.

Launch monitor numbers

Trackman's definitions are the common reference. Club speed is the speed of the clubhead just before impact; Trackman notes 1 mph more can add up to 3 yards of driver distance. Ball speed is the speed of the ball just after impact; 1 mph more can add up to 2 yards. Smash factor is ball speed divided by club speed, near 1.50 for a driver and around 1.25 for a pitching wedge, and it measures strike quality. Face angle is the biggest factor in start direction. Face-to-path, the face angle relative to the club path, drives curve. Carry is the distance to where the ball comes back down to launch height.

Track the numbers that match the goal. A slice student tracks face-to-path and start line. A contact student tracks smash factor. A speed program tracks club speed. Recording every parameter every session buries the one that matters.

The Trackman Combine

Trackman describes the Combine as a standardized 60-shot test used to benchmark skills and track progress over time. As coaches commonly describe it: the player hits three shots in a row to each of nine targets at 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 120, 140, 160, and 180 yards and then driver, and repeats the sequence, for six shots per target. Each shot is scored from 0 to 100 by proximity, with the full-score zone scaling with distance, and the total is the average of all 60. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes. It needs a Trackman, but the score is a single number, which makes it easy to record over time.

Trackman Performance Studio also includes a Test Center where coaches build their own tests.

The Pelz short game test

Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible (1999) includes a short game test that produces a "short game handicap." As commonly reproduced, it runs eight stations of ten balls each: pitches of 50, 30, and 15 yards, an 8-yard and a 15-yard bunker shot, a 10-yard chip from the fringe, a 20-yard chip from the rough, and a 15-yard lob over a bunker. Each ball earns 4 points inside 3 feet, 1 point from 3 to 6 feet, and nothing outside 6 feet. The total converts to a handicap using the book's chart, so use the book itself if you want the conversion.

Even without the conversion, the station scores are useful on their own: a player who scores well from 30 yards and poorly from sand has a clear next lesson.

Level-based junior tests

Junior programs build testing into levels. The U.S. Kids Golf Player Pathway has ten levels covering putting, around the green, full swing, knowledge, and scoring, with skills checkpoints at each. Operation 36 uses nine-hole scores from level tees at 25, 50, 100, 150, and 200 yards and then the full tee box; shooting 36 or better moves a player up. Both give juniors a concrete target, which is most of what makes testing motivating for kids.

A scoresheet you can run with tees and a tape

Six tests, about 40 minutes, no launch monitor needed. Keep each as its own line; a single composite hides which part moved.

1. Short putts: 10 putts from 3 feet, one point per make. Best possible 10.

2. Lag putting: 3 putts each from 20, 30, and 40 feet. 2 points for finishing inside 3 feet, 1 point for 3 to 6 feet, 0 beyond. Best possible 18.

3. Ladder drill: 5 putts at about 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 feet. Holed is a birdie, stopping between the hole and a club laid behind it is par, short or reaching the club is bogey. Record the score to par; one under is the goal.

4. Par 18: nine spots around a practice green, chip and putt out, par 2 per hole. Record the total; lower is better.

5. Wedge ladder: 3 balls each to flags at 30, 50, and 70 yards. 2 points inside 10, 15, and 20 feet respectively, 1 point inside 20, 30, and 40 feet. Best possible 18.

6. Driving corridor: 10 drives into a corridor 30 yards wide marked on the range. One point per ball finishing inside. Best possible 10.

Run it in the same order, on the same practice area, with the same ball type each time. Changing the conditions starts a new series.

How often to retest

Monthly works for most students, or at the start and end of each lesson block. A new student's first lesson doubles as their baseline. Testing more often than every two or three weeks mostly measures noise; testing less than once a season leaves too few points to see a trend. For a junior program, a test day once a month at the challenge station is enough.

Recording results so the trend is visible

Numbers only help if they are kept together. On Upswing, each test is a benchmark on the player's record: you log the result, it lands on that benchmark's chart next to every earlier result, and personal bests are marked automatically. Golf starter benchmarks, including putting make rates, Par 18, and a wedge ladder, are ready to use or edit. A Combine score or any other number from your own launch monitor can be entered by hand as its own benchmark. The record also holds a round log and a Handicap Index field, so the test numbers sit next to scores and the index. Upswing does not connect to launch monitors; you enter the number. For a junior, the family sees the same record.

Questions