Golf is a ball striking and a putting game which can be broken down into several clear areas and skillsets. There are strokes off the Tee, Rough, Fairway, Fairway and Greenside Bunkers, and Putts on the green.
On a traditional 72 par course, there are 36 ball striking activities, and 36 putting activities.
Players who complete every one of those activities well (in regulation) will score 72.
Those who reduce the number of strokes or reduce the number of putts, score under 72.
Alternatively, those who increase the number of strokes or putts score over 72.
watchMynumbers will use a par 72 course to explain Nett Strokes and how it relates to a scratch golfer, compared to its application to a handicapped golfer.
There are other golf course configurations, but the watchMynumbers example, will focus on a course setup that has four par threes, ten par fours and four par fives.
In this configuration, and for this example, it is assumed that elite golfers cannot drive the green on par fours and only require two ball strikes to reach par five greens.
Traditional Configuration of a Golf Course
| Par-3s require 1 ball strike to get on the green.
Par-4s require 2 ball strikes to get on the green. Par-5s require 3 ball strikes to get on the green. Total ball strikes to get onto the green.
A professional golfer or elite amateur may only require 2 ball strikes to reach a green on a Par-5. If they can achieve this, they can reduce the total number of ball strikes from 36 to 32.
Minimum Ball Strikes an elite golfer can achieve on a traditional course – assuming they cannot drive a Par 4 – equals 32 Nett Strokes
|
4 20 12
36
(4)
32 |
On the professional golf circuit, to have a competitive score of 66, the Minimum Ball Strikes an elite golfer can achieve on a traditional course (excluding hole outs on par fours and fives) is a Nett strokes of 32.
If a player has a round of 32 ball strikes, they have to have one ball strike on all par three’s and only two ball strikes on all par four’s and five’s, which means the player has achieved 18 greens in regulation 100%.
To achieve a score of 66, with a minimum ball strike of 32, the elite golfer has to have 34 putts in a round of golf. If elite players have a number of greens not in regulation, they generally lose a stroke if they do not have one putt on those greens.
In addition, to score less than 66, the only way to save strokes is to reduce the number of putts.
All first approach strokes should be within five metres (roughly 16 feet), to give elite golfers 18 opportunities on 18 holes for birdies.
It is extremely rare for anyone to have a score less than 60 on a traditional 72-hole layout.