You're Correct!

Keeping track of your golfing progress is not as straightforward as it sounds because of how multi-faceted the game can be.

Progress for one person might be the result in their weekly Stableford whilst progress for another could be the accuracy of their driving. Whatever an individual golfers goals are, the best way to keep track of progress is to keep statistics and scores.

Statistics are almost as important as the overall score because they can better highlight strengths and weaknesses in a golfers game. For example, a player who constantly shoots over their handicap whilst striking the ball well could discover they hit too many approach shots left, this will allow them to work on that specific problem. Fortunately, golfers living in this digital age have a host of gadgets and technology at their disposal.

On a smartphone alone, you can download applications which allow golfers to input data during or after a round has been completed. The data is then calculated and gives percentages on fairways hit, greens missed, bunker saves, etc. If golfers continue to input this data from social and medal rounds during a season, the statistics will begin to give a clearer picture of what a players problems are.

Its important to cross reference all the data collected with scores. A score card might not have any pictures but it can hold a great treasure trove of information if used correctly. For example, you could cross reference a good score against statistics which show although the overall result was good, lots of drives were missed right of the fairway. This innocuous information could reveal that greens at your course are best approached from the right side enabling you to alter your aim the next time you play.

Although tracking your golf progress can be done by using handicap, it will be more beneficial to use a more rounded approach including statistics.

Although officially the benchmark to which all progress is measured in the amateur game, the handicap system is not perfect. Many golfers can achieve one stunning round which drops their handicap very low but which then causes a season of problems as they try and replicate that success. Use handicap as just another statistic when measuring success.

Remembering the great shots and using them as positive reinforcement is important but using cold, hard stats will not give any false sense of security. Remember the great shots and use statistics to uncover the bad ones.

Having a poor round could cause spirits to dip but using stats could unveil that terrible 18 holes was only caused by a few misplaced shots. Dont rely on feelings as they can be subjective, rely on matching them up to statistics.