[2puO4Rhf]

Recently I spent some time speaking with a well known instructor about short game and statistics and overall amateur play. We were speaking of keeping stats and in his opinion, amateur golfers spent too much energy and time focusing on statistics that did not help their improvement such as FIR, GIR and putts per round. In his opinion, statistics that we should be focusing on are things that limit your scoring. Sand saves, blow up holes (higher than bogey) and other numbers that show adversity/saves.

He asked me what I thought the PGA Tour average was on sand saves. My response was 70%. I was not even close. In fact the average is 48% on the PGA Tour. Go to the NCAA and it is slightly lower than 40%. He decided to do a small study recently on bunker play at his home course and asked 56 golfers to chart their sand save percentage for a period of 45 days. He had golfers ranging in skill level from a 2 index to a 14 index and a course that has tons of sand around it. After the 45 days he did some calculations and said their average for sand saves was 6% (6.2% to be exact).

He asked me to chart my sand saves for the next 20 rounds and I obliged (and did this before I had their totals). I think I am a pretty decent bunker player and those that have played with me at outings and get togethers have seen that I have many issues with my golf game, but bunker play is not usually one of them. After those 20 rounds, in which I thought I was playing quite well out of the sand, I was astonished to see my percentage was just over 11%. If you would have asked me right at the end, I would have sworn to you I was around 25-30% in sand saves. But the results don't lie and I was not even close to that.

What do you think your sand save percentage is? Have you ever even thought about it?

Obviously some of this will be based on course conditions, difficulty, etc, but as a general idea, I was pretty astonished. I will have a few more threads similar to this over the next few weeks with some pretty crazy numbers.

[kiosokkn]

Depends what you consider a save. i count it as getting down in 4

In which case i'm still only 50 %

[9enackivegliva]

Wow, that is astonishing. If you had asked me about my sand save percentage before reading this, I probably would have guessed 15 to 20%.

Now, I'm betting its under 10% for sure, probably under 8. I'm going to start tracking this.

[Andrius]

If you would have asked me, I would figure myself to get up and down out of the sand 1:5 times or so. After reading this though, I'll have to get a real number once the sand starts to soften up at the courses here.

This is pretty astonishing.

[Ganoshenko]

I'd probably guess my sand save percentage to be VERY low - a la between 3-6%. I'm OK at getting the ball out of a bunker, but I don't often get the ball close to the hole. I am surprised at the low percentage for you, though JB...but it just goes to show how difficult a bunker shot really is.

[HottBrorb]

Wow, the thing that surprised me the most from that is the PGA average. I was expecting closer to 80%+. My bunker game isn't very good, but I would have guessed it to be around 20%, after reading, I'm guessing it's under 10%!

I have to say I totally agree with this person on focusing on avoiding blow ups though. As a 7-8 handicap, it's not an extra GIR or 2 that help me, it's avoiding anything higher than bogey on a bad hole.

[Nptxsews]

For most amateurs just not making double bogey or worse out of the sand is a "save". I like to hit a decent shot. Get it out to a reasonable distance. If I make par, great, but I never want to skull one out or leave it in the bunker. Never tracked it, but I don't make a lot saves.

Kevin

[xanonlinexan]

my sand game is awful. i prob save maybe 2-3% of the time. I wish i had more time to work on it, but there really isnt a good place to do that near me (and its pretty low on what i feel like working on when i have the time).

[w4HPpbSW]

No, I really haven't given much thought to sand saves as a stat to track. I'm really surprised at that pro stat of 48%. I have been tracking putts lately trying to limit the three-putts and keep track on how I'm progressing with my SeeMore. I guess it might be beneficial to track double bogies or worse, but I hate the thought of having to relive them after the round.

[Theariwinna]

I know I'm under 10%. Not to make excuses, the course I belonged to the last two seasons was not well kept. The bunkers were awful. There are daycares with better sand in their sandboxes. I tend to play better out of the bunkers at courses that care.

[wllsqyuipknczx]

My sand save percentage is probably around 5-6% I would guess. I have been very good lately about getting out and on the green in one, but have not been as focused lately about getting as close as possible to the hole, but rather just get out of the bunker and be putting. That being said, I think out of my past 5 or 6 rounds I have been in maybe 3 bunkers.

[d1Bc25UP]

I'll have to keep track of this but personally I like playing out of the sand. In fact I prefer to play from the sand than from the rough around the green. I'm curious to track it now to see how well I really play from the sand.

[tabcdyop]

What is a sand save, yeah up and down out of a greenside bunker. But how about making par out of a fairway bunker? I've done that three times in the last two rounds. Is that a sand save? How about making par after being in a greenside bunker in two on a par 5? Is that a sand save?

[2puO4Rhf]

What is a sand save, yeah up and down out of a greenside bunker. But how about making par out of a fairway bunker? I've done that three times in the last two rounds. Is that a sand save? How about making par after being in a greenside bunker in two on a par 5? Is that a sand save?

A sand save is accomplishing getting up and down from a greenside bunker regardless of score.

[Sxedlawb]

Oh boy. Honestly, I am not bad from sand on most days, but I am not good either. I will put myself at 10%. I will keep track for the next couple rounds if you like.

[tabcdyop]

A sand save is accomplishing getting up and down from a greenside bunker regardless of score.

Ok, just wanted to make sure I'm counting correctly.

[Kinds Of Pain Meds]

Thanks for sharing the great insight JB. I often neglect working on improving my bunker game, but I am now inspired to track my sand saves more closely and see if I can improve my percentages.

[joe-salton]

I just checked my golfshot stats and I'm currently at 20% which is really good I guess. I very rarely don't get out on one shot but I need to work on getting it closer to the hole accuracy and distance control is where I have the problem. I def want to work on this more before I get to grand cypress with all that sand. There's really so many ways to control distance and stuff I need to just see what works best for me cause I have tried different things and some things I get the same distance. The other problem is there isn't a lot of good places to practice at least for me although some doors have opened recently so I may have a nice place to work on it more. Honestly though I don't see myself getting much better than maybe 25-30%. I think there are to many bunkers on almost all the courses I play that aren't kept well or the sands not even there. The ones that are full of sand are the ones I do very well in. Fairway bunkers.....that's another story.

[TOPERink]

Doesn't make me feel too bad now. Worst part of my game. I avoid bunkers like the plague.

[CIAFreeAgent]

Interesting stuff, JB. To be honest, my sand game is terrible. I would say my sand save would be around 0%, and I am being serious. I do not remember the last time I got up and down when hitting out of a greenside bunker.

But then again, how often do I practice my greenside bunker shots? Rarely.