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Greens in regulation

A green in regulation means reaching the putting surface with two putts still left for par: one shot on a par 3, two on a par 4, three on a par 5. Par minus two, every time. The fringe does not count and proximity does not matter, which is both why the statistic is easy to keep and why it hides things.

That is the definition every page gives you. The rest of this one is what it is worth.

What a green is worth

On the putting surface you are almost always two shots from holing out. Twenty yards away in rough, the published baseline says 2.59. So the difference between just on and just off is roughly 0.59 of a stroke, on a shot that may have missed by a single yard. Eighteen of those is the reason GIR tracks scoring so closely.

It is decided before the approach

Nobody hits a green on purpose from 200 yards more often than from 100. Shots scatter in proportion to how far they travel, so the further out you are, the smaller the target becomes relative to your pattern. Computed on a 30 yard green, aiming at the middle:

A dispersion model, not a survey. The spread column is what produced each row, and it models a good ball striker. Widen it below and every number moves.
ApproachSpread either sideGreens hitStrokes left
75 yards±4.5 yd100%1.684
100 yards±6.0 yd98%1.794
125 yards±7.5 yd92%1.893
150 yards±9.0 yd83%1.992
175 yards±10.5 yd74%2.078
200 yards±12.0 yd65%2.154
225 yards±13.5 yd56%2.223

From 100 yards this pattern finds the green 98 percent of the time; from 200 it is 65 percent. Nothing about the swing changed. That is why greens in regulation is mostly a tee shot statistic wearing an approach shot costume, and why breaking 80 turns into a driving problem sooner than most golfers expect.

Aim at the middle, or not

Everyone is told to aim at the centre of the green. It is sound, and it is worth far more to some golfers than others, which is the part left out. From 150 yards, with the flag tucked 10 yards from the middle:

Same hole, same flag, four different golfers. Only the size of the dispersion changes.
Your spreadGreens, aiming middleGreens, at the flagPoints given upStrokes given up
±9 yd83%64%190.020
±15 yd48%42%70.001
±21 yd27%24%30.001
±27 yd19%17%2-0.003

The tighter you hit it, the more the target matters. A golfer holding shots inside ±9 yards gives up 19 points of greens hit by going at that flag. One spreading them ±27 yards gives up 2, because the green is being missed either way, and in strokes it is close to nothing. Aiming at the middle is a good habit for everybody and a genuine saving mainly for good ball strikers, which is the reverse of how it is usually taught.

Put your own pattern in and see where you fall on that table: the pin against the middle, or measure your dispersion first.

What GIR still cannot see

A green is a green whether the ball is 10 feet away or 40. Those are not the same shot, and the published putting table says the difference is about a third of a stroke every time it happens. GIR is the strongest of the traditional statistics and it still throws that away, which is what strokes gained exists to keep. The other traditional stats fare worse.

Frequently asked questions

What does greens in regulation mean?
A green in regulation is reaching the putting surface with at least two putts left for par: the first shot on a par 3, the second on a par 4, the third on a par 5. Being on the fringe does not count, and how close you are does not matter.
What is GIR in golf?
GIR is the abbreviation for greens in regulation, usually quoted as a percentage of the eighteen holes. It is the most useful of the traditional statistics because it tracks scoring closely, and it is still blind to how close the shot finished.
How is a green in regulation calculated?
Par minus two. On a par 4 you have two shots to reach the green, on a par 5 three, on a par 3 one. If the ball is on the putting surface at that point it counts, whatever happens afterwards.
Is greens in regulation a good stat to track?
It is the strongest of the traditional three and it does not invert, which the others do. Fairways hit treats every miss the same, and putts per round rewards missing greens. GIR at least moves in the same direction as scoring. It still says nothing about proximity, and a green hit to 40 feet is worth about a third of a stroke less than one hit to 10.
Should I aim at the flag or the middle of the green?
It depends almost entirely on how tightly you hit it, which is the part usually left out. For a golfer holding shots inside about nine yards either side, a tucked pin costs around 19 percentage points of greens hit. For one spreading them 27 yards, it costs about 2, because the green is being missed either way. The tighter your pattern, the more the target choice is worth.

By The PinFlag Team.

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