Up and down percentage
An up and down is a missed green saved in two: a chip or pitch, then one putt. Tour players convert around 60 percent; the published table shows why the leave decides it, because from 25 yards in the rough a chip to 3 feet is worth +0.58 and a chip to 10 feet +0.01, before the putt is struck.
What the lie costs
Scrambling starts from three different places and the table prices each. From the same distance the sand is the hardest lie and the fairway the easiest, and the gap between them is the reason a good bunker player scrambles as well as anyone.
Expected strokes to hole out inside 40 yards
The published lie tables begin at 20 yards; shorter distances read the 20 yard value.
| Distance | Fairway | Rough | Sand |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 yards | 2.400 | 2.590 | 2.530 |
| 15 yards | 2.400 | 2.590 | 2.530 |
| 20 yards | 2.400 | 2.590 | 2.530 |
| 30 yards | 2.500 | 2.685 | 2.675 |
| 40 yards | 2.600 | 2.780 | 2.820 |
The leave decides it
An up and down percentage scores the chip by whether the putt dropped, which is the putt’s doing as much as the chip’s. Strokes gained scores the chip by the putt it left and the putt by whether it dropped, separately. The table prices a 25 yard chip from the rough and a 25 yard bunker shot by where they finish.
A 25 yard chip by its leave
| Leave | Expected putts | From the rough | From the sand | One putt rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 feet | 1.053 | +0.58 | +0.55 | 95% |
| 6 feet | 1.357 | +0.28 | +0.25 | 64% |
| 10 feet | 1.626 | +0.01 | -0.02 | 37% |
| 15 feet | 1.784 | -0.15 | -0.18 | 22% |
A bunker shot to 6 feet outscores a rough chip to 10: it started from a harder average and beat it by more.
A good scrambling number
Tour players get up and down about six times in ten. An amateur nearer four in ten is usually losing the strokes on the leave, not the putt: the difference between a chip that finishes inside 6 feet and one that finishes outside 12 is most of the gap in the conversion rate.
In PinFlag
PinFlag prices every chip, pitch and bunker shot from the lie it started in, read from the course map, and the leave you placed in feet. Insights shows short-game proximity by lie, up and downs and sand saves that require a real hole-out, two-chips under Score Killers, and a heat map of where your short-game shots finish around the hole.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good up and down percentage?
Is a bunker shot harder than a chip from the rough?
How is scrambling different from strokes gained around the green?
What counts as an up and down?
Which golf app does this on the course?
Related
Sources
- PGA TOUR statistics
- Mark Broadie, Columbia Business School (Wikidata entity)
- How PinFlag calculates strokes gained
Every figure on this page is computed from the published baselines, the same ones PinFlag prices your shots with. The scope of the figures: Lie values are the published tour baseline, which begins at 20 yards; the scrambling rates quoted are the widely reported tour figure.
Get PinFlag for iPhone
PinFlag shows you this number on the course, for the shot in front of you, before you swing: any target priced with your own dispersion and the lie read from the course map, your real shots drawn on the hole, and two taps to log. Golfer is $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, with a 14-day trial on the annual plan through the App Store.