I got a new toy tool. It’s called ArcCos golf, and it gathers data on all of the golf I’m playing this summer. I’m using it to guide my practice, and so far it’s working well.

For example, I used to buy heavily into the “Drive for show, putt for dough” mentality. Warming up for a round I’d hit 2-3 drives on the range, but I never really practiced it like I did putts or 100-yard shots. Then I saw this:

This chart of my drives made it painfully obvious that my drives were leaving me with long approaches from the rough (and often, through a tree line). I’ve devoted a few hours of range time to straight, consistent driving, and it’s paying dividends. Here’s a more recent dispersion:

I’ve picked up an average of 16 yards (1-2 clubs), and I’m hitting more than 2x the fairways (and the dispersion is tighter). This means easier approaches and more birdie putts.

I’m also making better club decisions on approach shots, and finding weak spots to work on.

I’m hitting more greens and missing by smaller distances. There’s a lot of work ahead (The #100 PGA Tour pro gets on 66.5% of greens in regulation), but it’s progess. The #100 PGA Tour pro hits 60% of fairways in regulation, for the record.

My ambitious goal is to match one of those stats by the end of the year. Halfway there.