The "Texas Wedge"

I hope you are doing well, and thank you for subscribing!"Your worst putt is better than your worst chip!"If you have been playing golf for more than a month, you have heard someone say that. There is a good chance you have said it yourself. Is it true? Does the data support it?

There is nothing I love more than a good ol' deep dive into the Arccos database (which has a staggering 668 million shots!).

So let's get to it. What shots did I look at:

• From the fairway

• Two distances:

  • 12 yards to the hole (36 feet)

  • 20 yards to the hole (60 feet)

• For each distance, I looked at shots that were:

  • Between 5 and 15 feet from the edge of the green

  • More than 15 feet from the edge of the green

• Was your worst putt better than your worst chip (or vice versa).

Key Takeaways

• Putting wins in all situations but one.

• When mid to high handicap players are 5 to 15 feet from the edge of the green:

  • They are ~0.10 shots better with putter.

  • Their worst putt will be ~3 to ~6 feet closer than their worst chip.

• When mid to high handicap players are 15+ feet from the edge of the green:

  • They are ~0.15 to ~0.25 shots better with putter.

  • Their worst putt will be ~5 to ~7 feet closer than their worst chip.

• Lower handicap players have more options.

  • Putting is slightly better inside ~55 feet.

  • Outside 60 feet, chipping becomes the better option by a small amount.

• I did not put this in the table, but the chances of knocking the shot in the hole was similar for both chipping and putting.

  • As to which performed better, It was split across the different scenarios and the make rate was typically within 0.2% of each other.

  • This is interesting as putting performs better across almost all situations, but putting was NOT the clear winner in make rate from off the green. Given how the rest of the data looks, I would have expected putting to be the clear winner in make rate from off the green, but it wasn't.

What Does This Mean For You?

When you are in the fairway near the green, most mid to high handicap players should be using the putter as much as possible. You need a very good reason to not use putter.

Lower handicap players should use putter when in close, and as they get farther from the hole, look to chip the ball. I would encourage you to spend a small amount of practice time hitting lag putts from off the green.

I don't want you to avoid practicing your chipping, but refining your putter from off the green can be a very reliable play that will help you shoot lower scores.

Anecdotally, the data in today's newsletter aligns with what I have seen on the course.

Having said that, someday I would like to run a study on the Texas wedge in a controlled environment.

That sounds like a great way to spend a few weekends! ;)