How Many Putts Does The Average Golfer Take Per 18 Holes?

The leading players on the PGA and LPGA Tours average around 28 putts per round. Here's how that compares to the mere mortals...

An average golfer putting on a green
(Image credit: Tom Miles)
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Most golfers will have heard the expression, ‘You drive for show and putt for dough.’ In other words, it doesn’t matter how well you drive the ball off the tee, it counts for nothing if you can’t get the ball in the hole.

Take Cameron Champ as an example. The American led driving distance on the PGA Tour last year with a healthy average of 322.8 yards off the tee. Less impressive was the number of putts he took per round, with an average of 29.82 only good enough for 171st spot.

We should make the point that statistics alone don’t always tell the full story of how a has performed, and at times they can be misleading. However, this one statistic might partly explain why Champ missed so many cuts in 2024 and ended up losing his PGA Tour card.

We’ll all have had rounds where we struck the ball well tee to green, only to somehow walk off the 18th with 28 points - and a lot of the time it’s because we’ve frittered shots away with the putter.

Many of us would like to trade places with Champ, not least because of how far he can drive the golf ball. Compared to the average club golfer, an average of 29.82 putts per round is very good. On the PGA Tour, however, Sam Burns averaged more than two putts per round better last year - a significant difference.

Average putter on the green

The average club golfer averages 2.1 putts per green in regulation

(Image credit: Kevin Murray)

So, how many putts does the average golfer take per 18 holes? We’ve had a look at the numbers supplied by our official data partner, Shot Scope, and if we call the ‘average amateur’ a 15-handicapper, that number is 32.1 putts per round.

If we break these stats down further, we get a bigger picture of how a typical 15-handicap golfer performs on the greens: 2.1 putts per green in regulation; 29% 1-putt percentage; 60% 2-putt percentage; 11% 3-putt percentage; and 9.7 average number of holes per 3-putt.

How does this compare to a scratch golfer? Again, using data supplied by Shot Scope, the numbers are as follows: 29.9 putts per round; 1.85 putts per green in regulation; 34% 1-putt percentage; 62% 2-putt percentage; 3% 3-putt percentage; and 35.7 average number of holes per 3-putt.

How Does Your Putting Compare?

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Average number of putts per round by handicap

Handicap

Putts per round

GIR (%)

0

29.9

59

5

30.3

41

10

31.2

32

15

32.1

21

20

33.4

14

25

34.3

9

Michael Weston
Michael Weston
Contributing editor

Michael has been with Golf Monthly since 2008. A multimedia journalist, he has also worked for The Football Association, where he created content to support the England football team, The FA Cup, London 2012, and FA Women's Super League. As content editor at Foremost Golf, Michael worked closely with golf's biggest equipment manufacturers and has developed an in-depth knowledge of this side of the industry. He's a regular contributor, covering instruction, equipment, travel and feature content. Michael has interviewed many of the game's biggest stars, including seven World No.1s, and has attended and reported on numerous Major Championships and Ryder Cups around the world. He's a member of Formby Golf Club in Merseyside, UK.

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