Download or read book Drive for Show, Putt for Dough written by Miles Russell and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For years, sports lacked methods of accurate, objective statistical analysis. Due to an unawareness of the power of data analytics and the lack of computing power to complete ample analysis, players and coaches relied on the conventional wisdom of their sports elder statesmen. Instead of using science to identify idiosyncrasies of their sport, athletes typically trued their instincts; sometimes they were right, sometimes they were wrong. "Drive for show, putt for dough" is a saying often heard on golf courses all over the world. This phrase embodies the widely-held belief that the 'short game' and putting are the most important facets of a golfer's game. This analysis will show that this adage is not backed by observed data. Connecting literature will show that, in fact, the opposite is true: the 'short game' and putting are relatively unimportant parts of a golfer's game and do a poor job of explaining scoring differences between differently skilled golfers. The goal of this study is to create a statistical model that will separate fact from fiction in golf's conventional wisdom. In order to do this, the researcher collected date on all 18-hole rounds of golf he played in the calendar year of 2015. After completing statistical analysis, the researcher reached several conclusions related to the relative importance of putting and the effect of weather and course difficulty pon scores. These results are significant because they are scientific evaluations of golf, as opposed to the subjective evaluations that have been common for decades.