"Every Shot Counts" was written by Mark Broadie, a Professor of Business at the Columbia Business School.  This is one of the most interesting and important books on what matters for great golf that I have ever read.  Not all of the results noted in the book are intuitive - but all of the results are interesting. 

Mark has developed the "Strokes Gained" approach to analyzing golf performance.  An example of this would be a putt of a certain distance where you 1 putt - but the average number of putts taken from that distance - say by a PGA professional - is 1.5 putts.  For this putt your "Strokes Gained Putting" would be 0.5. 

Here is a link to an article that was published in Golf World magazine about the application of the PGA Tour Shot Link data to Mark Broadie's Strokes Gained analysis:

   Golf World Article on Shot Link Data and Strokes Gained

Mark applies his Strokes Gained methodology to all golf shots from all distances.  There are absolute gems if information in this book that can help golfers of all levels play better golf:

• Putting is important - but perhaps not as important as we might think.  On average, putting contributes about 35% to PGA tour victories.  On the other hand, putting contributes about 15% of tour player performance in all tournament play.

• Mark notes that - between any two groups - say for example pros and amateurs and good amateurs and poor amateurs - putting contributes about 15% to differences in scores.

• For the pros, an extra 20 yards in driving distance is worth about 0.75 strokes per round.  For a golfer who shoots 115 though, 20 yards in distance is worth about 3 strokes per round.  

• Tiger Woods' biggest "secret weapon" has always been his ability to hit approach shots MUCH better than anyone else.  From 2004 through 2012, his total strokes gained per round - versus the rest of the PGA tour - has been about 2.8 strokes per round.  About 1.3 strokes per round came from approach shots.  

• Better putters leave fewer putts short of the hole.  Mark's data and analysis shows that golfers who shoot 90 leave 2 to 4 times as many putts short of the hole as the best tour pro putters.

• One of the most interesting suggestions in the book relates to how far to hit putts past the hole for uphill and downhill putts.  Mark notes that the steeper the green is, the more difficult it is to control distance.  SO - for uphill putts he suggests your target should be a foot past the hole, but for downhill putts he suggests your target should be two feet past the hole.  Very interesting! 

• Amateur golfers miss almost 70% of short putts on the low side of the hole!   

• For all but the most severe slopes, a 6 foot sidehill putt is easier to make than an 8 foot straight putt.  Distance rules!

• Mark's analysis shows that - for pros and amateurs - how you putt from 3 to 7 feet determines if you are a good or average putter.

• Finally, Chapter 9 of the book presents - in my view - some absolutely GREAT putting games that you can do to improve your putting.

Here is a link to a video describing one of the putting games described in the book:

 

   Mark Broadie Putting Game Video 

 

This book is an absolute keeper if you want to learn new information to help you improve your game and your putting!