Putt

A putt is a golf stroke, almost always played with a putter on the putting green, designed to roll the ball into the hole.

What is a putt?

Once the ball reaches the putting green (the smooth, closely mown area immediately around the hole), the golfer switches to a putter and rolls the ball toward the cup. That stroke is a putt. Unlike every other shot in the game, a putt is meant to stay on the ground from start to stop.

The word also works as a verb: a golfer can putt the ball, or talk about their putting. Merriam-Webster’s definition centres on rolling the ball “into or near the hole” on the putting green. The term entered golf around 1743. It came from a Scots word meaning to push or shove, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary.

Par on every hole assumes a player will take two putts after reaching the green, which means putts account for about 36 of the 72 strokes on a standard par-72 course. The putter is the most-used club in the bag for that reason. Even on holes where the ball reaches the green in a single shot, the round still hinges on what happens once the player is there.

How a putt differs from a chip or pitch

The three short-game strokes that finish a hole are easy to confuse because they all aim the ball toward the cup, but how the ball travels is what separates them. A putt stays on the ground from contact to stop. The chip is mostly ground game too, with the ball lifting briefly over the fringe before running out along the green. With a pitch, the ball flies higher and longer, then lands softly with little roll.

Shot	Trajectory	Where it’s played	Common club
Putt	Rolls on the ground	On the green (occasionally just off it)	Putter
Chip	Low, mostly rolls	Just off the green	7-iron to wedge
Pitch	High, soft landing	20-60 yards from green	Pitching, sand, or lob wedge

Because a rolling ball is easier to judge than one in the air, putting from just off the green is often the safer play when the lie allows it.

Types of putts

Golfers use a handful of overlapping labels for putts. Length gives us terms like tap-in and lag putt. The score the putt would produce creates labels like birdie putt or bogey putt. And the simplest naming convention is just counting: one-putt, two-putt, three-putt.

Tap-in: A short putt, usually under two feet, that the player is almost certain to make.
Short putt: Generally six feet or less. PGA Tour pros make about 99% of putts from three feet, according to research from Columbia Business School professor Mark Broadie’s ShotLink analysis.
Lag putt: A long first putt where the goal is leaving the ball close to the hole rather than holing it. Lag putting becomes the priority from around 25 feet and beyond.
Birdie putt, par putt, bogey putt: Named for the score the putt would produce. A birdie putt drops the player one under par on the hole; a bogey putt saves a one-over score.
One-putt, two-putt, three-putt: Refers to the total number of putts taken on a single hole. Two putts are the expected outcome on most holes. One-putts save strokes; three-putts cost them. Scratch golfers three-putt about 3% of the time, while 25-handicap players three-putt around 13% of holes, based on Shot Scope data reported by MyGolfSpy.

How important is putting in scoring?

Putting accounts for around 40% of strokes in a typical round, more than any other shot type. Data from the USGA, cited by 18Birdies, shows the average male golfer (who shoots around 98) takes at least 40 putts per round, or about 2.2 putts per hole.

The gap between handicaps is narrower than most golfers expect. An analysis of 500,000 rounds by Golfshake shows that 1-5 handicaps average 32 putts per round, while 21-28 handicaps average 36. The same Golfshake analysis pegs the 2021 PGA Tour field average at 29.05 putts per round, with Cameron Smith leading at 27.74.

Distance changes the picture further. Broadie’s research found that the “break-even” point for pros (where they make exactly half their putts) sits at roughly eight feet. Beyond that distance, even tour professionals miss more often than not. For amateurs, the drop-off comes earlier: scratch golfers make about 93% of putts inside six feet, but 20-handicaps make only 70% from the same range, according to Arccos and Shot Scope data compiled by Foy Golf Academy.

Do golfers have to use a putter?

No. Under Rule 4 of the Rules of Golf, a player can use any conforming club for any stroke anywhere on the course. That technically includes putting with a wedge or even a driver. The putter is simply the club designed for rolling the ball on the green, so almost every player uses one for almost every putt.

Players occasionally swap clubs in unusual situations. Ben Crenshaw famously snapped his putter against the ground in frustration at the 1987 Ryder Cup at Muirfield Village and finished the round putting with his 1-iron. Others have chipped from the green when a bunker sits between the ball and the hole, as Tyrrell Hatton did at the 2024 Genesis Invitational on Riviera’s sixth, where a bunker sits inside the putting surface. These are exceptions rather than the norm.

Related Golf Terms

Punch shot — A low-trajectory shot played to stay below tree branches or wind.
Pro shop — A retail store at a golf course selling equipment, apparel, and accessories.
Push — A shot that travels straight but to the right of the target for a right-hander.
Pull — A shot that travels straight but to the left of the target for a right-hander.
Provisional ball — A second ball played when the original may be lost or out of bounds.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to “sink a putt”?

To sink a putt is to roll the ball into the hole on that stroke. The terms “make,” “hole,” “drain,” and “drop” are used interchangeably.

What’s the difference between a putt and putting?

A putt is a single stroke. Putting refers more broadly to the act of stroking the ball on the green and to the skill itself.

Where did the word “putt” come from?

It comes from a Scots word meaning to push or shove, dating to the 1510s. Its golfing use was first recorded around 1743, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary.

Does a putt have to be on the green?

No. A stroke made with a putter from the fringe or even the fairway is still called a putt by most golfers, though some prefer to reserve the term for strokes played on the green itself.

How many putts is good for a round?

Anything under 32 putts per round is generally considered solid putting for an amateur. PGA Tour pros average around 29 per round; the average amateur (a 98 shooter) takes around 40.

Sources

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. “Putt.” Accessed May 2026.
Online Etymology Dictionary. “Putt.” Accessed May 2026.
Golfshake. “What is a Good Putting Round For You” (2021 analysis of 500,000 rounds). Accessed May 2026.
MyGolfSpy / Shot Scope. “How Many Putts Should You Have Per Round.” Accessed May 2026.
Foy Golf Academy. “Putting Statistics by Handicap” (Arccos and Shot Scope data). Accessed May 2026.
Mark Broadie, Columbia Business School. “Every Shot Counts” and ShotLink analysis.
USGA. “Rules of Golf, Rule 4: The Player’s Equipment.”
18Birdies Knowledge Base. “Putting by the Numbers.”
Golf Digest. “Rules of Golf Review: Do you have to use a putter on the green?” (March 2024).
Wikipedia and UPI archives. “1987 Ryder Cup.”