What is strokes gained?

What Is Strokes Gained?

Strokes Gained is becoming one of the most valuable and widely used metrics in modern golf analysis. This guide will help you understand what strokes gained is, how it works, and how it can help you identify strengths, uncover weaknesses, and ultimately improve your game.

Why Use Strokes Gained?

Traditional golf stats like Fairways in Regulation (FIR), Greens in Regulation (GIR), and Putts per Round offer a good starting point for analysing your game. However, they often lack context. For example, missing the fairway by one yard is recorded the same as hitting the ball out of bounds or into a hazard.

Strokes Gained provides deeper insight by evaluating the quality and impact of each shot based on distance, accuracy, and lie. Rather than just recording outcomes, it helps you understand the value of each shot in the context of scoring.

How Strokes Gained Works

Strokes Gained is based on the average number of shots a golfer takes to finish a hole from any given position. These baselines were originally developed from Tour player data.

The Formula:

Strokes Gained = (Shots to finish from starting position) - (Shots to finish from end position + 1 stroke just played)

This formula is applied to every shot—from tee to green—to calculate whether a golfer gained or lost strokes compared to the baseline.
 

On a 381-yard par 4:

• Player A hits a tee shot to the fairway, 185 yards from the hole.
• Player B hits a tee shot into the rough, 60 yards from the hole.

Although Player B missed the fairway, their shot may have a higher strokes gained value due to being significantly closer to the hole.

This kind of analysis isn’t possible with traditional stats like FIR, which would count Player A as a success and Player B as a miss.

Full Round and Category Breakdown

At Shot Scope, we group strokes gained into four main areas:

1. Tee Shots
2. Approaches
3. Short Game
4. Putting

Your total strokes gained for a round is the sum of all individual shot values across these areas.

Handicap Benchmarking

Handicap benchmarking using over 80 million shots in our database allows players to:

• Compare against golfers of similar ability
• Identify areas where they outperform or fall short relative to their peer group
• Track improvement over time based on realistic, relevant standards

Conclusion

Strokes Gained might sound complex, but with Shot Scope, all calculations are handled for you. By evaluating each shot based on real-world data and context, strokes gained offers an unparalleled view into your game.

It's more than just numbers—it's the path to smarter practice, better course management, and lower scores.

The journey to improvement starts with truly knowing your game. Strokes Gained shows you the way.