Strokes Gained

Strokes gained measures every shot against what a player at your chosen baseline level would be expected to take from the same position: lie, distance, everything. A positive number means you did better than expected. Negative means worse.

It was developed by Professor Mark Broadie at Columbia Business School and is now used by every major tour worldwide. It's the most accurate way to measure golf performance ever devised.

Because the baseline is scratch expectation, not par. If your course rating is 75.1 and par is 72, a scratch golfer is expected to score 75.1, not 72. Playing level par means you beat scratch by 3.1 shots. For a 9-hole round that is roughly +1.5 strokes gained. The number is correct.

Use the Compare vs toggle in the Performance panel to choose your baseline: Tour, Scratch, 5, 10, 18, or 28 handicap.

If you're a 10 handicap, comparing vs 10 shows where you gain and lose strokes against someone at your own level. Compare vs Scratch to see the gap to scratch. Compare vs Tour as an honest professional benchmark.

Before the shot: tap your start lie and enter start distance (rangefinder reading). After the shot: tap finish lie and enter remaining distance. Hit Add shot + next hole. That's it. Under 15 seconds once you're comfortable.

For putts: tap the feet button that matches your distance, or enter it manually. Club name and tags are optional. Add them if you want club-by-club analysis.

Off tee: all shots from the tee box.

Approach: shots from more than 50 yards, not from the tee.

Short game: chips, pitches, and bunker shots within 50 yards.

Putting: everything hit from the green, measured in feet.

One round tells you about that day. Three to five rounds shows clear trends. After ten rounds you have a very reliable picture of your strengths and your leaks. The handicap index calculation also gets more accurate as rounds accumulate.