Strokes gained calculator
One shot or a whole hole, scored against the PGA Tour baseline. Enter where each shot was played from and how far was left, and see where the strokes went.
- 1yds
- 2yds
- 3ft
- 4ft
- Off the tee
- +0.01
- Approach
- +0.08
- Around the green
- 0.00
- Putting
- −0.07
| Shot | From | Expected | Left after | Gained |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tee · 420 yds | 4.02 | 3.00 | +0.01 |
| 2 | Fairway · 165 yds | 3.00 | 1.93 | +0.08 |
| 3 | Green · 25 ft | 1.93 | 1.04 | −0.11 |
| 4 | Green · 3 ft | 1.04 | holed | +0.04 |
How one shot is scored
Every spot on the course has an expected number of strokes to hole out from it. A shot's strokes gained is the expected strokes from where it started, minus the expected strokes from where it finished, minus one for the shot itself.
In the example above, a 420-yard par 4 starts at 4.02 expected strokes. The drive leaves 165 yards in the fairway, which is 3.005, so it gained 4.02 − 3.005 − 1 = +0.02. The approach to 25 feet gained +0.08, the first putt to 3 feet lost 0.12, and the tap-in gained 0.04. Four strokes against an expectation of 4.02 is +0.02 for the hole.
- Off the tee: the first shot on a par 4 or par 5.
- Approach: any shot from more than 30 yards that isn't a tee shot on a par 4 or 5, including the tee shot on a par 3.
- Around the green: shots from 30 yards and in, off the green.
- Putting: every shot from the green, measured in feet.
The tour baseline
Expected strokes for a PGA Tour player, from the fairway and from the green. The full table also covers the tee, rough and sand; the calculator uses all of it.
| Fairway, yards | Expected strokes |
|---|---|
| 40 | 2.60 |
| 80 | 2.75 |
| 120 | 2.85 |
| 160 | 2.98 |
| 200 | 3.19 |
| 240 | 3.45 |
| Green, feet | Expected putts |
|---|---|
| 3 | 1.04 |
| 5 | 1.23 |
| 8 | 1.50 |
| 10 | 1.61 |
| 15 | 1.78 |
| 20 | 1.87 |
| 30 | 1.98 |
| 40 | 2.06 |
| 60 | 2.21 |
Source: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts(2014), the expected-strokes baseline behind the PGA Tour's strokes gained statistics. Between listed distances the calculator interpolates.
Common questions
- What does strokes gained measure?
- How many strokes a shot saved or cost compared with a tour player playing from the same spot. Every position on the course has an expected number of strokes to hole out. A shot's strokes gained is the expected strokes before it, minus the expected strokes after it, minus the one stroke you took.
- Why are my numbers negative?
- Because the baseline is the PGA Tour. A tour player gets down in about 2.98 from 160 yards in the fairway; most club golfers take more. A 15-handicapper who shoots 87 is around 16 strokes behind the baseline over the round, spread across the four categories, so a hole at −0.8 is ordinary, not a disaster. What matters is which category loses most, round after round.
- Is there a strokes gained calculator by handicap?
- This one measures against the tour baseline, because that is the published, stable reference. To compare with golfers at your own handicap, subtract your usual total from each round: if you normally lose 15 a round and today you lost 11, you gained four on your own average.
- How does strokes gained putting work?
- Set the lie to Green and enter the length of each putt in feet. From 25 feet a tour player expects to take 1.93 putts, so two putts from there cost 0.07 and one putt gains 0.93. A three-putt from 25 feet costs 1.07.
- Is there a strokes gained app?
- Chalk Golf works it out on the course. Mark each shot where you stand, and the app scores the hole against the same baseline, then shows your weakest area on the Stats tab. Strokes gained in the app is part of Pro; this calculator is free.
- Where does the baseline come from?
- Mark Broadie's published expected-strokes table for PGA Tour players, by lie and distance, which is the basis of the PGA Tour's own strokes gained statistics. Between the published distances the calculator draws a straight line.