Until 2011, golf had no good way to compare a 240-yard tee shot to a 5-foot putt. Both counted as one stroke on the scorecard. Mark Broadie, a Columbia Business School professor, fixed that with Strokes Gained — a framework that compares every shot to a tour-average baseline.
It is now the most quoted statistic on the PGA Tour. Here is what it means, and how the same principle can change how you read your own game.
The basic idea
For every shot, Strokes Gained answers a single question — how much closer to holed out did this shot get me, compared to the average tour player from the same starting position?
A 30-foot putt holed is worth roughly +0.9 strokes gained on the average. A perfect drive to the centre of the fairway is worth maybe +0.3. A chunked iron into a hazard might be -1.5.
Add the per-shot numbers across a round, and you get total Strokes Gained — separated into Off-the-Tee, Approach, Around-the-Green, and Putting.
What Strokes Gained reveals
The single most important finding from Strokes Gained analysis on the PGA Tour: approach play matters more than driving. The best ball-strikers from 150-200 yards win more money than the longest drivers.
For amateurs, the data flips at the bottom end. For golfers above a 15 handicap, putting and short game matter more than approach play. The reason is simple — high-handicappers do not reach enough greens for approach skill to compound.
Why you cannot do per-shot Strokes Gained as an amateur
True Strokes Gained requires the starting position and finishing position of every shot — recorded with sub-yard accuracy. The PGA Tour uses ShotLink. Arccos uses sensors. Most amateurs do not have either, and manual entry of 80+ shots per round is impractical.
The amateur version — Consistency Score
The GolfStack Consistency Score takes the Strokes Gained idea — separate the round into the parts that matter — and applies it at the hole level rather than the shot level. Three components (Driving, Putting, Scoring) cover the territory of the four Strokes Gained categories with manageable data entry.
Not as precise as Strokes Gained on the Tour. Far more precise than the total score on its own. And the lower entry barrier means you actually get the data over a full season.
Related reading
Consistency in golf — what it actually means
Consistency is the most-asked-about word in amateur golf. Here is what it means in practice, how to measure it, and why two rounds with the same score can feel completely different.
How to lower your golf handicap — by the numbers
A handicap drops when your average improves. Here are the four levers that actually move it for amateurs, ranked by impact.
Greens in regulation (GIR) — what it is and why it matters
Greens in regulation is the single best statistical predictor of scoring in golf. Here is the definition, the math, and how to improve yours.
Want to actually measure what you just read about?
Log a round free