Understanding Strokes Gained:
The Ultimate Guide
Stop counting total putts and fairways hit. Discover how the modern statistical standard measures your performance and points out exactly where you are giving shots away.
What is Strokes Gained?
Developed by Columbia University professor Mark Broadie and popularized by the PGA Tour in 2011, Strokes Gained is a methodology that measures the quality of individual golf shots compared to a statistical baseline.
Traditional golf stats like "Fairways Hit" or "Total Putts" tell a distorted story. For example, if you hit a drive into the rough but it's only 50 yards from the green, your traditional stat says you missed the fairway (a failure). In reality, being closer to the hole gives you a huge advantage. Strokes Gained solves this by assigning a value to every single shot based on its starting and ending location.
How a Shot Value is Computed
Every spot on a golf course has a statistical value representing the average number of shots it takes to hole out from there. The formula measures the difference between your starting position's baseline and your ending position's baseline, minus the stroke you just took:
The Four Pillars of Strokes Gained
Your game is broken down into four distinct phases to isolate where you are gaining or losing ground against the baseline:
Off the Tee (OTT)
Measures the effectiveness of all tee shots on par 4s and par 5s. This metric combines both distance and accuracy. A long drive in the fairway gains maximum value, while tee shots hitting hazards or leaving you stymied lose significant strokes.
Approach (APP)
Encompasses all shots starting outside 30 yards from the green that are not tee shots on par 4s/5s (such as second shots on par 4s, third shots on par 5s, and tee shots on par 3s). Approach play is statistically the single largest differentiator between handicap levels.
Around the Green (ARG)
Covers chips, pitches, and greenside bunker shots starting within 30 yards of the green. This metric highlights your recovery skills and your ability to get up-and-down to save par when missing greens.
Putting (PUTT)
Tracks strokes gained on the putting green surface based on the starting distance to the cup. It separates your green-reading and distance control from the quality of your approach and chipping shots.
Reading the Numbers
When reviewing your round analytics on TheGimme, your strokes gained data will display as positive or negative figures:
Positive (+) Values
A positive number means you performed **better** than the selected benchmark (e.g., a +1.2 Approach rating means you gained 1.2 strokes on the field in your approach play). This highlights your key strengths.
Negative (−) Values
A negative rating indicates you performed **worse** than the benchmark. This tells you exactly where you are throwing away strokes, allowing you to prioritize these sections during practice.
How to Apply Data to Your Game
Having strokes gained data allows you to train smarter. If your putting is +0.5 but your approach play is −3.4, spending hours on the putting green will not help you chop your index. Your time is far better spent on the driving range working on iron setups.
TheGimme integrates this tracking seamlessly. By logging your hole-by-hole parameters (lie, distance, score), our analytics engine automatically outputs trends so you can stop guessing and start improving.
WHS Handicap Integration
Strokes Gained benchmarks are adjusted relative to your target handicap. Free accounts compare statistics to a scratch golfer benchmark, while Pro accounts allow comparisons against specific target handicaps (e.g. 5-index, 10-index, 18-index) to isolate realistic margins of error.
Ready to Track Your Game?
Create a free account to log rounds and view your strokes gained details after your next game.