Strokes gained

Every golf stat, defined in plain English and ranked by how much it actually tells you. Bookmark this page and use it to decode any number on your scorecard or in your app.

A tour pro and a 15-handicap can both shoot over their target, but they bleed strokes in completely different places. Strokes gained shows exactly where, and it is not where most golfers think.

Everyone frames it as a choice: bomb it or find the fairway. But the strokes gained numbers reveal an exchange rate between yards and accuracy, and it tips further toward distance than most golfers believe.

Ask a golfer what they hit from 100 yards and you get an instant answer. Ask them to prove it with data, and the picture usually falls apart.

Two golfers can both hit 7 fairways and be three shots apart off the tee. Fairways hit cannot see that. Here is why the stat misleads and what to track instead.

One captures every shot and hands you strokes gained. The other logs your score in seconds and moves on. Here is how to choose the right tracking depth for your golf.