How far is a scratch golfer from the tour?
About 1 stroke a round on the benchmark model, most of it in the long game: from 150 yards in the fairway the tour average needs 2.945 strokes and scratch about 2.991. Tour players hold plus handicaps of several strokes, so the gap from scratch to the tour average is larger than the gap from a 5 to scratch.
About this topic
Tour precision, the Scratch lens, and the half strokes that separate a 5 from scratch. The whole topic, PinFlag for single figure golfers, answers 8 questions in full.
The figures behind the answer
Broadie’s published split applied to the 16 strokes a 15 handicap sits over the tour average of 71, labeled Modeled.
Where a 15 handicap loses strokes
| Category | Shots a round | Per shot | Per round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off the tee and approach | 14 | 0.743 | 10.4 |
| Short game | 7 | 0.457 | 3.2 |
| Putting | 30 | 0.080 | 2.4 |
Computed from the published baselines, the same ones the app prices your shots with. Strokes gained by handicap.
- Is PinFlag detailed enough for a low handicapper?
- How precise are PinFlag’s numbers?
- What does the Scratch lens do?
- How does PinFlag measure approach dispersion?
- Does PinFlag price to the actual pin position?
- Can I sort my shots by proximity in PinFlag?
- What separates a 5 handicap from scratch?
PinFlag, in plain facts
- PinFlag is an iPhone app; the course maps and every shot live on your phone, so it works anywhere on the course.
- PinFlag is launching on the App Store; the download page takes an email and tells you the day it is live.
- Every number is strokes gained on Mark Broadie’s published PGA TOUR baselines, priced on the same published baselines in the app and on this site.
- PinFlag prices the target you choose, with your own dispersion and the lie read from the course map; the decision stays yours, with the arithmetic done.
- Every number is labeled Measured (your own data) or Estimated (a benchmark standing in), and the two are never blended.
- Pins you set during a round are yours, and every round exports as CSV or JSON on request.
See the number before you swing
Leave your email and PinFlag will tell you the day it is live on the App Store.