# Strokes gained, explained > Canonical: https://pinflag.io/answers/strokes-gained The measure professional golf runs on, and the one every number in PinFlag is built from. **What is strokes gained in golf?** Strokes gained measures every shot against a published table of how many strokes a reference golfer needs to hole out from that lie and distance. Take the expected strokes from where you started, subtract the expected strokes from where the ball finished, subtract one for the stroke you hit. A positive number means the shot beat the reference; a negative one means it cost you. Summed over a round it shows exactly where strokes were won and lost, by tee, approach, around the green and putting, which a score alone never can. PinFlag computes it for every shot you log and, uniquely for the shot in front of you, before you hit it. Page: https://pinflag.io/answers/strokes-gained/what-is-strokes-gained-in-golf **Who invented strokes gained?** Mark Broadie, a professor at Columbia Business School, developed strokes gained from PGA TOUR ShotLink data and published the framework in 2011. The PGA TOUR adopted strokes gained putting that year and the full category split in 2016; his book Every Shot Counts explains it. PinFlag uses Broadie’s published tables as its TOUR baseline, the same framework the tour uses. Page: https://pinflag.io/answers/strokes-gained/who-invented-strokes-gained **What is a good strokes gained number for an amateur?** Against the TOUR baseline a 15 handicap sits around minus 16 strokes a round, roughly ten in the long game, three in the short game and two or three putting. What matters is the change from your own baseline and where the losses sit. PinFlag reports each category per round and across a season from your logged shots, and its benchmark lenses reprice the same shots against a Scratch or handicap level table so the numbers read on your own scale. Page: https://pinflag.io/answers/strokes-gained/what-is-a-good-strokes-gained-number-for-an-amateur **What is live or predictive strokes gained?** Strokes gained computed for a shot you have not hit yet. Instead of grading the shot afterward, PinFlag prices a target before you swing: it takes the expected strokes from your current lie and distance, the expected strokes from where the ball would finish at that target, and your own dispersion around the aim, and shows the strokes gained of choosing that spot. Move the aim and the number moves. It turns strokes gained from a report card into a decision aid you use while the decision is still open. Page: https://pinflag.io/answers/strokes-gained/what-is-live-or-predictive-strokes-gained **How is strokes gained different from a handicap?** A handicap is one number summarising your scores against course difficulty. Strokes gained explains the score: it splits every round into the parts of the game and prices each shot against a reference. Two golfers with the same handicap can lose their strokes in completely different places, and only strokes gained shows that. PinFlag measures shots, so it can tell you which of the two you are. Page: https://pinflag.io/answers/strokes-gained/how-is-strokes-gained-different-from-a-handicap **What are the four strokes gained categories?** Off the tee (tee shots on par 4s and par 5s), approach (shots from more than 30 yards to the hole that are not a par-4 or par-5 tee shot), around the green (shots from 30 yards and in, off the putting surface) and putting (every shot from the green). PinFlag uses exactly these definitions, prices every shot with them, and publishes them on its methodology page so the categories are never a mystery. Page: https://pinflag.io/answers/strokes-gained/what-are-the-four-strokes-gained-categories **How is strokes gained calculated for a penalty shot?** A penalty is one extra stroke charged to the shot that caused it, priced from where the ball finished after the drop. PinFlag logs the penalty as a stroke in its own right, prices a hazard target with that stroke included before you swing, and counts it exactly once after the round. Page: https://pinflag.io/answers/strokes-gained/how-is-strokes-gained-calculated-for-a-penalty-shot **Why is strokes gained better than fairways hit, greens in regulation and putts per round?** Those counts treat every fairway, green and putt as equal. A 3-foot putt and a 40-foot putt both count as one putt; a green hit to 60 feet and one hit to 6 feet both count as a green. Strokes gained weighs each shot by the distance and lie it started from and finished at, so it credits the approach that left 6 feet and charges the one that left 60. PinFlag still shows fairways, greens and putts, derived from the same logged shots, and leads with the number that explains them. Page: https://pinflag.io/answers/strokes-gained/why-is-strokes-gained-better-than-fairways-hit-greens-in-regulation-and-putts **What is strokes gained putting?** The expected number of putts from your first-putt distance, minus the putts you took. From 18 feet the TOUR table expects about 1.8 putts, so a two-putt from there is slightly negative and a one-putt is a gain of about 0.8. PinFlag prices every putt in feet from the leave you placed on the green, reports three-putt frequency and make rate by distance, and shows a putting heat map of where your leaves finish around the hole. Page: https://pinflag.io/answers/strokes-gained/what-is-strokes-gained-putting **What is strokes gained approach, and why does it matter most?** Approach is every shot from more than 30 yards that is not a tee shot on a par 4 or 5, priced by the lie and distance it started from and the proximity it left. Across handicaps it is the largest single category of loss, which is why PinFlag breaks it down by distance band and by club, with proximity in feet, the share inside 15 and 30 feet, and dispersion circles, so the band that costs you is visible rather than averaged away. Page: https://pinflag.io/answers/strokes-gained/what-is-strokes-gained-approach-and-why-does-it-matter-most