For Coaches

What is a golf combine?

A golf combine is a structured skills test: every player hits the same set of shots, from the same distances and lies, and each shot is scored in strokes gained against the published baseline, so the results can be compared and ranked on one scale. The scoring is the same arithmetic PinFlag uses on the course: the expected strokes from where the shot started, minus the expected strokes from where it finished, minus one. A wedge to 8 feet from 80 yards and a wedge to 30 feet are different scores, which is what makes a combine more honest than counting greens hit. PinFlag measures a roster the same way in real rounds: every student on a Coach plan logs shots on their own iPhone, each shot is priced on the same baseline with the same benchmark lenses, and the coach compares strokes gained by category, proximity by distance band and club, and Score Killers across the group on one scale.

Most apps grade rounds after. PinFlag, in the iOS app, shows your strokes gained for any target before you swing, with your own dispersion and the real lie priced in, and draws your launch monitor shots and past shots on the hole you are playing (Shot Cloud). Two taps log each shot, and every round becomes a per-shot breakdown of where the strokes went.