Strokes Gained
Strokes Gained Around the Green, Explained
Strokes gained around the green measures your short game: chips, pitches, and bunker shots from within about 30 yards of the green.
What is strokes gained around the green?
It’s strokes gained on every shot within ~30 yards that isn’t a putt — the chips, pitches, and greenside bunker shots that turn a missed green into a saved par.
Strokes gained around the green: the expected strokes from your greenside lie and distance minus the expected strokes from where the shot finished, minus one — for shots within about 30 yards.
A converted up-and-down usually shows up as positive around-the-green and putting numbers, and drives your scrambling percentage.
How is strokes gained around the green calculated?
Take the baseline for your greenside lie and distance, subtract the baseline for where the ball finished on the green, and subtract one.
| Lie & distance | Expected strokes to hole out |
|---|---|
| Short grass, 20 yd | 2.40 |
| Short grass, 40 yd | 2.60 |
| Greenside bunker, 20 yd | 2.53 |
| Greenside bunker, 40 yd | 2.82 |
- Chip from just off the green, 20 yards out (baseline 2.40), to 4 feet (putting baseline 1.13): 2.40 − 1.13 − 1 = +0.27.
- Greenside bunker shot, 20 yards (2.53), to 6 feet (1.34): 2.53 − 1.34 − 1 = +0.19.
- Skull a chip from 20 yards to 20 feet (1.87): 2.40 − 1.87 − 1 = −0.47 — a poor short-game shot costs nearly half a stroke.
How do you gain strokes around the green?
Get every greenside shot onto the putting surface and reasonably close — consistency beats the occasional hole-out. Eliminating the chunk and the skull is worth more than perfecting one flop shot.
For most amateurs the short game is a smaller leak than approach play, so fix your biggest category first — but a reliable up-and-down turns bogeys into pars all round.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as “around the green” in strokes gained?
Is short game or approach more important?
Sources
Keep reading
Strokes Gained
Strokes Gained Explained: The Complete Guide
Strokes gained measures every shot against a benchmark of expected scores, revealing exactly where you gain or lose strokes versus a chosen standard — instead of guessing from fairways, greens, and putts.
Strokes Gained
Strokes Gained Putting, Explained
Strokes gained putting measures your putting against a benchmark by comparing the expected putts to hole out from each starting distance to the number of putts you actually take.
Strokes Gained
Strokes Gained Approach, Explained
Strokes gained approach measures your shots into the green from beyond about 30 yards — and it is the single biggest separator between skill levels.
Glossary
Up-and-Down
An up-and-down is getting the ball into the hole in two shots from off the green — typically one chip, pitch, or bunker shot followed by one putt.