Strokes gained approach

Strokes gained approach measures every shot played to the green from outside the short-game zone against the tour average from that lie and distance: expected strokes before, minus expected putts from where it finished, minus one. Par-3 tee shots are approaches; the PGA TOUR counts approaches from beyond 30 yards, and Broadie’s original short game runs to 100 yards.

strokes gained = expected strokes before - expected strokes after - 1

Approach is where strokes gained earns its keep, because it is the category the old statistics hide. Greens in regulation counts a green hit to 40 feet and a green hit to 10 feet as the same green. From 150 yards in the fairway the tour average needs 2.945 strokes. An approach to 10 feet leaves 1.626 expected putts and is worth +0.319; to 25 feet, +0.014; to 40 feet, -0.113. Three greens hit, three different shots, and the difference between the closest and the farthest is 0.43 of a stroke on one swing.

The lie moves the number before the swing happens. The same 150 yards from the rough starts at 3.190 instead of 2.945, so the identical approach to 25 feet is worth 0.25 more from the rough, because it beat a harder average. A missed green into greenside rough at 20 yards is worth -0.645, which is the honest price of a green missed by a few yards.

Across handicaps, approach is the largest single category of loss. Broadie’s published split puts about two thirds of the gap to a tour field in the long game, and approach shots are the majority of long-game shots on most holes, which is why practice built on proximity by distance band moves a handicap faster than practice on the putting green.

Four approaches from 150

Same distance, same fairway lie, four finishes. Proximity is the whole story.

Greens in regulation gives the first three the same tick. Strokes gained separates them by 0.43 of a stroke, and prices the miss.

Expected strokes by approach distance

The tour average from the fairway and the rough at each distance band, and what an approach to 25 feet is worth from the fairway at that distance.

Every row is the published baseline, and the full expected strokes table carries every lie and distance.

What amateurs give up on approach

The long-game share of the gap to a tour field, by handicap. Approach shots are most of the long game on most holes.

The model behind the table is printed on the benchmarks page, and the strokes gained calculator runs any shot you like against it.

Approach in PinFlag

Standing in the fairway, PinFlag prices the flag, the middle of the green and the fat side, each with your own club dispersion around the aim and the lie at the target read from the course map. Shot Cloud draws your real pattern with that club on the green in front of you, so a tucked pin shows how much of your spread ends in the bunker before you choose.

After the round, Insights breaks approach down by distance band and by club: proximity in feet, best and median, the share inside 15 and 30 feet, the 68 and 95 percent dispersion circles, and a start-position table of distance band by lie with greens hit and strokes gained per cell. The band that costs you is visible rather than averaged away.

The other categories

• What strokes gained is: the formula, a whole hole worked through, and the calculator.
• Strokes gained off the tee: Strokes gained off the tee prices every par-4 and par-5 tee shot against tour: the formula, worked drives, and what a fairway is worth.
• Strokes gained around the green: Strokes gained around the green prices every chip, pitch and bunker shot against tour: worked shots, the 25 yard table by lie, and up-and-downs.
• Strokes gained putting: Strokes gained putting prices every putt against tour: expected putts by distance, worked putts, what a three-putt costs, and why putt counts mislead.
• The strokes gained formula: seven shots worked, the penalty rule and the identity check.
• Strokes gained tee to green: the three long categories added up, by handicap.
• How to improve strokes gained: each fix priced per shot.
• Predictive strokes gained: the same number, priced before the swing.