Strokes gained off the tee

Strokes gained off the tee measures every tee shot on a par 4 or par 5 against the tour average from that hole length: the expected strokes from the tee, minus the expected strokes from where the drive finished, minus one for the drive. A par-3 tee shot is an approach, because it is played to the green.

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

A drive is the shot with the most yards in it, so it is the shot where the number moves most. From a 420 yard tee the tour average needs 4.020 strokes to hole out. A drive to 155 in the fairway leaves 2.963, and the drive is worth +0.058. The same drive into the rough leaves 3.210 and is worth -0.190: the lie alone moved the shot by 0.25 of a stroke.

Distance is worth less than golfers expect and the fairway is worth more. Twenty yards shorter but in the fairway, at 175, is worth -0.035, which is 0.09 of a stroke behind the 155 drive and 0.16 ahead of the 155 drive in the rough. Fairways hit counted those two drives the same way it counts a 180 yard duff into short grass; strokes gained prices each one.

The tee shot that costs most is the one that leaves the property. A tee shot out of bounds on a 400 yard hole costs 2.05 strokes against the average, which is more than any three-putt. Off-the-tee strokes gained is, for most amateurs, mostly a count of how often the drive stays in play, and only after that a measure of how far it goes.

Three drives from the same tee

A 420 yard par 4. Same tee, three finishes, priced from the published baseline.

The fairway at 175 beats the rough at 155. A drive that gives up twenty yards to stay in the short grass is, on the published table, the better drive.

Expected strokes by hole length

What the tour average needs from the tee of a par 4 or par 5, which is the number every drive on that hole is measured against.

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

What amateurs give up long

Broadie’s published split puts roughly two thirds of an amateur’s gap to a tour field in the long game, across about fourteen shots a round. Off the tee and approach share it; the drive is where the penalty strokes live.

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

Off the tee in PinFlag

On the tee, PinFlag prices any target you put the aim on: the corner of the dogleg, the safe side, the layup short of the bunkers, each with your own driver dispersion around the aim and the lie read from the course map. Shot Cloud draws your real driver pattern on the hole, so the part of your spread that reaches the water is a picture rather than a guess, and the strokes gained number already includes it.

After the round, Insights shows strokes gained off the tee per round and across the season, the landing zones your drives actually finish in, and Score Killers, which totals the penalty strokes that cost whole shots. Every drive you log carries where you aimed and where it finished, so your driver pattern is measured from real rounds as well as from the range.

The other categories

• What strokes gained is: the formula, a whole hole worked through, and the calculator.
• Strokes gained approach: Strokes gained approach prices every shot into the green against the tour average: worked approaches, proximity in strokes and the 150 yard table.
• 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.