What is
strokes gained?
Strokes gained measures every shot against a benchmark — how many strokes it typically takes to hole out from a given spot — so you see exactly where you gain and lose strokes. Here's what it means, how it's calculated, and how to track it without a single club sensor.
The idea in one sentence
Not every shot is worth the same. A 40-foot birdie putt you lag to a tap-in was a great putt; a 6-footer you miss was a poor one — even though both left you one stroke. Strokes gained captures that by comparing every shot to a benchmark: how many strokes a reference player would need, on average, from where your ball was.
Leave yourself a better spot than that benchmark and you gain a fraction of a stroke. Leave a worse one and you lose a fraction. Add it up over a round and you can see, to a tenth of a stroke, where your game made and lost ground.
How it's calculated
Every position on the course has a "benchmark" — the expected number of strokes to hole out from there. Strokes gained on a shot is just:
expected strokes before − expected strokes after − 1 (the shot you took)
Hit a great approach and the "expected strokes after" drops a lot — you gained. Chunk it and the number barely moves — you lost. Do this for every shot in a round and group the results into four buckets.
Off the tee
How much your driving helps or hurts versus the benchmark, distance and trouble included.
Approach
The biggest swing category for most golfers — how close you leave your approach shots.
Short game
Chips, pitches, and bunker shots around the green, scored on where they finish.
Putting
Every putt against the make-and-leave benchmark from its distance — the fair way to judge a flat stick.
Why it beats fairways and greens
"Fairways hit" and "greens in regulation" are blunt — a green hit to 50 feet counts the same as one to 3 feet. Strokes gained grades the quality of every shot, not just whether it found grass, and it rolls up into one honest answer to the question every golfer actually asks: where are my strokes going?
Track it without sensors
Strokes gained only needs to know where each shot started and finished. That can come from club sensors — or from shots you place by voice or a tap on the map. Round Review computes strokes gained from your voice: say what happened after a shot, and it builds your strokes gained by category, no hardware on your clubs. You end up knowing which part of your game to practice — the whole point of measuring it.
Common questions
What is strokes gained in golf?
Strokes gained measures a shot against a benchmark: how many strokes it typically takes a reference player to hole out from a given spot. If your shot leaves you in a better position than average, you gain a fraction of a stroke; worse, you lose one. Summed over a round, it shows exactly where you gain and lose strokes versus your goal.
How is strokes gained calculated?
Every position on the course has a benchmark "expected strokes to hole out." A shot's strokes gained is the expected strokes before the shot, minus the expected strokes after, minus one for the shot you took. Do that for every shot and group the results into off-the-tee, approach, short game, and putting.
What is a good strokes gained number?
Zero means you performed exactly at the benchmark you're measured against. Positive means better than that benchmark, negative means worse. Because it's relative to a baseline, the useful read isn't a single number — it's which category is costing you the most strokes so you know where to practice.
Do you need sensors to track strokes gained?
No. Strokes gained needs to know where each shot started and finished — that can come from club sensors, but it can also come from shots you place by voice or a tap on the map. Round Review computes strokes gained from voice-captured shots, with no hardware on your clubs.
Can amateurs track strokes gained?
Yes. Strokes gained isn't just for tour players — it's the clearest way for any golfer to see where strokes go. Round Review makes it approachable: say what happened on each shot and it builds your strokes gained by category, so you can aim your practice at what actually costs you.