Strokes Gained measures the performance of a player's every shot in relation to a set benchmark (Anova uses the benchmark of an average tour player). Here is how it works:
Let's assume that you're playing a 400 yard hole. The expected number of strokes to finish a hole from 400 yards off the tee for an average tour player is 3.99. Let's suppose you hit a 300 yard long drive that ends up in the fairway. You now have 100 yards to the hole from the fairway. From here, the expected number of strokes to finish for an average tour player is 2.8. It has taken you 1 stroke to get from expected values of 3.99 to 2.8. So we calculate our Strokes Gained for shot one like this: 3.99-2.80-1=0.19. By hitting your tee shot 300 yards in the fairway, you gained 0.19 strokes on an average tour player on your tee shot. And we do this for every shot you hit for the entire round. If you are on the tour pro plan, you can see your breakdown on a hole-by-hole and a shot by shot basis:
On the PGA Tour, over 200 volunteers collect statistical information from every player and every round, and the Shotlink system measures each shot by laser. The PGA Tour is then able to compare each player's performances versus the field for each round. After each season, you can also then compare each player to the tour as a whole, and you can rank each player according to how good they are in relation to each other.
With Anova.Golf you can measure your own Strokes Gained, compared against a historical average of Strokes Gained baselines made up of multiple years of data. And you can break it down into 26 different categories, as compared to the PGA Tour's 6. This means that you can compare yourself against an average Tour Player, and see exactly where you are gaining or losing strokes, and down to the particular distance bracket and shot type. But since we only know the information from your round and since we don't know what the rest of the field is doing, you can't compare your performance to the rest of the field's performance; we can compare your Strokes Gained in relation to one of an average tour player. And this is incredibly powerful.
On the image below, we can see the "Strokes Gained" tab in the Anova.Golf app, where the Strokes Gained are broken down into 26 different categories:
If you have any questions about Strokes Gained, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]
