“Putts per round is not a pure measure of putting skill because it doesn’t take into account putt distances.”
That is a quote from Mark Broadie in a paper he wrote titled “Putts Gained – Measuring Putting on the PGA TOUR.” (See link at the bottom of the page)
Broadie pioneered strokes gained analytics which has become a fixture in golf.
For years we measured fairways hit, greens in regulation and putts per round. It was better than not keeping track of anything.
A better way to measure
A year and half ago, I purchased a ShotScope V3 which is an advanced GPS watch with automatic shot tracking and statistics.
Check out our “Putting Training Aids” page for a review.
With Strokes Gained… Plus numbers mean you are gaining strokes and Minus numbers mean you are losing strokes to players with a given handicap.
Video – How It’s Made: ShotScope Strokes Gained Analysis
The image above shows my strokes gained stats for 2021 measured versus those with a 25 handicap.
To quickly summarize the graphic, my putting and short game are saving my game. Plus 4.04 means my handicap is closer to 20.
My putting is actually in the 10 handicap range. How do I know that? If I change the app to “Versus 10 Handicap,” my putting strokes gained are still a plus number. That’s good.
My approach shots need a lot of work. I should be hitting at least half of the greens on approach.
(Note: I belong to a “Championship Par 3” course and all par 3 tee shots are considered approach shots in ShotScope’s app. The 0.48 strokes gained on tee shots is from rounds I played on regular courses.)
I would recommend getting a ShotScope V3. They really have created something that offers in depth performance data. The other dataset I regularly check is “make percentage” by distance.
The reason I recommend a performance tracking device like this is that it automatically keeps tracking all data for you, keeps your score automatically and gives you GPS data.
There are several apps that advertise strokes gained. Most have you enter the data yourself and the only comparison for strokes gained is against professionals.
Strokes gained explained
At first in 2011, it was putting only and they measured the pros.
The PGA tour uses “Shotlink” data and they measure everything.
Click on this link to visit the PGA Tour Stats page.
Today, several apps collect all kinds of shot data from all over the world for various handicaps.
Short version from ShotScope: “Strokes gained is a way of analyzing a player’s performance level when comparing every aspect of their performance with other players within a particular dataset. It measures the golfer’s performance, taking into account, the hole length, shot length, lie type of every shot and putt during a round of golf. Using this measurement to analyze performance, allows golfers to gain a greater understanding of which areas of their game they may need to work on in order to improve their overall scoring average.” “Strokes Gained” from ShotScope. (Follow link for more detail)
Another good link is to US Golf TV: Understanding Strokes Gained Putting which is a YouTube video. (Recommended)
Q&A with Golf Analytics Expert Mark Broadie on the Future of Data in Sports
PDF called “Putts Gained” Measuring Putting on the PGA TOUR, by Mark Broadie Columbia University, Draft: January 13, 2011