Strokes Gained Putting (SG: Putting) is a statistical method developed by Professor Mark Broadie at Columbia Business School. It measures how many putts you take compared to a baseline average for the same distance — meaning it accounts for the difficulty of each individual putt, not just your total putt count.

For example: a 30-foot putt is much harder than a 3-foot putt. Traditional stats treat them the same. Strokes Gained doesn’t. It gives you a true picture of whether you’re putting better or worse than the average golfer at your level.

💡 Key insight: A golfer who takes 32 putts in a round could be putting brilliantly or terribly — it depends entirely on how far those putts were. Strokes Gained tells you the truth.

Your Strokes Gained Putting score is measured against the baseline for your handicap. Here’s a general guide for a full 18-hole round:

For Amateur Golfers:

• +2.0 or better — Elite level. Your putting is a major weapon.
• +0.5 to +2.0 — Above average. Putting is helping your score.
• -0.5 to +0.5 — Average. Putting is roughly neutral.
• -0.5 to -2.0 — Below average. Putting is costing you shots.
• -2.0 or worse — Putting is a significant weakness to work on.

For Tour Professionals: The best putters on the PGA Tour typically gain around +0.8 to +1.2 strokes per round on the field. The difference between an elite putter and an average tour pro is smaller than most people think — which shows just how much every single putt counts at the highest level.

Most golfers track putts per round and aim for 30 or fewer. But this number tells you almost nothing useful on its own — because it completely ignores how far your putts were.

Scenario A: You hit 17 greens in regulation and have 18-foot putts all day. You two-putt every hole for 36 putts. That sounds bad — but you were actually putting brilliantly from distance.

Scenario B: You miss most greens and chip to within 4 feet every time. You two-putt 6 holes for 28 putts total. That sounds great — but you missed six tap-ins that you should have made.

Strokes Gained sees through both of these scenarios immediately. It’s the only putting metric that gives you an honest, distance-adjusted assessment of your performance on the greens.

The real power of Strokes Gained Putting comes from tracking it across multiple rounds. A single round tells you how you putted that day. Five rounds tells you who you are as a putter.

We recommend recording your Strokes Gained Putting after every round and looking for trends over 4–6 weeks. Are you improving from long range but still struggling inside 10 feet? That tells you exactly where to focus your practice time.

💡 Pro tip: After every round, hit the Download PDF Report button in the calculator above. Your full hole-by-hole breakdown, strokes gained total, miss tendencies and coaching insight are all saved in one clean document. Build up a folder of reports over a season and you’ll have a picture of your putting that most tour caddies would envy.

Understanding your Strokes Gained data is the first step. Knowing what to do about it is where a putting coach makes all the difference.

At Line Speed Read Putting Academy, we use SAM PuttLab technology, video analysis, and individualised practice plans to help golfers of all levels improve their putting performance. Whether you’re losing shots from short range, struggling with lag putting, or want to fine-tune a stroke that’s already working — we can help.

Based in Sweden and offering online lessons worldwide, we work with golfers from beginners to elite amateurs. Book a lesson today and find out exactly what your putting data is telling you.

👉 Book a Putting Lesson with Line Speed Read