Understanding Strokes Gained Driving

Strokes Gained Driving reflects your performance off the tee on par 4s and par 5s. It takes into account both distance and accuracy, on a per-shot basis. Penalties from driving and recovery shots associated with drives also impact Strokes Gained Driving.

How Strokes Gained Driving works

Strokes Gained Driving places a value on tee shots taken on Par 4 and Par 5's with any club, not just driver. As an example, Mr. Scratch will average 3.810 strokes when teeing off on a 300 yard Par 4 and averages  2.791 strokes when in the fairway 80 yards from the hole.

If you tee'd off on the above hole with a 3 wood and hit a 220-yard drive that ended up 80 yards short of the flag, you would have gained 0.019 strokes against Mr. Scratch, meaning that your tee shot was slightly better than a 0 handicap golfer. The calculation is below:

No. of strokes Mr. Scratch would take on a 300 yard Par 4 (3.810)
LESS
The 3-wood tee shot (1.000)
LESS
No. of strokes Mr. Scratch would take in the fairway 80 yards from the flag (2.791)
=
Strokes gained for the shot (+0.019)
Meaning that the tee shot was 0.019 strokes better than Mr. Scratch.

If you were to maintain this level of performance then your Arccos Driving Handicap would be very close to, if not slightly better than, a scratch golfer.