How do I understand Strokes Gained Sand? Follow
Understanding Strokes Gained sand
Strokes Gained Sand reflects your performance on shots taken from greenside bunkers. Bunkers within 50 yards of the center of the green are classed as greenside bunkers. It is driven by both distances of shot and proximity to the pin.
Strokes Gained Sand works in an identical manner to Strokes Gained Chipping while acknowledging that bunker shots are harder than chips to get close to the flag. For example, Mr. Scratch will average 2.513 strokes when in a bunker 15 yards from the flag and averages 1.288 putts when putting from 5 feet.
If you were in a bunker 15 yards from the flag and splashed out to 5 feet you would have gained 0.225 strokes against Mr. Scratch, meaning that your bunker play was better than a 0 handicap golfer. The calculation is below:
No. of strokes Mr. Scratch would take from a bunker 15 yards from the flag (2.513)
LESS
The bunker shot (1.000)
LESS
No. of putts Mr. Scratch would take from 5 feet (1.288)
=
Strokes gained for the shot (+0.225)
Meaning that the bunker shot was 0.225 strokes better than Mr. Scratch.
If you were able to maintain this level of chipping performance then your Arccos Sand Handicap would be approximately +2.4.