Glossary

A run of holes where good scoring keeps going: it gets going with a clean hole, holds at least two birdies or better, and ends on your first dropped shot.

Why it matters

Low rounds are usually built in runs, not one good hole at a time.

A run of holes where one mistake turns into continued damage. It starts with a dropped shot, holds at least two, and ends when you make birdie or better.

Why it matters

It shows whether your bad holes stay isolated or start costing you several shots.

The holes that make a run count: birdies or better inside a Good Streak, dropped shots inside a Bad Streak.

How to read it

A single hole never makes a run — it takes at least two.

Value is the shots you gain inside your good runs. Cost is the shots you lose inside your bad runs.

How to read it

You want value high and cost low.

Which holes your good and bad runs tend to start and finish on.

Why it matters

If damage keeps appearing in the same part of the round, that is where the work is.

Whether a part of the round takes more than its fair share of your streaks. Around 1.00× is what you would expect, above that is more than its share, below is less.

Why it matters

It tells you whether a problem is spread out or sitting in one place.

A closer look at your runs of holes: where they start, how long they last, what they cost or gain, and what usually happens straight afterwards.

The hole where the run began.

The last hole that was still part of the run.

The hole that stopped the run — a dropped shot ends a good run, a birdie or better ends a bad one.

How many pars sat inside a bad run. A par does not end the damage; it just holds it steady until you make a birdie.

How many holes you played in this part of the round. It is the fair share your streaks are measured against.

Whether your runs tend to get going in one part of the round more than you would expect from the holes played there.

Why it matters

Knowing where damage usually begins is more useful than knowing it happened.

Runs that carried from the front nine into the back nine. Context only — it describes when the run happened, not how good or bad you played.

The run was still going when the round ended, so there were no holes left to answer it.

How to read it

Finishing on damage costs the card; finishing on good scoring does not.

The birdies or dropped shots that happened while the run was live.

How your runs of holes looked in each round of the tournament, so you can see whether the pattern repeats or belongs to one day.

Whether the same pattern shows up across several tournaments rather than in one week.

Why it matters

A pattern that repeats is worth working on; one week is just one week.

Your average score against par on every hole played. Lower is better. It is the simplest read on scoring level.

Your average round score against par. Lower is better. Small differences here add up quickly across a season.

How often you make birdie or better. Higher is better.

How often you make exactly par. There is no better or worse side to this one: a high par rate can mean steady golf or a shortage of birdies, so read it beside your birdie and bogey numbers.

How often you get off a hole without dropping a shot. Higher is better — it shows how cleanly you get round.

How often you make bogey. Lower is better.

How often a hole costs you two shots or more. Lower is better — these are the holes that ruin a card.

How much your round scores move up and down. Lower is better: it means you repeat a similar score more often, with fewer surprises either way.

What actually happened in this round: how you scored, where the shots were gained and lost, and how the round was shaped.

How to read it

This is one round, so read it as a story rather than a pattern.

The holes from this round included in the numbers below.

How many holes you got off without dropping a shot. Higher is better.

How much your scoring jumped around from one hole to the next. It describes the shape of the round rather than rating it: a steady round and a birdie-heavy round can both score well.

Your average round compared with par. Level par shows as E, better than par shows as a minus.

How to read it

Lower is better.

Your best single round compared with par in the rounds being shown.

How to read it

It is one round, so treat it as your ceiling rather than your normal level.

How many birdies or better you make in an average round.

How to read it

Higher is better.

Why it matters

Low rounds usually need birdies, not just clean golf.

Out of every hole you play, how often you make birdie or better.

How to read it

Higher is better.

How many birdies or better you make for every dropped shot. 2.00 : 1 means two birdies for each bogey.

How to read it

Higher is better.

The shots you actually took on the hole.

Your score on the hole against par — birdie, par, bogey and so on.

Why it matters

It is exactly what you wrote on the card.

How many shots over or under par you were. Lower is better.

The kind of golf you play — club, elite amateur or professional. It only changes the wording you see, never the analysis.

Your good and bad runs are worked out from your score on each hole against par.

How well you limit the cost of mistakes — whether a dropped shot stays on one hole or turns into a run of costly holes.

Why it matters

Most big numbers on a card come from damage that was not stopped quickly.

How often a dropped shot develops into a damaging run rather than staying isolated. Lower is better. Fewer Bad Streaks means mistakes are being contained more often.

How many strokes you lose, on average, inside Bad Streaks during each round. Lower is better. This shows the total scoring damage caused by those negative runs.

How expensive one Bad Streak is when it happens. Lower is better. Read this together with Bad Streaks per round: a player can have fewer Bad Streaks but still have expensive ones.

How much of your total dropped-shot damage happens inside Bad Streaks rather than on isolated holes. Lower is better — it means mistakes stay contained.

When you make bogey or worse, how often the damage stops on that hole instead of becoming part of a Bad Streak. Higher is better. It is a measure of damage containment, not bogey frequency.

Of your bogeys-or-worse, how many happen inside a Bad Streak. This is the other side of holes kept isolated, shown here as context rather than as good or bad.

How many doubles-or-worse land inside Bad Streaks. Context only: it describes where your most expensive holes tend to appear.

How often a Bad Streak was still running when the round finished. Lower is better — finishing on damage costs the card and there are no holes left to answer.

The shots this round cost you inside runs of damaging holes. Lower is better.

Why it matters

It separates shots lost in clusters from shots lost on isolated holes.

How often you get off a hole without dropping a shot.

How to read it

Higher is better.

Why it matters

Keeping dropped shots off the card protects good rounds more than extra birdies do.

How well you turn good scoring into more good scoring — whether a birdie leads into another strong hole.

How often a run of scoring gets going in a round — two or more birdies-or-better close together. Higher is better.

How many strokes you gain inside those scoring runs in an average round. Higher is better.

How many strokes one scoring run is worth when it happens. Higher is better. Read it with Good Streaks per round: some players have few runs but big ones.

How many holes a scoring run usually lasts. Higher is better — longer runs mean the good golf keeps going.

How many birdies-or-better sit inside a typical scoring run. Higher is better.

Of your birdies-or-better, how many come as part of a run rather than on their own. Higher is better — it shows one good hole leading into another.

Of your birdies-or-better, how many stand on their own. There is no better or worse side to this: every birdie counts. It simply describes how your scoring arrives.

How often a scoring run was still alive when the round finished. This is context, not quality — it depends on when the run started.

The shots you gained this round inside runs of good holes. Higher is better.

How you score on the hole straight after an important hole, good or bad.

Why it matters

The next hole is usually where a round is saved or lost.

After a bogey-or-worse hole, how often you return immediately with par or better. Higher is better. It shows how quickly you stop the damage.

After a bogey-or-worse hole, how often you drop another shot on the very next hole. Lower is better.

After a bogey-or-worse hole, how often you answer with a birdie or better straight away. Higher is better.

After a birdie-or-better hole, how often you at least hold par on the next hole. Higher is better — it shows you keep what you have just gained.

After a birdie-or-better hole, how often you drop a shot straight back. Lower is better.

After making birdie or better, how often you make birdie or better again on the next hole. Higher is better. It shows how often you turn one scoring opportunity into continued momentum.

How you score on the holes straight after a run of holes ends.

Why it matters

Stopping the damage quickly is worth more than avoiding mistakes entirely.

After you drop a shot, how often you birdie the very next hole.

How to read it

Higher is better.

Why it matters

Answering a mistake straight away stops one bad hole running into several.

After you make a birdie, how often you drop a shot on the very next hole.

How to read it

Lower is better.

Why it matters

Giving a birdie straight back cancels the shot you just gained.

Your average score relative to par on the front nine. Lower is better. It helps show whether the scoring difference appears early or late in the round.

Your average score relative to par on the back nine. Lower is better. It helps show whether the scoring difference appears early or late in the round.

Your average score against par over the first three holes. Lower is better — it shows how you start a round.

Your average score against par over the last three holes. Lower is better — it shows how you finish a round.

How your scoring changes across the round — start, front nine, back nine and finish. It describes the shape of your golf rather than judging it as good or bad.

Each round on its own, so you can see whether a number comes from steady golf or from one unusual day.

How your first nine holes usually go compared with par.

How to read it

Lower is better.

How your second nine holes usually go compared with par.

How to read it

Lower is better. Compare it with your front nine to see where your round is won or lost.

Your average score against par on par 3s. Lower is better.

Your average score against par on par 4s. Lower is better.

Your average score against par on par 5s. Lower is better.

How you score on par 3s, par 4s and par 5s.

Why it matters

It shows whether a scoring gap comes from one type of hole rather than the whole round.

How you score on par 3s compared with par.

How to read it

Lower is better.

How you score on par 4s compared with par. Most of your round is par 4s, so this moves your score the most.

How to read it

Lower is better.

How you score on par 5s compared with par. These are your best scoring chances.

How to read it

Lower is better.

Your most recent rounds compared with the same number of rounds before them. OGS shows improving, about the same, or moving the wrong way.

How to read it

Both halves have to be complete, so keep playing if it says there is not enough golf yet.

Why it matters

It answers whether a change is showing up in your scoring or not.

How many recent rounds the numbers are based on. A short window shows current form; a longer one is steadier and easier to trust.

The same number of rounds immediately before this window, so you are comparing like with like.

Every round you have recorded on this basis.

The more rounds you add, the more OGS can tell you. One round is a story; repeated rounds are a pattern.

What happened in a single round. Enough to learn from, not enough to call a pattern.

The first signs of something repeating across your rounds. Worth watching, not yet worth rebuilding your game around.

Enough rounds for a reliable picture of how you score and where your shots go.

Enough rounds to see how the parts of your game work together, and to judge whether changes are holding up.

A deep picture of how you score, built from a large amount of your own golf.

The short version of a side-by-side comparison: the few differences that matter most, in plain words.

How to read it

Start here, then look at the individual numbers underneath.

The middle value of the players you selected. Half sit above it and half below, so one unusual player does not drag it around.

This one has no better or worse side. It describes the shape of the golf rather than rating it, so it is never counted as ahead or behind.

The areas where the players compared here differ most.

How to read it

A big difference is a place to look, not automatically a weakness.

The rounds and holes included on each side, and when they were played.

Why it matters

A comparison built on more golf is easier to trust.

Only the tournaments both players actually played, so the same courses and conditions sit behind both sides.

Uses every round each player has in the chosen window, even when they were not playing the same events.

How to read it

More golf, but conditions on each side may differ.

Uses only the rounds the players have in common, such as the same tournament and round number.

How to read it

A fairer like-for-like read, on fewer rounds.

Benchmark compares your game with one of the best players in the world at a time. Each reference is a world-ranking band from the official rankings — OWGR for professionals, WAGR for amateurs — so World 1–5 means one of the best five ranked players. Scores are used exactly as they were shot, with no handicap strokes, and both sides are measured the same way. It is a performance comparison, not a head-to-head result.

The Gap is the difference between your number and the selected player's. Green means the difference favours you; red means it favours the benchmark. The arrow shows which direction is better for that measure — on some measures a lower number is the good one.

Green means the difference favours you. Red means it favours the benchmark player. Grey means the two of you are close enough to read as level, or the measure has no better or worse direction.

These are the individual areas where your numbers differ most from the selected player. Red shows an area costing you compared with the benchmark; green shows an area where you are ahead. Some of these also appear in Benchmark story because they help create the bigger pattern.

This number is one of the pieces behind a Benchmark story above. Seeing it in both places is not a repeat — the story explains the pattern, this card shows the individual number.

The measures where you are level with the selected player or ahead of them. Worth reading — these are the parts of your game that already stand up against elite scoring.

This one has no better or worse side. It describes the shape of your golf rather than the quality of it, so it is never coloured or counted as ahead or behind. Read it alongside the measures around it.

A quick overview of where your game is ahead, similar or behind the selected player. Each number is a count of the measures in that part of the game. It is not an overall score or rating.

Every measure behind the comparison, grouped by area of the game, including the ones that were too close or too small to highlight. Open it when you want to check the detail yourself.

This is the short version of the comparison. OGS brings related numbers together to show the few patterns that create the biggest differences between your game and the selected player. Start here before looking at the individual metrics.

Where the overall scoring difference between the two of you sits: how big it is, and which part of the round it comes from. It answers whether you lose ground steadily or in one place.

How often dropped shots turn into damaging runs, and what those runs cost you. It shows whether mistakes stay on one hole or spread into the card.

The character of your bad holes rather than the number of them: whether the damage is a lot of small leaks or a few very expensive holes.

How well you turn good scoring into more good scoring — whether birdies come in runs and how much they are worth when they do.

How you score on the hole straight after a dropped shot. It shows how quickly you stop the bleeding compared with the selected player.

A short read on how this player scores: what they do well, where they leak shots, and what to watch when they are in the mix.

The way this player makes their score — whether it comes from birdies in bunches, from avoiding damage, or from steady par golf.

The part of their scoring that stands out most, backed by the most golf.

The part of their scoring that costs them most often.

Something showing up in their scoring that is not settled yet — worth keeping an eye on rather than planning around.

The area that would repay attention first, based on how much it costs and how often it happens.

Whether this player gains more inside good runs than they lose inside bad ones.

How their scoring changes across the four rounds of an event — where they usually make their move and where they lose ground.

A saved group of players you want to look at together, such as a ranking band or a tour.

The date the ranking positions were taken from, so the group reflects one point in the season.

Each tournament is given the same weight, so a player who played more rounds in one week does not pull the number towards that week.

The middle value from that player's events, so one unusual week does not decide their number.

How far apart the groups are in real golf terms — shots, or how often something happens.

How to read it

A difference can be real and still be too small to matter.

Whether a difference is large enough to be worth acting on, rather than the kind of small movement that happens anyway.

Whether players who rank high on one measure also tend to rank high on another. It shows they move together, not that one causes the other.

The players who had enough golf to be included in this study.

The rounds that met the study's requirements.

The tournaments that met the study's requirements.

A locked study keeps its results exactly as they were, so a finding you shared can always be checked again later.

Which run of the study you are looking at. New rounds create a new version rather than changing an old one.

Only players who appear on both sides are used, so a difference cannot come from comparing two different groups.

The players, events and rounds behind the result.

The finishing position and totals for the week, as published.

A round with a full hole-by-hole card, so it can be used for scoring patterns rather than just a total.

Only the round total is known. It counts towards the result, but there is no hole-by-hole detail to analyse.

Some holes are missing from this card, so it is not used for hole-by-hole patterns.

The holes do not add up to the published total, so someone needs to check the card before it is used.

Every hole is present and adds up to the published total.

The round total as published by the tournament.

The total from adding the holes on the card. It should match the published total.

How many shots over or under par the score was.

The source the scores were taken from, so a number can always be traced back.

Your card shows what happened, not why. A short set of questions helps point to the likely cause and one thing to work on.

The part of your game your answers point to most often — for example tee shots, approach play, short game or decisions.

How to read it

It is the most likely area from what you told us, not a diagnosis.

How clearly your answers point to one area. When several areas score closely, treat the answer as a starting point.

Whether a finding comes from your scorecard or from the answers you gave.

Taken straight from the scores you recorded.

Based on what you told us about the situation, not on your scores.

The value of this part of your game at the moment you started working on it. It is kept so you can see whether anything has moved since.

A re-test checks whether this part of your game has improved since you started working on it. We compare your new rounds with where you started, and once you have played enough new rounds OGS shows whether you are improving, about the same, or moving the wrong way.

How to read it

It shows what happened in your golf — not necessarily what caused it.

Only rounds played after you started working on this count towards the re-test.

How to read it

If it says there are not enough yet, keep playing and it will fill up.

How much golf sits behind a finding. It tells you how far to trust it — not how important it is.

This pattern is backed by a solid amount of golf.

There is enough golf here to take this seriously, although more rounds will make the picture clearer.

We can see something starting to appear, but it is based on limited golf so far. Treat it as one to watch.

The rounds, holes or situations counted for this number.

How to read it

More golf behind a number makes it easier to trust.

The rounds and holes available for this player in the view you have chosen, and when they were played.

Evidence strength tells you how much golf sits behind a result. A pattern based on more rounds, holes or situations deserves more trust than one based on only a few. It does not tell you how important the result is.

These are the rounds that produced the numbers on this page, and when they were played. Your rounds sit next to verified tournament rounds from the reference players you selected. Only rounds that match your chosen time window, round phase and hole type are included — and the same filters apply to you and the reference player.

There is not enough golf on one or both sides for this measure in the context you have chosen. Widen the window, or add more rounds, and it will appear.

Choose how many recent rounds to look at. Short shows current form; long is steadier.

Narrows the view to a particular round of an event, such as the first round or the final round.

Narrows the view to one part of the round, such as the front nine or the closing holes.

Why it matters

It shows where in the round the difference actually appears.

Narrows the view to par 3s, par 4s or par 5s.

Choose which events are included.

Choose between using all available golf, or only the rounds the players have in common.

How much recent golf to include. A short window shows current form; a longer window is steadier and easier to trust. Both players use the same window.

The filters that decide which golf is compared. The same settings are used for every player you selected, so each comparison is looking at the same part of your game.