NEW YORK – What does it take to drop ten strokes from your golf score? What is the secret behind Tiger Woods's game? The surprising answers can be found in Every Shot Counts: Using the Revolutionary Strokes Gained Approach to Improve Your Golf Performance and Strategy. The new book from Columbia Business School Professor Mark Broadie expands upon the strokes gained putting stat he developed and which is now in use by the PGA Tour.
"Many golfers are focusing on the wrong stats when evaluating their game. Traditional golf stats such as putts per round, fairway hit, and greens in regulation actually provide little insight into golf performance," says Broadie. "By using a statistical approach to analyze millions of shots, Every Shot Counts shows golfers of any skill level how to make better strategic decisions on the course."
The strokes gained method makes it possible to analyze a player's entire game by calculating the advantage gained or lost for every shot, compared to a consistent standard. The method is based on data collected by the PGA Tour on every shot by every player at its tournaments since 2003. Amateur golf data has been collected since 2005 using a computer program Broadie developed called Golfmetrics.
Broadie uses the approach to answer many questions about golf performance including:
- How much is twenty extra yards of driving distance actually worth?
- What are the most important skills separating amateurs from pros?
- How does one best understand strengths and pinpoint weaknesses?
Every Shot Counts is not a book about golf mechanics. Instead, using statistical data from the past decade, it is designed to show golfers of all handicaps new ways to improve golf strategy and measure performance.
For additional insight on Professor Broadie's strokes gained putting stat and golf analytics work, please visit http://www.everyshotcounts.com.
For more information about Columbia Business School, please visit http://www.gsb.columbia.edu.
About Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School is the only world-class, Ivy League business school that delivers a learning experience where academic excellence meets with real-time exposure to the pulse of global business. Led by Dean Glenn Hubbard, the School's transformative curriculum bridges academic theory with unparalleled exposure to real-world business practice, equipping students with an entrepreneurial mindset that allows them to recognize, capture, and create opportunity in any business environment. The thought leadership of the School's faculty and staff, combined with the accomplishments of its distinguished alumni and position in the center of global business, means that the School's efforts have an immediate, measurable impact on the forces shaping business every day. To learn more about Columbia Business School's position at the very center of business, please visit gsb.columbia.edu.
About Professor Mark Broadie
Mark Broadie is the Carson Family Professor of Business, Vice Dean for Curriculum and Instruction, and Academic Advisory Board Member, Program for Financial Studies at Columbia Business School. Broadie's research addresses issues in quantitative finance and sports analytics. He is a member of the United States Golf Association's Handicap Research Team and is a former club champion at the Pelham Country Club.