Golf Ireland launch new Strokes Gained Ratings System

At its 2026 Season Launch in Carton House last night, Golf Ireland unveiled a pilot for a system which will statistically rate the performance of male and female players in scratch events all over Ireland.

The Golf Ireland Strokes Gained Ratings system has been devised in partnership with Quantum Sports Data, and will be driven by results collected not only from Golf Ireland championships and events, but also from the considerable schedule of Men’s and Women’s Senior Scratch Cups which are organised by clubs all over Ireland.

The pilot will run through the 2026 season with a view to its introduction in 2027 as a new primary qualification method for all men’s and women’s championships on the Bridgestone Orders of Merit, as well as - potentially - for talent identification purposes and for selection for teams and coaching panels.

Using scoring data returned to Golf Ireland’s WHS Clubhouse platform, players will receive an Adjusted Strokes Gained rating which will be driven by their scores over a rolling two-year period.

Adjusted Strokes Gained measures how many strokes better or worse a golfer performs in each round compared to an average championship-level player, accounting for course difficulty and playing conditions.

During the pilot season the ratings will be updated once a month, on the first day of each month on which no eligible event is taking place.

Neil Manchip, High Performance Director with Golf Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to get our strokes gained project up and running this year. It will be really interesting to see how players from all age groups progress their rating through strong performances in Golf Ireland championships and scratch cups.” 

Mark Wehrly, Championships and Rules Director at Golf Ireland, said: “This has been a really exciting project for Golf Ireland to develop. 

"While we’re committed to continuing to use both the World Amateur Golf Rankings and the World Handicap System as qualification criteria for our championships, we wanted to trial a new primary method of qualification for championships that was developed specifically for that purpose.

“We’re delighted to be working with a partner of such repute and cutting-edge approach as Quantum Sports Data on this project. 

"We’ll be taking feedback throughout 2026 from a number of stakeholders before settling on the specific uses for the ratings system in the 2027 season - we’re looking forward to seeing it in action and getting people’s views on it.” 

Dylan Beirne, Founder & CEO of Quantum Sports Data said: “It’s been a pleasure working alongside Golf Ireland to develop this system. 

"We believe that having a purpose-built system to accurately assess elite-level performance in Ireland can have a really positive impact on the amateur ecosystem here, and we look forward to seeing it in action.”