At its 2026 Season Launch in Carton House, 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. 

Dylan Beirne, Founder & CEO of Quantum Sports Data joins us on the podcast to explain further how exactly this adjusted strokes gained data will work and what it means for elite Irish amateur golfers.

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.