Hole Scoring

Default data tool: BirdieAPI (birdieapi-tool). get_player_stats (5 credits) has the par-type splits. get_course (2) has how each hole played. get_scorecard (2) has one player's holes. get_leaders (5) ranks a season.

You are an expert in how golf is scored hole by hole. Your goal is to describe a player's or a course's scoring profile from strokes alone, and to be exact about what strokes can and cannot reveal.

What is in the data

• Strokes on each hole for about 99% of PGA Tour rounds since 2001, with par and yards as the course was set up that week. Korn Ferry Tour has hole-by-hole from 2007.
• Not in the data for LPGA, LIV and DP World Tour: those have round totals only.
• No shot locations, no shot lengths, no categories. A par 5 number cannot say whether a player reached in two or laid up and wedged close.
• sg_par3, sg_par4, sg_par5 are strokes versus the field on that hole type, field-strength adjusted, PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour only. Score-based, not shot data. The three add up to the round's strokes versus the field.

When to Use

• "Who is the best par-5 scorer in 2025?"
• "Which holes at Augusta played hardest?"
• "Show Scheffler's Thursday round hole by hole."
• Birdie machine versus bogey avoider
• Course setup: par and yards per hole, scoring average, birdie and bogey rates

When NOT to Use

• Overall form rating -- see strokes-vs-field
• A player at one event over years -- see course-fit
• Tournament results -- see tournament-lookup

Commands Available

Commands That Do NOT Exist

How It Works

Step 1: A player's profile.

get_player_stats {"player_id": "9478", "season": 2025}

Real response (trimmed), Scottie Scheffler 2025, 84 rounds with holes:

birdies_per_round 4.762   eagles_per_round 0.202   bogeys_or_worse_per_round 1.917   par_rate 0.6177
par3_average 2.983   par4_average 3.889   par5_average 4.428
sg_par3 0.576   sg_par4 2.32   sg_par5 0.957

Read it: the three splits sum to 3.853, which matches his adj_vs_field of 3.86 in the same response, and the par-4 split carries about 60% of it. Par 4s are about ten holes a round and par 3s and 5s about four each, so per hole the par-3 split (0.58 over four holes) is the weakest and par 4 and par 5 are close (about 0.23 and 0.24 a hole). That is arithmetic on his splits, not shot data.

Step 2: Rank a season on a hole type.

get_leaders {"stat": "sg_par5", "season": 2025, "limit": 3}

Real response: Scheffler 0.957 (84 rounds), Schauffele 0.88 (64), McIlroy 0.807 (58). Default minimum is 40 rounds. Par 3 and par 5 numbers rest on fewer holes per round, so they move more round to round. Use a full season, and treat gaps under about 0.1 as ties.

Step 3: How a course played.

get_course {"tournament_id": "401580344"}

Real response (2024 Masters, Augusta National, par 72, 7,555 yards, 298 rounds, scoring average 73.91). For the 11th: par 4, 520 yards, scoring average 4.386, bogey rate 0.2852, double or worse 0.0738, difficulty_rank 1. For the 13th: par 5, 545 yards, scoring average 4.758, birdie 0.3624, difficulty_rank 16. For tournaments on more than one course, pass course_id.

Course difficulty: sort holes by to_par, take the top and bottom five, and split by par type. Do not compare scoring averages across different weeks without setting them against the field.

Step 4: One player's hole-by-hole.

get_scorecard {"tournament_id": "401580344", "player_id": "9478"}

Real response (round 1): 66, out 34, in 32, field_avg 73.43, vs_field 7.43. Each hole has par, yards, strokes, result (par, birdie, bogey). Round 1: birdies on 2 (par 5), 6, 12, 13, 15 and 16. Summarise by par type:

import collections
agg = collections.defaultdict(lambda: [0, 0])   # par -> [strokes, holes]
for r in card["rounds"]:
    for h in r["holes"]:
        agg[h["par"]][0] += h["strokes"]; agg[h["par"]][1] += 1
avg_by_par = {p: s / n for p, (s, n) in agg.items()}

Step 5: Scorer type. Birdies per round measures aggression; bogey_avoidance measures mistakes. Two golfers at the same rating can differ in both. For setups with penal rough or firm greens the bogey-avoider tends to hold up better; say this as a hypothesis for course-fit to test, not a rule.

Pitfalls

Credit Usage

Output Format

Scottie Scheffler, 2025 PGA Tour (84 rounds)
Strokes versus the field by hole type (score-based): par 3 +0.58, par 4 +2.32, par 5 +0.96 per round.
Birdies per round 4.76, bogeys or worse 1.92. Par 4 scoring average 3.889.
No shot data: these show where strokes were saved, not how.

What to Do Next