Approach play in PinFlag

From the lie you are in, the distance to the pin you placed and your own dispersion around the aim. From 150 yards the published baseline is 2.945 strokes from the fairway, 3.190 from the rough and 3.250 from the sand; PinFlag reads the lie from the course map, spreads your pattern over the green and its surround, prices every finish from the tables and shows the strokes gained of the target before you swing.

It prices both and shows both numbers. Put the aim on the flag and read the strokes gained; move it to the middle of the green and read that. The difference is the cost of the tucked pin on your pattern and this lie, with the bunker beside the flag priced as the share of your spread that finds it. A tighter pattern narrows the gap and a wider one widens it, which is why the number is computed with yours.

The distance your club has to cover to the spot you chose, shown beside the strokes gained of that spot once your own launch monitor carries stand behind the number. It puts the range numbers and the course decision on one screen, so the club that reaches the target is read from your carries rather than a yardage alone.

A cross-tab of approach distance band by lie: for every combination of where an approach started and what it started from, the greens hit and the strokes gained per cell. It shows whether the strokes are going from the fairway at 175 yards or from the rough at 125, which a single greens in regulation number averages away.

Bands of inside 100 yards, 100 to 125, 125 to 150, 150 to 175, 175 to 200 and 200 plus, each with proximity in feet, the share inside 15 and 30 feet, best and median, and the dispersion circles, and the same again by club. The band that costs you shows up as its own number.

Yes, as the published method does: a par 3 tee shot is an approach, priced from the tee table by the hole’s length and filed under approach with its proximity. Only par 4 and par 5 tee shots count as off the tee.

Through the table it is priced from. From 150 yards the fairway average is 2.945 strokes and the rough average 3.190, so the same finish is worth 0.25 more from the rough because it beat a harder average. PinFlag reads the lie from the course, and you confirm it in one tap when you log the shot, so the number is for the shot you actually have.

On the published tables an approach from 150 yards in the fairway that finishes 15 feet from the hole is worth 0.16 against the tour average and one that finishes 40 feet away -0.11. Tour proximity from that range sits around 25 to 30 feet, and PinFlag measures yours by band and by club so the target is your own median rather than a rule.