Golf term
Carry Number
A carry number is the distance a ball travels through the air before first touching the ground, as distinct from total distance, which also includes roll after landing.
Carry and total distance are often confused but describe different things. Carry is purely the flight; total adds whatever the ball rolls out afterward. Two shots with the same total distance can have very different carry numbers if one flew further and rolled less, or the other way around.
On course, carry is usually the more useful number to plan a shot around, because it tells you what's needed to clear a hazard, a bunker, or the front edge of a green — roll happens after that decision is already made. A launch monitor measures carry directly; a GPS-based on-course number more often reflects total distance to a pin or a landing spot.
Carry numbers also vary with conditions a range session can't fully reproduce — firmness, slope, wind — which is one reason a golfer's on-course carry pattern is worth tracking separately from a range-measured one. See gapping and dispersion.
Related terms & guides
Glossary
Launch Monitor
A launch monitor is a device that uses radar or camera sensors to measure a golf ball's flight characteristics — data like clubhead speed, launch angle, spin, carry, and total distance — for every shot it's pointed at.
Glossary
Gapping
Gapping is the process of checking that the distance between each club in a golfer's bag is even, so there are no large gaps or excessive overlaps in coverage.
Glossary
Shot Dispersion
Dispersion is how far a golfer's shots with a given club typically spread from their intended target, in both distance and direction.
Glossary
Shot Distribution
A shot distribution is the full range of outcomes — every plausible landing spot and its likelihood — that a golfer's swing with a given club produces, rather than a single expected distance.