Golf term
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.
Launch monitors range from simple radar units to full dual-camera systems, but they all solve the same problem: replacing a guess like "that felt like 150 yards" with an actual measured number, shot by shot. That makes them one of the most reliable sources of per-club distance and dispersion data available to an amateur golfer.
Because a launch monitor session happens in controlled conditions — flat ground, a known distance, no wind guesswork — the numbers it produces are usually treated as a golfer's most trustworthy baseline for gapping a bag, even though on-course conditions like uphill lies, rough, and weather will always vary somewhat from a range session.
PinFlag imports launch monitor sessions from common consumer and simulator devices, plus a mapped generic CSV for anything else, and fits a per-club dispersion profile from the data, flagging outliers rather than deleting them. That data carries Measured provenance, ranked as the top-priority dispersion source ahead of on-course or modeled estimates.
Related terms & guides
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
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
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.
Glossary
Measured vs. Estimated
Measured vs. estimated is a disclosure standard for strokes-gained data: a number is labeled Measured only when verified course geometry, a user-set pin, a supported lie, and a real GPS position are all present together, and it reads Estimated otherwise.
Guide
How to Track Your Golf Stats