# Measured vs. Estimated > Canonical: https://pinflag.io/glossary/measured-vs-estimated ## Measured vs. Estimated URL: https://pinflag.io/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. Most golf apps quietly blend whatever data they have — GPS estimates, modeled distances, generic averages — into one confident-looking number, with no way for a golfer to tell which parts are real. A measured-vs-estimated standard makes that distinction explicit instead of hiding it: every strokes-gained figure discloses whether it earned the stricter label or not. PinFlag's Measured label requires all four conditions to hold at once — [verified course](https://pinflag.io/glossary/verified-course) geometry, a pin the golfer set that round, a lie the system actually supports, and a genuine GPS fix — rather than any single one of them alone. If even one condition is missing, the number reads Estimated; it never quietly upgrades itself. The distinction matters most exactly where it would be easiest to fake. A hand-placed ball position, for example, always reads Estimated, never Measured, no matter how good the rest of the data is, because a person choosing a spot on a map is not the same as GPS confirming where the ball actually is. See also: [Choosing Golf Stats Software for Coaches](https://pinflag.io/guides/choosing-golf-stats-software-for-coaches)