PinFlag

Shot Dispersion Calculator

Paste a set of shots. See your pattern, and what the spread costs you.

One shot per line: carry, then how far left or right. 147 9L means 147 yards, 9 left.

Your pattern, 8 shots

Average carry150.3 yards
Carry spread4.7 yards
Side bias0.5 yards left
Side spread7.1 yards
Shortest to longest144 to 158 yards
Circle is the target. Ring holds about two thirds of shots.

What the pattern costs

-0.80
Cost of the spread0.794 strokes
Cost of the centre being off0.006 strokes
Average distance left7.3 yards
Average strokes to hole out1.800

Measured against a shot that finishes next to the hole, worth one stroke.

How this is worked out

Your pattern is four numbers, and each one is an average or a spread:

average = total / number of shots
spread = square root of the average squared gap from that average

The spread uses one less than the number of shots on the bottom, which is the standard way to measure a sample. The ring on the picture is one spread wide in each direction and holds about two thirds of shots. Two rings wide holds about 19 in 20.

The cost is worked out by putting every shot on the ground. A shot that carries 147 with the target at 150, ending 9 yards left, finishes about 9.5 yards from the hole. Each finish is priced from the same published tables the other calculators use, then split in two: what the spread costs against your own pattern centre, and what that centre costs against a shot that finishes next to the hole.

Aim with the pattern

A golfer aiming at a pin tucked behind sand is not aiming one ball at it, but a pattern the width of this ring. When the ring covers the sand, the average shot pays for it even on the days the strike is good. That is the whole reason to measure the spread rather than your one good swing out of ten.

Frequently asked questions

What is shot dispersion in golf?
Dispersion is the spread of where your shots with one club finish. Your shots form a pattern, not a point, and the pattern is what you should aim with.
How many shots do I need?
Five is enough to see a pattern. Twenty or more makes the spread number steady enough to plan with.
What is a normal dispersion for an amateur?
Side spread on a full iron is often about 6 percent of the carry distance, so roughly 9 yards each way on a 150 yard shot. Carry spread is usually smaller than side spread.
Does dispersion matter more than distance?
Near trouble it does. The calculator splits the cost in two, so you can see whether your strokes are going to the spread or to a centre that sits off the target.

By The PinFlag Team.

Before the swing, not after

This page prices one shot once you already know where it finished. PinFlag prices any target you are looking at, live on the hole you are playing, on 40,000+ courses. You pick the target and see the number before you swing.

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