The Shot Dispersion Tool draws your likely miss straight onto the hole map, so you can pick the safer line before you commit to it.
It is available on Premium or Intelligence plans.
Jump to
- What the circle and the arc mean
- Is this based on my own shots?
- Turn it off, or back on
- Using it to pick a club
What You See on the Map
With Shot Dispersion on, the Target you drag around the map becomes the dispersion shape itself. Turn it off and you get the circular Target back.
It takes one of two shapes, depending on what you are aiming at.
At a wide area, like a fairway: a horizontal arc across the hole. When the ball is heading somewhere broad, what matters is how far left and right it might finish. For a scratch golfer the arc runs 70 to 80 yards, and it gets wider as the handicap goes up. Lay it over a narrow fairway with trouble down both sides and the decision usually makes itself: grip it and rip it, or take the club that keeps you in play.
At a specific spot, like a pin: a circle, sized from the distance you have left and the club you are holding. Here what matters is your margin in every direction around that spot. Going at a pin tucked behind a bunker? Look at the circle, and you know if you have the margin for it, or whether the fat of the green is the shot. It is what stops you short-siding yourself on a shot you were only hoping to pull off.
That is why a par 3 shows you the circle straight off the tee. You are aiming at a pin, not at an area.
Where the Shapes Come From
This is the part worth understanding, because it changes how much to trust them.
The shapes come from how golfers playing off your handicap actually scatter the ball. They are built from real shot data across many players, not from the shots you have tracked yourself. Two things follow from that:
- You do not need any tracked rounds to see a pattern. It works from your first round.
- The shape is set by your handicap and the club.
Turn It On and Off
Shot Dispersion is on by default, so if you are on Premium or Intelligence, you should see it as soon as you start a round.
To turn it off or back on:
- Start a round.
- Tap Quick Actions in the top right of the hole map.
- Tap Settings.
- Switch Shot Dispersion Tool off or on.
Whatever you choose stays that way for your next rounds.
Playing With It
Use it to see the margin before you hit, not after.
On a tight driving hole, put the arc over the fairway. If it spills into the trees on both sides, the driver is not the percentage play, whatever it feels like on the tee.
On an approach to a tucked pin, look at where the circle sits, not where the pin sits. If half the circle is in the bunker, the fat of the green is the shot.
Over water or out of bounds, the arc tells you what you are actually risking rather than what you are hoping for.
Notes
It does not adjust for wind
- On a breezy day, picture the pattern a little wider than it is drawn.
It is not the same as Dispersion Charts
- The Dispersion Charts in the Performance tab are a different feature. They analyse the shots you have already tracked, club by club, and they need an Intelligence subscription. The Shot Dispersion Tool is an aiming aid you use during the round. Combine dispersion insights with your Strokes Gained data for a complete picture of your performance. Dispersion Charts will be available on the Intelligence plan.
Not on watches
- The Shot Dispersion Tool works on iOS and Android phones. It does not appear on Apple Watch or Wear OS.
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