Your Bag Mapping Session Is Useless Until You Do These 5 Things

matt25637
Apr 24
4 min read

You captured the data. Now use it to shoot lower scores this weekend.

If you've been paying attention to this newsletter, you already know the average carry number on your launch monitor is only half the story. The other half is your consistency number, and it's the one that actually decides whether you're hitting greens or hitting bunkers.

But capturing it isn't enough. A bag mapping session full of numbers you never use is just an expensive way to feel productive.

Here's how to turn those numbers into strokes saved. Five things. Do them this week.

STEP | 01

Capture your consistency number for every club.

Start here. If you skipped this part last time, go back and redo the session. Most launch monitors call this setting "Consistency," "Variance," or "Standard Deviation." All three mean the same thing: how far your shots scatter around your average.

You want two numbers per club. Average carry, and standard deviation. Ten shots minimum per club. Fifteen is better. The key is NOT to just capture your good shots. Misses are a part of the game, and the data we're collecting is going to help minimize the damage when those misses pop up.

STEP | 02

Calculate your minimum and maximum carry for every club.

This is a 30-second math exercise you do once and then use forever.

Take your average carry. Subtract your standard deviation. That's your minimum carry. About ~85% of your shots with that club will fly at least that far.

Take your average carry. Add your standard deviation. That's your maximum carry. About ~85% of your shots will land short of that distance.

My 7-iron example:

Average: 175
Standard deviation: 8
Minimum carry: 167
Maximum carry: 183

Those aren't soft estimates. They're odds. And odds are the only thing worth basing a club decision on.

Do this for every club in your bag. Then write it down somewhere you can actually look at it. We'll come back to that in step 5.

STEP | 03

Use your minimum carry for front pin locations.

This is where the real scoring lives.

When the pin is tucked near the front of the green, especially over a bunker, water, or a false front, the number that matters isn't the distance to the flag. It's the distance to the front edge.

You need a club whose minimum carry clears the front edge of the green.

Example. Pin is 178 yards, five paces onto the green. One pace is about a yard, so the front edge sits at 173. A bunker guards the front.

Bad play: hit 7-iron because 175 is my "perfect" 7-iron number. But my minimum carry is 167. That's (6) yards short of the front edge. If you run the math, ~40% of your shots with a 7-irons will come up short of the green, and most of those find the bunker.

Right play: hit 6-iron. Average 185, standard deviation 12, minimum carry 173. Now 85% of my shots clear the front edge with nine yards to spare. My worst miss is a 30-footer above the pin. That's a good miss.

The Lesson: Next time you find yourself staring at a front pin location, pick the club whose minimum carry clears the front edge, not the club whose average matches the pin.

STEP | 04

Use your maximum carry for back pin locations.

Now flip it.

When the pin is tucked near the back of the green, with trouble long, averages become dangerous in the other direction.

You need a club whose maximum carry doesn't fly the green.

Example. Pin is 175 yards, three paces from the back. Back edge sits at 178. Miss long and you've short sided yourself with a tough up and down for par.

Bad play: hit 7-iron because your average carry of 175 is dead on. But remember, your maximum carry is 183. That's 5 yards past the back edge. Now, 35% of your 7-irons fly the green.

Right play: hit 8-iron. If you flush it, you'll still have a short putt for birdie, but more importantly, you take the short sided miss out of play.

The Lesson: Back pin with trouble long? Pick the club whose maximum carry stays on the green, not the club whose average matches the pin.

STEP | 05

Write your min and max numbers on your scorecard. Every round.

Here's the habit that makes all of this real.

The best caddies in the world don't pull out a calculator on the 8th hole. They have the numbers memorized, written down, and referenced constantly. Tour pros have yardage books with every number they could possibly need already on the page.

You need the same thing. Before every round, write your average, minimum, and maximum carry for each iron on the top of your scorecard. Or a notes file on your phone. Or a card in your bag.

When you're standing over a shot, you shouldn't be doing math. You should be reading.

Pin is 178, five on, over a bunker? Glance at the card. Minimum carry that beats 173? 6-iron. Hit 6-iron.

The whole decision takes four seconds. That's the point.

Five steps. Capture it. Calculate it. Apply it short. Apply it long. Write it down.

Or, let Noonan do all of it for you. Every shot. Every hole. Before you swing. Your real numbers against the real green, updated every round based on your actual data.

That's why we built ScatterShot AI. Because the math is simple, but doing it for every shot on every hole is something no human brain should be asked to handle.