Simulator Carry Settings: Raw, Normalized, or Unknown?

A carry number needs a reporting label

Before comparing two simulator sessions, find out what each number represents. A value labeled carry may still depend on the reporting mode and its assumptions. For winter golfers moving between venues, that distinction matters more than finding the most impressive number. Begin with three practical labels on your own worksheet: reporting confirmed, normalization confirmed, or settings unknown. They organize a conversation with the venue. They do not certify a result or indicate that Bay2Course has detected the setup automatically.

Understand the vendor example narrowly

Trackman's normalization explanation describes standardized shot information under selected environmental assumptions, including calm conditions and user-selected altitude and temperature. That is one vendor's explanation, not evidence that every simulator processes shots identically. It also does not mean that turning normalization off reveals a perfect outdoor answer for every indoor setup. Ask about the particular equipment and report you used. Avoid treating raw, actual, and measured as interchangeable guarantees when the venue has not explained what those labels mean there.

Ask four concrete questions

Ask staff which displayed metric is carry, what units it uses, whether environmental assumptions were selected, and what ball setup applied to the session. Request clarification while the session is still available to discuss. If you save a permitted photograph or report, exclude other golfers' information and keep the original context. You do not need an accusation about inflated distances. A neutral request for the basis of the result usually produces a more useful answer than arguing over whose number is right.

Retain unknown rather than guessing

Suppose one fictional session has confirmed normalized reporting and another has no saved setting information. You can keep both records, but the second does not become equivalent merely because the club and venue look familiar. The short note 'Carry settings unknown' fits within Bay2Course's 50-character limit. Preserve fuller explanations separately. Do not overwrite that uncertainty with a remembered default or a setting copied from a later visit; neither establishes what was used during the earlier session.

Use the label to guide the next session

When you return, try to document the setting before making another comparison. Retain the club, ball, units, and session date alongside the result in your supporting record. If a coach reviews the card, explain which values share known reporting context and which do not. A calculator can organize distances, but it cannot recover missing provenance. The useful next step may be a better-documented session, not a new average or an adjustment from indoor distance to outdoor distance.

A worked example

DEMO: Reporting labels for a separate review worksheet, not app-generated statuses.

Common questions