Our golf simulator technology explainer answers whether a simulator feels real for a first-timer at a party. This post answers a different, more specific question: numerically, how close is a golf simulator's shot data — ball speed, carry distance, spin — to what a real launch monitor measures? The most useful independent data on this comes from MyGolfSpy, a golf equipment testing publication that isn't paid by simulator manufacturers, which benchmarks consumer and mid-range launch monitors against a professional-grade reference unit (a Foresight GC4).
Ball speed: the most accurate of the three
Across MyGolfSpy's independent launch monitor testing, ball speed came out as the most reliably accurate measurement, with some units landing within roughly 1.5 to 3.5 percent of the GC4 reference indoors. For the shot-to-shot feedback that actually matters during a game, that's a small enough gap to not affect how a round plays.
Carry distance: close, with more variance outdoors
Carry distance tracked ball speed fairly closely indoors, but MyGolfSpy's 12-unit launch monitor test found more variance outdoors, with some units showing four to five percent deviation from the reference. The testing traced this to small inconsistencies in launch angle and spin compounding into a larger gap in the final carry number.
Spin rate: the weakest link
Spin rate was consistently the least accurate of the three measurements — MyGolfSpy found more than half of the units it tested showed average deviations greater than 15 percent from the GC4 reference. Spin is the hardest of the three to measure precisely with camera- and radar-based systems, and it's the number to trust least if you're comparing a simulator reading to what a real launch monitor would show.
Does any of this matter for a party or corporate event?
Honestly, not much. These deviations matter to a golfer dialing in exact club distances for competitive play. For a leaderboard game at a wedding, office party, or brewery night, the point is a fun, competitive activity people can pick up with zero experience — not lab-grade shot-tracking precision. This data reflects industry-wide testing across a range of launch monitor brands and price points, not a claim about the specific hardware in any one simulator setup, including ours.