The spread of your shots — how big an area your misses cover, side to side and long to short. Picture hitting twenty 7-irons at one flag: the oval that contains most of them is your dispersion pattern. It matters more than your best shot ever will, because you play the course with your pattern, not your perfect strike. A tour pro's 7-iron might land inside a ~20-yard-wide window; an amateur's can be double that. Tight dispersion is why pros aim at more flags — and why knowing yours tells you where to aim.