LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) uses pulsed laser light to measure distances. In golf simulator software, LIDAR scanning is used to digitize real-world courses with high spatial accuracy — capturing the contours of greens, fairway slopes, bunker shapes, and tree positions.
Why it matters for simulator buyers
Course libraries built from LIDAR scans tend to feel more accurate than older, manually-modeled courses. Greens read more like the real thing, sightlines match what you'd see on the actual course, and elevation changes are preserved at scale.
GSPro is the most prominent example of a simulator software platform with a large library of LIDAR-scanned courses, with new courses added by a community of contributors.
Not a launch monitor technology
LIDAR is sometimes confused with launch monitor tracking. It isn't the same — launch monitors use radar, photometric, or fusion tracking to follow the ball. LIDAR is a course data technology, not a ball-tracking technology.