Rapsodo just made a launch monitor you can actually putt on. The MLM2X Pro is $899.99 and you can buy it today, online or in a store. There's a subscription hanging off it too. We'll get to that.
What's new
Start with the putting, because that's the one that changes your winter. You could play simulated golf on the old MLM2 Pro, but it wouldn't read a putt. Every indoor round ended on a gimme, whether you'd earned it or not. Now they count, and you're finishing the hole.
Next, it's faster. Rapsodo says your numbers land within a second of the strike. That sounds like a spec-sheet brag right up until you're standing in a net, staring at your phone between swings. Quick numbers keep you swinging. Slow ones wreck your rhythm.
It's radar paired with two cameras that shoot as fast as 240 frames a second. It films your swing on its own and plays it back at quarter speed, half speed or full. You can draw on the video and send it off to your coach.
Now the metric count, because that's where golfers get tripped up. Plug it in and you get 11 numbers: club speed, ball speed, smash factor, carry, total, apex, launch angle, launch direction, descent angle, yards offline and your shot shape. Pay for a membership and the range hands you 13. The two you still don't get are spin rate and spin axis.
Here's how you get spin. You hit one of the marked RPT balls from Callaway or Titleist, 27 markings on every ball, and Rapsodo includes a dozen in the box in whichever brand you pick. Indoors that matters, because the ball dies in a net and spin's doing most of the work.
On the sim side there's Rapsodo's first PC app and a new piece called Rapsodo Studios. 4K graphics, 30 courses to start, with Quail Hollow, Bethpage Black and Sea Island on the list. Rapsodo says the scans are accurate down to a centimeter. It also recommends a gaming computer to run all that, which is a real cost if you don't already own one.
Now here's the catch, because there's always one. The price is a stack, not a single number. Your $899.99 covers the unit, those 11 numbers and cloud storage that caps out at 100 saved shots. Core membership is $199.99 a year for all 15 metrics, bag mapping, a target range, the wedge matrix, simulated putting and a 30,000-course library. The high-res Studios courses are $399.99 a year.
Who it's for
If you've got a net in the garage and you want real golf through the cold months, this is the Rapsodo that finally lets you hole out. Putting was the missing piece. Now it isn't.
Look, if you practice outside and all you want is honest carry numbers, buy it and don't bother with the membership. Those 11 numbers are plenty, and your eyes will tell you which way it curved.
If you fit clubs or teach for a living, you need spin on every shot. That means buying RPT balls forever, not just the dozen that comes in the box. Price that out before you commit.
The call
I haven't tested this one yet. At $899.99 with a dozen RPT balls thrown in, it's a sane buy for a home net setup. Add the $199.99 a year if you want all 15 numbers and the courses. Leave the $399.99 tier alone unless there's already a gaming PC in the room. And if you own an MLM2 Pro, ask yourself what faster numbers, real putting and the new PC app and Rapsodo Studios are worth to you.
Product image courtesy of Rapsodo
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About the author
Paul Liberatore
Paul Liberatore is the founder of Golfers Authority and a former four-year golf gear contributor to Sports Illustrated. He tests golf equipment hands-on to help golfers make better buying decisions.