Getting distances of clubs

[muskovardo]

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on the best way for me to get the distance of my clubs. The local course where i am a member has a practice area but has no distance markers. I  would go to the local range but they use balls that dont fly as far so that wont help me either. Having just bought some new irons im finding club selection is a bit of a pain. Does anyone have any suggestions or is it going to be a case of get on the course and hope i chose the same one until i get it right.

[postmanclark]

This is a problem that is dependent on a) how often you play golf, and b) if your technique changes, or your body and you start hitting the ball further (or shorter). Personally, when I used to play golf non - consistently, I found that my 150 yard club was an 8 iron and my SW was about 90 yards. When I joined a golf club, after a couple of months, I started hitting the ball a lot better and was having a real problem with distances. I started hitting loads of shots from the markers of 100 yards and 150 yards. I worked out I had picked up about an iron in distance. If you can find a quiet time consistently at your local course and with mid - range conditions; you should be able to find out what you hit 100 yards, 150 yards and 200 yards. Anything over 200 yards, you'll get an idea what you hit, but it's likely to be that inconsistent that the exact yardages won't matter. You should be able to roughly work out the distances between the clubs in between those yards. The only caveat that I would have on that advice is your PW. I don't know the exact angle of mine, but I hit my 52 degree 115 yards, my 9 iron 150 yards and my PW 135 yards.

[Lihu]

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on the best way for me to get the distance of my clubs. The local course where i am a member has a practice area but has no distance markers. I  would go to the local range but they use balls that dont fly as far so that wont help me either. Having just bought some new irons im finding club selection is a bit of a pain. Does anyone have any suggestions or is it going to be a case of get on the course and hope i chose the same one until i get it right.

The best place and time to find your distances (I hope no golf course ambassadors are tracking this thread, if there are, my real name is John Doe ), is when it is the least busy on a course. You can play when there is no one around and hit multiple numbered balls. For example on a par 4, tee off twice with a driver, and measure their distances. On your "second" shot you hit multiple balls with the appropriate length club toward the green. Move up 10 yards and hit the next shortest club, and continue to shorter clubs. When you get to the balls, look at the numbers and the distance you ranged. Just estimate the difference in landing position for each type of iron to get dispersion, and average for distance. Use your longer irons and hybrids on the longest par 3 you can find, and do the same thing. You can drive with your 3W off a 1/4" tee. Just don't leave duff marks or divots on the tee box or fairways. Practice at the range until your divots are not that noticeable. Also, don't take too long at any hole or the course ambassador will start to suspect something. If you don't leave divots, they might turn the other way.

Lately, I use a rangefinder (I got it years ago for shooting and hunting for something like $150) and measure the distance to the pin and the distances from where the balls land to the pin and take the difference to determine the distance they traveled. You can get a decent rangefinder for $179 (Nikon).

[joekelly]

If you have a rangefinder, or can borrow one, then place a mark (or someone) at the tee or mat, then walk out to the 50 and measure and there put a flag. Repeat at 100 and 150.  Works for one day unless the range can leave the flags. But in general, rangefinders work well for such tasks.,

[EverythingGolf]

Do you have and Android or iPhone, they have many apps that use GPS to track you distance.

[Dave40]

Getting distance for the driver is easy on the course - subtract the distance left to the green from the total yardage of the hole you are on.

For the irons, go to the course on a day when it is not busy.  Hit three shots from 150 and three from 100.  Once you find which irons hit those distances, you can get a good estimate of where the rest of the irons will hit.  If you are a long hitter, hit from the 200 yard marker instead of the 100.

[MS256]

Getting distance for the driver is easy on the course - subtract the distance left to the green from the total yardage of the hole you are on.

For the irons, go to the course on a day when it is not busy.  Hit three shots from 150 and three from 100.  Once you find which irons hit those distances, you can get a good estimate of where the rest of the irons will hit.  If you are a long hitter, hit from the 200 yard marker instead of the 100.

IMO using that is why there are so many people that think they hit the ball further than they actually do. They are at the 100 yard marker and look down at the scorecard and it says the hole is 400 yards and they think they hit a 300 yard drive. Actually what they did was cut off a slight dogleg and the tee markers were on the front part of the box or on a totally different box from the normal box for that color tee.

[LuciusWooding]

Getting distance for the driver is easy on the course - subtract the distance left to the green from the total yardage of the hole you are on.

For the irons, go to the course on a day when it is not busy.  Hit three shots from 150 and three from 100.  Once you find which irons hit those distances, you can get a good estimate of where the rest of the irons will hit.  If you are a long hitter, hit from the 200 yard marker instead of the 100.

I agree mostly with the second part, since the 150 markers are usually measured from the center of the green directly. The tees, however, are moved around all the time and the overall yardages on the holes tend to be way off. For example, if a hole has a dogleg and plays about 380 according to the scorecard, it's measured on a line down the center of the fairway and the line bends as the fairway does. I could laser the pin and it could only be 270 to the front and 290 to the flag, but if I reached it from the tee I wouldn't claim a 380 yard drive.

The way I learned my yardages worked well; I got an unlimited range pass and hit thousands of balls until my swing got good. They use a single type of ball primarily, so I could compare it easily to similar shots on the course. Since they are very consistent I could hit balls to any of the 6 greens and know how much power and club it took to get to the front, middle, and back. I'd know if I hit it flush and I could compare it to the course with actual balls to some extent, depending on what ball. So I could hit a bucket each day and know from the temperature and wind and the state of my swing what clubs to use on a few key shots. I also got a laser rangefinder and that confirmed a lot of my longer clubs. So I could go to the first tee and hit a shot and know where it would have ended up on that range based on contact, then compare the total distance to the range ball and have a pretty accurate idea of what to hit.

I also didn't have even numbered irons in my bag until this year, so I had to adapt on a lot of holes, but in the end I think I could hit every gap in my bag with another club.

[muskovardo]

Cheers for the reply guys! As im pretty short on funds think for now it will be a gps app and some marking flags! I did know my distances but my new clubs have thrown me off completely! Most apps will be the same right?

[saevel25]

Getting distance for the driver is easy on the course - subtract the distance left to the green from the total yardage of the hole you are on.

For the irons, go to the course on a day when it is not busy.  Hit three shots from 150 and three from 100.  Once you find which irons hit those distances, you can get a good estimate of where the rest of the irons will hit.  If you are a long hitter, hit from the 200 yard marker instead of the 100.

Uh no. When a tee box can be over a 100 yards long, that isn't a good idea. Most tee boxes are usually 15-30 yards deep, still that is the difference between 250 yards and 280 yards. Also some courses are not accurate on the score card.

Best way to figure out distances, GPS. For irons using the markers isn't a bad one. Just make sure you validated them on google maps or laser. I've seen some markers be off as much as 10-15 yards. That is 1 club off.

[Dave40]

Yes, I agree with the posts above. I made it sound more simple than it actually is. You would need to use the method on a hole that is straight, level, and has a yardage marker on the tee box. And it would still be difficult to separate carry distance from total distance with roll out.

[RPMPIRE]

It's a longshot but you can try this. I asked a local golf shop that has five hitting stalls equipped with Foresight GC2s if I can bring in my clubs and use the launch monitor to get my average distances. Some are familiar with me since I do buy a good amount of my equipment and accessories from them. They did say it was okay (a little hesitant) but only during slow periods, which is on the weekdays around midday. I have yet to take them up on that offer because I'm not usually free around that time, but I still want to go back if I do have a day off to do that.

[Lihu]

Cheers for the reply guys! As im pretty short on funds think for now it will be a gps app and some marking flags! I did know my distances but my new clubs have thrown me off completely! Most apps will be the same right?

You can still do the tests I described without the rangefinder. The 150/100 markers are to the centers of the greens. So if you are close to those, you can pace off 1 yard steps to get other yardages. Best place is on the course. Try to get on at super twilight, maybe $13/round or less? You can go as a single in front of a slow looking foursome, and get way out in front of them to do these tests.

[David in FL]

You're over thinking this. If you knew the distances you hit your old irons, it shouldn't take you much more than a round to figure out any differences. Pull the same club you always had previously. Hit, observe how the new club compares relative to the old. Rinse and repeat. That's all there is to it.