I'm certain the many many posts are exactly accurate and that a true averages were posted instead of that fluke killer shot. That being said, launch monitors have nothing to do with the actual game of golf when someone is posting average distances. They don't transfer to the game on the course I have found. I'm just going to bet, that most posters if they were on a course would find themselves much shorter in total distance than the posts I have read, especially if hitting the fairway and staying in it is a requirement.
A banana ball or a hard hook may actually travel that far, total carry, but one would be in the adjacent fairway. That kind of a shot really shouldn't be considered IMHO.
I'm old, and broken, will never hit the ball total distance over 250 if the tee is not elevated and the fairway is flat (thus keeping my roll to a minimum). Even 250 down the center is a hard one for me. I actually end up attempting and succeeding to hit my drives and fairway shots 220 to 240 and they end up in the center of the fairway if I do my part and let the club do its part.
My fairway shots end up the same since I hit my tee shots off the grass.
I can usually get 440 to 475 down the center of the fairway in two shots if the distance is required, but that's my max.
Everything else is the short game.
My hat's off to you young bucks and low handicap golfers for being able to hit the ball as far as the previous posts indicate, especially with long irons which even the pros have turned away from in many cases and have gone to the hybrid or fairway woods in lieu of a driver. Just over the past 3 days or so I saw it done dozens of times at the Cadillac Classic. Lots of fairway woods and hybrids being used on the tee box and these guys do it for a living.
