Distance Is Key - Average Money vs Driving Distance graphs

[nevets88]

Like Al Pacino said in Scarface, you get the money, you get the power. You get the distance, you get the money. And these posts are from a company that makes its bones from putting, not hitting the ball longer.

 

[iacas]

Indeed!

[billchao]

Yea, but can they putt? 😜

[Vinsk]

These graphs just show that the longer hitters are better putters.🥴

[leftybutnotPM]

COMPLETE BS -

You drive for show but putt for dough.

Working on your putting is the best way to reduce your score and make more money if you are a pro.

That's true isn't it?

 

[dennyjones]

The game has almost always been dominated by distance, with few exceptions (Casper, Trevino and Faldo for ex.) shortish hitters have had short-lived and limited success. The problem is that accuracy used to play a bigger role in professional golf and that has diminished the game.

 

This was a tweet from Brandel Chamblee

[p1n9183]

With a lot of bombers out there, if only one of them hit it straigth from the tee that week it´s over for the short hitters. Mid hittler will have to play their AAA game to beat the long hitter.

Distance Rules.. so i´m a short hitter because I love challenges!! 😢 

[GolfLug]

1 hour ago, dennyjones said:

The problem is that accuracy used to play a bigger role in professional golf and that has diminished the game.

 

This was a tweet from Brandel Chamblee

I don't get BC. The bombers aren't exactly dominating from trees. They are accurate too. 

He is just mad that the length fear factor of longer holes his generation used to have is not the same anymore.

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, GolfLug said:

I don't get BC. The bombers aren't exactly dominating from trees. They are accurate too. 

He is just mad that the length fear factor of longer holes his generation used to have is not the same anymore.

Yeah he’s just being a dope. You don’t shoot 65 on a PGA TOUR course or win a tournament because you’re inaccurate. Based on BC comment the long drive champions could clean up on tour. Not even close.

[nevets88]

Another chart from Aimpoint.

 

[Casualgolfer]

I know this is a hot topic on the forum but I don't 100% agree with the whole distance is king idea when it applies to mid and higher handicap guys like myself. I think little of the professional stats like that because they are tuned instruments of golf with a complete game. Of course it will be easier to score when you are closer to the pin if you are a pro. If you play with alot of high handicappers you see they generally struggle greatly with shots within 100 yards and putting.. I know I did and sometimes still do. Bomb and gouge doesn't really work for bogey golfers in my experience. For what it's worth I can drive 350+ yards at times and it can be a bad double edged sword. There is a limit I think of skill vs physical ability that needs to be harnessed. Pros have met that limit mostly. Now I like going driver wedge into some par 5's but if I'm not on I'm better off hitting my 2 iron and getting on in 3 instead of 4 or 5 due to a terrible drive. Right now I have been mainly working on my 100 yard and in pitch shots with my 56* to help me score after a good drive. Not trying to stir a pot here just providing an example of my limited experiences with myself and my usual playing groups.

[ChetlovesMer]

Everyone on the PGA tour is accurate.
Everyone on the PGA tour has a great short game.

NOT Everyone on the PGA tour can average over 310 with the driver. 

@Casualgolfer You make a point. All things being equal it's better to be able to hit it further. I think what you are saying is that in the world you play in all things aren't equal.

1. High handicappers can improve their scores more quickly by improving their putting and chipping. If you are terrible at everything, improving putting and chipping is pretty low-hanging fruit.

2. Long term though, if you can't hit it far, there's only so much improvement to make.  

I know, this topic has been beaten to death and beyond on this forum. (It's still fun to argue though.) 

[Keep It Simple]

So the lesson here for all the kids trying to make the PGA tour is strive for an average driving distance between 310-320 yards.  But do not try and hit it further than that or you will fail to make the PGA Tour and only be making long drive money.   Unless you are Hank Kuehne the only tour player to average over 320 yards in a season.  How much money did he make? 🤣

[Vinsk]

On 7/25/2019 at 8:10 PM, nevets88 said:

Like Al Pacino said in Scarface, you get the money, you get the power. You get the distance, you get the money. And these posts are from a company that makes its bones from putting, not hitting the ball longer.

 

 

37 minutes ago, Keep It Simple said:

So the lesson here for all the kids trying to make the PGA tour is strive for an average driving distance between 310-320 yards.  But do not try and hit it further than that or you will fail to make the PGA Tour and only be making long drive money.   Unless you are Hank Kuehne the only tour player to average over 320 yards in a season.  How much money did he make? 🤣

Look at this graph and explain your point. Singling out a long hitter who didn’t do well means nothing.

[billchao]

1 hour ago, Casualgolfer said:

I know this is a hot topic on the forum but I don't 100% agree with the whole distance is king idea when it applies to mid and higher handicap guys like myself. I think little of the professional stats like that because they are tuned instruments of golf with a complete game. Of course it will be easier to score when you are closer to the pin if you are a pro. If you play with alot of high handicappers you see they generally struggle greatly with shots within 100 yards and putting.. I know I did and sometimes still do. Bomb and gouge doesn't really work for bogey golfers in my experience. For what it's worth I can drive 350+ yards at times and it can be a bad double edged sword. There is a limit I think of skill vs physical ability that needs to be harnessed. Pros have met that limit mostly. Now I like going driver wedge into some par 5's but if I'm not on I'm better off hitting my 2 iron and getting on in 3 instead of 4 or 5 due to a terrible drive. Right now I have been mainly working on my 100 yard and in pitch shots with my 56* to help me score after a good drive. Not trying to stir a pot here just providing an example of my limited experiences with myself and my usual playing groups.

This is the Tour Talk forum. Most of your post is 

[Keep It Simple]

12 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Look at this graph and explain your point. Singling out a long hitter who didn’t do well means nothing.

My point is somewhat tongue in cheek.  One might look at the graph and conclude the farther a player hits the ball the better they will score (lower scores = more money).  But the longest hitters in the world are not playing on the PGA Tour which lends support to the premise it is possible hitting the ball too far is bad on the pocket book.  And the graph suggests the limit of accurate distance is an average somewhere between 310-320 yards (because no one on tour averages higher than that even though golfers exist who can).   Most of the long hitters on the PGA tour could hit the ball even longer on average if they gave up some accuracy and adopted long drive swing methods.  But they don't because accuracy is also important.

Also long hitters have an equipment accuracy advantage.  Player A who can hit a par 3 with a shorter iron than Player B has the benefit of higher loft and a shorter shaft and hence a club better suited for accuracy. 

[billchao]

23 minutes ago, Keep It Simple said:

One might look at the graph and conclude the farther a player hits the ball the better they will score (lower scores = more money).  But the longest hitters in the world are not playing on the PGA Tour which lends support to the premise it is possible hitting the ball too far is bad on the pocket book.

Well yea, they still have to be elite golfers. I think anyone looking at the graphs and coming away with the idea that distance > everything else is kind of not getting the whole picture. It's a graph of elite golfers first and foremost.

28 minutes ago, Keep It Simple said:

Also long hitters have an equipment accuracy advantage.  Player A who can hit a par 3 with a shorter iron than Player B has the benefit of higher loft and a shorter shaft and hence a club better suited for accuracy.

The other side of that coin is that long hitters have an accuracy disadvantage because a 3° miss from 300 yards is a greater lateral miss than a 3° miss from 250 yards.

Jim Furyk has always been one of the most accurate drivers on tour and part of that is because he just doesn't hit the ball that far.

[Keep It Simple]

33 minutes ago, billchao said:

The other side of that coin is that long hitters have an accuracy disadvantage because a 3° miss from 300 yards is a greater lateral miss than a 3° miss from 250 yards.

Yep, but the golfer who can drive the ball 300 yards can use a 9 iron to hit a 150 yard par 3 and the 250 yard driver needs an 8 or 7.  Both have to cover the same distance hence on that shot the lateral miss angle is the same for both and the shorter club inherently is the more accurate tool.