Women’s Driving Distance

[FlyingAce]

I have been working on my driver this whole season and have seen significant improvements, especially after changing my shaft and adjusting my loft.

So I was online researching on what distances women are driving nowadays. Most of the articles about averages says ~150yds, but I found a few discussions on golf forums that people stated carrying 200 roll out to 220yds is a given for them as a very very casual golfer, and some even stated they carry 250yds or even 280(!) regularly! 

I have asked my club’s ladies league and only a handful of ladies are known long hitters at the club and they can hit 200yd drives but not often, let alone 220-280!

So, can anyone play with women golfers share what distances you have seen? Is it really that common to drive 220+? 

[bones75]

I can only tell you what I've seen in my ~500 rounds of play in my lifetime. When I lived in LA there were a ton of women groups and pairs that played. Scanning the memory banks I would guess 90% of the women I've seen drove it less than 200 yards. 5% were amateurs that have developed great swings and were 200-220yards. And the last 5% were ex or current college players, HS players, or (I've met a bunch for some reason) softball players, who could smash it. I think I've only personally been paired with one women who can carry 260 yards.

 

Edited October 28, 2019 by bones75

[shanksalot]

I have played with my wife for close to 40 years and when she was in her prime she hit the ball consistently 195-210 yards. Now she is in her 70's and she can still get it out to 180 at times.  She also won her club championship 6 times so she was a good golfer as well.  I have found that most of the longer women can hit it  200 yards, but the average woman golfer probably 150-165 yards. The women on the LPGA Tour hit it 230-275 and can get it out close to 300 occasionally. There are long drive women who can get out close to 400 yards.

[Cantankerish]

My friend's wife, who is in her forties and quite athletic, but who has never had a lesson, hits maybe 160 total yards on a perfect drive.

The best of the pros only get 275 total yards, and they have had lots of dedicated training.  I can not see a reality in which casual female golfers carry 250.  Heck, most casual male golfers don't carry 250.

 

That said, here in Boca Raton, there are loads of teenagers, boys and girls, who have lovely swings.  Those girls hit it a bit over 200.  I have seen it.

Edited October 28, 2019 by Cantankerish
incomplete thought

[ChetlovesMer]

Arccos data will tell you my wife's normal drive is around 202. Her longest is 241 this year.

I don't know how far her carry distance is. Arccos does total distance.

I can tell you that her standard deviation is a lot lower than mine. (Ergo, she is more consistent than I.) 

[iacas]

My daughter carries the ball about 190 with her driver. She's 16, nearly 17, but she's also only 5' tall. She's one of the longer players in her age that she plays with, somehow, and hits the ball as far or farther than 75% of the women and girls with whom she plays.

[DeadMan]

My wife is one of the longest women's player I've ever played with, and she'll get it out 160-180 on average with a driver. Mind you, this is also at altitude, so subtract 10-15 yards from that. It's very rare to see a woman hitting a drive 200 yards, even in Colorado.

[ChetlovesMer]

11 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

My wife is one of the longest women's player I've ever played with, and she'll get it out 160-180 on average with a driver. Mind you, this is also at altitude, so subtract 10-15 yards from that. It's very rare to see a woman hitting a drive 200 yards, even in Colorado.

I must be blessed by knowing a lot of very good female golfers. There are many (obviously not all, not even the majority) I've played with who hit 200 yard drives regularly. I would say it's far from a rarity. 

My natural follow up question is how far do they hit their 7 iron?

I know my wife's 7 iron (pretty traditional loft) is her 125 club. There is a young lady we've sometimes played with who's seven iron is her 160 club. I think her clubs may be strong lofted, but even still that's pretty similar to my 7 iron. 

50 minutes ago, iacas said:

My daughter carries the ball about 190 with her driver. She's 16, nearly 17, but she's also only 5' tall. She's one of the longer players in her age that she plays with, somehow, and hits the ball as far or farther than 75% of the women and girls with whom she plays.

Two questions for you Iacas, if her carry distance is 190, what's her average total distance? 

How far does your daughter hit her 7iron? 

I'm just curious. I know a lot of female golfers and I'm trying to get a feel for their relative distances.  

[GolfLug]

I played co-ed league for 2 years with ladies hcp 20 to 4. 160 to 180 would  be average total. Most of these ladies play 2-3 rounds a week in season. The 4 hcp is in her late 50s and Virginia player of the year 15 years ago. She avgs 200-210. 

We also have an ex-LPGA player in our league (she played a few events about a decade ago) who I have had the pleasure of playing once with. We were about same distance on my solid drives - 235- 245 range. (OT: Her ball flight had almost no curve with ANY club). 

 

Edited October 28, 2019 by GolfLug

[pganapathy]

I have seen a few junior golfers who blossomed into pretty good amateurs, and one who even became a pro.  Crossing 200 yards is an exception, but don't get me wrong, some of them can drive over 250 yards of carry, which I have seen.  Heck, some of those kids are longer than I am, and in my three days a week playing days, I hit it between 250 and 300 yards (sadly not anymore 😢).

[p1n9183]

The longest women hitters at my home course are two sister that bomb it around 200 yards carry and only when they hit it perfectly.

I saw a few mid-Am girls that can carry 200 also but 250? no way, that´s LPGA tour pro and not all of them.  

[Lihu]

2 hours ago, FlyingAce said:

I have been working on my driver this whole season and have seen significant improvements, especially after changing my shaft and adjusting my loft.

So I was online researching on what distances women are driving nowadays. Most of the articles about averages says ~150yds, but I found a few discussions on golf forums that people stated carrying 200 roll out to 220yds is a given for them as a very very casual golfer, and some even stated they carry 250yds or even 280(!) regularly! 

I have asked my club’s ladies league and only a handful of ladies are known long hitters at the club and they can hit 200yd drives but not often, let alone 220-280!

So, can anyone play with women golfers share what distances you have seen? Is it really that common to drive 220+? 

No, high school teams drive 200-230, my daughter is about 215 total, not carry and she scored 42s from the white tees.

I think most “women” on forums post longer distances, because it’s their husband/father posting 🙄

My daughter would post “about 200”, so you can ignore my quoted 215 number I covertly measured with GG 😂😂😂

The real ladies I know tend to underestimate their distances especially to men...

I did know a few Ladies here who did hit pretty far and are actually playing pro or D1 college now...

Alison Lee and I forgot the other ones?

Edited October 28, 2019 by Lihu

[DeadMan]

1 hour ago, ChetlovesMer said:

My natural follow up question is how far do they hit their 7 iron?

I know my wife's 7 iron (pretty traditional loft) is her 125 club. There is a young lady we've sometimes played with who's seven iron is her 160 club. I think her clubs may be strong lofted, but even still that's pretty similar to my 7 iron. 

I think her 7 iron would be 100-110ish. But I don't know for certain.

[Mr22putt]

29 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Alison Lee and I forgot the other ones?

You have seen or played golf with Alison Lee?

[ChetlovesMer]

Seems like every time we have a distance discussion on this forum 2 things get confusing.

1 - Are we talking total distance or carry distance? I nearly always speak in total distance. I'm a loyal Arccos user and that's what Arccos deals in. I think Trackman folks might be more likely to speak in terms of carry distance. 

2 - What does "average" mean? For example Arccos gives you "smart distance" which is basically your mode average distance. That way if you hit 4 drives 250 yards and 1 drive goes only 2 feet. Your "smart distance" is 250 yards, which is the mode average. Arccos WILL also gives you your mean average which would be 200. It doesn't give you your median average which I don't think would be very helpful anyway. 

Edited October 28, 2019 by ChetlovesMer

[Mr22putt]

3 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Seems like every time we have a distance discussion on this thread 2 things get confusing.

1 - Are we talking total distance or carry distance? I nearly always speak in total distance. I'm a loyal Arccos user and that's what Arccos deals in. I think Trackman folks might be more likely to speak in terms of carry distance. 

2 - What does "average" mean? For example Arccos gives you "smart distance" which is basically your mode average distance. That way if you hit 4 drives 250 yards and 1 drive goes only 2 feet. Your "smart distance" is 250 yards, which is the mode average. Arccos WILL also gives you your mean average which would be 200. It doesn't give you your median average which I don't think would be very helpful anyway. 

IMO....the more important but relevant metric to discuss is CARRY.....but the majority of golfers only talk about total distance...especially a casual golfer.

If I hit a well struck ball my carry is 220-230 yards......so now in the fall and rained soaked conditions at sea level...my total distance off those good strikes...is 220-230...no/minimal roll.....yet dependent on summer conditions.....my total might be 240-270 on well struck drives.

Most golfers (likely because of ego) talk about their best drives when discussing their driving average.

My summer driving distance is like 230-235....because my longer drives are offset by those lousy drives of mine that might only go 210-215.

And I consider my driving a strength of my game based on consistency.....I'm a 7 cap....yet only really screw 2-4 out of the 14 drives during a round.

[ChetlovesMer]

12 minutes ago, Mr22putt said:

IMO....the more important but relevant metric to discuss is CARRY.....but the majority of golfers only talk about total distance...especially a casual golfer.

If I hit a well struck ball my carry is 220-230 yards......so now in the fall and rained soaked conditions at sea level...my total distance off those good strikes...is 220-230...no/minimal roll.....yet dependent on summer conditions.....my total might be 240-270 on well struck drives.

Most golfers (likely because of ego) talk about their best drives when discussing their driving average.

My summer driving distance is like 230-235....because my longer drives are offset by those lousy drives of mine that might only go 210-215.

And I consider my driving a strength of my game based on consistency.....I'm a 7 cap....yet only really screw 2-4 out of the 14 drives during a round.

Good discussion and perhaps this needs to be its own thread. But I would say carry distance is more relevant for irons, perhaps even fairway metals, but for driver I think total distance is more important. 

I agree that in different conditions it is easier or harder to stretch the distance between carry and total distance, but with the driver as rule you want to hit it as far as possible... that's total distance. 

We all know folks who hit the big power fade with their drivers that land soft and get very little roll out. We also know those folks that rip their driver much lower and rely on the roll out to get as far down the fairway as far as they can. Personally, I try to do both, or either, depending on what the conditions allow me to do. 

Edited October 28, 2019 by ChetlovesMer

[Mr22putt]

3 hours ago, FlyingAce said:

1) So I was online researching on what distances women are driving nowadays. Most of the articles about averages says ~150yds,

2) but I found a few discussions on golf forums that people stated carrying 200 roll out to 220yds is a given for them as a very very casual golfer, and some even stated they carry 250yds or even 280(!) regularly! 

3) I have asked my club’s ladies league and only a handful of ladies are known long hitters at the club and they can hit 200yd drives but not often, let alone 220-280!

4) So, can anyone play with women golfers share what distances you have seen? Is it really that common to drive 220+? 

1) I believe that the average women's drive at sea level is under 150 yards......they aren't considering the 100-120 yard drives that I often see on the course or at the range.

2) you must be seeing those delusional posts on the WRX golf forum.....where all the male POSER members carry hit 330 yard drives and 200 yard 7 irons. I didn't know there are female POSER's posting on WRX.

3) don't forget you are in NM with elevation......go to see level and distance will decrease by approx 10%.

4) I have seen many female golfers on the course and at the range.....it is so rare to see a gal hit it 220+...they only women I've seen here hit it over 220 are either gals from the university golf team or young provincially ranked female competitive golfers.

Most women hit their drives under 150.....let's not forget all the topped and missed drives...not just the good ones.

2 minutes ago, Mr22putt said:

 

 

12 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Good discussion and perhaps this needs to be its own thread. But I would say carry distance is more relevant for irons, perhaps even fairway metals, but for driver I think total distance is more important. 

 

Yes.....carry distance is most important on approach shots.

I still say carry distance is still important on driving and total distance is simply the outcome from carry distance.....but yes...a high fade won't have the distance of a well hit low spin low launch knuckle ball on firm and fast fairways.

Edited October 28, 2019 by Mr22putt