What is the widest lake you would dare attempt to hit over?

[ERC7.5]

I don't know.... 10"-20".....with confidence!

actually it depends on conditions (lie, wind, weather, swing state...). I'm usually not afraid to lose a ball though....

[flangebox]

Off the tee i would think somewhere around 230 i would be confident. Any longer and the confidents would drop

[RandomRaiderTTU]

I'd be pretty comfortable out to about 240. If I'm hittin well that day...maybe bump it to 250.

Of course, this is figuring no wind either direction, dry, west texas weather and around the same elevation that I play at normally.

[David in FL]

What about with your last prov-1,not a shag ball.Also how many people switch balls when water comes in to play?

My shag balls

are ProV1's. Where do you think the shag balls come from?!

[David in FL]

Honestly, how far I can hit it isn't usually what's driving my decision.

A lot of factors come into play, but for the most part, once the carry gets much over 220 yds, the risk of having to re-tee hitting three vs the reward of a little better chance at a birdie becomes too great to realistically consider. I'm just not willing to trade a significant chance of double or higher for a little better chance at a birdie. As we've said before, this game is as much about managing your misses as it is about hitting great shots.

[Leftygolfer]

240 max if I am swinging well.

[Chief Broom]

We have a local course down by the Savannah river that has a lot of water and natural swamp areas that are in play. On the third hole in the middle of the blue tee box is a large plaque set in the ground that says 199yds to carry the hazard. The good news is that the fairway beyond the hazard is nice and wide so as long as you carry the hazard you're in good shape. The bad news is if your short your ball is gone. It's a 225yd carry from the blacks, but fortunately I'm not good enough to have to worry about that carry. The worst part about the hole is that the forced carry (any forced carry actually) has a way of getting into your head. Lots of forced carrys at that course. Thank goodness for wide landing areas though.

[munky]

I would confidently try 200, maybe 225 or so.

[iacas]

Still wind, flat ground, and all that jazz: 240 without much hesitation (unless there's a smarter play, like a diagonal hazard in which case I'd opt to cover less ground and to shape the ball a bit).

[right handed phil mickelson]

My conscience won't let me go past 250-260. If I'm trying to just get it in the fairway then my average drive is about 275. Otherwise, 5/10 shots or so (at 300 yards) will go over a 280 yard lake (I have some roll).

[TheNatural]

Well depending on how high the waves are and wind.

[mdvaldosta]

Clear a lake on the 14th hole of my local course every time I play, it shortens the par 5 a bit. It's about 240-270 to clear it, depending on how far right you go. I've cleared it on the right edge a few times, but only by about 10 yards. Scary when it goes that way because it's 50/50.

[lumpuckeroo]

Lake Michigan!?!?!?!?!?!

[Eeryck]

My courage runs out typically at a forced carry of 215 yards.

If the score for the round is already shot seems that I can carry 240, however an attempt at that distance when the round is going well will pretty much guaranty me a double bogey or worse.

-E

[ScottRempel]

Somewhere in the 230-240 range. There are a couple holes at the course I'm playing this year that you can shorten the hole a bit by cutting over a large pond. The one hole in particular is about 230 from tee to green if you go over the pond (water basically from tee to green going this way). It plays as a 328 yard par 4 from the white tees (men's). Anyone that can hit a fairly good drive usually tries to cut part of the pond, as if you play it safe and just try to go to the fairway, it's probably just over 200 yards to carry. I usually aim a bit left of the green and let my fade take the ball towards the green. I've been in front of the green a few times and on the green once this year aleady (missed the eagle putt). Haven't went splash yet (knock on wood). The main problem with hitting over the pond is you often end up past the fairway/green and into the rough, giving you a worse lie then if you had just hit an iron to the corner of the fairway...but that's not as fun!
I hear they are planning to move the white tees back closer to the blues (tips), which plays as a 423 yard par 4, so this will take the carry shot out of play and it will play like it is supposed to. It is fun going for the green, but the hole can really slow the pace of play down as every hacker on the course is always waiting for people to clear the green as they all think they are going to drive it.

[wedge player]

Whenever I hear people talk about how long they can hit the ball, I can never make out if they mean in the air or are including the roll (and is that a level roll or roll downhill) or if that is a confident shot, or is it one shot in every 10.

a 260 carry i feel comfortable with

[bogeyhitter25]

210 yards. I'm a short hitter.

[pshizz]

235 yards. Im not a short hitter by any means, just a ton of people bullshit their distances on the internet.