20+ handicappers hitting 300 yards (mild rant)

[extremeld]

just wondering if the 20 handicappers that AVERAGE 300yards i read about on golf forums are hitting 5,6 and 7 irons into par 5s how are they playing off 20 plus - swinging driver at an average of around 120mph

I know of only 1 20 handicapper (via golf forum) that i actually believe and he is a longdriver, that leaves several hundred that i dont - tell me if you do hit driver 6/7 iron on a regular basis on to 500 yard holes how can you still be a 20 handicapper?

drive 9 iron or less to all flat par 4s - come on how many 20 handicappers can claim this is true?

I have played a lot of golf with a lot of good golfers (plus 2 to 4) and bar myself no one hits the distances claimed by these much poorer golfers.

99% of these claims are not true please just stop it!

[NorCalGolfer]

i was a 20 handicapper once that hit the ball 290-310. a lot of times i would be in the rough or if i had a great lie i'd simply just miss the green. from there i might blade a 60 across the green, chunk one from off the fringe and 3 putt. it really isn't that hard to believe. hitting 300+ yards isn't as coveted as it once was. but to be honest with you...i don't hit 300 yd drives as much as I used to because I simply don't go after it like I did before, but i do hit fairways and greens consistently. :)


p.s. putts are a different story. haha.

[extremeld]

sorry but 300 yards drives are something most golfers will never achieve without significant help - unless you swing at around 120mph faster than the average tour pro you aint going to be averaging 300 yards.

anyway got it of my chest feel better!

rant over

[dragonflyin]

I guess I'm not as cynical of the 300 yard driving 20-handicapper, because I do realize how inconsistent they are. A great driver will be followed by a 50-yard duff. Scores at up quickly that way... Some people on this forum describe their game and shots by their potential/optimal performance rather than the average.

[grantc79]

I guess I'm not as cynical of the 300 yard driving 20-handicapper, because I do realize how inconsistent they are. A great driver will be followed by a 50-yard duff. Scores at up quickly that way... Some people on this forum describe their game and shots by their potential/optimal performance rather than the average.

Honestly, I disagree.

If you have a swing that is so erratic that you hit a 50 yard duff then there is no freakin' way that you have the swing speed, swing mechanics, much less the lag pressure required to hit a 300 yard drive with no wind and flat ground. There is simply no way, I'm sorry but until I meet a 20 handicapper that can hit the ball that far I will assume they are all full of shit. I'm 6'5 295 and very muscular, 12 handicapper, and I can't hit the ball near 300 and I hit quite a bit further than most people that I know.

[jjb333]

Size and weight don't have a whole lot to do with how far you can hit the ball. I'm 6 foot tall and weigh 165 and although I can't drive it 300 yards, I believe my average to be somewhere around 270-280. Also, I know big guys who have decent swings but only get there 9 iron around 130-140 yard whereas me, a lightweight, can get a 9 iron to 150-160. Technique, most importantly weight shift and lag, largely determines how far you can hit the ball.
When I was a 20 handicapper, I remember driving a slightly uphill 296 yard hole to the back of the green. The ball had plenty of roll but wind was not a factor. Now, I know plenty of guys who are sub 5 handicaps who only hit the ball an average of 250. Distance is nowhere near close to everything and I'm sure there are more 20 handicappers who have driving averages in the 275-300 range than you think.

[Chief Broom]

I discount pretty much everything I read on internet message boards.

It's a given that the average person who posts on a MB is sexy as hell, has loads of money, has at least one really good "black" friend, dates only hot chicks (most posters are guys, which strangly enough I tend to believe to be true), and leads an all around amazing life.

I'm okay with this...

[golfdad]

in med school, i believe it was the second year when we learned to take medical history from patients, one wise ass teacher told us something i still use today:

when asking about sexual and drinking habits, half the sexual potency part and double the drinking part

[Eeryck]

I am not really suprised to see so many 20-hcp folks out there claiming 300 yard drives. If you look at most golfers they tend to go to the driving range and practice with the driver. It is almost like the short game does not exist.

Also, I think they are calling carry + roll at 300 yards which would bump down their swing speed slightly to about 108MPH. Which would be:

108 * 2.5 (ideal launch) = 270yards with 10% roll = 297 yards (add 3 -15 yards for poor measuring or big fish stories and there you have it)

even with 100MPH

100 * 2.5 = 250 with 10% roll is 275 (which for many probably is counted as 300 which is only a 10% margin of error, pretty good if they are drinking)

I do have to admit though that I find the number of folks that hit 300yard drives or 150yard 9-irons hard to believe. But a lot of that is my ego trying to protect me. I hit a 220yard drive and a 110yard 9-iron but that is good enough for now because my short game is getting all the practice attention at the moment so my handicap comes down.

-E

[extremeld]

2.5 as optimal is more like 2.4.

20 plus handicappers do not hit the ball on optimal launch all the time (no one does)

to be claiming 300yard averages you better be hitting it well and without excessive roll you better swing at 120mph

fyi 124.99 was JB Holmes swing speed for the first 6 months of this year.

i go to the driving range a fair bit and most of the golf balls are in the 20 yards before and after the 200 yard marker - the range i hit it despite saying it is 315 to the fence is only actually 280 yards and hardly ANYONE good golfers and high handicappers reaches the fence

Anyhow this will be my last post on this thread i just had a headache from all the crazy distances - ask yourself again AVERAGE 300YARDS - to do that you are likely given the lack of consistency of high handicappers to need to hit the odd drive 350yards to make up for the "Missed" drives that only go 250

kl

[dragonflyin]

Honestly, I disagree.

Like I said, 1 out of 10 drives getting out there 300 yards does not qualify as saying you drive the ball 300 yards. It's the 9 out of 10 drives that hurts your score. I've golfed with many 20+ handicappers who can pound the ball long and straight every once in a while. A lot of these golfers try to swing their arms out every time, so if they're lucky to make solid contact, it can go a ways. Otherwise, 50 yard duffs.

[Shindig]

It's the 20 handicappers who hit it 300 yards and are always in the fairway that I doubt. I've played with plenty of people posting high scores after driving it long and wild, missing greens, ping-ponging and 3-putting.

I know I'm glad that my driver distance didn't jump rapidly. When I started, I hit my driver maybe 185. Kinda hard to miss, especially at courses without rough. Now that I'm 220 or so with my driver, but sending the ball all sorts of places, I'm glad I don't hit it much farther until I get back to my accuracy.

[jambalaya]

How did we get into a discussion doubting that some 20 handicappers occasionally hit a 300 yard drive. He did say AVERAGE 300 yards. And I agree that claim is certified BS. However, I have played golf off and on since I was 19 and I definitely hit 300 yard drives when I was a 20 handicapper or worse. But I never averaged 300 yards and I didn't hit a 300 yard drive every round. It was really not that hard for me but I was athletic but not overly strong. I would say that I was usually longer than most of the people with whom I regularly played golf, most of whom weren't too much better than me, but not straight or accurate consistently.

[grantc79]

I've golfed with many 20+ handicappers who can pound the ball long and straight every once in a while. A lot of these golfers try to swing their arms out every time, so if they're lucky to make solid contact, it can go a ways. Otherwise, 50 yard duffs.

If they do not create and maintain lag pressure well they will not hit 300 yard drives on flat ground with no wind.

There are pro golfers who still struggle to do this.

[grantc79]

I also think the vast majority of players look at the tee box and look at their ball and think "thats around 300 yards" when if you actually laser it back to the tee or use your GPS to mark it, it turns out to only be about 265.

There's a lot of ego's that get fluffed by that eyeball test and a lot that get shot down by actual distance.

There is 2 guys at my club of roughly 300 members that hit the ball consistently 300 yards.

We have our fair share of high school and college golfers, and TWO of them hit the ball that far consistently.


You 20 handicappers claiming you can do it should go hit 25 drives and see how far that farthest one is and when its only about 275 come back to reality.

[Voiceontapex]

ive been to a few courses where the sign will say 160 par 3 and the tee box is lie 10 ft away from the 100 yrd marker haha which can make ppl think they hit farther than they really did if they dont know, the course just went thru some renovation and now has houses behind it, so could be they just havent gotten new signs yet, but still

another course my buddy and I went to it was a par 4 370 yards dog leg, and he hit the ball as hard as he could and kinda had a fade on it thought it was gonna be bad and go into the lake, but we got up there and it was a good 60 yard shot to the green, he def drove the ball 300 yards hes a fairly high handicapper,

i believe it is def possible here and there under perfect conditions the perfect contact and everything, but to have an average of 300 im not so sure about

[TinCupTampa]

I thought I was the only person on this forum that didnt hit 300. Are you telling me I am wrong?

[Fourputt]

Just as an example... I live and play in Denver, at more than a mile above sea level. The 18th hole (420 yard sharp dogleg left) on my home course has a yardage plaque on the tee box that says "240 yards to clear left bunker". That is legitimate, as I've scoped it with my laser. 95% of the golfers I play with can't clear that bunker, even in the rarefied air here in the Mile High City. It takes a whale of a blow for me to carry that bunker... I usually aim a bit right because it's a slightly shorter carry (225-230) to clear the right bunker and reach the fairway.

That being the case, I have even stronger doubts of the truth of more than 95% of the 300 yard drive claims from players at lower elevations. They are either mistaken and have never actually measured their driving distance, or they are simply deluded. I've actually shown the truth to a guy with my Bushnell, and he just wouldn't believe it... said there was something wrong with the laser, even though it had been accurate for approach yardages all day.