20+ handicappers hitting 300 yards (mild rant)

[grantc79]

I played 80+ 18 hole rounds of golf last year. In addition to that I played a ton of late 9's or even 4-5 holes. In those rounds I must have played with 60-70 different people as I often just go out as a single in the summertime when all my buddies have to work. Out of those people I saw nobody that could hit the ball 300 yards. Nobody! I work at a golf course and have to marshall on occasion when we have tournaments. During those marshaling shifts I have seen 1-2 people that could maybe hit the ball 300 yards on occasion.

Quoted for truth

[grantc79]

secondly... you do realize tour players hit it farther than 300 right? 340-350 is realistic... they just dont do it cuz its more trouble than its worth to bomb balls...

A very, very tiny select few hit the ball 340 and I mean very tiny.

There is maybe a dozen guys on the PGA tour that can hit one 340 unassisted at will. http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/info/xm.html?101

remax long drivers are beyond 400 yards now... yet i dont see any of them beating the pants off of tiger...

Yup, its amazing what a 47 inch long driver can do. If you give tiger one of those super long drivers he could smash one that long too I'm sure as could JB Holmes and Bubba Watson.

with the logic that you have... the remax long driving champ should be kicking tigers ass on tour because his fundamentals are much much much stronger than tigers

Not at all, but their long drive fundamentals are the same as a sand wedges fundamentals.

With your logic there are plenty of long drive champions who can hit a wedge consistently. Which seems more ridiculous?

[grantc79]

What's your average?

Including all the bad drives where I had a push fade or something like that probably 250.

If you took 10 pure hit drives and averaged those all together probably 280. I'm also 6'5 and have a swing speed of anywhere from 116-121.

[grantc79]

One time I hit it 310 (gps verified), that was with roll and about a 25mph tailwind... all the stars aligned and it was just a freak occurrence, so it is possible. I typically hit it about 230-240 and I outdrive most of the 15-30 handicappers I play with. One guy I play with is around a 25 and hits it a bit farther than me, but he has a poor short game. He usually gets about 1 a round in the 300 range, with lots of OB and such thrown in as well. I think that is where the 300 yard stories come from - one time the stars aligned and they got it out there and from now on they are 300 yard drivers.

I was talking unassisted.

There are a lot of people who can hit one 300 with a great bounce and roll and 25 mph tailwind.

[alcorn]

The sad part of this thread is that people are willing to argue that being mediocre at this great game is fine as long as you can bash the ball out there 300 yards. It kinda cracks me up though. I'm 6'0" and weigh 230lbs and I can put the ball out there around 260 if I really smack one. I average more around 240 with about a 10 yd. draw. I've been hitting fairways and greens this season and the majority of my rounds have been 82 (+10) or lower. Its not great but its good for me. I owe most of it to my irons and wedges and my putter. I would like to know the percentage of fairways these guys hitting it 300 are getting.

[Pinseeker81]

Including all the bad drives where I had a push fade or something like that probably 250.

Nice. I'm about the same except my SS (unless something's changed I don't know about) is in the low one-teens.

(edited to add that I'm not 6'5", I'm 6'1") My average well struck drive falls somewhere in the 260-280 area. My average poorly struck drive is around 250 OB. I hit one today the google earth shows to be just over 300 fwiw. I didn't laser any of them today. I also drilled one right into a tree and it came out sideways and rolled up on the forward tee box 235 yards away. Had a great lie for my 2nd though, lol. My 8 iron went 20 yards further than I thought it was going to, leaving me a 60 footer for what would have been birdie had my first tee shot (before I hit the tree) not gone in the drink. I then 3 putted for triple. And that was the good hole I also, after a beautiful warm up bucket at the range that left me full of hope that I'd break 90 today, proceeded to shank, fat and or chunk everything right down to my 56º wedge.

[TheNatural]

The sad part of this thread is that people are willing to argue that being mediocre at this great game is fine as long as you can bash the ball out there 300 yards. It kinda cracks me up though. I'm 6'0" and weigh 230lbs and I can put the ball out there around 260 if I really smack one. I average more around 240 with about a 10 yd. draw. I've been hitting fairways and greens this season and the majority of my rounds have been 82 (+10) or lower. Its not great but its good for me. I owe most of it to my irons and wedges and my putter. I would like to know the percentage of fairways these guys hitting it 300 are getting.

I had my best round ever yesterday and hit maybe 4 over 300 yards, it was windy. 1 was a cross wind, 1 was against the wind and 2 with the wind. Of the 14 two went to 200 yds a hook and a toe and one top(tried to tone it down a bit and topped it, it went 100yards!) the rest went 250-280 all of them in the fairway. I scored an 43-46(back nine was a rush job and I had no h2O, not happy bout that). All 4 long balls were in the fairway, one into the wind was a monster and my bud still beat me by 20yds since he was on a lower flight path. My brother said it was the best ball hes ever seen me hit, but the wind killed it. The one to my back was a power fade that could have gone 325+ I googlemapped it and it looked like it to me. 9 drives went in fairway. Also these fairways have not been cut this season so the roll was minimal. Im a 22.5 hc and Ill bet my next round produces 4-6 300yd drives if I continue this swing success, but I might also top a 100yarder once a round. I do feel highly confident that another 3 games in high 80's and the HC will drop below 20, my previous best was a 97 and the driving was either long or topped. My bud is a 5HC who pounds the ball, btw I beat him soundly by 5 strokes.

[mdl]

While a lot of silly bragging surely comes from just ego-inflation and exaggeration, like people have said, I think a lot of it just comes from the fact that people remember all their drives with a little tailwind and downhill landing area and then when everyone's comparing distance they quote that number.

Myself, I'm 6'2"+, 205, and an ex-college baseball player with strong forearms, and about a 13 handicap. Only this season (well, I'm in LA, so it's always season, but this year!) did I really fully lose the remnant chicken wing and get my hands exploding through the ball. My pure drives carry 270-280 without wind, though of course my average drive carries less, maybe 255-265. But my home course has a few holes slightly downhill with downhill landing areas, and, especially when the wind's right, I end up rolling past 300 fairly often, maybe once every other round. So if I'm being a chump I could say, "Oh yeah, I drive 300+". I'm not a chump, so I don't say that, and obviously I don't have consistency throughout my game or I'd be a single digit handicapper with that distance, but it's not out of the question at all for in-shape, young-ish guys to carry it close to 300.

[grantc79]

My pure drives carry 270-280 without wind, though of course my average drive carries less, maybe 255-265. But my home course has a few holes slightly downhill with downhill landing areas, and, especially when the wind's right, I end up rolling past 300 fairly often, maybe once every other round. So if I'm being a chump I could say, "Oh yeah, I drive 300+". I'm not a chump, so I don't say that, and obviously I don't have consistency throughout my game or I'd be a single digit handicapper with that distance, but it's not out of the question at all for in-shape, young-ish guys to carry it close to 300.

Go to this link:

http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/info/xm.html?101 Assuming 25 yards of roll on average that puts you in the top 50 or so of all drivers on the PGA tour, congrats thats impressive at 13 handicap. As far as all of those other "youngish in shape guys who carry it close to 300" then that puts them in the top 10 on the PGA tour. Do you realize how ludacris that is?

[grantc79]

I had my best round ever yesterday and hit maybe 4 over 300 yards, it was windy. 1 was a cross wind, 1 was against the wind and 2 with the wind. Of the 14 two went to 200 yds a hook and a toe and one top(tried to tone it down a bit and topped it, it went 100yards!) the rest went 250-280 all of them in the fairway. I scored an 43-46(back nine was a rush job and I had no h2O, not happy bout that). All 4 long balls were in the fairway, one into the wind was a monster and my bud still beat me by 20yds since he was on a lower flight path. My brother said it was the best ball hes ever seen me hit, but the wind killed it. The one to my back was a power fade that could have gone 325+ I googlemapped it and it looked like it to me. 9 drives went in fairway. Also these fairways have not been cut this season so the roll was minimal. Im a 22.5 hc and Ill bet my next round produces 4-6 300yd drives if I continue this swing success, but I might also top a 100yarder once a round. I do feel highly confident that another 3 games in high 80's and the HC will drop below 20, my previous best was a 97 and the driving was either long or topped. My bud is a 5HC who pounds the ball, btw I beat him soundly by 5 strokes.

Aren't you the guy from that other thread that averages 175 yard carry with your 9 iron?

[grantc79]

Nice. I'm about the same except my SS (unless something's changed I don't know about) is in the low one-teens.

At the end of the day I could switch to an 8.5 degree driver and a harder ball and probably knock a few out there around 300 but I'd rather have more in the fairway personally.

Either way its amazing that with my size and my swing speed everyone on the internet out drives me.

[puttrboy]

Well I'm a new member- so I'll try to be polite here. I'm a 10 hcp and avg about 245-250 off the tee....occasional 275 yd pop but lots of 235 pops too. Fairly athletic, but bad knees. Benn aroud golf my whole life, used to be a 3 hcp, played college golf- all that good stuff. That being said- MOST folks definitely exagerrate their AVG driving distance. My son is 19, very powerful, is a +3 hcp and is in the starting rotation on an NCAA D1 golf team. He is the longest one or two kids in all his college golf tourneys....and he barely avgs over 300 yds....302 right now. All this talk about SWING speed is less relevant than functional BALL speed....the ability to functionally and efficiently make a move on a golf ball that generates massive power from lag, rhythm, TALENT, fitness and timing....while moving it down the middle. I can swing the club 115 mph-- but I wouldnt dare try to play golf with that swing. 95 mph and 145 mph ball speed are my functional limits....my sons are 119 mph and 176mph...which would put him in the top 10-15% of tour pros....so I am very skeptical that someone with enough power, rhythm, timing, gracefulness and athleticism to avg 300 yds would not be able to figure out how to shoot better than 90.....it almost implausible....or in my humble opinion- just embellishment.

[grantc79]

Well I'm a new member- so I'll try to be polite here. I'm a 10 hcp and avg about 245-250 off the tee....occasional 275 yd pop but lots of 235 pops too. Fairly athletic, but bad knees. Benn aroud golf my whole life, used to be a 3 hcp, played college golf- all that good stuff. That being said- MOST folks definitely exagerrate their AVG driving distance. My son is 19, very powerful, is a +3 hcp and is in the starting rotation on an NCAA D1 golf team. He is the longest one or two kids in all his college golf tourneys....and he barely avgs over 300 yds....302 right now. All this talk about SWING speed is less relevant than functional BALL speed....the ability to functionally and efficiently make a move on a golf ball that generates massive power from lag, rhythm, TALENT, fitness and timing....while moving it down the middle. I can swing the club 115 mph-- but I wouldnt dare try to play golf with that swing. 95 mph and 145 mph ball speed are my functional limits....my sons are 119 mph and 176mph...which would put him in the top 10-15% of tour pros....so I am very skeptical that someone with enough power, rhythm, timing, gracefulness and athleticism to avg 300 yds would not be able to figure out how to shoot better than 90.....it almost implausible....or in my humble opinion- just embellishment.

Yup this sums it up nicely.

[puttrboy]

Thanks- hey how do I get one of those cool signatures to list my babys (mizunos etc...)

[lhshurdl3r]

Go to this link:

I agree with you totally on that. 99% sure that a high handicapper cannot average 300 off of the tee. Granted they might poke one out there once in a while to around that distance, maybe a little more with a light wind, but swing mechanics to routinely do that would roll over to your iron swing and your scores should drop.

I don't think anybody here is agreeing with the fact that a 20+ hc golfer could average that far off the tee, it's just that once in awhile a swing comes together and you catch it well... My swing used to be atrocious but I'd connect with a couple per round and depending on the wind, lie of the hole, etc... they'd go around 270-300. No way could I average that b/c all of my other drives would slice off into the trees. And that was swinging out of my shoes. Right now I'm trying to control my drives a little better, but I'm regressing apparently lol It's awful.

[ajahn]

I made an adjustment to my driver swing and after keeping a detailed scorecard of results from my last 3 rounds I am avg'ing 280 off the tee, with good ones just under the 300 mark and poor ones (usually too much hook rather then a nice draw) at 250. The rest of my game is behind my driving skill right now since my change in stance and setup for the driver doesn't carry over directly into my iron shots.

[TheNatural]

Aren't you the guy from that other thread that averages 175 yard carry with your 9 iron?

Dont know if its me your thinking of

lately its been around 160 but i deloft my irons, hands are way up front, so it becomes a lower club. I cant hit a 4 iron at all. my driver swing is totally different from my iron swing..Im a mess but its starting to gel. the way i see it if i can avg 275+ then all i need is a 5 iron on any 2nd shot at most. 2 weeks ago I smashed a LD on a par 5 and got on in 2 with a 7 iron, but it was delofted and looked more like a 4. This was a par 5- 505yds. I did tell you before that i could hit my 5 iron 200 yards, but that was an everything i got type swing and it was delofted. after scoring under 90 and having so many close pitches you have to stink pretty bad to be a 20 HC and avg 300yds off tee, but consider there are 4 par 3's that could add a triple bogey for every hole that puts you at 84. I know it is rare to poke a few 300+ and be a 20 hc due to the common slice of the baseball golfer, but they tend to have that high ss ability just low % of clean contact. its all i used to practice..until i got my 60 wedge ...

[Comeback City]

Here's a Golf Magazine I enjoyed last year: http://www.golf.com/golf/instruction...817857,00.html

Here's what you need:
110 mph swing speed + 14* launch angle + 2,500 rpm backspin = 300 yards

Equipment's a major factor as well.