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20+ handicappers hitting 300 yards (mild rant)


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My brother-in-law (who taught me the rudiments of the game a couple years ago) can hit the ball a country mile -- his drives go 280, 290, 300 all the time, like rockets with afterburners. He misses a whole lot of fairways and hardly ever plays and never practices, so when he was out here a couple months ago he was shooting 91-96 regularly. Which puts him squarely into the 20+ handicapper that hits it 300+ yards. Though I wouldn't say he is always 300+ with every drive (some of his shots are merely 250 or so) it doesn't seem odd to me that he is a 20 handicapper.

In my C-130 Cart Bag:

Driver: Titleist D2 10.5° Aldila R.I.P. 60
Woods Exotics CB4 15° Aldila R.I.P. 70
Hybrids Exotics CB4 17°, 22° Aldila R.I.P. 80 

Irons 4-PW MP-57 Project X 6.0, MP-29 PW

Wedges  Eidolon 52°, 60° Rifle Spinner 6.5

Putter Bettinardi BB12

Ball One Black

Rangefinder Nikon Laser 500"Golf...

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I can drive 300 yards on a good contact shot. Unfortunatly my contact is never consistant. Even with a good drive, I can never really tell you where my ball will end up, with any club. It's rare that I get a perfect shot. I can tell you, usually the general direction, with minimal wind but other than that it's swing and pray. Mostly mental mistakes I guess.
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Perhaps I am wrong.

I guess 75% of the people that play golf really can hit a ball 300+ yards.



Then again I'm sure you can all throw a 70 yard pass, hit a 100 mph fastball, and dunk a basketball as well.

Certified G.O.L.F. Machine Addict

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5 ft 8in, 180 lbs

Have had measured LEGAL softball bat and regulation ball homers over 380ft at land spot no wind. (yes, I played with a surveryor who broke out the equipoment becasue they wanted to see how far the little "freak of nature" had hit a few)

I more often then not am 285 -300+ off the tee

Before I started hitting irons well and hybrid, woods as 2nd shots... i.e. NOT off the tee, my game was not horrible. But boy could I outdrive even the longest of hitters but get beat by 15-20 shots because my approach game and short game absolutely blew.

So who really cares how far my drive goes? Last I checked, I would rather shot mid 80's CONSISTENTLY then upper 90's

put your ego's back in your bag and focus on strokes per 9/18

Taylormade TP 2010 9.5 Fubuki stiff
07 Burner 5W stiff

Adams F11 Ti 3W Adilia NVS Stiff
Bobby Jones 21* & 25* Hybrid
AP1 4-gw
CG14  60*::X forged Vintage 56* Ping b60 putter Balls: Bridgestone B330, ProV, Goals: Shot par over 18 holes, Best shot: Par 5 18th hole, Alling Memorial New haven CT; holed my 2nd shot for an Albatross! (June 20th, 2008)

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I can honestly say that I have hit exactly one 300 yard drive this year. That happened last week, and I did get the benefit of a kick from the downslope on the far side of a fairway bunker, but there was no tailwind to aid the 250 yard carry needed to actually clear the lip of the bunker, and the lay of the fairway is actually quite level except for that mound that the 2 bunkers sit on top of.

So I consider that to be my one legitimate "really long drive" of the year. Does that make my average drive 300 yards ?????



BTW, at nearly 62, I don't have many such drives left in this body, so I have to savor each one as it happens.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I really think the average person doesn't know what a 300 yard drive is at all. I play with people that yell 300, then its only like 260. I highly doubt more than maybe 1/10 of all people can hit it 300 legitimately, it probably is even less than that because of liars/ people that can not use rangefinders.
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So I consider that to be my one legitimate "really long drive" of the year. Does that make my average drive 300 yards ?????

No, at least 325. This is the internet.

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I'm just here to agree with the OP. I have two GPS-measured drives over 300 this year, 308 and 313, and I freaking tattoo'd them, which is why I thought to measure. I've hit some other ones that, although I hit them well, am pretty sure they didn't reach 300.

"I hit it 300 yards" and "I CAN hit it 300 yds" are two totally different claims. I'm in the latter group, which I don't think is really bragworthy, and I suspect very few amateurs are in the former.

Nothing in the swing is done at the expense of balance.

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Doesn't surprise me at all. OK not as an average drive, but when cleanly struck. And why not? Shooting low requires consistently playing on the course IMO and is mostly about the short game + putting as we all know. If someone spends a lot of range time with the big stick and doesn't play on the course often, it's not at all surprising.

I'm not quite there yet, but not so far. I just played only my 5th or 6th round this year and my best drives were slight draws going 270-280 (no wind, NOT on a downslope). Not at all bad, especially since I'm totally unfit at the moment. Of course I hooked a couple and "power-faded" one or two off the fairway as well, whadya 'spect .... I ended up with an 87 (fairly typical), just 3 blasted pars, mostly bogeys and enough doubles to do me in. No blow up holes though . Wedges were confidently struck but my chips and putts were NOT good, frankly they were consistently miserable. Took me four to get down on a par 5 from about 10 ft off the green lying 3 (not shortsided, no excuse). After a career drive and a couple decent enough shots. That's ridiculous!

There's no substitute for going out there and playing often enough to get the feel of the short game and putter. Powdering drives, even on the fairway, just doesn't cut it - but it still feels nice.

Sorry, but I don't really get the premise behind this thread (though averaging 300 does stretch credulity a bit). Is it to be assumed, conversely, that relatively short drivers (220-240, say) cannot be expected to shoot really low? I would hope not, but the thinking isn't so different. I've met plenty of those guys as a walk-on single, and they are often golfers that I try to emulate. They invariably clean my clock.

Driver: Cobra 460SZ 9.0, med.
3 Wood: Taylor stiff
3-hybrid: Nike 18 deg stiff
4-hybrid:
Taylor RBZ 22 deg regular
Irons:5-9, Mizuno MP30, steel
Wedges: PW, 52, 56, 60 Mizuno MP30
Putter: Odyssey 2-ball

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Its remarkably easy, actually. Apart from the 300 yard drive bit. But a good drive followed by a bladed iron/wedge isn't that uncommon...

Tell me abaaa-dit!

It's those fussy little wedge shots from crabgrass off the green, over a bunker or from a downslope well above the green, to a shortish pin (I had a few of those yesterday) - they drive me bonkers !

Driver: Cobra 460SZ 9.0, med.
3 Wood: Taylor stiff
3-hybrid: Nike 18 deg stiff
4-hybrid:
Taylor RBZ 22 deg regular
Irons:5-9, Mizuno MP30, steel
Wedges: PW, 52, 56, 60 Mizuno MP30
Putter: Odyssey 2-ball

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Friend of mine was late to the course and we started with no warm-up to beat the dark.Hence my iron striking which is a critical part of my game was bad,the worst it's been in six months.

This made me resort to just reaching for the driver on all the par 4's that I could.I shot 110,but I hit 12 or 13 drives right down the middle.All were in the 255-280 range and we had a bushnell digital rangefinder.

It is possible to hit a great drive and I don't see anyone on here saying they average 300,but see many who have claimed to hit 300 once in a while,so if some of you want to dispute that then fine,but it is possible.

"Repetition is the chariot of genius"

Driver: BENROSS VX PROTO 10.5
Woods: BENROSS QUAD SPEED FAIRWAY 15"
Hybrids:BENROSS 3G 17" BENROSSV5 Escape 20"
Irons: :wilson: DEEP RED Fluid Feel  4-SW
Putter: BENROSS PURE RED
Balls: :wilsonstaff:  Ti DNA

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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 can see where you are coming from because out here in Kuwait there are alot of good golfers and I only know of 2 people who average 300 plus and this is myself and the head pro of Sahara Country Club named Damon. I am a much different story than most people because I played right handed for two years and played to a 12 so I understood how to play the game a lil. I also played semipro baseball where I swung lefty and I generated tons of batspeed (99 mph with a 31 ounce bat) but didn't play golf lefty because it screwed up my swing. When I first switched to lefty the only club in the bag that i could control was the driver. I averaged over 300 yards on most every drive even the ones that has some fade to them, but as you can imagine I had a bunch of shots around the greens that required touch and I had no sense of touch what so ever so I would nearly drive the green and then would take a double because i couldn't get on the green from 40 yards out or I couldn't get out of bunker. I played with the assistant pro here and he couldn't believe that I was out driving him by 30 to 40 yards and he hit it out there bout 280. Even on the hole where he hit his drive 300 I out drove him by 47 yards on a par 5 that is 535 yards and flat from tee to green. I hit a 7 iron into the green but made par off a bad chip. After I played with him he cut my handicap from 36 to 21 and he said that I better be in the single digits by next year. My short game is getting much better and I know that it is a matter of time with me but I can see where you are coming from because a ball that carries 300 yards from what I saw on the launch monitor requires at least 119 mph in accelerating clubhead speed and most people just simply can't generate that much. And of course there is a big difference from doing it on the range and then transferring it over to the course with all the visual distractions. When my driver is on I won't hit any iron over a 7 iron and that's even on par 5's, but when it's off. But distance is a gift and a curse because most holes don't facilitate drives much over 300 and if you are off just a lil in your timing you will hit balls into places that you never even imagined. That was the most frustrating part for me hitting balls OB so that made me really rethink my strategy and start keeping the ball in play by usindg my hybrids and long irons and that is made me much better. It's interesting to read all these posts though.

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I can consistently drive the ball over 300 yards and I'm 6'2" and 168lbs (measured this morning). I think a twenty handicapper could do it, but they wouldn't have much control over it. In fact, a lot of golfers I see just rip the ball of the tee, but can do nothing else. A couple of times this summer I played with people I didn't know and was out to have fun, so I pulled driver on pretty much every hole just trying to go for it, mainly from their encouragement. Can't tell you how many times I have heard "I've never seen anybody drive this green before". And I read somewhere something about 9 irons from 150-160... thats a pitching wedge for me, maybe a smooth 9 iron, but I could get a PW that far without too much umph.

btw, I'm not a 20 handicapper, but there are bad golfers who hit farther than I do.

In my bag:
Cleveland Launcher Comp 9.5 Pro Launch 65-s
Cleveland Launcher Comp 3 wood 13* Cleveland Stiff
Titleist 690-CB 3-PW
Vokey 252.08, SM56.10, SM60.04Scotty Cameron Newport 2Looking for a 18-20* 585h

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Since my wife bought me a Bushnell Pinseeker, I don't know and I don't care.

Driver: Cobra 460SZ 9.0, med.
3 Wood: Taylor stiff
3-hybrid: Nike 18 deg stiff
4-hybrid:
Taylor RBZ 22 deg regular
Irons:5-9, Mizuno MP30, steel
Wedges: PW, 52, 56, 60 Mizuno MP30
Putter: Odyssey 2-ball

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OK, has there been ONE 20 handicapper here who has stated he AVERAGES 300 yards per drive? I think the OP is railing against something that doesn't exist. And you know what...even if someone does come out and say it, true or not, who cares? How does that affect your ego or your enjoyment of the game? I tend to tune out every aspect of people's golf stories *except* for the entertainment value. Also, golf is a game of skill and practice, but it's also a game of luck and rhythm. Grip it and rip it and 1 in 1,000 drives you will have the 'perfect storm' and the ball will go the maximum possible for that swing speed. For me...I average now about 220-230 per drive. A super hit can go 290. I once lasered a drive that came to rest at 323 yards from the tee. You know what I did? I wrote "323" on the ball, put it back in my bag, and figured I would never hit a ball that far again. And (so far) I have been right! What I *didn't* do is go around and say I was AVERAGING 300 yards per drive. And I don't see any other 20+ handicappers here doing that either.

So, where's the fire?
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Driver: Nike Ignite 10.5 w/ Fujikura Motore F1
2H: King Cobra
4H: Nickent 4DX
5H: Adams A3
6I 7I 8I 9I PW: Mizuno mp-57Wedges: Mizuno MP T-10 50, 54, 58 Ball: random

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today at the range, i was a couple of spaces down from some highschool kids, probably 16 or 17 years old. they were hitting balls pretty poorly, thudding the club against the ground on every other shot, but still announcing - and seemingly with all seriousness - "oh yeah, that one got down to the 300." now me, when i'm hitting good drives, i usually get 20-30 yards behind the 200 sign (though my actual average is around 270 on the course - the local range's balls are all old and crappy and cheap), so a bunch of kids proclaiming to get to the 300 sign on damn near every shot got my attention. i moved as if to just rest on a bench for a minute and watched them out of the corner of my eye. i watched for probably 10 shots, and not a single one got near the 300. in fact, not a single one even passed the 200. moreover, they all sliced. i don't know what those kids were looking at - if they were just joking around (though like i said, it sounded like they certainly meant it) or if they were delusional or what, but i thought of this thread as i watched them, haha. i'm sure they'll go tell all their friends at school monday about how they came to the range this weekend and were hitting to the 300 sign every time.

oh, and i'd put them at higher than a 20 handicap, too. if i were to just guess - considering they didn't hit a single club other than the driver - and judging based on their drives - i'd say their handicap would probably closer to 30.
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