20+ handicappers hitting 300 yards (mild rant)

[extremeld]

i am liking a lot of what i read on this thread - i think this thread should just become somewhere for mild rants

i feel much better!

ps i drove a par 5 recently but it was only 365 yards

[Undr Par]

Anybody who can consistently hit a 300 yard drive (in play) can also nail the easy wedge or 9 iron to the green consistently to play to low single digit or scratch. That is just the obvious truth, which many internet users may not realize, as they just do not play enough to know.

exactly, and all this high cappers can still hit great long drives but still duff their PW, 9i etc.....talk is crap imho....if your hitting it with consistency 300yds your a low capper imho.

[extremeld]

why do people insist on saying duff, that is my surname and has haunted me all my golfing life!

[l8nvr]

It is funny how many people say they hit 300yd drives, I guess everyone wants to be the hero.
I play about 75 rounds a year, as a single 80% of the time, that means I play with 3 other people about 60 rounds a year, for about 5 years. Of course when you play with that many different people, you get all kinds from + hdcpers to 30 and above.
I can count on one hand the # of times I have seen a 300yd drive, and I bet 3 out of 5 were aided in some way ( wind, hard fairway, cart path bounce etc..).
My swing speed is around 100mph, my average drive according to my laser is 235yds , with the longest being around 260yds under ideal conditions with a good bounce. My son who is 20 yrs old with a speed of about 105 is right around the same distance, except when he catches it just right he goes by me about 5-8 yds, again this is using a bushnell laser ( no guesswork).
I am a 15hdcp, my son a 21hdcp.
I do believe there are guys who can hit he ball 300yds, but 20hdcprs, no way, especially regularly.
It is OK to not be the longest driver.

[Elvisliveson]

I average about 260-265 yards off the tee (measured by SkyCaddy) and I am rarely outdriven, even some scratch golfers I've played with don't hit it much further than I do, so I can't see where all these 300 yard drives are coming from.

[Smilesy]

I used to be able to hit about 300 yards when i was a 20+ handicapper, but it wasn't normally down the fairway. I now hit constistantly about 280, but much straighter. It is very possible to have a powerful swing, but no constistancy. And I had no short game then either, even if i could get to the green on a par 5 in 2, or just off, it would normally take me 3 shot to get in.

[wrx_junki]

I checked my SS at Golf Galaxy and it only showed low 90's. I have driven a green that was just over 300 yards with a slight downhilll and not much wind. Is that possible even with some ridiculous roll? Or did the launch monitor not show the right number?

[st0wgolf08]

I checked my SS at Golf Galaxy and it only showed low 90's. I have driven a green that was just over 300 yards with a slight downhilll and not much wind. Is that possible even with some ridiculous roll? Or did the launch monitor not show the right number?

Well even with a crazy amount of roll you'd have to have hit a cart path or a sprinkler head or something. My ss is above that and i rarely get within 15-20 yards of 300.

[grantc79]

I used to be able to hit about 300 yards when i was a 20+ handicapper, but it wasn't normally down the fairway. I now hit constistantly about 280, but much straighter. It is very possible to have a powerful swing, but no constistancy. And I had no short game then either, even if i could get to the green on a par 5 in 2, or just off, it would normally take me 3 shot to get in.

I'm sorry but I just don't see it.

In order to hit a ball that far with poor mechanics you'd probably need a non-conforming driver, a 49+ inch long shaft, or be playing on land that is so ridiculously dry and hard that it was one step short of concrete. In order to create enough force to get that type of distance you need great lag pressure and be able to properly sustain that lag until impact which is also the key to hitting consistent iron shots. What you are effectively saying is "I could hit half court shots, I just can't make free throws and layups"

[mev]

What you are effectively saying is "I could hit half court shots, I just can't make free throws and layups"

I would say it would be equivalent to hitting a brick or missing wide on a half court shot, not actually getting the basket. He's missing the fairway. Maybe he's using the HAMMER - POWWWWWWWW!

[Surefire]

I used to be able to hit about 300 yards when i was a 20+ handicapper, but it wasn't normally down the fairway.

Ignoring whether you could hit it 300 yards for a minute.

If you got to the par 5 in 2 and then regularly took 3 shots to get in, thats a par, not bogey+ that a 20+ handicapper would be shooting.

[Batmanrb89]

Yea I have to say I agree with this post for the most part. There is a difference between being able to hit a drive 300 yards, and averageing 300 yards.....In a solid round of golf, my tee shots range from 265 yards to 315 yards. Never will I say I average 300 yards with my driver. I'll say every now and then i'll catch one out there. I hate when I'm at the local shop listening to know it alls talk about how they were "just using that club in your hands last week'' and was smacking it 320 yards. Bubba watson averages 315 yards......c'mon people. Out of 14 holes that a driver would be used, do you average the 2 duck hooks you had that went 186 yards left, and the 3 blocked tee shots you put into the next fairway that went 230 yards??? You'd average 245 yards.....now, i don't mean to offend anybody on this post as this is a rant obviously, but when somebody tells be their a long ball player, I ask them how they are from 150 yards and in......usually the topic changes at that point....Now I feel better, thanks!!! haha

[Williamevanl]

I played at Iowa states university golf course almost every day this summer my observations having played with all kinds of strangers is that in a way a lot of high handicappers will hit it further then low handicappers, just nowhere near the target.

I played with some highschool kids that hit around 300 sometimes. Hell when I started golf I hit some really long drives 330 was the longest with a horrible swing, just terrible. I had an as over the top golf swing as you could ever imagine but my arms outraced my body and I severly shut the clubface, I could hit a 7 iron 200 yards doing this. I played with this younger guy one day that was a terrible golfer but hit the ball further then anyone I have ever seen. He would set with his hands way in front of his body, close the face of whatever club he had and over swing out to in. One hole in particular he went after the green on a par 5 *first shot is a layup* with a 4 iron from 250 yards away, and missed the green long at left. I couldn't believe it.

It wasn't until I started trying to swing on plane and doing everything else correctly that my distances dropped drastically. It almost seems like horrible technique will allow you produce artificial clubhead speed that isn't consistent or predictable.

[bogeyhitter25]

I used to be able to hit the ball pretty dang far which is hard to believe. I used to average around 250ish, but I played a slice. I'd just try and hit the ball as hard as I could and see what happens. It barely ever ended up the fairway. I'd end up shooting around 49 or 50.

Now I've cured my slice and take a nice easy swing. Put it straight down the middle. And it's a nice 225ish. I've really worked on my approach shots and short game. That's what makes me play better.

[Sandy Sammy]

300 yards - NO WAY!.

[mposter]

I have seen some golfers hit the ball 300 that could never break 100. That being said they hit 300 once or twice and did not average 300! Most of these were retired minor league ball players (I know a few) that could hit the ball a mile but had a terrible golf game. In this recent article about Mickey Mantle and his golf game, it talks about how far the slugger could hit a golf ball.

I am not a good golfer but I do play often. I have hit one or two 300 yard drives (if the scorecard is right which we all know is a big if). The one I remember the most I had a yardage book that said the fairway ended at 310 from the tee and there was a hazard at 320. I figured I had no chance of reaching that and I took a relaxed smooth swing - and the ball ended up about 8-10 yards short of the fairway ending!

Most of my HUGE drives end up being 270-280 and honestly most of my drives are under 250. Sadly my 3 wood is about 220-240 and I just end up hitting 3 wood off of most tees as the few yards and lack of control doesn't seem worth the risk of the driver.

[extremeld]

now doesnt everyone feel better after their own minor rants!

anyone want to buy a ss radar to find out what they swing at?

[I <3 Titleist]

I know a 20+ that destroys the ball off the tee with a 8.5 degree driver. Second shot usually comes up short to the green.

Chip usually comes up short to the cup. Putt usually comes up really short and left of the cup. He has absolutely ZERO touch.

Second putt goes way past and then he struggles just to roll in a 5 footer. But I will swear this guy is 75-100 ft out on 375 to 400 yd holes. Never practicies his putting, never succeeds out of the bunker either.

He's one of the primary reasons I practice my approach shots so often and seldom practice my woods and driver.