20+ handicappers hitting 300 yards (mild rant)

[Danattherock]

[SIZE=2]

What a ridiculous thread Guess I will contribute anyway The above quote is a very important one. I am a 20 handicap and I drive a few balls over 300 yards almost every time I play. I also loose about 6-8 balls a round, three putt, and hit a few fat/thin iron shots. You do the math and see if it is possible to drive 300 yards and still play bogey golf. Of course you can! Back to the point. Many, many, many folks hit a good drive and say it was 300 yards. In truth, factoring in doglegs, the angle of the drive, the wind, bad computation, and plain old fish stories, many of these drives are likely much closer to 260 than 300. I have been guilty of this myself in the past. 450 yard hole, I drive to the 150 stakes = a 300 yard drive? Not exactly. Factor in the earlier thoughts if you disagree. An interesting thing happened just the other day. I finally got a gps. I got the Golf Logix unit made by Garmin. Fantastic unit and I can't believe I did not get one years ago. Point is, I measured many drives. Some I hit very well and thought "300 yards", well, BS, not even close. I measured the "shot distance" on some of the ones I hit well. I was getting 276, 284, etc... but not one was truly a 300 yard drive. On one drive, into 30+ mph wind (I am on Nantucket, Mass), I hit a solid drive, although higher than normal, and measured a whopping 188 yards. That was humbling. .

[William Le Wolf]

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

Distance means nothing. They may be able to hit the ball 300 yards, but can they hit it 300 yards in a straight direction? And if they can hit it 300 yards in a straight direction do they then have the skills to score from where it counts? No - thats why they are 20 Handicap.

[William Le Wolf]

You won't believe something until you see it. However nothing here sounds unreasonable to me. If you strike the ball well it is going a long long way. I am near enough hitting Driver sw/pw to every par 4 and par 5 on my golf course yesterday. The two longer par 5's were wind against and i had to hit a 6 iron & 5 iron. And the one par 4 (stoke index 1) was also wind against which left me with a 7 iron.

It all really depends on how long the holes are at your golf course. Par 4's at my golf course are normally around 450 yards in distance.

[c4m]

Ive come across some people who claim to average 300 yards, but they also average maybe 1 fairway in reg

[flopdarock]

i played with my brothers this weekend...
if they both dont reach 300 then i have no clue...
cuz i know on one wide open hole i smacked one 230 and i thought it was a bomb... they both left me way way behind and had short iron/wedge approach shots to the green and i still had 2 more just to get a chance at a gir...
granted one of my brothers plays to a 3 and the other plays to a 9 or 10... but comparing their shots to some bombers ive played with that couldnt hit the green to save their lives... id say its close

[Pro]

I drive around 270yds I my handicap is around 20, thats because I rarely hit the ball straight, it likes to slice so it goes OB or into the water. Also not hitting irons good is what also gets me.

[HSip]

This thread is just going to continue forever. Long drives without either 1.) accuracy or 2.) a good to great short game is pretty pointless. High HCP's may or may not be able to hit the occasional ball 300 (not nearly as many as they claim) but even saying it aloud is like saying "I can throw a bullseye in a dark room" - maybe you can but you better get the cat out of the room before you try because you're going to miss the bullseye more often than not. Once it's on the scorecard a 300yd drive=10yd chip=5ftputt.

[mad max]

this thread will live forever... someday the sandtrap will be bought by the golf channel for the rights to this thread.

[Chas]

I drive around 270yds I my handicap is around 20, thats because I rarely hit the ball straight, it likes to slice so it goes OB or into the water. Also not hitting irons good is what also gets me.

Stick around on this forum and thing will only go downhill from there ........

[only kidding ...] Me, I'm glad I can't drive it 300 except on a baked and steeply descending fairway. If I did average 300 I'd get into even worse trouble off the tee and my scores would show it. p.s. this is a fatuous post whose only true purpose is to needlessly prolong this thread.

[flopdarock]

i would like to add about 20-30 yrds to my drives... id be happy with a consistent 250-260 yrd drive... kinda sucks that my 3w goes farther than my driver sometimes

[shamsone]

I'm 5'8 150lbs and i can hit one or two drives 300 yards playing 18 holes. I got a tour burner 9.5 with a xx-stiff shaft. my swing speed can get into the 120's but you also have to catch it on the sweet spot and hold your lag as long as you can.

[Fat Slice]

i would like to add about 20-30 yrds to my drives... id be happy with a consistent 250-260 yrd drive... kinda sucks that my 3w goes farther than my driver sometimes

That's curious about your 3W vs. your driver. Have you tried other shafts?

[Pinseeker81]

That's curious about your 3W vs. your driver. Have you tried other shafts?

My 3w goes about as far as my driver too. I get a much lower ball flight with the 3w. The driver, I'm going to guess, tops out up near 150' high and lands with a tiny hop and no roll.

[pshizz]

My 3w goes about as far as my driver too. I get a much lower ball flight with the 3w. The driver, I'm going to guess, tops out up near 150' high and lands with a tiny hop and no roll.

get fitted for a new one then. You ovbiously need something that launches lower with less spin. The 5900 is known for being a high spin driver head.

[flopdarock]

That's curious about your 3W vs. your driver. Have you tried other shafts?

i actually had the driver reshafted not too long ago... the stock nike shaft was a little too whippy for me and tended to balloon... i think the reason i can kill my 3 wood is size of the head and the just the overall confidence factor... or maybe im just trying too hard to swing out of my shoes when i have the driver in my hand... ive tried stiffer shafts but for some reason that only works well with my irons and not my longer clubs... im still trying to figure that out with a lot of lessons

[Fat Slice]

It's a fickle sport, for sure. I played an R7 and sliced too much. I switched to an Ignite with more loft and it was better. I refined my swing with the Ignite and got even better. Then I broke the ignite (oops, not from a drive...). I went back to the R7. With the new swing, though, the R7 was even better.

[Pinseeker81]

get fitted for a new one then. You ovbiously need something that launches lower with less spin. The 5900 is known for being a high spin driver head.

I'm thinking about doing a fitting and getting a whole new driver. The 5900 is crumpling up on the bottom and has developed a crack.

I'm really liking this R9 3W, and I've got my eye on the driver too if it feels as good.

[TheNatural]

I'm 5'8 150lbs and i can hit one or two drives 300 yards playing 18 holes. I got a tour burner 9.5 with a xx-stiff shaft. my swing speed can get into the 120's but you also have to catch it on the sweet spot and hold your lag as long as you can.

What made you go XX and not x? I got fitted in Feb 09 for an X and I think its still too flexible. Then i was 115-120ss. Now Im playing more and loose and I think its going 120+ss and the club head may be behind the ball.(still coiled back) Thoughts? Did you ever try x? before XX?