20+ handicappers hitting 300 yards (mild rant)

[boomerboy]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Boomerboy, you're a 10 handicap now.  Even if you bombed some when you were a 20, wouldn't you say your average drive has increased as your handicap has decreased?

You likely always had the potential to do so, but doing so requires actual mechanics and execution, not just a fast, hard swing.

Definately, I think that is very true. When I was a 20-25, I had the capability, but it was never consistent in the least bit. I probably averaged closer to 225 then with as many clunkers as I had, and maybe every 1 in 10 broke 300.

My biggest point there was just to say that the thing that brought me down from 20 to 10 (actually handicap is a 10.2, just fyi) was the short game, and I could see how someone who mostly practiced driving (and I'm sure there are those out there) could have a shot at it, especially on an open course.

[RayG]

You mentioned that your course was wide open with not a lot of trouble- do you count those 350's if the ball is two fairways over? That's is kind of against the spirit of an "average" drive. I don't doubt the yardages but I personally don't count missed fairways (that I'm currently playing) in my yardage figures.

[boomerboy]

Originally Posted by RayG

You mentioned that your course was wide open with not a lot of trouble- do you count those 350's if the ball is two fairways over? That's is kind of against the spirit of an "average" drive. I don't doubt the yardages but I personally don't count missed fairways (that I'm currently playing) in my yardage figures.

I don't count balls that are two fairways over or that I plop in the water, but I do count them if they are in the rough. I would say that if I only counted fairways, it may not be completely accurate either (at least for me), because it only counts drives that were hit will. If I slice it, I take off distance pretty significantly (on a slice, I can basically drive up 250 and turn right and find the ball most of the time) but I see where you are coming from.

But I'm mainly talking about 10-15 yard to the left or right of the fairway, maybe as much as 30 every now and then. Still in the rough, but playable.

[res0n0xg]

Originally Posted by boomerboy

I don't count balls that are two fairways over or that I plop in the water, but I do count them if they are in the rough. I would say that if I only counted fairways, it may not be completely accurate either (at least for me), because it only counts drives that were hit will. If I slice it, I take off distance pretty significantly (on a slice, I can basically drive up 250 and turn right and find the ball most of the time) but I see where you are coming from.

But I'm mainly talking about 10-15 yard to the left or right of the fairway, maybe as much as 30 every now and then. Still in the rough, but playable.

you're still a liar. you drive as far on average as the number 1 player on tour and hit 375 yard drives with no wind on a flat surface? you should be famous. please show us famous articles and pictures of you shattering records and blowing out nearby windows in houses after you tee off. Last i checked i don't see the tour pros hitting 350 even down wind hardly ever. While it can be done, and I've done it maybe a handful of times down wind. averaging over 305 off the tee is extremely difficult, much less for a 10 handicap, which is in the range I play. there are far too many hooks, slight mishits, etc. from the big club that hurt distance a bunch.

[res0n0xg]

Originally Posted by res0n0xg

you're still a liar. you drive as far on average as the number 1 player on tour and hit 375 yard drives with no wind on a flat surface? you should be famous. please show us famous articles and pictures of you shattering records and blowing out nearby windows in houses after you tee off. Last i checked i don't see the tour pros hitting 350 even down wind hardly ever. While it can be done, and I've done it maybe a handful of times down wind. averaging over 305 off the tee is extremely difficult, much less for a 10 handicap, which is in the range I play. there are far too many hooks, slight mishits, etc. from the big club that hurt distance a bunch.

and by hurt distance i simply mean, if I don't "pure" a drive ie slight toe, too much draw/fade, balloons into a headwind slightly, etc. i'll see it drop 240-260 all the time, yet somehow you manage to avoid all those that everyone else has problems with?

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by res0n0xg

you're still a liar. you drive as far on average as the number 1 player on tour and hit 375 yard drives with no wind on a flat surface? you should be famous. please show us famous articles and pictures of you shattering records and blowing out nearby windows in houses after you tee off. Last i checked i don't see the tour pros hitting 350 even down wind hardly ever. While it can be done, and I've done it maybe a handful of times down wind. averaging over 305 off the tee is extremely difficult, much less for a 10 handicap, which is in the range I play. there are far too many hooks, slight mishits, etc. from the big club that hurt distance a bunch.

There are things you're not incorporating...

How hard is the ground in OK? Not only that, but if you don't think Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson could AVERAGE over 350 yard drives, you're probably wrong. They don't average that, because they aren't swinging out of their pants. They'd rather 305 down the middle, than 370 in the rough.

Not saying he isn't lying, but that wouldn't make him the most powerful hitter ever...

Hell, some long drive guys average over 400...

[boomerboy]

That's exactly what I'm getting at. I had not considered the ground, but we have long, dry summers and red clay. The ball does run. I can't judge it in the air, I can only judge it by where it ends up, so that may contribute to my distance. And the point about tiger or bubba or many tour pros is exactly the one I was going to make. These guys play courses with an average rating of 75-76. Extremely tight fairways, lots of hazards, plenty of lay up shots, and they can hit a 4i 250. So to say they can't hit 350 easy if they were gunning for it is silly. Of course they can. They just know that once they get up in that range they can't control the ball as well so you don't see it. They aren't playing at hefner public golf course like I am. You can't bomb it like that without consequences at bethpage black or pebble beach. And if it lends any credibility at all, I have placed at my club's long drive competition before, a couple of years ago. What I'm saying may not be the norm, but I'm a 6'4, 275 former college baseball player. I'm athletic with great hand eye coordination and a swing that has it's roots in a power hitter for baseball (despite greatly altered, obviously, for golf). The torque, ect in the swing isn't something I had to relearn. So, again, I may not be the norm and I will fully accept that it is possible and likely even that the courses here in OK help me out, but I was truthful nonetheless.

[RayG]

I will concede the occasional 350-400 missile. I've done it... ONCE... on a hole that was perfectly suited for it. Hard fairway (Florida in August), downwind, slight dogleg left (I hit a 'tour draw' at the time) with a downhill landing area. We looked everywhere for it near where I figured it should be with my normal drive. I actually just dropped one figuring it was either picked up or shot down a snake or gopher hole or something. It wasn't until we got to the green that we found my ball just off the right edge of the green. But other than that, I've topped at 300 maybe 5 or 6 times in the 40 years of playing. It was costing me too many strokes recovering if I missed until I leaned to throttle back and actually hit a fairway once in a while. So now, my 'average' IN THE FAIRWAY drive is around 250-260. And that is usually just fine for almost every course I play and the tees I use. As an example, just last weekend I caught one flush when I thought I would go after one. Well, flush was 70 yards off line in the other fairway. It measured 290 on the GPS app. Didn't mean much since I now had a 191 yd shot instead of a nice manageable 130-150 if I went straight. Drilled a 5 iron to 4 feet, but that's ANOTHER story! On another course with trouble that would have been 3 off the tee...

[res0n0xg]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

There are things you're not incorporating...

How hard is the ground in OK? Not only that, but if you don't think Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson could AVERAGE over 350 yard drives, you're probably wrong. They don't average that, because they aren't swinging out of their pants. They'd rather 305 down the middle, than 370 in the rough.

Not saying he isn't lying, but that wouldn't make him the most powerful hitter ever...

Hell, some long drive guys average over 400...

What? Everything you said above is incorrect, both Tiger and Bubba swing very hard, much harder than many other tour pro's actually with smoother swings. Also, long drive guys do not average over 400 without a tail wind. Their have been multiple winners that aren't even close to 400, and they have WON with around 350. Bubba is notorious for taking huge swings at the ball off the tee.

How about last year?

2012 RE/MAX WLDC OFFICIAL RESULTS:

Open Division Final:
Ryan Winther v Tim Burke 343 - 335

Open Division Semifinals:
Ryan Winther v Landon Gentry 366-355
Tim Burke v Jamie Sadlowski 354-339

Open Division Quarterfinals:

1. Ryan Winther – 393
2. Jamie Sadlowski – 389
3. Tim Burke – 385
4. Landon Gentry – 379
5. Joshua Crews – 375
6. Justin Young – 355
7. Ryan Cooper – 350
8. Tom Peppard - 349

[Jeremie Boop]

Originally Posted by res0n0xg

What? Everything you said above is incorrect, both Tiger and Bubba swing very hard, much harder than many other tour pro's actually with smoother swings. Also, long drive guys do not average over 400 without a tail wind. Their have been multiple winners that aren't even close to 400, and they have WON with around 350.

How about last year?

2012 RE/MAX WLDC OFFICIAL RESULTS:

Open Division Final:

Ryan Winther v Tim Burke 343 - 335

Open Division Semifinals:

Ryan Winther v Landon Gentry 366-355

Tim Burke v Jamie Sadlowski 354-339

Open Division Quarterfinals:

Ryan Winther – 393

Jamie Sadlowski – 389

Tim Burke – 385

Landon Gentry – 379

Joshua Crews – 375

Justin Young – 355

Ryan Cooper – 350

Tom Peppard - 349

Those distances were into a headwind... on calm days they average over 360, with wind at the back the hit over 400 often.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by res0n0xg

What? Everything you said above is incorrect, both Tiger and Bubba swing very hard, much harder than many other tour pro's actually with smoother swings. Also, long drive guys do not average over 400 without a tail wind. Their have been multiple winners that aren't even close to 400, and they have WON with around 350. Bubba is notorious for taking huge swings at the ball off the tee.

How about last year?

How about it?

"Sadlowski had to rely on his final ball four times when he won the title in 2008. He hit it more than 400 yards each time."

Read that sentence a couple times. I said some...not all, not every year...some. Reading comprehension is hard apparently.

And they swing "hard", not as hard as they can. If you think Tiger and Bubba are swinging 100% on their drives, you're delusional. And I've seen Bubba rip it close to 100%...the ball went 360+ yards.

But post one years long drive stats as evidence to debunk everything I said. lol

BTW, the stats you showed were a 10-12 mph headwind. Nice try though.

[Slice of Life]

Still lol'ing at someone who thinks that pro golfers swing 100% on their tee shots has the balls to say that everything I said was incorrect ...lol

[Slice of Life]

Here's another one for you, too...

"At this Years RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship, Ryan hit numerous balls over 470 yards and established that he is the longest hitter in the World."

So take 470+, and 343...what's the average there? (Same year btw...2012)

[Jeremie Boop]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

Here's another one for you, too...

"At this Years RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship, Ryan hit numerous balls over 470 yards and established that he is the longest hitter in the World."

So take 470+, and 343...what's the average there? (Same year btw...2012)

He's just made another assumption without taking all factors into consideration like before. You can't just look at the results and say "they don't hit it as far as you said". Even back in the 80s-90s the long drive hitters were putting it out there around 360s.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Jeremie Boop

He's just made another assumption without taking all factors into consideration like before. You can't just look at the results and say "they don't hit it as far as you said". Even back in the 80s-90s the long drive hitters were putting it out there around 360s.

Doesn't matter, one time they didn't hit it 400, so they can't average that. I'm wrong. Also, Tiger farts on the tee box from swinging as hard as he can on his drives.

[res0n0xg]

wow, holy ****ing shit, look at this link :

http://www.longdrivers.com/remax-wldc/all-results

the vast majority of results are <400 yards for the winners. you're absolutely right, they often play in the desert and they try to setup the shows with a massive wind behind to put on a better show for TV/ the fans, etc. of course so sometimes they have the stars align with a 20-30 mph tail wind and landing on desert rock hard "fairway" to roll out to 470 sure.

I'm not delusional at all, I'm the one being REALISTIC here, lol. When I am saying Tiger and Bubba swing harder than a lot of other tour pro's, they do, I'm sure it's not their 100% as you'd look like a fool sometimes, but whatever, they just have a more violent swing which of course produces more clubhead speed, who really knows what their 100% is i guess but them.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by res0n0xg

I'm not delusional at all, I'm the one being REALISTIC here, lol.

If you think Bubba Watson can't smash a 350 yard drive pretty much any time he wanted to, you are delusional. There's really no way around that. The guy hits it over 300 yards off the deck, and that's his controlled tour swing, not his farting around power swing like most amateurs try to hit all the time.

Here's the thing...when people compare their drives to the pros, most can't. Sure, I can hit an occasional 320 yard bomb...but it's rare, and that's me swinging like an idiot, something no respectable tour pro would be doing. My controlled drive would probably be closer to 230-250 yards. Which is closer to low-range LPGA stats. I'm sure there are LPGA players that could hit 300 at will too, but they would never be swinging that swing in a competition.

Make sense?

And again, you're posting tournament results where these guys have to keep it in the (albeit wide as hell) "fairway". Let them just uncork with no consequences and see what the distance from the tee box to the final ball position is.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by res0n0xg

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomerboy

I don't count balls that are two fairways over or that I plop in the water, but I do count them if they are in the rough. I would say that if I only counted fairways, it may not be completely accurate either (at least for me), because it only counts drives that were hit will. If I slice it, I take off distance pretty significantly (on a slice, I can basically drive up 250 and turn right and find the ball most of the time) but I see where you are coming from.

But I'm mainly talking about 10-15 yard to the left or right of the fairway, maybe as much as 30 every now and then. Still in the rough, but playable.

you're still a liar. you drive as far on average as the number 1 player on tour and hit 375 yard drives with no wind on a flat surface? you should be famous. please show us famous articles and pictures of you shattering records and blowing out nearby windows in houses after you tee off. Last i checked i don't see the tour pros hitting 350 even down wind hardly ever. While it can be done, and I've done it maybe a handful of times down wind. averaging over 305 off the tee is extremely difficult, much less for a 10 handicap, which is in the range I play. there are far too many hooks, slight mishits, etc. from the big club that hurt distance a bunch.

Nobody argues this hard without evidence to support his contention unless there is an ulterior motive - makes no difference at all what Tiger or Bubba do, this isn't about them..  Sounds to me like res0n0xg is just jealous.  Otherwise there is no good reason for him to be so passionate about someone else's claims.  Why do some people just have to be jerks about this?  What is it to you if he does or doesn't perform as claimed?

I hit a few 300+ yard drives after I was in my 60's.   I was hitting up to 280 back in 1990 with a 1986 era, 43" steel shafted TaylorMade driver and Titleist Tour balata ball.  No not AVERAGING 280, up to that.  Want to refute that too?  Just because you can't do it, that doesn't make it impossible.