20+ handicappers hitting 300 yards (mild rant)

[Fat Slice]

My record drive so far is a total distance of about 340 yards on a par 5 course shaped to be if you hit the ball just right and carry it about 250 yards (from the white tees) the slope will roll the ball downhill and put you between 150 and 100 from the hole.

I just did something like that the other day and ended up 88 yards from the pin on a par 5. The crappy part is that the downhill roll collects into a crappy lie - sort of takes the fun out of 380 yard 'drive'.

[Three Putt]

Roy McIlroy once hit a 7 iron around 400 yards. But he was a former tour pro, so I guess that doesn't count?

[st0wgolf08]

Roy McIlroy once hit a 7 iron around 400 yards. But he was a former tour pro, so I guess that doesn't count?

Off a cliff with 2 cart path bounces??

[st0wgolf08]

I once drove a 530 yard drive! I was playing in a torny at Legends Trail Golf Club in Scottsdale AZ, I think it was the 16th, par 5.

Honestly, no offense but unless it was straight down hill, playing an M speed, I'm guessing you don't drive it farther than 250, so if your hit a great drive 250 even down hill with a cart path, I don't think that can go 530. If you can thread the needle enough to hit a 3 foot wide target, idk how you can chip and 3 putt.

[Titleist Man]

Size and weight don't have a whole lot to do with how far you can hit the ball. I'm 6 foot tall and weigh 165 and although I can't drive it 300 yards, I believe my average to be somewhere around 270-280. Also, I know big guys who have decent swings but only get there 9 iron around 130-140 yard whereas me, a lightweight, can get a 9 iron to 150-160. Technique, most importantly weight shift and lag, largely determines how far you can hit the ball.

Look at anthony kim hes like 5 10 or something and he averages at least 285

[Chas]

OK OK, since some of us are freely boasting about our longest "non-standard" drives, my best one was a 285 yarder with my Taylor 3W (par 4) on the course in my development (playing as a guest, I'm not a member). Hit it pure, slight draw, the fairway slopes down a long way towards the green and the ground was really hard (no rain in months). Ergo, the ball just rolled and rolled well past the fairway bunkers and a 3/4 SW from the pin.

Of course I bogey the blasted hole anyway.

[TheNatural]

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

Response Hello Mates. I just started playing, 16 months ago with my dad. I am hooked. I am 6-4 230lbs and from the start was able to drive 280yds with a slice that would frighten.I learned to aim left and found a few fairways, with a $30 Ram and $20 Daly Driver. After 2 months I tried an interlocking grip and my dad gave me his TaylMade drvier, what a diff. 300yds on half my drives,BUT technique lack of lessons, caused mishits and drives of100 yd range some even 50 yds. Hence20+hc. I practiced for hours and days with my 60loft and got it to the point where I could comfortbly hit it from 5yds-110 yds, I have had rounds with 30 putts and many with fewer than 40. Par3 were my greatest challeng so I focused on iron play from the tee, improved that. My best scores were 9 months ago had a 96. 97 on 2 courses in 2 days, 139 slope 73 rating/130slope 70 rating from blues.Even won a long drive in a tourn. with 120 golfers half of which had 9hc or better(290 drive won it, 2 holes later hit one 340) The curse is not havng the time to play, family work etc. I now am a worm burner, I drive 300 but 1 out 8 hits, 7 go into ground/once i hit the ladies tee and bounced for another 230yds. I need lessons, grip is too strong, BUT I want to go to a Xtra stif shaft with maybe a 15loft driver. I am at 9.5 and normal flex with 2inch ext. tm-x5 driver. I have played about 50 rounds so far and my pairings say they have never witnessed a more powerful swing by anyone they have played with. I am going to golfsmith to time my swing in a day or two to help solve my problem. The ss and my shaft flex are causing so much lag that the club face is still pointing down at impact and skipping over the ball causing ubelievable top spin and dive. I now drive around 100yds due to problem but still score 103 102 due to improved short game. (counting in the penalty strokes)if I can get to consistent driving i would be -20 hc. I have hit balls over 350 yds when they have good launch angle, but only a few. It is possible but uncommon, I am one who knows, but if I can sort it out, I wont be a 20hc. My buds say I am perfect for a bestball tourn, b/c I have talent just not refined so I contribute about 30 strokes in a 4 some scoring 65-70.(long irons,loft and drives) When I hit long I use a loft club (PW also) on par 4 to hit green. Par 5 (5 iron & no more to hit green or approach) I lost the talent to hit a 3 wood, but may get a x shaft 7 wood for tests. My pop hits 250 down middle 99% of time, I can only wish for such consistency. I will score 3 pars, 2 birds, 6 boges, 5 db, 2 blow up hole almost every round. At times I seem like a sandbagger others like a complete hack. Cant wait to see my SS. I would score under 20hc if I didnt blow up 2 holes a round, the blow ups always start with a wormburner drive. When I have a good drive the ball spin still goes forward it seems, ball seems to roll forever. I no longer go right or left at all/straight. The most carry I remember is a cold morning I let my anger get the better of me on a drive,,i dropped my shoulder on recoil and the reflex was so great that i felt the ball compress and carry was over 300 yds(same hole I won that long drive on). ill never know what dist could have been b/c i plugged 3 inch deep on impact with fairway, it was a towering drive that went slightly right to left. I am reading that anyone hitting a ball w 300 yd carry should go x shaft, should I go x shaft and 15 loft? or will x shaft help solve club face problems? thanks for reading to the end...

[TheNatural]

I have also hit a 337 yd par 4 and put it on the green, problem was that it was around a blindspot(hill) when we truned the hill my pop saw a man putting a ball w the flag in, while the 3other players of his foursome were in their carts. When he saw my dad he pickd up ball and didnt finish his putt. He grabbed the ball and ran to his golf cart. The green was wide open with 80yds of lowcut rough, easily visible and trajectory put it on the green. After talking to my pop, he told me what happend I approached the 4some at adjacent tee and apologized for possibly hitting towards them. Kindly asked if they had seen my ball, they replied no. That was the 17th tee and we were behind them for 5 holes at a snails pace. I dropped on 16 and bogey'd and by the time we got to 18 tee they were gone and 18 takes 30 minutes for a 4some on this course. Theory, they saw me and realized I may be very angry at one of their 4some.

[TheNatural]

Is there an advice forum"?

[Les]

All i can say is that im a new golfer only playing for the last 40 years but that being said, some things i have found.
1. We all hit the ball farther than Tiger
2. Swing better than Bobby Jones
3. Putt better than Ben Crensaw
4. Score worse than John Daly at Hooters

What a wonderfull game golf is

[golddigger]

When I played of a handicap of 6 I could not hit it past 260 to 270 yards on a good day.

Now play of 10 and only hit it now about 220 to 240 yards



Have Ping G10 driver 9 degrees of loft with a stiff shaft

[Brakkus]

I have been amazed by all the back and forth claims and accusations.I still haven't read anyone who is a high handicapper here claiming to average 300 yds,but lots have claimed to have hit one and I won't dispute it they mostly sounded quite reasonable.

Myself I think the lust for distance is connected to manliness and when someone asks us how far we hit ball we need some impressive numbers to come up with and even other golfers ask you how far you hit it or boast of their yardage.

When someone asks me I just say I hit it straight.At the end of the day ballflight is all I care about even I slightly duff my 6 iron and hit it 100 yds,if it's straight then I don't care.

No good blasting the ball with all these huge yardages like 200 yds with a 7 iron if it ends up in heavy rough or under a tree.I'll take 160-170 with my 7 into the heart of the green anyday.

[iluv5pam]

about 4 years ago, i could put out 300+ yard drives fairly commonly. now, my average was not 300 and of course the ball didn't always find its way to the fairway, maybe a fairway to the right or left of the other holes. my index back then was around 12-13. average drive was around 280. its possible, but should not be as common as we see around the net these days.

now, average drive is 260ish, but index has gotten much better, down to 5.7

i found out the hard way that although i can smash a golf ball, giving myself the chance for a GIR was a better scoring opportunity.

[TheNatural]

I envy my pops 250 yd straight drive...i agree hitting a 5 iron 200 yds is never good, but when you top a ball 50 yds ...i dont have the self control to say.. hit it smooth 150 160, still being new ...i get angry and smack the ball. Mostly angy b/c when I started I sliced 280 yds but it actually went past the ladies tee. Ill take that any day...

[Petden]

I envy my pops 250 yd straight drive...i agree hitting a 5 iron 200 yds is never good, but when you top a ball 50 yds ...i dont have the self control to say.. hit it smooth 150 160, still being new ...i get angry and smack the ball. Mostly angy b/c when I started I sliced 280 yds but it actually went past the ladies tee. Ill take that any day...

I have to admit that dont understnad what you are saying here, can you clarify this.

[picrig]

Just to throw in my 2 cents at the end of this long discussion. As my profile shows, I'm about a 17 handicap, improving fairly rapidly (starting playing in June, have knocked about 6-8 strokes off my handicap). I got a GPS for Christmas. Never really knew how far I drove the ball before then other than estimations (would've guessed my average was 230-240). Today was a good example, though, I think of how a 15-20 handicapper can play. It was breezy today (15-20 mph winds) so downwind holes played shirt and vice versa. I record the distance of all my drives w/my GPS, including mishits, shots in the rough, etc, and average them all at the end of the round. For the day, I averaged 226.2 yards on my drives. But, I had 3 drives of 270 yards or more (295, 272, 270). All three of those were downwind. Holes that played crosswind I hit drives between 210 and 235, and then there were of course the few mishits (150, 172, 195). I doubt I could pop a drive 300 w/no wind, but the fact that I hit it 295 today means I can get in the neighborhood on occasion with some wind. But, my average is 70 yards less . Now, as I continue to improve, I expect those 150-200 yard drives to mostly disappear which should push my driving average up closer to the 240 range.

[TheNatural]

there was a person doubting me hitting a 5 iron 220 yds. I was explaining why and how it was that far. example. My dad drives avg. 240-50 straight every time. I know I can drive 280 -300 every time, but lack of a decent club has caused me to drive balls straight to the ground. The knowledge that I can hit that far consistently only to worm burn a 50 yard drive gets me so angry that when I pull out a 5 iron, i hit with all my might, mostly out of anger. The proper technique is to hit %80 and go for a 170 yards 5 iron. in addition my iron play is closed face so a 5 is turned into a 3.
But I do envy my dads consistent driving.

the pro i just met said my shaft was at a senior flex and my ss of 115 was like playing a 3 degree loft with a driver. xshaft here we COME!

[bunkerputt]

When I had a 20 handicap I hit it "325" once. It went like this: I looked at the card and it said Par 4 - 325. I whipped out a driver and tried to crush it, got lucky and hit the fairway with a slight fade. When I got up there, the ball was on the right front fringe of a deep green. The way I told the story was, "I drove the green on a 325 yard par 4". It was all a big lie. Now that I'm honest with myself I can admit that the front of the green was about 295, the yardage on the card was measured from the center and this particular green was deep. Plus there was a 20 mph tail wind and the fairways were rock hard (Texas). I bet that ball probably would have only carried 250 on an LM. Which is probably about a swing speed of 96 or so. That seems consistent with what my old swing could do anyway (No hips, OTT, throw the club away, don't follow through).