20+ handicappers hitting 300 yards (mild rant)

[starchuk]

I think there's a difference between the ability to hit one 300 and making it the average. A 20 handicapper will probably miss one every few rounds and it will go 30 yards. He'll have to hit 10 drives over 325 to keep the average up.

And what goes into the average? 3 wood or irons off the tee & drives into the woods & maybe the mulligan that some 20 handicappers take?

PGA tour driving distance averages around 280, give or take a few.

[Metanoia75]

Well, there are people out there who actually do crank it up and let 'em rip...only to find they got nowhere near to the fairway and then took the long road back home...as they say for some people a par 4 for them means 4 to get on to the green and 4 to putt...
what handicap you expect them to have!

[mkrolewski]

I am not sure about the entire premise of this thread.

I must admit I have meet very few long ball hitters. And that includes watching other foursomes out on the course at the same time. I know even less players that are consistently long and high HCs. So the initial premise may be a bit skewed by the very small sample.

As a high handicapper, I understand the fish stories on distance. Until the GPS became common, everyone was hitting the ball long. Now you really can measure the distance. I still see people thinking their 170 yd drives are 240. Even the most conservative golfers often add 30 yds to their drives. I know few golfers that accurately track their shots.

In addition, most people measure performance by median values eg constituting the middle value of an ordered set of values. That one duff and that snap hook on the 5th as well as that fabulous 300+ yd center of the fairway beauty are an outliers and discounted or ignored. If you hit the ball 220 most of the time, that is your "average".


As to being a high handicapper and hitting 300 and scoring badly is not really that hard. My few 300 yd drives (center of fairway btw) were immediately followed by 2 botched approaches and a 3 putt for a double bogey 6. And consider the starting position on the green, the 3 putt was actually good golf. I personally can attest to not being about to get to the green with any efficiency -- long, short, good lies, bad lies. It really does not matter for me. I can miss from almost any place or distance. And when I reach the green, I am often over 24 feet away. I realize it can be done because occasionally, I do make the shot . Thus my desire this year to work on that part of my game.

[Ollie56]

many people think they hit it much further than they actually do of course.

I know (or at least I think I do) That my longest drive is just under 290 yards. The hole is a Par 4 310 yards

You had to use the winter mat on this hole as it was wet, which is about 20 yards foward of the stone that says 310 yards.

I smashed the heck outta the ball and it landed n the fringe of the green pin high

I dont think I could ever hit 300 in a while lol

[colin007]

i think many people dont realize how LONG 300 yds is. many here that are posting prolly think that something thats actually 270 is 300. there is a big difference. go to a tour event. watch them hit a ball from up close. then notice how markedly different it is when they hit the ball and when you hit the ball. it sounds different, the shot shape is different, the launch angle is different. they are on a completely different planet.

[RC]

It's been said before here, but let's say your are planing a 460 yard par 4 that doglegs left and you hit the big high hook over the corner and wind up 110 yards out -- wow, you hit it 350 yards. But the handy GPS says it only went 290 yards, with a slight downhill run out and helping wind. I would guess that same shot into the wind would go mayber 250 yards, so you average 270 yards. Well, that is still two yards longer than the tour average from just the recent past. Today I think the tour average is actually 278 yards (last I looked.) I don't doubt most anyone has hit a 300 yard drive under some conditions.

I hit one 428 yards on a straight-a-way down wind level fairway last year and have gone over the green twice on holes around 370 yards... but I really doubt I average more than about 280, probably less. I still think the main number is how far you hit one in the air, and those that can get over a hazard at 260 yards are plenty long enough to shoot par golf on most any course.

[flopdarock]

i got ahold of one today... 318 par4... managed to hit it on the cusp of the fringe... it was really windy today and the ball ran like a track star... hahaha... i cant say much for the other shots... but that one was a beauty...
i turn around on the 181 par3 and only hit the ball 70 yrds... gotta love the game

[msd3075]

One thing I've noticed is that even if people do calculate their driving distance with a GPS, when they say to someone what their average distance is they'll say a number that around what their longest drive is. SOmeone might average 260 off the tee, but on a downhill hole with wind at their back they'll measure one at 285. All of a sudden they think they average 280ish off the tee.

I probably average around 290-300 off the tee. A long drive on certain holes might go 310-315, and on some holes it might be more around 275 or so.

[birdiemachine]

on a flat hole with no wind, i hit it over 300 yards, no problem, im sure i could even hit it farther if i had a longer driver, ive played with 20 handciappers that ou drive me, easily.

When a dude cant chip or putt, its obvious why they are 20's.

With big drivers, 300 is no biggy anymore. Rolling the rock is still and forever will be the "name of the game"

[svchiefs19]

short game shaves strokes. driving 300 yards is very impressive, but if you cant do well within 75 yards, then your screwed.

i know that id rather drive 250-260 and be somewhat decent at my short game. that would give me the best chance at success.

[Titleist Man]

short game shaves strokes. driving 300 yards is very impressive, but if you cant do well within 75 yards, then your screwed.

Completely agreed

[LongDrive04]

lol, I can hit it long but that doesnt necessarily mean that I can hit it with much accuracy.

sometimes, but I am pretty inconsistent

[picrig]

This thread seems to be one that never ends, so I figured I would chime in again. I've noticed people (low HCs) recently in this thread say they average 300. That would make them one of the top 20 on tour (as of 2007). Fine, I have no reason to doubt that some of you bomb the ball and simply lack the more than exceptional short game the pros have.

However, I still find it extremely difficult to believe that there are very many, let alone a significant number of 20 HCs who drive the ball 300 yards more than once or twice a year even counting drives that are wind aided. I have tracked the distance of every ball I hit with the driver since Christmas (when I got my GPS). During that time (9 rounds), I have averaged 209 yards with my driver. That includes duffs, tops, shanks, hooks, everything. Now, I'm not a short hitter. I'm 6'0", 180, athletic (3 sports in high school, although golf wasn't one of them) and can get a hold of balls a lot of times. I have only hit 3 drives over 280 (296, 287, 282) yards in the last 8 rounds. Two of the three were with a ~15mph wind at my back and the other was slightly downhill with a good roll. Let me give a recent set of distances for all my drives for my last round:

241
200
181
195
180
215
204
287
150
185
229

So, quite a few drives @ 215 or above, but also a lot between 180 and 200. The 287 yard drive was an absolutely towering drive with a 15mph breeze at my back. If I've ever hit a drive that I felt like it belonged on tour, that was it...and it still wasn't 300 yards. Just my two cents.

[thedoxology]

It is a mistake to quote the average driving distance on tour as a useful stat in this debate, the average takes into account when the player hits ANY club off the tee on par fours and fives, not just driver. So the guys averaging 305, actually hit driver more like 330.

But forgetting relatively useless tour stats, there are far too many golfers out there to say 20 handicappers that hit it 300 don't exist. To me, it seems more accurate to say there aren't many (or any) 20 handicappers that hit it 300 consistently.

Another question is why does any golfer with a handicap higher than 5 play with blades. There are way too many guys on here playing MP-33s or another tour blade. Don't make the game any harder than it needs to be!

Forget driving distance anyway, the game is all in the wedges and putter... practice your short game!

[Ian]

i drive the ball 400 yards and hit a 62* wedge into par 5's

[picrig]

I agree that a lot of tour players can hit the ball 330 (although remember, they're getting a lot more roll on their closely mown fairways than a lot of us are.

It is a mistake to quote the average driving distance on tour as a useful stat in this debate, the average takes into account when the player hits ANY club off the tee on par fours and fives, not just driver

Average driving distance is actually taken as the average of the drive on two preselected holes (one downwind, one upwind), typically chosen as a hole where players will use driver (although they by no means have to).

[flopdarock]

i need to get a laser range finder or a gps unit... i wanna start tracking my driving distances... i know i cant get past 230-250 unless i just get a hold of one pure... id say im more in the 200-210 range... at least on the range thats what the markers say... but id like something to really measure it

[kfowler]

i need to get a laser range finder or a gps unit... i wanna start tracking my driving distances... i know i cant get past 230-250 unless i just get a hold of one pure... id say im more in the 200-210 range... at least on the range thats what the markers say... but id like something to really measure it

IMO, this will be easier with a GPS than a laser. That's my experience anyway.