20+ handicappers hitting 300 yards (mild rant)

[HJJ003]

On 7/31/2018 at 4:18 PM, billchao said:

But it's asinine for people to assume just because someone isn't very good at golf that he's not capable of swinging the club fast.

Yeah I agree with @billchao on this one. I worked for a minor league baseball team, and was a college athlete that played a lot of golf with baseball players. I knew many guys that could absolutely crush a golf ball, but couldn’t break 100 playing by the rules. 

[Casualgolfer]

16 hours ago, HJJ003 said:

Yeah I agree with @billchao on this one. I worked for a minor league baseball team, and was a college athlete that played a lot of golf with baseball players. I knew many guys that could absolutely crush a golf ball, but couldn’t break 100 playing by the rules. 

I'm with this guy. I am a former collegiate baseball player and we can absolutely generate some club speed. Funny enough it seems pitchers may even have the advantage. I was that guy who could average over 300 and shoot over 100. Now I can reach out past 340 and break 80. If you can keep the distance in play it is quite the advantage assuming you have a decent short game.

[Keith Merrington]

I have a 24 handicap and often drive my ball 300 yards.  I work in meters so I am often above the 290 meter mark, but that does not mean the rest of my game is great. It is something I am working on. I have been tested and my swing speed in 124mph on average.  So distance sometimes has nothing to do with how low your handicap is. Just means I can smash the ball further than most on my handicap level. 

[klineka]

10 hours ago, Keith Merrington said:

So distance sometimes has nothing to do with how low your handicap is. 

Sometimes distance isn't related to handicap, but the overwhelming majority of the time, they're directly related. There are studies and data from thousands of golfers that prove this.

[saevel25]

12 hours ago, Keith Merrington said:

I have a 24 handicap and often drive my ball 300 yards.  I work in meters so I am often above the 290 meter mark,

A bit of math, 290 meters would be near 320 yards. So, if you drive the ball 300 yards, then meters would be closer to 272 meters.

12 hours ago, Keith Merrington said:

So distance sometimes has nothing to do with how low your handicap is. Just means I can smash the ball further than most on my handicap level. 

There is a good correlation between distance and handicap. As with any statistic, there are the few outliers. Outliers do not disprove a generalization.

[Nail]

I had a round in July on a course I hadn’t played before. I had 6 drives that were over 300 yards and a couple of 280-290’s. I still shot 26 over par. I can post up the round if anyone doubts me. I was wearing my garmin watch so the round is on my phone. 

I don’t average over 300 because of the amount of offline, out of bounds, snap hooks, pushes etc. My irons were a disaster that day and I had a few 3 putts. 

My point is I well believe that people can have a 20 plus handicap and drive it 300 yards, I don’t believe they average 300 yards however. 

[Daniel Coleman]

I am 5’8”, 200lbs, 20+ handicap, drive the ball 300+, longest drive 330 yards, been playing 15+ years, 34 years old.

I signed up to this forum JUST to leave this comment and I SWEAR to you my words are true.

I get it... drive for show, putt for dough, but DAMN does it feel good to smash that golf ball!

[dennyjones]

@Daniel Coleman welcome to TST.   We're glad you joined.   Obviously you've read quite a bit of the forum to leave this post.     

 

If you do drive it 300+, you are in a minority.   I'm not in a position to discount your statement 

But...

1 hour ago, Daniel Coleman said:

I get it... drive for show, putt for dough, but DAMN does it feel good to smash that golf ball!

This is just not true.   The scientific data here on the forum is overwhelming.     Golfers that hit the ball further, score better on average. 

 

[klineka]

1 hour ago, Daniel Coleman said:

drive the ball 300+, longest drive 330 yards

I SWEAR to you my words are true.

That's cool. You are definitely in the minority for your handicap. Now if you want anyone here to believe you, prove it. Post launch monitor numbers, your yardages from a stats keeping tool, etc.

1 hour ago, Daniel Coleman said:

I get it... drive for show, putt for dough

Has been proven false with things like strokes gained. 

Edited February 1, 2019 by klineka

[DaveP043]

2 hours ago, Daniel Coleman said:

I am 5’8”, 200lbs, 20+ handicap, drive the ball 300+, longest drive 330 yards, been playing 15+ years, 34 years old.

I signed up to this forum JUST to leave this comment and I SWEAR to you my words are true.

I get it... drive for show, putt for dough, but DAMN does it feel good to smash that golf ball!

Welcome to TST, please continue to chime in whenever you want to add to the conversations.

Taking you at your word, as @dennyjones says you are a rarity.  But if you have the combination of strength and echanics to hit the ball 300 yards, you have the basic tools to be a pretty good player.  I hope you find a way to get there.  Also as @dennyjones says, putt for dough is overrated.  Drive in play, hit on or near the greens, that's the route to better scores.

[ChetlovesMer]

I believe if you've played golf for any length of time you will encounter "that" guy. I met one a few years back. He could legitimately and consistently hit it 300+ yards. But he still shot in the upper 90's and sometimes worse. 

Having said that, far far FAR more often guys who hit it a long way are also shooting lower scores. I can't think of anybody else who regularly outdrives me and whom I regularly beat. But that one guy sticks in our memories. (At least mine.) Dude was a beast, but simply not that good at golf. Nice guy though. 

[Lihu]

38 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

I believe if you've played golf for any length of time you will encounter "that" guy. I met one a few years back. He could legitimately and consistently hit it 300+ yards. But he still shot in the upper 90's and sometimes worse. 

Having said that, far far FAR more often guys who hit it a long way are also shooting lower scores. I can't think of anybody else who regularly outdrives me and whom I regularly beat. But that one guy sticks in our memories. (At least mine.) Dude was a beast, but simply not that good at golf. Nice guy though. 

My son ran into a similar player during a competitive round. Drove something like 330 on average but was terrible at golf. Hit a few straight off the tee too, but on sharp dog legged holes. The second shots would be equally impressively long shots into the woods or OB. Really really bad golf for so much hitting talent. Good thing he was really good at baseball. 😁

Consistently shot 55s on 9 holes during competition...

The holes were capped at triple 😜

[Vinsk]

13 hours ago, Daniel Coleman said:

I am 5’8”, 200lbs, 20+ handicap, drive the ball 300+, longest drive 330 yards, been playing 15+ years, 34 years old.

I signed up to this forum JUST to leave this comment and I SWEAR to you my words are true.

I get it... drive for show, putt for dough, but DAMN does it feel good to smash that golf ball!

I’m not calling you a liar at all, but unless your yardages are from a monitor I’m not sure I buy it yet. Doing quasi-measures on the golf course can cause some false readings. Sign says hole is 400yds...you hit your drive, get to your ball and you have 100yds to the flag...oh...I just drove it 300yds! Too many variables at play. Just a thought. If you’ve hit on a Trackman or FlightScope and got those numbers then power to ya. 

[Lihu]

7 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

I’m not calling you a liar at all, but unless your yardages are from a monitor I’m not sure I buy it yet. Doing quasi-measures on the golf course can cause some false readings. Sign says hole is 400yds...you hit your drive, get to your ball and you have 100yds to the flag...oh...I just drove it 300yds! Too many variables at play. Just a thought. If you’ve hit on a Trackman or FlightScope and got those numbers then power to ya. 

Seems like someone who’s been playing 15 years should know?

[klineka]

3 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Seems like someone who’s been playing 15 years should know?

Number of years playing is largely irrelevant if you calculate your distance the way @Vinsk described. 

[Vinsk]

10 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Seems like someone who’s been playing 15 years should know?

I don’t think that means anything. And honestly someone who’s still a 20+ hcp after 15yrs...I don’t see that person putting too much time in monitors or lessons or anything outside just playing.

[Daniel Coleman]

31 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

I’m not calling you a liar at all, but unless your yardages are from a monitor I’m not sure I buy it yet. Doing quasi-measures on the golf course can cause some false readings. Sign says hole is 400yds...you hit your drive, get to your ball and you have 100yds to the flag...oh...I just drove it 300yds! Too many variables at play. Just a thought. If you’ve hit on a Trackman or FlightScope and got those numbers then power to ya. 

There’s no mistaking monster drives. I’m definitely not down to a gnats ass regarding exact calculations of yardage, but a good indication of my length is when I’m on the green in 2 on 575 yard par 5s, or driving par 4 greens. 

I say the only nay sayers are short hitters. 

Long ball hitters understand!

 

😂😂😂

9 hours ago, Lihu said:

My son ran into a similar player during a competitive round. Drove something like 330 on average but was terrible at golf. Hit a few straight off the tee too, but on sharp dog legged holes. The second shots would be equally impressively long shots into the woods or OB. Really really bad golf for so much hitting talent. Good thing he was really good at baseball. 😁

Consistently shot 55s on 9 holes during competition...

The holes were capped at triple 😜

Amen!

🏌️😂

[Buckeyebowman]

On 11/8/2018 at 10:01 AM, saevel25 said:

A bit of math, 290 meters would be near 320 yards. So, if you drive the ball 300 yards, then meters would be closer to 272 meters.

There is a good correlation between distance and handicap. As with any statistic, there are the few outliers. Outliers do not disprove a generalization.

But also remember that correlation does not equal causation. And there are outliers. My buddy's BIL is a case in point. He's a beginner, not that big, but strong as an ox! If you blink, you might miss his swing! When he catches one, he can hit it a mile! In no way does he "average" 300 yards on a drive, because he's usually off in the tall and uncut! 

On the rare day when he is on his game, he can smash drive after drive right down the middle. However, he cannot hit approach shots, pitches, or chip shots to save his life. Oddly enough, the dude can putt like a wizard! 

So. when we're scrambling against the girls, I'm happy to putt first to give this guy an idea about the line and the speed. When he's on, he can help us a lot, but left to his own devices I doubt he could break 100!