Average Distances - How Far Do You Hit Each Club? (And Don't Lie!)

[Lihu]

Huh?

You hit your 5i 195. That's a pretty long way to hit. I was just joking suggesting that with a lefty set of your irons like yours that I can also hit that far. Joking, of course.

[Slice of Life]

You hit your 5i 195. That's a pretty long way to hit. I was just joking suggesting that with a lefty set of your irons like yours that I can also hit that far. Joking, of course.

It carries 200 if I really hit it...but actually my distance has gone down a hair since I'm trying to slow down my swing. Closer to 180-185.

Plus, as a reference, my current 5 iron has the same loft angle as my old Nike Slingshot 4 iron. So it's a little skewed...

[Lihu]

It carries 200 if I really hit it...but actually my distance has gone down a hair since I'm trying to slow down my swing. Closer to 180-185.

Plus, as a reference, my current 5 iron has the same loft angle as my old Nike Slingshot 4 iron. So it's a little skewed...

. . .but still far. 180-185 is a great distance to hit that iron. Nice.

I'm still working on my swing, but even so I think I might max out at roughly 175 yards with the 5i.

[Slice of Life]

. . .but still far. 180-185 is a great distance to hit that iron. Nice.

I'm still working on my swing, but even so I think I might max out at roughly 175 yards with the 5i.

Yeah, but you're a 14...so you win lol.

[Lihu]

Yeah, but you're a 14...so you win lol.

I played like crap Sunday. 23.5 differential, 3 doubles and a 9. Yuck. It happens, I just record it.

[ChrisWev]

This thread amazes me. I'm guessing nobody overstates their handicap (ie bandits) on here, so most peoples handicap is around their lowest number, so I would guess a lot are one or two numbers higher. With that in mind there are some crazy numbers on here for people listed with very average handicaps. I'm currently off 18 via the CONGU method which would have me at a 90 swing speed on the chart's below (232 total on this chart which would be about right). I know I personally swing my club about 7-10mph faster than 90mph as this is reflected in my Irons which are hit much more cleanly (9-6I anyway). My driver hits are off centre (usually a bit off the heel recently) 50% of the time, bleeding distance with fade/ slice, which is probably accounting for my distance loss for my actual swing speed.

Average total distance of centre/ clean hits in the cold, wet UK, taken from "Gamegolf" with about 8 rounds of data. I've only been playing 5 months (about 1000 holes) which means my numbers are changing by the day as I'm changing my swing etc, quite a few bad hits/ knock downs might be dragging these number averages down.

D: 223 (264 max recorded, without outside influence, wind/ hills etc)

3W: 210 (259 max)

5W: 190 (216 max)

3Hy: 180 (226 max)

4: Don't use yet

5: Not enough data

6: 162 (200 max)

7: 152 (175 max)

8: 145 (174 max)

9: 127 (162 max)

W: 114 (140 max)

52: 95

SW: 85

58: 70-100 (depends if I thin it )

Obviously those numbers don't probably reflect the true gaps but I think they will with a bit more data. I'm hoping to get on a launch monitor and gap test once I stop messing with my swing in big ways.

Some people on here are quoting 270+ with D and 170 7I, and probably playing off 15-20, you boys are either lying or you need to spend some time chipping and putting as your short game is playing off about 50.

[18rounds]

Some people on here are quoting 270+ with D and 170 7I, and probably playing off 15-20, you boys are either lying or you need to spend some time chipping and putting as your short game is playing off about 50.

I don't think distance and handicap are tied to each other. Sure, to get into low single or + handicap a golfer need to be fairly long but handicap is much more an indication of consistancy than length. I recently played with a guy that was shorter than me with every single club but at the end of the round he had taken 16 fewer strokes. If I could take 20 yards of every club and tighten the grouping I would gladly do it.

[ChrisWev]

I agree they're not 100%, they could never be, but there's gotta be an 80% correlation. No way does somebody who hits 270 consistently with the Driver play off 20, it would be practically impossible, I've never seen anyone's short game that bad. Saying that, I've seen lads playing off scratch and very low single digits that even struggle to reach those numbers. With the fact driver is probably the most unforgiving club there is with regards to hook and slice. I'd hazard a guess some people smash it straight into the deck and it rolls 70 yards as much as they hit their numbers on here.

Some of the numbers for the 7I are also a bit suspect, can hit "170" yet playing off 20? You could tee off with a 7I, hit it again and reach a 340 Par 4 in regulation (or be pin high) with those numbers.

I could play off my handicap with 5 clubs if I could hit the numbers some people quote on here .

[MPtheKid]

The majority of the numbers posted in here are pure comedy.

Typical comment:

"I'm a beginner, have never worked with a coach, and my HC is 30 but my average drive is 290-310. My short game is terrible!"

Yeah, okay buddy.

[ChrisWev]

The majority of the numbers posted in here are pure comedy.

Typical comment:

"I'm a beginner, have never worked with a coach, and my HC is 30 but my average drive is 290-310. My short game is terrible!"

Yeah, okay buddy.

Yeah, I totally agree :)

[18rounds]

I agree they're not 100%, they could never be, but there's gotta be an 80% correlation. No way does somebody who hits 270 consistently with the Driver play off 20, it would be practically impossible, I've never seen anyone's short game that bad. Saying that, I've seen lads playing off scratch and very low single digits that even struggle to reach those numbers. With the fact driver is probably the most unforgiving club there is with regards to hook and slice. I'd hazard a guess some people smash it straight into the deck and it rolls 70 yards as much as they hit their numbers on here. Some of the numbers for the 7I are also a bit suspect, can hit "170" yet playing off 20? You could tee off with a 7I, hit it again and reach a 340 Par 4 in regulation (or be pin high) with those numbers. I could play off my handicap with 5 clubs if I could hit the numbers some people quote on here :-$ .

I would love for some of the instructors to weigh in on this. I do infact hit my 7i 165-170 distance isn't the issue. 170 but 40 yards left of the green will show up on the scorecard and not in a good way. I golf with a guy that averages 270+ with his driver. It's not unusual for him to hit 300. However, he seldom breaks 100. Because 270 yards can get you in a whole lot of trouble. I would guess the rest of his game is bogey or even a bit better but he has so many penalties from lost balls off the tee that bogey is usually a dream. after a certain basic threshold I would say length has little to do with handicap.

[dnaygs]

I'm not sure about average, but these are when I hit the ball solid. Driver: 250-280 3W: 240 5W: 230 4i: 210 5i: 200 6i: 180 7i: 170 8i: 160 9i: 150 PW: 140 AW: 120 SW: 100 LW: 80

[ChrisWev]

I would love for some of the instructors to weigh in on this.

I do infact hit my 7i 165-170 distance isn't the issue. 170 but 40 yards left of the green will show up on the scorecard and not in a good way.

I golf with a guy that averages 270+ with his driver. It's not unusual for him to hit 300. However, he seldom breaks 100. Because 270 yards can get you in a whole lot of trouble. I would guess the rest of his game is bogey or even a bit better but he has so many penalties from lost balls off the tee that bogey is usually a dream.

after a certain basic threshold I would say length has little to do with handicap.

The thing I don't understand is to hit 270 (in any direction) you need to be hitting it cleanly off the centre of the club, unless you've got an inefficient swing which is much faster than a tour pro who uses an optimal launch driver for their speed (9 deg quoted). I'd like to know what driver and loft they have to achieve this as I'd assume most are in the 10-12 deg loft range which to my knowledge would max out at 270 with a 20 handicappers inefficiency.

According to what I know, if you're hitting it cleanly to that distance it's gotta be going roughly in a straight line (Pull, straight, Push) and as I'm sure most peoples troubles in that handicap area are going to be a slice they're going to lose distance due to that slice. If I Av 225 with the driver and I slice the ball it goes about 170, physics says anything not optimal will reduce energy into the ball. To hit it bad and it go 270 would require some serious swing speed numbers.

Anyone whacking one 270 into the trees or onto the next fairway all the time is going to get an awful lot of doubles and not a lot of carry, even the pro's do that so how a 20 handicap guy does the same to recover as a tour pro is a miracle.

Also the point with the 7i, this will need a clean hit too and good swing speed to produce numbers over 160, but due to the loft/ d-plane this should be difficult to slice/ hook? Obviously 40 yards left or right isn't going to help, and I've done it but to do that with a 7i takes some doing from 150 yards from the green. It would be like a 30% push/ pull?

I might be talking crap (like I said I've only been playing 5 months) but the numbers just don't seem to add up to me. I think people lying to them selves or being ignorant of their real numbers can be very dangerous.

In 70 rounds (fair enough I play a lot on my own, but my course is one of the busiest in the world so I end up watching people often) I've seen one guy hit 300 and he said that was the drive of his life, he drove the green whilst I was on it .

Sorry if I sound argumentative, I don't mean it to sound like that, I'm just amazed in all honesty.

[Lihu]

I don't think distance and handicap are tied to each other. Sure, to get into low single or + handicap a golfer need to be fairly long but handicap is much more an indication of consistancy than length.

I recently played with a guy that was shorter than me with every single club but at the end of the round he had taken 16 fewer strokes.

If I could take 20 yards of every club and tighten the grouping I would gladly do it.

I disagree, handicap and distance do correlate.

Swing speed and distance do not always correlate. This might be due to mechanics and where you hit on the face.

I agree they're not 100%, they could never be, but there's gotta be an 80% correlation. No way does somebody who hits 270 consistently with the Driver play off 20, it would be practically impossible, I've never seen anyone's short game that bad. Saying that, I've seen lads playing off scratch and very low single digits that even struggle to reach those numbers. With the fact driver is probably the most unforgiving club there is with regards to hook and slice. I'd hazard a guess some people smash it straight into the deck and it rolls 70 yards as much as they hit their numbers on here.

Some of the numbers for the 7I are also a bit suspect, can hit "170" yet playing off 20? You could tee off with a 7I, hit it again and reach a 340 Par 4 in regulation (or be pin high) with those numbers.

I could play off my handicap with 5 clubs if I could hit the numbers some people quote on here .

Yes, and this agrees with my experience on the course watching maybe a couple hundred golfers or so. People driving <200 tend to shoot double bogey, 200-220 shoot bogey , and people driving >250 tend to be in the single digits.

The thing I don't understand is to hit 270 (in any direction) you need to be hitting it cleanly off the centre of the club, unless you've got an inefficient swing which is much faster than a tour pro who uses an optimal launch driver for their speed (9 deg quoted). I'd like to know what driver and loft they have to achieve this as I'd assume most are in the 10-12 deg loft range which to my knowledge would max out at 270 with a 20 handicappers inefficiency.

According to what I know, if you're hitting it cleanly to that distance it's gotta be going roughly in a straight line (Pull, straight, Push) and as I'm sure most peoples troubles in that handicap area are going to be a slice they're going to lose distance due to that slice. If I Av 225 with the driver and I slice the ball it goes about 170, physics says anything not optimal will reduce energy into the ball. To hit it bad and it go 270 would require some serious swing speed numbers.

Anyone whacking one 270 into the trees or onto the next fairway all the time is going to get an awful lot of doubles and not a lot of carry, even the pro's do that so how a 20 handicap guy does the same to recover as a tour pro is a miracle.

Also the point with the 7i, this will need a clean hit too and good swing speed to produce numbers over 160, but due to the loft/ d-plane this should be difficult to slice/ hook? Obviously 40 yards left or right isn't going to help, and I've done it but to do that with a 7i takes some doing from 150 yards from the green. It would be like a 30% push/ pull?

I might be talking crap (like I said I've only been playing 5 months) but the numbers just don't seem to add up to me. I think people lying to them selves or being ignorant of their real numbers can be very dangerous.

In 70 rounds (fair enough I play a lot on my own, but my course is one of the busiest in the world so I end up watching people often) I've seen one guy hit 300 and he said that was the drive of his life, he drove the green whilst I was on it .

I have seen people who do hit farther than tour pros. Some of them make more money doing other things than tour pros, so they are not pros. Some are family oriented and chose other career paths. Didn't interest them.

There is also a lot of controversy concerning distances, many golf magazines think the average person drives 180 and the average person thinks they drive 200+. I think the actual number depends upon where you play.

[ChrisWev]

I have seen people who do hit farther than tour pros. Some of them make more money doing other things than tour pros, so they are not pros. Some are family oriented and chose other career paths. Didn't interest them.

Yeah of course there will people people out there, seen a few on you tube like Gorilla James on Mark Crossfield's youtube channel. He can get to 300 no problem, although it's wayward, his short game is about the worst I've seen of anyone

Fair play if someone can make more than the average tour pro though, good on them

[Lihu]

Yeah of course there will people people out there, seen a few on you tube like Gorilla James on Mark Crossfield's youtube channel. He can get to 300 no problem, although it's wayward, his short game is about the worst I've seen of anyone <15 Hcp, but he is still a scratch player as most of the course is eaten up with his drive. He normally goes 1: Drive the green (30 yards left of it), crap chip onto the green somewhere far from the hole, long first putt, holes second put for par. 2: bogey, 3: drive green and 2 putt for birdie. He's going into long drive next year though, competed in Belgium or something this year, can't see him making more money than a tour pro though.

Fair play if someone can make more than the average tour pro though, good on them

I wasn't thinking of youtube people, but a few people I have actually played rounds with this last year who carry around 300 yards or more. Plus, James wants to turn pro in something golf related.

A lot more golfers carry 250 to 270 than we are led to think, and I am in a foursome with at least one person per week who can do this. Talent is out there.

The average tour pro does not make millions of dollars, and there is a lot of pressure because almost everyone plays within a stroke or two of each other per round.

[ChrisWev]

A lot more golfers carry 250 to 270 than we are led to think, and I am in a foursome with at least one person per week who can do this. Talent is out there.

The average tour pro does not make millions of dollars, and there is a lot of pressure because almost everyone plays within a stroke or two of each other per round.

Oh of course there are, my point is 75% of people playing off 20 claim that sort of distance on here (whether they're on about carry or total on a rock hard concrete course is a different matter). I'd say a good 95% of people in the 20 Hcp region would be easily below 250.

Yeah I just checked, the middle guy on the US PGA in 2011 still took home 600k, so it's not to be sniffed at. I appreciate it's less on the European tour and much smaller on other tours.

[Lihu]

Oh of course there are, my point is 75% of people playing off 20 claim that sort of distance on here (whether they're on about carry or total on a rock hard concrete course is a different matter). I'd say a good 95% of people in the 20 Hcp region would be easily below 250.

Yeah I just checked, the middle guy on the US PGA in 2011 still took home 600k, so it's not to be sniffed at. I appreciate it's less on the European tour and much smaller on other tours.

That's like 60-80 golfers in the world.

I don't think 75% of the people playing off 20 HC claim to be hitting 250 yards, although I agree a lot do. 250 yards is a really long way to hit a golf ball.

However, the golfers on this site seem to be more serious about accuracy than other sites. This is the main appeal of this site. We used to have "distance police" to keep things straight. Not sure what happened to them. Maybe you can keep an eye on the HC and the distances, and scoff at them as they post.

The only issue is now people will post 2 HC and 250 yards distances. You can't tell they're full of it until they post something that makes absolutely no sense. It is the internet, after all.