Skeptical of reported distances

[Brakkus]

I went out with a 10 Handicapper the other week,in fact our ballstriking wasn't much different apart from a few early topped shots off the tee for me.He was a little bit more accurate too particulary with shorter irons,and our distances were very similar.

Watching him drive the ball,I guess he can get it out there around 270.I have no idea what he averages,and myself I don't know what I average as I don't keep stats.I have had my drives measured with the rangefinder and it seems I fall into the 255-260 range.Again my average must be lower because of duck hooks,OB,and topped drives.

The point is what is distance?It just tells you how far you hit the ball nothing else.It's what that distance accomplishes.The guy I played with killed me around the green which is why he is a 10.
I would love his feel,but he's been playing for 20 years and I have been at it for 2.

[Danattherock]

So many posts on such a simple issue.

Really?

Of course people lie.

We all know that people are lying about the distance they hit their drivers. Same folks are lying about their handicaps. Read a post recently from a 15 handicapper wanting to learn how to chip.

Give me a break

Found this in an article online...

"Golf Digest surveys show that the average golfer's driving distance increased from 193 to 205 yards in the last decade."

From the below article...

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_101967369/





.

[Mr3Putt]

But really y'all are exaggerating how hard it is to average a carray of 260-280. Maybe y'all are just old and out of shape, or just aren't very good athletes, but it's just not that hard to hit the ball 275. It has nothing to do with how good a golfer you are overall. It's ****ing really hard to average 275 WHERE YOU WANT IT, but it's hard to average 220 exactly where you want it too.

Or maybe we've played enough golf to know distances. I've played lots of golf with lots of really strong ball strikers. 275 is a huge drive. To average 275 requires lots of huge drives. The people that can accomplish this are few and far between.

Except on the Internet. There's a course near me that has a bench right near the first tee. Whenever there's a wait, and I've taken my 15 practice putts, I'll sit on the bench and watch the people tee off. When someone really wallops one (or, even if they don't), I'll laser them when they're standing over their next shot. I've probably measured a few hundred shots in my years of playing this course. I can count on one hand the shots in play over 275. This is a relatively flat driving hole, with a slightly elevated teebox. Next time you're playing and someone in the group in front of you has a good/great drive. Pull out a laser and measure the shot. After you do that, keep lasering them as they move away until you get a 300 reading. See how far 300 really is from the great shot you just witnessed. Or,when you wallop one, measure it back to the tee. If you're ever in Pittsburgh, let me know, we can hook up. If your drives average 260, the rounds on me.

[Mr3Putt]

BTW there was no math error. 10 yards past a 300 yard par 4 = 310 yards

You can accurately measure distances with either a skycaddy GPS type device, or a laser rangefinder.

Scorecards and course stakes/yardage indicators are good only for estimates, not accuracy.

[RocketSauce]

Or maybe we've played enough golf to know distances. I've played lots of golf with lots of really strong ball strikers. 275 is a huge drive. To average 275 requires lots of huge drives. The people that can accomplish this are few and far between.

excellent post

[chspeed]

To put things in prespective. Here's a hypothetical round. Let's say you had 12 holes on the course that required driver off the tee:

280
255
248
304
275
259
252
292
243
263
200
277

This guy looks HUGE. I've certaninly never played with or seen an amateur driving like this. He has a drive over 300, and 5 drives over 275. His shortest drive is 200 - maybe hit it off the toe.

his average? 262.

[Leftygolfer]

To put things in prespective. Here's a hypothetical round. Let's say you had 12 holes on the course that required driver off the tee:

I'll take that.

[mdl]

Or maybe we've played enough golf to know distances. I've played lots of golf with lots of really strong ball strikers. 275 is a huge drive. To average 275 requires lots of huge drives. The people that can accomplish this are few and far between.

Well I don't own a laser, so I haven't done this with anyone else, but unless the yardage markers at my home course are wildly off, I know for a fact that my in play drives (like I said, part of my mid-teens handicap comes from inconsistency off the tee, so I'm not claiming overall average here, so I'm only counting fairway to light rough drives here), average 260, maybe + in total distance. Why is this so hard for everyone to believe? I'm not claiming to be John Daly, or even that I average, on my in-play drives, anywhere near 300. If you've literally only ever seen <5 drives 270+ then you only make tee times when the old men are playing. Me and both the guys I play with regularly put at least 1 over 270 every round, and rarely hit a driver less than 245 or so.

The I'm cool, I'm a better golfer than you, I know what a real distance thing just doesn't make sense to me. I know how to subtract 140 from 400 just like everyone else... And like I said, I don't claim overall average at 260. But if you only counted my drives that ended up within 15 yards of the edge of the fairway, I would gladly take you up on your offer. In fact, if you put those constraints on it, I'd even go with the two way bet, and pay for your round if my near fairway drives didn't average 260 in total carry.

[pjsnyc]

who the f*** cares?

[opie]

Just because of this thread I'm going to average my drives this weekend. I've never even cared before but now I'm curious

[bunkerputt]

I tend to think the averages posted are higher than normal. For example, I reported my average at 275 or so. That's based on two things:

1. The yardage ruler on google earth
2. The gps in the golf cart.

My driver swing speed is around 115 in case you are wondering what that works out to. I tend to hit about a 14 degree launch with low 3000's rpm of spin. There have been several times on command that I have carried 285 into a very slight breeze (by carry, I mean it was embedded into the upslope of a small hill 50 yards left of the green. I guess it's possible that it hit the bottom of the hill, rolled up, and found it's way into a muddy, ball-hole ;) ). But I don't count these because it's not the swing I normally use. What makes me a little skeptical is that I'm 6'3", 225, and get a little over 90 degrees shoulder turn with pretty solid swing mechanics. That puts me in a pretty narrow percentile, and still I only hit 275 or so. I know some good college and high school golfers can bomb it a mile (290+ carry), but I doubt most people on this forum fall into that category. I'd bet most people are working professionals of some kind based on the "what do you do for a living" forum.

[wachesawgolfer]

Short answer is you can be anything and say anything (politely) on the Internet. But, you should also know some of these kids coming up today do hit it a long way. I played 9 holes with a kid 15 or 16 and he hit the ball, carried it, over 300 yards twice at sea level. All over- power and inconsistent, but the raw distance is there for a lot of these youngsters.

[bunkerputt]

Short answer is you can be anything and say anything (politely) on the Internet. But, you should also know some of these kids coming up today do hit it a long way. I played 9 holes with a kid 15 or 16 and he hit the ball, carried it, over 300 yards twice at sea level. All over- power and inconsistent, but the raw distance is there for a lot of these youngsters.

Carrying the ball 300 yards at 16 is pretty incredible. I think the junior long drive distances are in the 330s or so, so it seems like he's not far from that. Young and flexible... Golf seems trickier, though, since everything can move well. When you get to your 30s, you don't get a choice of what to move where.

[bsettle]

I think alot of it comes from two things:

1.) They honestly do not know any better. They think they hit the ball that far because they have never really got their distances checked out.

2.) They watch tour pro's hit a 8 iron when the tv says they are 175 out, but what they dont realize is that the pin was in the back and the greens are firm. They are picking a yardage on the front 1/3 of the green that is more like 155-160.

People dont realize that the yardage shown on tv is not always the yardage the player is hitting to. They are picking a number that gives them the best chance of making a putt. They may or may not be hole high.

[Mr3Putt]

I think alot of it comes from two things:

Absolutely right.

Thinking you did because your friends say you (and they) did, and actually accurately measuring the shots are two different beasts. The proof is always in the pudding. But, it's tough to change a closed mind.

[Shorty]

I think that the most instructive thing is that on this and other forums, no low markers talk about how far they hit it and I don't think I've ever read a post where a 1 or 2 marker says he "averages" 280 or more. In fact, good players, out of modesty would probably underestimate their distance off the tee.
It is my sincere belief that although there are a lot of young guys who hit it a mile, 250 metres is about 30 metres further than most players think it is.

But - to your original question, the formula is as follows:
Think of your longest drive ever, on dry fairways, with a tailwind when the tees are forward do a calculation to the green from a sprinkler head. Ignore the 25 metre advantage because the tees were up. Add 10. Call that your average and then go nuts when anyone suggests that a 20 marker (who isn't really a 20 marker) says he regularly knocks it 300. If anyone doubts the claim. Come up with something original like "I can't putt or chip".

[bunkerputt]

Another thing that makes this a somewhat difficult thing to post accurately is that for most players, including myself, consistently solid contact is somewhat of an elusive thing. For example, I was at the range today working on two things: 1. Not dropping my hands behind my body at the start of my downswing 2. A more pronounced bump into my left side at the start of the downswing. Those two things, since I've built up such a bad habit of dropping the club inside and flipping, caused me to hit quite a few (4) shots where I caught the ball under the hosel. That is, I completely topped it and it flew to the left about 20 yards. When I caught it clean, it flew, according to googleearth, about 270 linearly, but it was playing down about 50 feet which I'm guessing is net 250 and into a very slight headwind. So the shot probably played 255, give or take a few yards for error. Now, what do I post? I try to hit my 3-wood 250 every time. But it just doesn't always work out like that. I mean, it's not like I hit 10 shots, 9 of them flew 220, one of them flew 250 and I claim I am averaging 250. That would be an obvious lie. It's more like I hit 10 shots, 6 of them fly 255, 1 of them is a 240 yard toe-hook, and 3 of them are topped and fly 20 yards. Do I claim that I average 183 yards with my 3-wood? That seems more misleading than saying I average 250. Which really means: "when I'm swinging well, I tend to hit most shots in the 250 range". Something to keep in mind.

[jlh1508]

I hit my driver about 220-230 but I can finally hit it straight so I am happy with it....