How far?

[J.P.]

I bet you don't count your bad rounds towards your handicap either.

Of course I do - I know I'll shoot a good one next time - they take the 10 best . . . of the last 20 - bad scores don't kill your handicap once in a while . . . Looking for a fight? Go look for that guy E kicked off yesterday - I'm just here to chat!

[sole wolf]

Nevermind

[allin]

How about recognizing that when we say average we are really refering to I believe is the mean? What we believe is our normal carry on a decently struck ball. After all if you fat a wedge 50 yards that doesn't mean your normal 100 yard distance for 10 wedges goes down by 5 yards. I feel everyone is just amused by the golfer who tells everyone he hits it 290, when they only hit one that far once in 100 shots. Ten representative drives. Shots way off your normal distance both long and short are not predictrable. I normally carry my driver, 205-210. So that means I won't even consider a forced carry over 200 yards from the tee. Sure once in a while I will get unconsious and carry one 225, but can I produce it on demand, no. In fact my longest carry of the year turned out lousy. I hit driver into a 228 yard par three. I had just checked rthe distance with my companions busnell, The shot carried clear to the middle of the green, it took a big bounce OB down into the trees and crick. I ended up with a six. (four wood from now on.)

[Finn07]

This is like asking a weightlifter how much they can bench. Obviously some people are full of crap and some are not. I would say on good days I can average 290 or so. Some obviously go longer and some do not. Still we all know that it doesnt matter how far you can hit it, it all comes down to how you are with the flat stick. My length has been there for most of the year but I can honestly say that my game hasn't improved much at all in the last 3 or so months so its quite confusing.

[niblick]

I honestly think the better question to ask is, "How often do you hit the fairway?"

Whether we're 240 or 270 off the tee, most amateurs, myself included, are going to miss the green with our second shot alot, but even more often when we hit from the rough. So really, our focus on distance is kinda misplaced IMHO.

[SubPar]

Who actually bothers to calculate the length of a drive anyway? When I get to the ball I am working out what club I want to hit next. A few times I have turned around and actually used my range finder to get the yardage from the box and it always less than I thought it was.

Most golfers will tell you how far they think they should be hitting it when you ask how far they hit it on average. Like poker players who claim that "over-all they are ahead", when they are not... the truth is too painful.

[SCMike]

I would agree that the machines are not always accurate. I hit my driver 290-310. But when I was trying out some two irons at my local golfsmith with the manager helping me set up the machine, it was telling me that I was flying them 285. I hit my two iron on the course about 230..that's a huge discrepancy. If the machine, when properly used, can overestimate my distance 55 yards, I don't see why it can't underestimate it 55 yards.

[cdriver]

This is like asking a weightlifter how much they can bench. Obviously some people are full of crap and some are not. I would say on good days I can average 290 or so. Some obviously go longer and some do not. Still we all know that it doesnt matter how far you can hit it, it all comes down to how you are with the flat stick. My length has been there for most of the year but I can honestly say that my game hasn't improved much at all in the last 3 or so months so its quite confusing.

I agree with some of the others who posted about hitting fairways.

I, too, was confused when I started hitting it longer and my handicap did not go down. So, I started tracking Green In Regulation, Fairways Hit, and Putts. I soon found out how important hitting the fairway was. When I hit the fairway, I hit the green twice as often as when I approached from the rough. I also average about 1/3rd less putt per green when I approached from the fairway instead of the rough. I suppose this correlates to being able to better judge distance from the short grass and leaving a shorter first putt. Do the math on those numbers, and you will see how important playing from the short grass is compared to length. I know the pros currently have the "Bomb it close and take your chances out of the rough", but I am not good enough or strong enough or something to make that work for me and I doubt most amateurs can do it either.