Driving Distance

[trackster]

People do know that some gps are like plus or minus 50 feet in accuracy?

Anyways I would say I drive farther then the average fellow at my home course.  Probably average in the 230-240 range.  I have no problem reaching a 440 yard hole at my course in 2. and Have reached a 515 par 5 in 2 and a 500 yard par 5 in two.  I played with our state champion girls golfer today and she out drove me on almost every hole.  I would say she averages 265-275.  She is by far the farthest hitter I have seen at my home course, and her ball flight and sound of impact is just amazing.  I seriously have to question some of the 290-300 average guys.

Especially when they say that their handicaps are high because they slice and stuff.  Well your ball isn't gonna go its farthest if you slice it terribly.

[deasy55]

I hit it 240-245 if I hit it properly. Which is a rare thing for me these days

[gjsuicide]

Originally Posted by deronsizemore

I drive the ball minimum a minimum of 350 yards each time. Typically I'll have to carry back up drivers because I tend to cave in the faces frequently. If the wind is at my back and I the fairway is hard, I could hit one as long as 400...

Really, why another driver distance thread? 99% of people have no idea how far they actually hit the ball. The guys that think they hit it 300 are typically hitting it 250 and the guys that think they're hitting it 250 are actually around 200. Internet distances = overrated.

I cannot tell you how many times guys have seen me hit the ball and are just amazed with how far I hit it and THINK that my ball must have traveled at least 300 yards. I love the look on their faces when I tell them that I carry the ball about 260.

There are a lot of threads on this.  Sunday I had a great driving day and my buddy was just amazed at my length off the tee.  The longest I hit according to the gps was 289, and that was downhill. The rest were about 220-240.  On the 18 hole I really got a hold of one, a drive the uneducated would probably guess had to approach 300.  It was really low and had a lot of roll but it was an extremely uphill hole.  Gps distance?  190 yards... quite humbling to the casual observer, but I was happy with it.  Nothing like drilling your tee shot and having the same distance left to the hole, only now I cant tee up and hit driver!

[schigara]

I am not the longest hitter, by far but I did drive a 304 yard par 4 green last weekend. We were playing the blue tees and the tee was about 3 feet in front of the concrete stone marker for 304yards. The tee is level with the green and it was 97 degrees with a heat index around 108. It landed 10 yards shy and ended up 16 feet from the pin and for my 3rd eagle ever, I dropped the putt.  This eagle erased my double two holes prior and went on to shoot an even par 35 for the 9. My best 9 score to date.

I have driven this green once before 3 weeks earlier. I normally have a 30-60 yard pitch into this green but since I fixed my casting swing and now have a proper swing where I release at the bottom of the arc, I am hitting much further with much less effort.

My 150 club used to be my 6 iron and now is a smooth 8 or a hard 9.

Like most people will tell you, distance does not translate directly to a good score. When I had a casting type swing, I was very inconsistent so I had to develop my short game to score with and I did manage to shoot mid eighties most of the time with the occasional 81-83.

Since revamping my swing, the extra distance is nice and I consider just a bonus as the real advantage is much greater consistency with more GIR's since I am no longer over the top I generally hit the center of the face now and either take a divot after the ball or sweep with little to no divot.

This new and proper swing is just 6 weeks old(played for 6 years casting the club) so it is not all solid or automatic yet as I still have to think about it.

[deasy55]

I posted above saying I hit it 240 (Which is my real yardage, if I wanted to exaggerate like a lot of people I would say 280), but I did once have a 390 yard drive. It was on a windy day on a par 5 straight downwind. The tee box is way above the fairway (Like teeing off the side of a cliff) and I struck it down the middle perfectly and it then proceeded to hit a distance marker causing it to shoot forward. I ended up with a pitching wedge for my 2nd shot to the par 5

The next time I played that hole I couldn't reach it in 2.

[zgoldsmith23]

I see I'm not up to the great standard of some folks .... lol. I drive about 200 - 225 with my longest being about 240.

[Blades4me]

When I'm hitting my driver well its 260-265 fly and when I'm not hitting it well 240 fly. I very much agree with how people exaggerate their distances and in reality don't have a clue about distance.

[carpediem4300]

Im a very long driver of the ball (for a 24 handicapper), but it counts for nothing when my accuracy is poo

eg: i drove a legitimate distance of 342 on thursday on a par 5, wind was with me, fairways were solid, got an awesome kick on, sounds good with a bit luck involved,......shame it was oob on the next fairway....

[TheSavage]

I picked up my first golf club 3 years ago. Im 6 foot 3, 205 lbs and proud to say I carry the ball about 215-225 yards swinging within myself and able to finish on balance. I have gained a bit of distance recently just by hovering the driver at address. It's not a long drive contest..........thank goodness.

[bluecollar01]

I'm probably the shortest hitter on this board.  My drives are usually between 200 - 225.  The longest I've ever hit a drive was 250.  Maybe, after I've played a few seasons and taken more lessons I'll be able to gain a few yards.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Blades4me

When I'm hitting my driver well its 260-265 fly and when I'm not hitting it well 240 fly. I very much agree with how people exaggerate their distances and in reality don't have a clue about distance.

I can't believe how many people are "proud" to hit their driver ~ 200 yards.

[SteveC]

I hit my driver about 225 on a good shot. Usually closer to 210 but I hit 90% of fairways. Accuracy>Distance imo

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by SteveC

I hit my driver about 225 on a good shot. Usually closer to 210 but I hit 90% of fairways. Accuracy>Distance imo

You're right. It'll be tough to get lower than a 12 with a 210 average (didn't say impossible), but you'll probably play to your index and get done 18 holes in less time than a 275 driver who's often in the weeds.

[colnago1331]

I worked hard on my driving over this past winter and now I'm generally driving it around 250 - 275 (per my SG5) and, more importantly, slicing it a lot less.  Being fit for my driver also helped quite a bit.

[awmgolfer]

I drive around 230 to 240 on average with a few under that and a few over that on a level surface. We have a couple of holes that go severely downhill from the tee so I have hit one 320 last week and 285 the week before. Feels great saying it but I know it was still an average driver swing with the help of some big hills..lol. I have spent so much time on my ball striking and short game I haven't worked on increasing my swing speed. Now that my game is getting good I plan on working on the swing speed. I am not looking to become a miracle big ball hitting but my goal is to get an average drive of about 260 or so and I think that would help get me down quite a bit more.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

You're right. It'll be tough to get lower than a 12 with a 210 average (didn't say impossible), but you'll probably play to your index and get done 18 holes in less time than a 275 driver who's often in the weeds.

I disagree.   It all depends on whether he plays the right tees for his length.  If he's like me, he doesn't even consider the back, or even the next up tee most of the time.  He's most likely looking at the middle tees, and it's entirely possible to get into single digits that way.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

I disagree.   It all depends on whether he plays the right tees for his length.  If he's like me, he doesn't even consider the back, or even the next up tee most of the time.  He's most likely looking at the middle tees, and it's entirely possible to get into single digits that way.

Rich, he did say "tough" and even clarified that to mean he said it was possible, and if the guy just keeps moving up, he might get a "12" handicap in relation to par but it's highly unlikely he'll get to a single digit index . The course rating will likely be low enough to prevent him from doing it.

If his driver goes 210 his other clubs don't go very far either. The best guys - who play the appropriate tees - who hit the ball that far, have good short games, and hit the ball straight tend to top out at a 12.8 index or so.

So I agree that it will be "tough" but not impossible.

[CuppedTin]

I can consistently hit it 290-310 depending on conditions, but I think driving distances are way over rated... I can load my weight up on the front and spring into the air on my downswing and get another 15-20 yards... But too bad their is more to golf than driving the ball...