Shooting 80-Distances required

[Brakkus]

Hi Guys

I have a fair idea what sort of standard I might be able to attain with my length of hitting.I strike a 7 iron around 155,PW about 125,and hit my 20" hybrid about 210.

Here in the uk we average around 6000-6500 of the yellow tees,so to give myself a chance of shooting that 80's range what kind of length off long par 4's in particular would you need to need to hit to give yourself a genuine chance to score?

I'm thinking can you be good enough with the short game to score an 80 if you have to lay-up on longer holes

[Bullitt5339]

I played a round with a 70 year old man who couldn't hit the ball over 180 yards with any club, and shot a 76, so your distances are plenty to shoot an 80. On a 400 yard par 4, he would hit driver straight down the middle, 175-180 yards. 3 wood 150 yards. Pitch to the green within a few feet of the pin, and 1 putt for par. He did this on almost every hole. It really woke me up on the way I play. There's no need to try to bomb everything 300 yards if you're accurate.

[plugged]

IMO, if you have the distances listed, you are already long enough to play in the 80's, or even 70's.

[bman1313]

My distances are almost exactly what yours are and I consistently shoot in the 80's. I break 80 and go low (74 - 76) about once every 5 rounds which keeps my H.I. in the single digits. I don't consider myself a long hitter by any means and I know of a lot of players that are shorter and better than me.

What is your weakest part of your game? Other than distance, what do you feel is holding you back from breaking 80.

[pittpanther]

Hi Guys

If length was the only issue, you wouldn't have a problem. Your length is plenty good to shoot in the 80s or 70s.

You need accuracy with your length, and you need a short game, if you want to score in the 80s/70s. You must hit most greens in regulation. You have enogh length to do it. Don't know about your accuracy...

[pittpanther]

I played a round with a 70 year old man who couldn't hit the ball over 180 yards with any club, and shot a 76, so your distances are plenty to shoot an 80. On a 400 yard par 4, he would hit driver straight down the middle, 175-180 yards. 3 wood 150 yards. Pitch to the green within a few feet of the pin, and 1 putt for par. He did this on almost every hole. It really woke me up on the way I play. There's no need to try to bomb everything 300 yards if you're accurate.

Can most golfers get up-and-down often enough to avoid being a bogey golfer? I would doubt it, the guy you played with apparently being the execption... For most of us, not getting GIR means a bogey hole.

[Bullitt5339]

Can most golfers get up-and-down often enough to avoid being a bogey golfer? I would doubt it, the guy you played with apparently being the execption... For most of us, not getting GIR means a bogey hole.

My point was that distance is not a good indicator of your scoring ability.

[goblue107501]

Your distances are plenty long enough. Without knowing anything about you, just play smarter. Stuff like laying up on par 5s, aiming at the fat part of the green, knowing where to miss, will all help lower the scores without any sort of performance change.

[billysandy]

You can shoot a sub 80 round HOWEVER long you are. It makes it easier to shoot lower with more distance obviously, and taking less club might lead to lower scores. We all know you know your distances are fine, so that's pretty much irrelevant. Just work on putts inside 10 feet, however good you are at them.

[mdl]

As people have been saying, you shoot PLENTY long to score par, much less just 80, on a standard amateur length course.

From your numbers, let's say, conservatively, that you drive it 240. From the middle tees, say the par 3's average 160 yards and the par 5's average 510, then your 10 par 4's average 372. Then on half the par 4's you should have 8i or less with a drive of 240, you should never hit more than hybrid onto the green after a solid drive, and on the par 5's driver/hybrid puts you in half swing SW range. With scratch consistency and short game, you could hit the ball MUCH shorter and still hit par.

If you were only to drive the ball 200 yards, then there'd be some par 4's you'd have to lay up on, but again with a consistent stroke and a good short game, you could, on good days, get up and down on some of those, bogey some, and make up those strokes on either the par 3's or par 5's and still shoot par. Breaking 80 is definitely still possible even with that kind of distance.

I hit the ball similar distances to you, maybe a bit longer, and I'm long with my driver, and you'll see by your and my handicap that that doesn't mean you DO break 80 :)

[Chilli Dipper]

There are tour pros that make a living with those distances. Work on consistency and your short game, and your scores will go as low as you want them to.

[James_Black]

There are tour pros that make a living with those distances. Work on consistency and your short game, and your scores will go as low as you want them to.

what tour pro hits a 7i 155 yards?

You do realize how long the courses on tour are, right?

[damnitdave]

tour players have their irons bent to diffrent degrees than retail....... ne who when i broke 80 i had to work on getting up and down... pretty much making up for mistakes.... if you can get up and down most of the time you will be good

[Chilli Dipper]

what tour pro hits a 7i 155 yards?

For starters, Tim Clark lists his carry distances as 210 with his hybrid, 165 with his 7-iron, and 130 with his pitching wedge. He's only won $14 million on the PGA Tour and finished runner-up at the Masters. Not even everyone who plays the game for a living hits 200-yard 6-irons.

[damnitdave]

i would list brian gay as a not so long hitter but has won multiple times on tour

[nuck81]

I'm of the opinion that playing long is over rated for an amateur. Even with a 200yd drive most Par 4's from the middle Tee should be reachable with a second shot. If you have a good short game, which is more important than hitting long. You can make up any distance by being accurate.

The first thing my Dad every told me about Golf... "Golf isn't about hitting it far, it's about hitting it where you want"

[srjorion]

You have me beat by 1 to 1.5 clubs on those distances. I've shot 80 and 81 in the past few months and routinely shoot in the low 80s. I think you are fine

[Brakkus]

Thanks guys for the replies.I'm 3 years in now and due to circumstances haven't played as much golf as I would like,but we recently moved and I have a fair bit of grass to practice on.I can chip,pitch,and I now have a practice cage for full swing work,and I get to a range 2 or 3 times a month.Accuracy is my main obstacle now like someone suggested.With the practice regime now I seem to have the solid impact,because this summer in particular I only want focus on where the ball is going when playing a round.

To me this is where it's at,I can swing and have the hand eye,but do I have the precision to give myself chances at pars.I work with my wedges a lot at home,so much so that clubs I used to fear,I am now in love with.I feel that I'm due a real good round,I put the time in and it's comforting to know that some of you shoot low numbers with similar yardage.The weak link in the chain is long putting.Not being a member of a club it's difficult to practice putts from longer ranges to feel the length of stroke.I practice short putts at home on the carpet and this transfers well to the course when I need to sink those shorter putts,but 3 putts are almost always because I started from 25ft or further.