300 yards - fact or fiction: Post your experience

[James_Black]

Have you considered trying to get him into long drive contests? He could easilly compete in the local, maybe even regional level.

He's the longest driver at the club by far.

He can drive the short par 4 18th. Very fun to watch.

[martytilma]

Not really sure what I average. On the course that I play most of my golf, the fairways have almost no roll to them. Some of my drives will actually plug, which drives me nuts! Anyway, on some courses that I play and I'm able to get a legit measurement, I probably average about 260-270. Have probably hit about 20-30 300 yard drives in my life and most were either wind aided or had lots of roll. Had one that I measured was 380! It was a par 5 that was slightly uphill and plateaued at the top. Just caught the top on the fly and must have rolled about 150 yards!

[Wet Doggg]

Well under a 10 and average about 275 - 285.

[wrx_junki]

The only times I've hit my 300 yard drives were with a nice smooth swing where I hit dead center on my clubface with the help of a tailwind or some downhill.

[Jell0b0y]

I am a 22.5 handicap and my average is 245- 250. I have only marked one close to 300 this year and it was 291 and it sounded good coming off the club. I use a sonnocaddie GPS unit to track my distance since it has a marker for ball distance. I just wish I could stay out of the O.B. area and maybe I could drop my HC some. 2 out of 9 holes I blow up with rough drives.

[kpaulhus]

Shanks A Million.....I wish you wernt so far south. I would love to play a round with you and show you a 260+ avg. We are basically at the same altitude. I would like to show you my drives, probably as much as I want to see your short game.

[Shanks A Million]

I am a 22.5 handicap and my average is 245- 250. I have only marked one close to 300 this year and it was 291 and it sounded good coming off the club. I use a sonnocaddie GPS unit to track my distance since it has a marker for ball distance. I just wish I could stay out of the O.B. area and maybe I could drop my HC some. 2 out of 9 holes I blow up with rough drives.

You're using an 8.5° driver. You could use more loft, say, 10.5°, and your misses would be less offline. That's always a tip I would give people. Less loft = more sidespin, and more sidespin = OB. That could save you maybe 4 strokes per round if you were able to keep it in play. Also, if your driver shaft is more than 44", have it cut down to 44". That will also help give more control.

In either case, these two simple changes will actually cause you to lose, at worst, 10-15 yards of distance.

[Harmonious]

When I hit one really good, no wind, I will use my skycaddy to measure just to see my distance. It almost always comes up with 260-265. When I lived in Las Vegas, the same drive would be close to 300, just because of the dryness and playing at elevation. It really does make a big difference.

I routinely play with a fellow, ex college football player, who can put a hurt on the ball. I've measured him at 320, but probably averages 290. However, I'll take my 260 in the fairway to his 290 in the left trees any time.

[Shanks A Million]

Shanks A Million.....I wish you wernt so far south. I would love to play a round with you and show you a 260+ avg. We are basically at the same altitude. I would like to show you my drives, probably as much as I want to see your short game.

You're a single digit handicap, 260 average is not hard to believe. I drive it around that same distance on average, depending on the day. My problem is the 15+ handicaps who claim 270-300. I have really worked out many of the driver issues I was having, but I still hit only maybe 1 in 10 right on the sweet spot. When I put impact tape on the face, I very regularly get impacts 1/8" to 1/4" off center, sometimes more. That's as much as a 20 yard loss of distance with that 1/8" off center hit. That means my 280 yard perfect strike becomes a 260 yard drive when you miss the center of the face by 1/8". Miss it by more, and you lose more.

[Dave H]

I've never really tracked it, but I would be surprised to find out if I average better than 200 yards with the driver. I have too many mis-hits to be better than that. Possibly worse on average, but I hope not. I've poked a few good ones way out there before, usually with the assistance of cart path, wind, downhill, or a combination of all 3. Lately I've had a few rounds where I was hitting the driver really well, and if you excluded the 1 or 2 total misses I might have averaged 225 - 235 for THAT round.

[senorchipotle]

see, the whole problem with the ''avg drive'' is it really isn't an average at all. it's two holes on either nine which are chosen by the statisticians. if we were to actually take the lengths of all drives hit by tour players, with a driver, then that avg would be significantly higher. my drives with a smooth easy swing and no head wind carry at least 280. so if we were to take the avg of all my drives hit, it would be 300+. however, if it were done in the same fashion that it is done on tour, then it would be around 295 or so.

[James_Black]

You're a single digit handicap, 260 average is not hard to believe. I drive it around that same distance on average, depending on the day. My problem is the 15+ handicaps who claim 270-300. I have really worked out many of the driver issues I was having, but I still hit only maybe 1 in 10 right on the sweet spot. When I put impact tape on the face, I very regularly get impacts 1/8" to 1/4" off center, sometimes more. That's as much as a 20 yard loss of distance with that 1/8" off center hit. That means my 280 yard perfect strike becomes a 260 yard drive when you miss the center of the face by 1/8". Miss it by more, and you lose more.

Is there really 20 yards?

I thought drivers are meant to be forgiving.

[westcyderydin]

ya 260 average is not a big deal. i dont really measure my drives that much but goin off of the ones i have measured 270 is pretty easy. i have some friends who hit it 10 or 20 yards past me too. and i see some higher handicappers who can hit it as far as me or more maybe a little farther but they dont hit it straight enough with any consistency to average that much.

[andef]

I've had two 300+ yard drives in my life that I can remember. Both were on a 492 yard par 5 that plays severely downhill and I left myself with 180 yards to the front of the green both times. Both drives were 310 yards or so.
Otherwise, my drives average about 250 to 260 yards. Pretty standard if you ask me.

[Shanks A Million]

see, the whole problem with the ''avg drive'' is it really isn't an average at all. it's two holes on either nine which are chosen by the statisticians. if we were to actually take the lengths of all drives hit by tour players, with a driver, then that avg would be significantly higher. my drives with a smooth easy swing and no head wind carry at least 280. so if we were to take the avg of all my drives hit, it would be 300+. however, if it were done in the same fashion that it is done on tour, then it would be around 295 or so.

Nope, they measure the average driver hit now, and the number is actually

lower . http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/info/?317 The announcers make it seem like they drive every ball 300+, but it's a matter of perception. How often do you hear them say, "oh, that was a beauty, 265 yards." Not often. It's the perception that's flawed, not the stats.

[senorchipotle]

Nope, they measure the average driver hit now, and the number is actually

wow... never saw that stat before. but that's still counting 3 wood i imagine. cause my scramble partner played with dustin johnson a few rounds in college and according to him every time he pulled out his driver he was hitting it 320+.

[vmsea]

I've hit a few 300+ drives.. but if you count average, you gotta count those 50 yard duffs. so.. no way.

I did win a LD competition at a tournament with a 312 yard drive.. :) drove horribly all day.. and this was on the 18th hole.. i figure what the heck.. so just tried to kill it and got lucky.

[BallStriker]

but that's still counting 3 wood i imagine.

Not sure...if you look at the numbers the "drives per round" vary quite a bit...Daly is actually hitting less than 10 drives per round...would be interested if anyone knows how they calculate this -- is it only Drivers....is it only Drivers/3 woods?

BTW.....I have hit exactly 2 drives that have gone 300 yards this year....both a bit downhill, both with plenty of roll...LOL