300 yards - fact or fiction: Post your experience

[Titleist_ProV1x]

I have one 300-yard drive to my credit, which included a major cart path assist. But it went 300 yards. I'm usually 230-240, 250 when the planets align, 260 downhill on a dry fairway.

Ditto, LOL

0-10 handicap and average under 300

[sean_miller]

YBut hey, I only use actual data.

If someone provided you with everything

except clubhead speed, can you calculate that? I honestely don't care what my smash factor is, as long as the ball is going straight, but I am wondering how our local Golf Town can be fitting people with driver shafts if they're not able to determing club head speed?!?!?!? My drives at their simulator are pretty much the same yardage as my drives on the course (yes, they're laser rangefinder confirmed) but I think i just got really lucky with the stock shaft - and if I want to upgrade to a better shaft some day, why would I buy one there? Where would one go to get club head speed checked?

[Kieran123]

If someone provided you with everything

I find Golftown to be pretty much bang on with distance stats etc

[saevel25]

No, you need ball speed.. Ball speed is the factor... That an alot of other stuff...

Really, most drivers out there are very similar in distance, mostly your looking for how it looks while standing over it. For me, i have to have something classic looking, nothing square. Some might be more forgiving than others, but really the distance isn't to much difference.

Honestly, my Titliest 975D, if i hit it in the sweet spot, goes just as far as my G10, but if i get a heal shot or toe shot on 975D, not even close to a toe or heal on my G10.

[jamo]

The dynamic loft is the loft of the club at impact. The loft of the driver + shaft kick. The more shaft flex, the more kick, the more dynamic loft, and the higher it launches.

I would assume attack angle also factors into that, no?

EDIT: Never mind, attack angle has it's own category.

[max power]

No, you need ball speed.. Ball speed is the factor... That an alot of other stuff...

Very true-the difference in drivers is how forgiving the head is, and how much the shaft/head maximize your ball flight. My Titleist 983E is as long as anything else when hit on the (figurative) screws, but my 907D2 is much more forgiving, as is my Dymo Str8-Fit.

[Fat Slice]

Yeah, over 300. Ask the same question do you average over 260 or some number like that.

This poll is about 300 yards because that's the number people always talk about. I hit it 300, no you didn't. I average 300, no you don't. 300,300,300. As for asking about 260 yards or whatever...I will refer you to my first post in this thread:

"Sorry if the answers aren't exact or don't point to what you would like analyzed. This is my wabi sabi poll -- imperfect and temporary, just like everything in the world. If you don't like it, goonie goo goo, roll Charlie around... " Goonie Goo Goo!

[bplewis24]

So now, according to the poll, only 3.7% of the people in this thread avg over 300 yards. I would think that number would be higher for the amount of "I drive 300 all the time" posts in other threads lol

I wish I was a part of some of those threads. Then again, I guess they probably loosely define what "all the time" really means. For some people "all the time" may mean a few times a round. For others, they may infer that it translates to every other drive. Sometimes we don't tell flat out lies, we just don't tell the whole truth ;)

Brandon

[goblue107501]

Doesn’t anyone ever account for roll? And air quality? From June-September we get very little sustained rain so the courses get very hard. Because of that, we tend to get a bunch of roll on a drive. If you can hit the ball with the right trajectory, 30-40 yards+ of roll can be pretty common. Maybe someone’s ‘stats’ have them carry a ball around 230, but around here that ends up at 250-260 pretty easily. The harder you hit the ball, the more roll you get. On certain holes I will change my trajectory so that the ball hits the ground at a better angle to run out. I will get much more distance that way than hitting it in the air. There is more to distance than just swing speeds and launch angles.

[MasterP]

Doesn’t anyone ever account for roll? And air quality? From June-September we get very little sustained rain so the courses get very hard. Because of that, we tend to get a bunch of roll on a drive. If you can hit the ball with the right trajectory, 30-40 yards+ of roll can be pretty common. Maybe someone’s ‘stats’ have them carry a ball around 230, but around here that ends up at 250-260 pretty easily. The harder you hit the ball, the more roll you get. On certain holes I will change my trajectory so that the ball hits the ground at a better angle to run out. I will get much more distance that way than hitting it in the air. There is more to distance than just swing speeds and launch angles.

Agreed. I've hit a few 300 yard drives in my life, but none of them were 300 carry, and with my handicap driving averge gets heavily skewed by misshits. All that matters to me is where I'm hitting my second shot from, and a low screamer that carries 220 yards and rolls to 260 is the same as a high bomb that carries 250 and ends up 260.

I'm not sure why 121mph seems unfathomable to some of you guys either. I can hit 120mph clubhead speed on a trackman and I'm no athlete (well, at least not since early high school). It just takes knowing how to use your body to swing, and I know there are plenty of guys out there bigger and more athletic than me sitting at 15 handicap. Putting the ball in play is the hard part at that speed.

[Shanks A Million]

Agreed. I've hit a few 300 yard drives in my life, but none of them were 300 carry, and with my handicap driving averge gets heavily skewed by misshits. All that matters to me is where I'm hitting my second shot from, and a low screamer that carries 220 yards and rolls to 260 is the same as a high bomb that carries 250 and ends up 260.

121 mph is not unfathomable, but to hit the ball on center with that clubhead speed, and with enough control to avoid excessive sidespin, that's unfathomable. People mention competition long drivers, and how they aren't playing on the PGA tour, but competition long drivers are nearly always near scratch golfers. Find me a competition long driver who's a 15 handicap, and I'll be suprised.

[Uncle Peter]

I got about a 23.2 handicap and can drive about 160-180 yards.

[saevel25]

Well those who have a monster side spin shouldn't be close to 300 to begin with. It takes a pretty straight ball to get out that far. If they do, then they need to rethink how they measure there drives.

I think theoretically 115 is the minimum value you can get 300 yards at, with a smash factor of 1.5... I think thats close enough. Thats straight up no wind, flat, standard golf ball, sea level, ect...

[MasterP]

121 mph is not unfathomable, but to hit the ball on center with that clubhead speed, and with enough control to avoid excessive sidespin, that's unfathomable. People mention competition long drivers, and how they aren't playing on the PGA tour, but competition long drivers are nearly always near scratch golfers. Find me a competition long driver who's a 15 handicap, and I'll be suprised.

Agreed. BTW, is there anything in that program you showed that would account for roll? I know trackman does, but it would be interesting to note what launch angle at a specific clubhead speed gives the most overall distance on typical fairway conditions.

[J_Bone]

I am a 10-15 (was @ under 10 6 months ago) handicap and average under 300... I would have to estimate my average close to 240 yards.

Yes I have hit 300+yards drives. I've had a round were I hit two drives over 300 on two of the par5's. I've had rounds were I was lucky to get to 250yards. I've had drives that were line drives and skidded to a stop only 200 yards out because I got off balance swinging so hard. It just depends on how lucky I get when I swing that hard, which I'm trying not to. I've noticed when I don't swing so hard, it usually is playable when it lands.
I do use my 3 wood on some par 4's and even my 3Hybrid when my drives can't seem to find grass.

[sean_miller]

I am a 10-15 (was @ under 10 6 months ago) handicap and average under 300... I would have to estimate my average close to 240 yards.

Keep using the 3w and 3h off the tee whenever you can. You can hit a shorter club harder off the tee (not 100% - but hard), which can eventually lead to a straighter and longer driver as well. You can really go after shorter clubs, and the increased confidence is a huge factor when hitting a driver. To paraphrase someone, whether you believe you can hit a driver 300 yards or 230 yards, you're right.

[Able Hands]

I have never gps measured any of my shots, but I'm pretty sure I would average 230-260 on good drives. That number shrinks drastically when I factor in the shank, or severe slice which creeps into my swing from time to time.

[design]

Under 10 here.

My average carry is in the 270-280 range, however I get very minimal roll due to the high trajectory of my shots and the fairways I play on.

If you would have asked me how far I was hitting the ball a year ago, I probably would have claimed something absurd like 320+ due to the fact that I was basing my numbers on the course yardage markers.

Now that I have a more realistic view on distance, my numbers (and ego) have dropped a bit.