Driver distance vs. Handicap

[golfro]

I agree with the 100%. I am a 9-10 handicap and my average drive is about the same. Average 230-240. Lately I've been hitting a little longer - about 250. I weigh 135 lbs and my driver swing speed is in the high 80s/low 90s. I don't care what kind of perfectly matched ball and driver you give me, I don't care how perfectly I pure it, and I don't care how fast my hips turn....I'm not driving the ball 300 yards. Physics just won't let me. And I can manage to score in the low 80s. Good ball striking, chip/pitch/flop the ball close and 1 putting will get your scores down. If you regularly play REALLY long courses and always play from the tips, then sure...distance will help. But otherwise, I feel it is overrated.

i'd rather take 280-300 yard drive to pitch and stick it near pin with 1 putt for birdie. I don't know how good your short game is but I can't always rely on my chip/pitch/flop shots from around the green. That can quickly become 2 putt for a bogey or worse yet, three putt for double if I mishit my shots around the green, which does happen...too often.

For me, distance is a huge part of my game. I'm just that much mroe comfortable with hitting a 8,9, PW, or SW to stick it within 10 ft of the pin to 1 putt or 2 putt for birdie/par. If I'm hitting 230 yd drives, then that leaves me with roughly 180-200 yards to pin on long par 4's around where I play. I'm just not nearly as consistent with my 180-200 yard sticks than my short irons to be comfortable. I put a lot of credit to me dropping my handicap to my driver distance and accuracy.

[senorchipotle]

290+; 5 handicap.

[neophyte]

I haven't played all the courses in my area. But most of the courses usuallyl have less than fifty yards between the ladies and back T's making comparisons hard.

There are a group of older silent low scoring golfers in my area. I am not one of them but have played with them. Bob, an older gentleman I got teamed up with when I walked on to a local course. He lived in florida and was in Pennsylvania to help move his sister into a nursing home. He played 6 days a week all year long. he played an old 3 wood off the T around 150 yards. He never missed a fairway and believe me he seemed like he could hit a cart parked in the fairway every time. He played an old 7 wood for his accurate second shots to any distance he wanted up to about 150 yards. He either landed on the green close to the hole if he was in range or in front of the green when out of range. He chipped with a 7 iron and he either chipped in or was less than 3 feet from the hole. He putted with an old ping anser and never seemed to miss. He said he was 81 and admitted he almost always shot under his age. He said real long holes were his only problem. He shot 4 over par with me that day.

Another golfer I have played with only drives 225 to 235 and scores 73-75 playing from the back T.

I have gone to the GHIN site and looked up peoples handicaps. Something I noticed is that if you go to their listing of scores, you will find that the scratch golfer mostly scores 75's and a 15 handicaper scores 90.

If you look at the positives of Bob, all you need to do is be accurate with your shots. Long drives can help produce a scratch handicap, but those who don't drive long, don't have to worry. There are many ways to score low. Being accurate and short is another one of them.

[sean_miller]

. . . Long drives can help produce a scratch handicap, but those who don't drive long, don't have to worry. There are many ways to score low. Being accurate and short is another one of them.

In my experience, accurate and long trumps accurate and short. You still have to make putts either way, so a chance for a 1 putt birdie or eagle sounds ~ 1 stroke better than a 1 putt for par.

[moparman426]

Playing around 16 right now. As someone who practically lives at the range (it's only across the street from me) my driver gets a lot of swing time. Average with roll out is easily 270, so no, you don't need to be a single digit hc to hit it long. Some things can be overcome by physical ability, not just skill. Short game, now that's a different story. A full-on PW is my 135y club, so I don't try to "bomb" any drives off the tee. I play to have my approach shot within a 120 to 150 yard range, because that's where I am most comfortable, and most accurate.

[Kieran123]

11 handicap, 260 average

[$2 Nassau]

How do you guys all know exactly how far you hit the ball, do you all have GPS/rangefinders? Everyone seems to know exactly how far they carry the ball with thier driver. Even at the range I can't tell, it's hard to tell the depth. I can't tell if the ball landed 10 yards in front of the 250 ydmarker, or 10 yards behind it (unless I hit it right at the marker itself).

I have no clue how far I carry the ball normally. Even if I had GPS, trying to pick the spot where the ball landed on the fairway so I could measure it would be difficult, since some fairways have hills/undulations, etc.

[golfro]

I have a range finder I use once in awhile. Also use the course GPS that some of the courses have on their carts. For the most part though, I golf enough to get a feel for the distance. I did a lot of measuring with my range finder when I first got it to see how accurate the fairway markers are. I found that usually theres a 10 yard differences at most for where the markers are, but they're not TOO far off.

So typically speaking, if I'm driving a 410 yard par 4, I come to find my ball about 20 yards past the 150 yard mark, thus indicating roughly 280 yard drive. Verified with range finder and its usually fairly similar.

At the range, I rarely pay attention to distance. Most of the ranges around here use stupid limited flight balls so I ignore distance and focus on accuracy.

[sean_miller]

How do you guys all know exactly how far you hit the ball, do you all have GPS/rangefinders? Everyone seems to know exactly how far they carry the ball with thier driver. Even at the range I can't tell, it's hard to tell the depth. I can't tell if the ball landed 10 yards in front of the 250 ydmarker, or 10 yards behind it (unless I hit it right at the marker itself).

Based on experience and using a laser rangefinder, I know which hazards I can typically reach and which ones I can carry. Not saying it always works out that way, but that's the plan.

[chef35ca]

Ha!

Avg driver distance-200-215ish. I'm having some serious driver issues right now.
Avg 3wd distance-220-225ish.

Handicap(unofficially)-about 20.

[newtogolf]

At the range, I rarely pay attention to distance. Most of the ranges around here use stupid limited flight balls so I ignore distance and focus on accuracy.

Is that true for most ranges? I was curious why my range has a max distance of 250 when alot of you guys can drive past that and why my club distances are shorter at the range than on a course.

[jamo]

Is that true for most ranges? I was curious why my range has a max distance of 250 when alot of you guys can drive past that and why my club distances are shorter at the range than on a course.

Sometimes they have limited flight balls, sometimes they are just so old and worn out (dimple shallowing) that they go shorter.

[newtogolf]

Sometimes they have limited flight balls, sometimes they are just so old and worn out (dimple shallowing) that they go shorter.

That helps explain why all my distances are off from what I determined at the range and why I was hitting further on a course. I thought it was adrenaline or difference between grass and mats. Thanks.

[max power]

That helps explain why all my distances are off from what I determined at the range and why I was hitting further on a course. I thought it was adrenaline or difference between grass and mats. Thanks.

Yeah-I never use the range for distance. Balls are wildly inconsistent, markers in relation to tee box area vary from day to day, etc. I use the range to focus on ballstriking, practice different types of shots, and maybe compare one club to another. The only range I've ever used where I could get a reasonable idea of distance is Stadium Golf in San Diego-markers seem to be accurate, and they use new/relatively new golf balls.

[golfro]

as jamo and max powers stated, range balls, regardless of limited flight, can be very inconsistent. A lot of balls are so worn and beat up that they die mid flight and kill your distance.

[khale]

Data updated, with more data, I was expecting the coefficient of determination to get larger. In short, If R2 = 0, then there is no correlation between Driver Distance and Index and R2 = 1 indicates that Driver Distance perfectly predicts index. However, as you can see, R2 was larger initially but as of now is only at 0.26 which is low. So there is a relationship, but a weak one. Certainly this study is not scienctific. A better study would be index from 10 rounds and average drives from hitting 20 balls at the range.





BTW, Average Driver Distance is 249 and Average Index is 11.2

[golfro]

interesting how most low handicap's are roughly in the 240 range while the high handicappers claim to be in the 270 range. :)

[max power]

interesting how most low handicap's are roughly in the 240 range while the high handicappers claim to be in the 270 range. :)

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