How Far Do You Hit A 5 Iron

[Stewie007]

Originally Posted by njcl13

golf distance calculator states off their 5 iron shots there averaging 300 yd drives,and one lad is averaging 340 yd {better than bubba watson} drives,i do not wish to continue such futile an argument

Handicap tells a story about how well you score. Asking someone how far they can hit a ball, assuming a certain level of honesty, only establishes an average based on previous experience and not a calculator. It also doesn't mean that there is great consistency either. It merely means, "about this far."

Some are more honest than others.

But I'm sorry if we don't all have calculators on the course, or a golf gps to average out how far every shot, with every club goes. I am also sorry that we aren't all writing novels about every shot taken with our 5 irons until it is longer than a typical piece of legislation. You're just going to have to deal with averages based on decent shots. :)

Otherwise, following your logic, you should expect that the hack would pull out a 5 iron from 120. Given that he probably hits a duff shot here and there, he will probably duff that 5 there as well as the pitching wedge.... Therefore, using the pitching wedge, or even 9 iron is unwise, as the 5 iron is the right club from 120, because averaging all of his duffs and how seldom he might use his 5 iron would probably create an unusable statistic.

So people estimate how far they can hit based on what they've reached with a certain level of consistency, and not duff shots... since you cannot shape a game of golf around bad shots. You could, I am sure, but expecting improvement would be unreasonable.

Or, we could actually go through each individual 5 iron shot that we can remember.... but then we'd just be beating a dead horse with a stick, wouldn't we.

[Lihu]

My typical shot, not the average, is 175. Right handed is a bit more. I have hit them 190 in the past, if it's a perfect shot. So, it makes sense that better golfs than me can regularly hit this iron 200 yards or more. There are plenty of people on the ranges where I practice who hit really far with irons. Don't know exactly where they land, but they hit far. Usually, I can see stuff within 175 easily, there are markers, when these folks hit, it's far.

[iacas]

Far enough.

[RonTheSavage]

RARELY far enough

[Valleygolfer]

As of 2 weeks ago, everything went up about 7-8 yards so I am at 187 ish now.

[brgolf]

Average maybe 165

[Stewie007]

I finally bought a golf GPS and soon I'll be able to say for certain how far they go :)

[brgolf]

Context is important. The course I play at has been habitually wet this summer with no roll. I play with blades which are unforgiving and crush my yardage with off centre hits. The lofts are traditional so my 7 might be as lofted as a game improvement 8.

Like Stewie and others seem to be saying, everyone has a stock distance which corresponds to the optimum shot. The lower your handicap the more often you pull off that shot.

Once I pull the 5 iron out at 165 I more often than not hit a shot which is within 10 yards of that distance. I'd probably be overestimating if I am on the green 4 times out of 10. Yet, by hitting a consistent distance on the majority of shots, even the least pleasing shots can be pin high albeit chipping from the fringe.

[Stewie007]

Funny thing is, I find it relatively un-telling with individual club distances for a lot of us. Many times I will outhit my 5 iron with my 6... It seems that the combination of a slightly longer shaft and lower loft makes my 5 iron a bit more difficult for me to strike consistently. While its maximum is clearly longer than my 6, most of the time I am more comfortable with my 6 iron.

So a comfort factor is definitely involved. The 6i is my favorite so it gets more play and my consistency with that club is probably the most solid in the bag.

I'm quite excited to be able to accurately measure club distances... I'm a statistic nut so maybe my mental game will improve as I get more data.... I'm a nerd, I guess.... :p

[brgolf]

It doesn't matter if you are a 100 handicap. Statistics are essential. The last thing you want to do is hit a perfectly good shot but it ends up short or long because you didn't know your distance.

[Goonsidious]

My 6 iron goes 180 (low average). I then have hybrids.. so...

[Stewie007]

Originally Posted by brgolf

It doesn't matter if you are a 100 handicap. Statistics are essential. The last thing you want to do is hit a perfectly good shot but it ends up short or long because you didn't know your distance.

I quite agree. That is why I bought a GPS unit. For years I've been trying to judge shots unsuccessfully. The sprinkler heads aren't always accurate, and it doesn't make me feel confident. I can feel it when I step up to the ball that I'm not very confident in my club selection not know for sure. So now I'll at least have the right information before I take my shot.

Plus as I track my scores and shots with it I'll be able to know for sure and that bit of confidence is enough for me. Knowing that I'm at 160 and I've gotta pull out the 6 or that I'm at 240 and the hybrid won't quite do it will give me a lot better of a feeling when I step up to the shot.

If only my back would get better I could go play a round...... I'm excited! hehe

[gloomis29]

I would pull my 5 iron for 170-180 yard shots, or 155 dead into the wind knockdown shot (pulled it off a few times this summer :) )

[HackerUpNorth]

I average between 210 -220 depending where I play it in my stance,  based on how much loft I'm aiming for.

[Shortylook]

Guys I went to the driving/practice range today and I found after my latest lesson I can 6 out of 10 times get at least 150+ when I slow down and keep my head on the ball, going to play a round on Monday so I hope it stays the same until then, but I'm getting a little excited at the prospects of breaking 100.:-)

[smidey]

i hit my 5 iron 198 yards carry (180m in metric countries)

[Derrick Parker]

About 175 but comparisons are not apples to apples because one person's 5 could have a different loft than another persons. I have two 5s, (two sets of clubs) One steel, one graphite. Loft is 25 and 26. The graphite club allows me to hit just over 180 with effort. My 4h is much easier to use, so I tend to go to it for most shots instead of the 5 iron.

[smidey]

i have bridgstone j36 pocket cavities with 6.0 flighted shafts, i hit quite high to.