Playing Irons Only

[k-troop]

I won't try to dispute the Tiger website, but it does seem to me when they show those stats that 125 is the best of the best. Bubba type stuff.  It seems I saw a decent amount of 115's in the last tourney I watched.

Correct.  The bulk of tour pros are in the 113-115 range.  The best of the best (i.e. Bubba, DJ, Woodland, and TIGER) are in the mid 120s.

[Dave2512]

Correct.  The bulk of tour pros are in the 113-115 range.  The best of the best (i.e. Bubba, DJ, Woodland, TST Elite and TIGER) are in the mid 120s.

FIFY

[Meltdwhiskey]

Correct.  The bulk of tour pros are in the 113-115 range.  The best of the best (i.e. Bubba, DJ, Woodland, and TIGER) are in the mid 120s.

This seems to validate the chart listed previously. I think of the best golfers to be around a 200yd 6i.  And that is roughly what the chart shows - 120mph being a 196yd 6i.

I'm not sure it validates the 225yd 4-irons claimed in this thread.  Unless they are playing with the same swing speed and purity as the longest pros.  I guess that is possible.

[Jeremie Boop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by k-troop

Correct.  The bulk of tour pros are in the 113-115 range.  The best of the best (i.e. Bubba, DJ, Woodland, TST Elite and TIGER) are in the mid 120s.

FIFY

I love when people sit and call people liars in such backhanded ways. I've played with a few people on this forum on the course, they know I'm not exaggerating how far I hit the ball. That being said, I'm nowhere near consistent or nearly accurate enough. I've used gps to measure my distances and know approximately what how far I hit each of my irons base on that and course markings. These of course can't be counted as 100% accurate as there are always discrepancies in those measurements. Do I hit the ball these exact distances every time? Of course not, but you don't pull a club and go by the shortest distance you hit it, you go by the distance it goes when you hit it well. I don't average 300 with my driver, but I do hit at least 1 or 2 per round in that general range with most others being around 275 or at worst 240-250. You can scoff or call me a liar all you want, makes not a bit of difference to the truth of it.

[saevel25]

Correct.  The bulk of tour pros are in the 113-115 range.  The best of the best (i.e. Bubba, DJ, Woodland, and TIGER) are in the mid 120s.

Pro's range from 105 to 130, mostly in the range you said. But some pro's don't hit it as far as you think.

I love when people sit and call people liars in such backhanded ways. I've played with a few people on this forum on the course, they know I'm not exaggerating how far I hit the ball. That being said, I'm nowhere near consistent or nearly accurate enough. I've used gps to measure my distances and know approximately what how far I hit each of my irons base on that and course markings. These of course can't be counted as 100% accurate as there are always discrepancies in those measurements. Do I hit the ball these exact distances every time? Of course not, but you don't pull a club and go by the shortest distance you hit it, you go by the distance it goes when you hit it well. I don't average 300 with my driver, but I do hit at least 1 or 2 per round in that general range with most others being around 275 or at worst 240-250. You can scoff or call me a liar all you want, makes not a bit of difference to the truth of it.

I guess i should vouch for this. I played a round with Jeremie a few Saturday's ago. He is correct, if his contact was better, he would be hitting 280-290 consistently with the driver, and maybe get near 300 if he tweaked out a few extra MPH in the swing.

There are some seriously big hitters in these forums. I wish I had that kind of length.

Fwiw, my swing speed is 95-99mph.

You guys must be generating 120mph of club head speed.

The problem with that chart, there is no standard 3 iron. I could have a 15 yard gap between irons depending on brand.

Last time I checked Tiger Woods hits a 9i about 140 average and I don't think the PGA tour average for PW was more than 128ish. Whenever you see something that exceeds the averages on TV it's always due to extreme conditions, elevated tees, tail wind, St. Andrews rollout etc.

That's tiger hitting easy. He's hit some monster iron shots. To say Tiger only hits his 9 iron 140 is crap. Cause i hit my 9 iron 145-148, i know i don't have Tiger Strength. I don't know were golf digest got their numbers, but their wrong.

[MyrtleBeachGolf]

I could probably de-loft my 9 iron and hit it 165 yards if I wanted. But not sure there's much benefit in that type of distance. Maybe I'm naive, but I think hitting 4i, PW on a 370 yard par 4 is a stretch. If I had that type of length, I'd be playing off 2.2. instead of 12.2.

[Jeremie Boop]

I guess i should vouch for this. I played a round with Jeremie a few Saturday's ago. He is correct, if his contact was better, he would be hitting 280-290 consistently with the driver, and maybe get near 300 if he tweaked out a few extra MPH in the swing.

*off topic*

My new driver broke off at the head just like many others said happened to them . Although I've heard that several other companies that have the "straight fit" type connectors have had the same problem. I guess I should just get a non-adjustable driver to save myself the headache.

That's tiger hitting easy. He's hit some monster iron shots. To say Tiger only hits his 9 iron 140 is crap. Cause i hit my 9 iron 145-148, i know i don't have Tiger Strength. I don't know were golf digest got their numbers, but their wrong.

I think the problem is once pros get down into those "scoring" clubs they rarely are hitting it with a full swing, like you said, so their average length isn't how far the club actually hits for them if they take a full swing. Same as the driving statistics being off because they don't use driver on every shot that is counted for driving distance.

[k-troop]

Maybe I'm naive, but I think hitting 4i, PW on a 370 yard par 4 is a stretch. If I had that type of length, I'd be playing off 2.2. instead of 12.2.

Length isn't everything. Pavin hits a 4i about 185 (even when he was on the PGA tour) and he's a +2. And I used to play regularly with a guy who was 2 clubs longer than me; I'd give him 10 shots and beat him every time.

[David in FL]

I love when people sit and call people liars in such backhanded ways. I've played with a few people on this forum on the course, they know I'm not exaggerating how far I hit the ball. That being said, I'm nowhere near consistent or nearly accurate enough. I've used gps to measure my distances and know approximately what how far I hit each of my irons base on that and course markings. These of course can't be counted as 100% accurate as there are always discrepancies in those measurements. Do I hit the ball these exact distances every time? Of course not, but you don't pull a club and go by the shortest distance you hit it, you go by the distance it goes when you hit it well. I don't average 300 with my driver, but I do hit at least 1 or 2 per round in that general range with most others being around 275 or at worst 240-250. You can scoff or call me a liar all you want, makes not a bit of difference to the truth of it.

Not directed at Jeremie necessarily, but this is why so many amateurs come up short of their intended target the vast majority of the time.  You'll seldom see them past the pin.....

.......unless they blade the crap out of a wedge!

[MyrtleBeachGolf]

Length isn't everything. Pavin hits a 4i about 185 (even when he was on the PGA tour) and he's a +2. And I used to play regularly with a guy who was 2 clubs longer than me; I'd give him 10 shots and beat him every time.

If I had the length to hit 4iron, PW into par 4's I round make more pars and less doubles than hitting driver, 8i. That's all I'm saying.

[Jeremie Boop]

Not directed at Jeremie necessarily, but this is why so many amateurs come up short of their intended target the vast majority of the time.  You'll seldom see them past the pin.....

.......unless they blade the crap out of a wedge!

No, you mistake my meaning. I don't mean that 1 out of 20 hit that goes extra far, I mean the distance you hit it most of the time. I don't count the flier that goes an extra 5-10 yards. Also, typically, you don't want to hit it too far anyway, usually short is safer than long when it comes to approach shots.

[David in FL]

No, you mistake my meaning. I don't mean that 1 out of 20 hit that goes extra far, I mean the distance you hit it most of the time. I don't count the flier that goes an extra 5-10 yards.

As I said......not necessarily directed at you, but a LOT of recreational golfers make their club selection based on the distance that results from as close to perfect contact as they ever come.  Most would be better off grabbing one extra club more often than not.  But then they'd have to admit to hitting 7-iron 160 rather than 9-iron.

Just as a fun exercise, next time you and your buddies play, keep track of how many approaches are truly pin-high or higher.  Don't tell anyone you're doing it.  When you finish the round, you'll be amazed.

[Jeremie Boop]

As I said......not necessarily directed at you, but a LOT of recreational golfers make their club selection based on the distance that results from as close to perfect contact as they ever come.  Most would be better off grabbing one extra club more often than not.  But then they'd have to admit to hitting 7-iron 160 rather than 9-iron.

True enough, though you just added 2 clubs to that selection... Either way, I agree some people tend to think " I hit this iron x distance one time, so I should use it every time for that distance". I know that just because I jacked my 9i 165 on time that's not how far I usually hit it.

[David in FL]

[U][/U][quote name="Jeremie Boop" url="/t/69462/playing-irons-only/90#post_892963"]True enough, though you just added 2 clubs to that selection... Either way, I agree some people tend to think " I hit this iron x distance one time, so I should use it every time for that distance". I know that just because I jacked my 9i 165 on time that's not how far I usually hit it. [/quote] The extra club is to account for the one club they already lie about! ;-)

[Jeremie Boop]

The extra club is to account for the one club they already lie about!

Ha, sneaky, one problem is some of the newer irons are so strong loft wise and have a little extra length on the shaft *Taylor Made especially* that a 9i is basically an 8i.

[Slice of Life]

As I said......not necessarily directed at you, but a LOT of recreational golfers make their club selection based on the distance that results from as close to perfect contact as they ever come.  Most would be better off grabbing one extra club more often than not.  But then they'd have to admit to hitting 7-iron 160 rather than 9-iron.

Just as a fun exercise, next time you and your buddies play, keep track of how many approaches are truly pin-high or higher.  Don't tell anyone you're doing it.  When you finish the round, you'll be amazed.

Yep. I'm constantly "helping" a friend of mine with his club selection. We'll walk up to a 160 yard par 3 and he'll grab his 8 iron. I'm like "Why don't you just hit a soft 7, you can control it better", so he does, and hits the green short of the pin.

Meanwhile, he swung a full swing with his 7 and was still short. I knew that would be the case, but worded it the way I did to help him out and spare his feelings. If I just said "You don't hit your 8 that far", he'd try to swing out of his shoes and shank it in the woods.

I have the opposite problem sometimes...if I'm 155 out, I'll sometimes hit my 7 iron, knowing full well a good shot is 165. But if I don't hit it perfect (which is often), I'll be good.

[Dave2512]

That's tiger hitting easy. He's hit some monster iron shots. To say Tiger only hits his 9 iron 140 is crap. Cause i hit my 9 iron 145-148, i know i don't have Tiger Strength. I don't know were golf digest got their numbers, but their wrong.

Whether it's his easy swing or not isn't relevant it's his average and they don't have to guess because the PGA tracks stats. But what I don't get is if the best players in the world aren't trying to nuke it every time why do amateurs do it?

[saevel25]

Its easier to just hit one number than try to scale back.