How Far Is Enough

[Patch]

I golfed earlier today with an older gentlemen. http://www.bouldercitygolf.com/-rates-boulder-city He was older than me anyways. Probably in his mid/late 70s is my guess. His distance off the tee with 10.5 driver was only about 190 yards. His 3W was in the 170+/- yard range. He did have a very good short game, and his putting was just plain awesome. He only carried 8 clubs; a driver, 3W, 5I, 7I, 9I AW, SW, and of course his putter. He shot a cool 77. He had no birdies, but a lot of pars, with 5 bogies.  He also had an electric trolley with a remote control. Got to get me one of those critters.

So here's my question. How far is far enough when hitting off the tee? Yes, I know the more distance off the tee the better, but what are some opinions about shooting a good score with minimum driver distance.

Myself I shot an 84, with some drives in the 230 range. I was quite humbled, but had a great time watching this guy play his game.

[RFKFREAK]

I golfed earlier today with an older gentlemen. http://www.bouldercitygolf.com/-rates-boulder-city He was older than me anyways. Probably in his mid/late 70s is my guess. His distance off the tee with 10.5 driver was only about 190 yards. His 3W was in the 170+/- yard range. He did have a very good short game, and his putting was just plain awesome. He only carried 8 clubs; a driver, 3W, 5I, 7I, 9I AW, SW, and of course his putter. He shot a cool 77. He had no birdies, but a lot of pars, with 5 bogies.  He also had an electric trolley with a remote control. Got to get me one of those critters.

So here's my question. How far is far enough when hitting off the tee? Yes, I know the more distance off the tee the better, but what are some opinions about shooting a good score with minimum driver distance.

Myself I shot an 84, with some drives in the 230 range. I was quite humbled, but had a great time watching this guy play his game.

I would imagine it depends somewhat on the individual.

I'm terrible at everything but drive the ball on average b/w 220-230.  However, I don't hit my irons very well, my pitching and chipping is atrocious, and my putting on a good day is nothing to write home about.

[chasm]

It has happened to me a lot. I'm an "older guy" myself, if pushing 60 is old. But one of the guys I play with is in his seventies, plays off (and to) 13. I can hit a seven iron as far as he hits his driver, he's rarely more than about 160 yards off the tee. But he never misses a fairway and he chips and putts like the devil himself. Always in the mid-eighties, he's not going to pull up any trees but he's difficult to beat. Having said that, he'd love to be knocking it out to 250 yards...

[sopel10]

Were you playing the same tees?

I'd say it all depends what tees you want to play.  If you want to play tips on courses 7k+, your 190 yard drive guy will not score well.

[mailman]

I play greensomes with a lady in her late 70's, possibly even early 80's and she gets all of 100 yards off the tee BUT the great thing about playing with her is that she hits the middle of the fairway every single time! Considering where my game is its a god damn novelty to play any shot off the fairway! :)

Contrast that with possibly the best ever drive I had on Sunday night which was absolutely utterly completely smashed off the face of the planet with a beautiful right to left shape which ended up about 10 yards short of the green on a par four where I thought was around 300 yards. Measured it and it was barely over 270 yards! :D

Regards

Mailman

[David in FL]

Were you playing the same tees?

I'd say it all depends what tees you want to play.  If you want to play tips on courses 7k+, your 190 yard drive guy will not score well.

He'll still likely score better than the guy that hits it 280 but can't keep it on the course!

[sopel10]

He'll still likely score better than the guy that hits it 280 but can't keep it on the course!

190 drive, so probably a 175 carry, might not get him over the forced carries.  Very little room for any errors.

Also, would never be able to reach a green in two.

My dad is on a short side, somewhat straight.  Sometimes he plays longer tees with me, and straight is just not enough.

[ditchparrot19]

If you want to play tips on courses 7k+, your 190 yard drive guy will not score well.

Very few people should ever want to do that -- it just won't end well the vast majority of the time.

Those who do want to should probably have indexes no higher than they can count on the fingers of one hand.

[David in FL]

190 drive, so probably a 175 carry, might not get him over the forced carries.  Very little room for any errors.

Also, would never be able to reach a green in two.

My dad is on a short side, somewhat straight.  Sometimes he plays longer tees with me, and straight is just not enough.

Certainly depends on the course.  But not all 7,000 yard courses have 200 yard forced carries.

Regardless, in answer to the OP's question, if you can kick the crap outa the younger and longer guys you're playing with, you're obviously long enough!

[sopel10]

Very few people should ever want to do that -- it just won't end well the vast majority of the time.

Those who do want to should probably have indexes no higher than they can count on the fingers of one hand.

I agree.

Even though I can hit it out there, I don't like playing anything longer than 6700 or so.  250-260 drive on longer courses leaves me with a long iron or a hybrid/wood for my approach on some of the longer par 4's, and lets be realistic, at my level, that's just not fun.

[ditchparrot19]

250-260 drive on longer courses leaves me with a long iron or a hybrid/wood for my approach on some of the longer par 4's, and lets be realistic, at my level, that's just not fun.

Yeah, a couple of those are okay, but it's a drainer when that's the theme of the whole round.

[cipher]

Originally Posted by Patch

So here's my question. How far is far enough when hitting off the tee?

Just a little bit more...

[14ledo81]

Farther than I can hit it....

Seriously though, it depends on the course.  He may be able to beat a longer (but wilder) player on a short course.  If you get to a longer course with forced carries, long par 3's, etc...  I would put my money on the long guy.

From my own standpoint, I drive around 225.  I can score ok (mid 80's) on a 6,000 yard course.  If I had to play from the tips at my home course (6600) I think I would score much worse.  I would not be able to reach quite a few of the par 4's, and two of the par 3's I would probably have to hit driver.

[Aflighter]

well unfortunately the lady hitting every fairway isn't exactly difficultt if shes only hitting it 100 yards off tee.im as straight as you can be with driver and id like to say that means im good at it but in reality I feel its because I only hit it 210-225 off tee.to get it out there farther you really do risk not hitting fairway.im generally in the fairway or right near it 95% of the time but length still is very important if your playing over 6300 yards.

[Aflighter]

sounds like you have my game.ive hit driver a few times on 200-220 yard par 3s before.

[mcanadiens]

Find a course that suits you.

This area of Ohio has a bunch of courses ranging from very long and hazard-filled to some real shorties. Being distance-challenged myself, I like a particular course that goes only 5,000 yds from the whites. If I can hit my 200-220 yard drives straight, I'll have a decent chance at scoring. I avoid playing the 7200-yard courses from the tips, because I'd have no chance on half the holes. Maybe some day.

[dbuck]

There are several factors; one being the length of the par fours. If you have a course where the par 4's are around 350, then your guy is in pretty good shape if he is straight and consistent. 10 par 4's at 350 is  3500 yards; 4 par threes averaging 150 is 600, and 4 par 5's averaging 475 is 1900 for a total of 6000 yards. If there are no or few forced carries, then he should be ok if everything is working. I would think that would be about the max.

I can play to my handicap on my usual course with the vintage bag in my signature which is a little over 6300 from the whites. I hit the 3 wood around 215-220 with an occasional 235, and hit the 5 wood around 200.  A flat 150 is a 6 or 7 iron depending on conditions including MY condition. The par 4's avg 363, par 3's 175, and the par 5's 500.

To me, the length of par 4's is an important factor. Par 5's are usually 3 shot holes, and par 3's are usually one shot holes for me, meaning most of the time I will be on or close in regulation. As the length of par 4's increases, it strains the shorter hitter to be on or adjacent in regulation.

[14ledo81]

There are several factors; one being the length of the par fours. If you have a course where the par 4's are around 350, then your guy is in pretty good shape if he is straight and consistent. 10 par 4's at 350 is  3500 yards; 4 par threes averaging 150 is 600, and 4 par 5's averaging 475 is 1900 for a total of 6000 yards. If there are no or few forced carries, then he should be ok if everything is working. I would think that would be about the max.

I can play to my handicap on my usual course with the vintage bag in my signature which is a little over 6300 from the whites. I hit the 3 wood around 215-220 with an occasional 235, and hit the 5 wood around 200.  A flat 150 is a 6 or 7 iron depending on conditions including MY condition. The par 4's avg 363, par 3's 175, and the par 5's 500.

To me, the length of par 4's is an important factor. Par 5's are usually 3 shot holes, and par 3's are usually one shot holes for me, meaning most of the time I will be on or close in regulation. As the length of par 4's increases, it strains the shorter hitter to be on or adjacent in regulation.

I agree with this.  Especially in regards to the par 5's.  If you up the average par 5 from 480 to 530, it adds 200 yards to the course, but they are still 3 shot holes for me.  Probably does not affect my score so much.

Add 20 yards to every par 4 though (200 / 10), and now I am hitting 2 clubs longer into the greens.  This would definitely hurt my scores.