Distance

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Distance
Distance
Distance

It seems to be the only word in Golf these days
or words associated with it.

+10 yards here, +20 there.
Here's a 3 wood that hits the ball 270 yards - so how far does the Driver go?
And how far have you got to hit your 5w/hybrid to keep up...
And then your irons - they have to be progressively longer or you'll have huge gaps.
Now we need a GW - but that GW needs to go 120 yards to make up the gap betwen PW and SW - or do we need another GW?
It's just getting crazy. Why doesn't anyone extol the virtues of consistently hitting a yardage instead of just hitting it further. Because it doesn't sell product even though it's better for your game.
We all know that hitting the ball a certain yardage is critical yet we all, mostly, get drawn into the hype of more Distance

Slots in irons that seem to serve no purpose except to relieve people of cash, slots in fairways and hybrids that do hit the ball further - so much that a 2nd extra club is needed to fill gaps. Chunks dug out from heads to make the ball go further - it's all gimmicks designed to line the pockets of the Execs..Most of us won't hit it further with any of these clubs. We may think we do but in reality we probably won't - on average...

And yet it will continue until we decide to not buy the latest greatest Driver/Wood/Hybrid/Irons etc etc.
And that will never happen.

Agree, agree, agree x 3

On Sat. one up playing 17th. Perfect tee shot and had a 80yd approach shot - flag right on front of green, front flanked by deep bunkers left and right. Took 56 wedge - new to it but it seems to go that sort of distance easily. Wanted to be past the hole so hit it firmly. Wrong! I didn't think ball-placement so shot just went higher - pulled it a little and plop - into bunker. Lost hole. Should either have done bump and run or taken 52 degree to make sure I was well over flag on green. Didn't matter what clubs I might have had in my bag - I made the wrong decisions and it cost me. And lost match on 18th.

Distance is one thing - using your brain is another.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Top British amateur for many years was Gary Wolstenholme. He was very short off the tee. Biggish bloke well.
Long enough to beat Tigger in the Walker Cup

 

[virtuocity]

How short?

 

[deanobillquay]

I bought my irons for quality, not distance.

 

[Svenska]

Superb thread. I haven't been able to play golf as much in the last ten years as i'd have liked, therefore i've hardly updated my kit. Up until recently I was using a 11.5 Titleist 975D driver and although back in the late 90's these were the best bit of gear in the land, technology has moved on big time. Anyway, the times I have played in the last few years with mates who have all the latest clubs and i'd be hitting it just as long as them, if not further. I've had plenty of go's with their newer clubs and there's minimal difference.

I've recently bought the odd new club but purely because my trusty old stuff had seen better days. I still use Callaway x-14 pro series irons and i'm yet to find anything that travels like those, best irons i've ever had and probably ever will have.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Superb thread. I haven't been able to play golf as much in the last ten years as i'd have liked, therefore i've hardly updated my kit. Up until recently I was using a 11.5 Titleist 975D driver and although back in the late 90's these were the best bit of gear in the land, technology has moved on big time. Anyway, the times I have played in the last few years with mates who have all the latest clubs and i'd be hitting it just as long as them, if not further. I've had plenty of go's with their newer clubs and there's minimal difference.

I've recently bought the odd new club but purely because my trusty old stuff had seen better days. I still use Callaway x-14 pro series irons and i'm yet to find anything that travels like those, best irons i've ever had and probably ever will have.

All well and good, but imagine you had tried one of your mates drivers and it was 20yds longer than yours with the same accuracy, would you want one - be honest

 

[duncan mackie]

On Sat. one up playing 17th. Perfect tee shot and had a 80yd approach shot -

It's all very well for you big hitters to talk about distance in these terms, mere mortals only dream of 80 yd approaches on a hole like that!

Was that 350 of the whites or a mere 298 of your yellows? Either way that fantastic hitting at this time of year.

On the other hand I hit my best drives to the par 4 15th, 16th and 18th in my match, leaving 215, 195 and 159 from the centre of the fairway in each case - the latter being gently uphill and there was a fair breeze such that a perfect 5 iron still fell 6" short of the green

I'm not worried about how far each iron goes - but if I can get another 25 yards from a driver I would be daft not to go for it. I'm confident that I can't (or I would!) but the principles the point.

 

[User 105]

I have a m8 who plays off 2. He hits his driver a country mile. Every Par 4 is driver wedge. He honestly is Bubba long.

But when his driving goes off, which it does occasionally, it's an absolute train wreck.

Because he has such a high swing speed, he doesn't need to be much off at impact and he's reloading.

The tough bit is when I play with him is keeping my swing speed down and trying not to complete.

 

[MetalMickie]

Top British amateur for many years was Gary Wolstenholme. He was very short off the tee. Biggish bloke well.
Long enough to beat Tigger in the Walker Cup

He started as a youngster at our club and even then was not as long as his peers. BUT what a short game and what a putter.

 

[Svenska]

All well and good, but imagine you had tried one of your mates drivers and it was 20yds longer than yours with the same accuracy, would you want one - be honest

Haha! If it made a noticeable difference and improved my game then of course i'd purchase one, I'm just not convinced. I bought my missus a set of HIPPO ladies irons off eBay for about £15, they looked the absolute pits. Anyway, I took her up the range and as i'd not taken any of my clubs with me I had a few whacks with them. I was amazed at how well I struck them and the distance they went, I got a bit embarrassed and thought perhaps I needed whippy shafts. I've since hit them alongside my irons and there's not that much difference other than my Callaway's have a slightly more powerful flight and they do go a bit further, which you'd expect as a minimum!

I've worked with golfers using hypnosis and EFT to improve their game (and my own) and these techniques are far more effective at increasing distance and better ball striking than the latest new club. At the end of the day golf is effected by and large by the mind and whatever makes you the most confident and comfortable is what's important, i'm just glad i'm not obsessed by the need for the latest new clubs but if people are and that gives them confidence then so be it.

 

[Svenska]

Where do you play Mickie? I'm originally from Leicestershire, was a member at Hinckley Golf Club for 10 years but now I live in Wimbledon. I've seen Wolstenhome in local tournaments before, was an absolute joy to watch him in action. Likewise Broadhurst and Steve Webster. Andy Sullivan looks like he'll go a long way too.

 

[MetalMickie]

Where do you play Mickie? I'm originally from Leicestershire, was a member at Hinckley Golf Club for 10 years but now I live in Wimbledon. I've seen Wolstenhome in local tournaments before, was an absolute joy to watch him in action. Likewise Broadhurst and Steve Webster. Andy Sullivan looks like he'll go a long way too.

Kirby Muxloe. Gary's father, Guy, played all his amateur golf as a member of Kirby. Like his son Gary he was a Walker Cup player. Gary started at Kirby then left to join The Leicestershire. He then left the area & played out of Bristol & Clifton.

Broadhurst & Webster were both amateurs at Atherstone & each won the Silver Medal as leading amateur in the Open; quite an achievement for a small down to earth club.

Andy Sullivan comes from Nuneaton and I agree he looks quite a prospect.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

It's all very well for you big hitters to talk about distance in these terms, mere mortals only dream of 80 yd approaches on a hole like that!

Was that 350 of the whites or a mere 298 of your yellows? Either way that fantastic hitting at this time of year

Was off yellows. Just checked google earth - was about 260yds off tee (cleared LHS bunker and bounded down the slope onto the level if you know the hole) and 80yds (max) to flag as it was at very front of green. Absolutely no excuse for dropping it short in the bunker - brain dead play - won't do it again (some chance)

 

[Nashy]

Driver tech took a huge leap forwards around 8 years ago, the R&A then regained it back in and set limits on drivers. Anything driver from the last 5-6years if its right for your swing won't make a lot of difference distance wise. I have played around with lofts and shafts to get a combo I am happy with.

Most modern irons hit the ball further due to there jacked lofts which makes them almost a club long, so a new 6 iron has 5 iron loft in most cases. This makes you think the irons are loads longer than your old ones. The only new irons that are not jacking there lofts are players irons on the whole.

The X 14 Pro irons were the nicest Callaway ever produced until the X forged player cavity.

 

[jason6r]

I've always been a long hitter but until recently have also always been a high handicapper (18+) because although I knew deep down my lack of accuracy was killing me, I loved it when I bombed one off the tee right up the middle of the fairway. When I played 5-6 times a year for pure fun on corporate days that was fine; when I started playing regularly (50ish times a year) and didn't see any improvement other than in my ability to find a ball in the rough after yet another errant drive, it was quite frankly embarrassing and pretty tedious.

So I've taken a fair amount off the tee shot by swinging easier, lost some distance (but not as much as I had expected, probably due to better contact?) and started hitting fairways more often than not, with a shot shape I love. I've now taken the next step by having our pro cut my driver down by an inch whilst he's regripping it and expect my accuracy to get better when I pick it up tomorrow.

I'd love to have kept the distance and massively improved the accuracy at the same time but wasn't good enough to do it. So I chose to improve my technique through practice and some lessons and reduce my handicap this way. Encouraging progress so far.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Distance sells. Always will. Has done since metal headed came in. As for striving for extra distance, I'm short, especially in forum terms, but I'll put my trust in the fitter to find me the best shaft for me. Every manufacturer will sell on distance from now to eternity

 

[Svenska]

Kirby Muxloe. Gary's father, Guy, played all his amateur golf as a member of Kirby. Like his son Gary he was a Walker Cup player. Gary started at Kirby then left to join The Leicestershire. He then left the area & played out of Bristol & Clifton.

Broadhurst & Webster were both amateurs at Atherstone & each won the Silver Medal as leading amateur in the Open; quite an achievement for a small down to earth club.

Andy Sullivan comes from Nuneaton and I agree he looks quite a prospect.

I like Kirby Muxloe, good course. I did well in a Junior Open there many years ago, I got my clubs stolen that day as well, hahahaaa. I was pretty pleased actually because I claimed a better set on my Dad's insurance.

I've a few mates who are pals with Webster and my brother used to play against him in junior events. You could tell then how he was on a different planet to any other lad in the area.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

Can anyone on here genuinely say that they DON'T want to hit the ball further?

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Can anyone on here genuinely say that they DON'T want to hit the ball further?

Yes - honestly. I'm absolutely happy with the distance I get. I played for 20yrs using a 3 wood off the tee and got down to 6hcap - NEVER used a driver. For me accuracy and consistency come way ahead of further distance. I get EXTRA distance from time to time by hitting the ball better. Great when it happens - not bothered when it doesn't.

 

[SimonC]

I have a m8 who plays off 2. He hits his driver a country mile. Every Par 4 is driver wedge. He honestly is Bubba long.

But when his driving goes off, which it does occasionally, it's an absolute train wreck.

Because he has such a high swing speed, he doesn't need to be much off at impact and he's reloading.

The tough bit is when I play with him is keeping my swing speed down and trying not to complete.

We used to have a bloke who played off 3 out our place and he sounds simliar to your friend. I've never seen anyone hit the ball as far as him & I've seen the pros up close including Tiger back in his early years when he was a monster off the tee.

If he kept the driver in play he would shoot under par but if it went wrong, which was a lot of the time then he could shoot in the 80's quite easily or just NR after 9 holes or so.

I'd class myself as a pretty decent hitter (recent driver fitting I averaged 170.6 mph ball speed) but he could pretty much keep up with me using his 1 iron. I remember once he was stood on the 6th tee at Cavendish Golf Club for any of those who have played it with a strongish wind behind and decided he would go for the green (412 yards from an elevated tee). On this occasion he ended up losing his ball, but to even think about going for a green that is over 400 yards away is crazy & very humbling.