High handicappers who hit the ball well and far...

I can't believe whats being said here by so many poeple, i'm genuinly shocked.
As a high hand capper myself i know for a fact that a high handicapper can hit a good long straight drive and fairly consistantly because, i can.
(and believe me i would never say anything as bold as this normally but i feel forced to, in the defence of all those others that say they can and are shotdown).

I used my driver for 14 of the holes on my course on sunday, I would say i hit 3 of those badly (in bounds and playable but not where i intended them to go) the rest definatley averaged over 260 no question.

The reason this is possible for me is; I had quite a few lessons through the winter on my ball striking, address, swing grip etc, its all clicked, and as a result, I am at the moment an improving player (my handicap is starting to come down).
So for the time being I am a high handicapper that is hitting long straight resonably consistent drives and i'm sure i'm not the only one.

So please do not shoot poeple down when all the facts are not known.

That being said there will always be poeple who can't help but exaggerate but can't we give poeple the benefit of the doubt when it is there?
 
Good on ya Timberbonce, I believe you.
The fact that I put a SW to the back of a par 5 green for my second shot today still has people wondering, did I really do that?????? :D :D
 
God, that took a long time to read.

:eek:

Well, I've learned something today ;

That golfers get more het up about length than is healthy. I mean, how many threads get this many posts in such a short time ?

Mine's this long, well mine's bigger. Well yours may be bigger, but mine's straighter. Crikey oh riley.

And do you know what's worse.....

I've read this thread from cover to cover and I haven't hit a 300 yard drive in over 20 years, but I can still remember it, except nowadays the wind wasn't behind, and I'm sure that the fairway wasn't hard as nails either ;).

We all go on and on about how it's the short game that's important, and that's how the game should be played, but give us a dick waving long driving thread, and everyone gets to be a pendant all of a sudden.

Brilliant :D

( Best if we all agree not to show this one to the womenfolk - it's hard enough to pretend that we're their equals without them seeing this sort of proof :) )
 
well i regularly hit my drive 300 yards - sadly i usually have to go 2 fairways over to the right to collect it.

(BTW thsi is slightly tongue in cheek)
 
Personally I'm happy with a drive that is hit SOLIDLY as this fills me with confidence. I hit my driver either very well or very badly depending on how I'm feeling physically.

I've hit several measured 300+ yard drives with wind assistance and dry fairways, but my average carry in normal conditions is about 230. As I'm just under 10 stone and 5' 9" I'll take that every single time.
 
There seem to be a lot of indignant people here! Being over sensitive about your own ability will harm your game out on the course when the pressure's on.
The longest drive in competition requires the ball to finish on the fairway. For a good player he/she has to concentrate on timing the club head (as he should for every shot) to make sure the stroke is accurate as well as long. From experience, the unseasoned higher handicap player trying to get the longest drive will invariably see them swinging insanely quick with a manic expression on their purple coloured face, exploding like a catherine wheel on the tee and probably falling off the shot by the follow through. Ive actually seen someone fall over attempting this. The result will range from a dribbling topped ball rolling off the front of the tee, a huge slice onto the next fairway/green/OOB or the ball lands 290 yards by sheer coincidence where the middle of the fairway happens to be and takes the prize, hail the conquering chief etc.
 
HNJ

On your post you said "does anyone believe me" so I think you were setting yourself up for reply you got. If you looked at my post carefully I said I didn't believe you but as I wasn't there I'd have to take your word for it. As such I'd have to assume your word to be honest and so you hit it as far as you said you did. End of in my opinion. No more to say on the matter.

I am a short hitter and so I only average around 220 with a driver and Sunday best for me would be around 245-250 although I managed to fluke a 260 last week downwind. I've never claimed to hit it xx yards
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You're contradicting yourself all over the place here Homer.
First of all it's "I don't believe you/I'll take your word for it.

You can't say you don't believe him and in the same sentence say that you'll take his word for it.
You either believe him or you don't. Simple as that.


Then it's "I managed to fluke a 260 last week downwind/ I've never claimed to hit it xx yards"

For the record, I believe that anyone, on any given day, can hit a ball 300+ yards and I say well done to those who have.
 
I am still confused why using Net. score in the clubouse after a comp whilst discussing results is pathetic :D
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I think there must be some unwritten change over point at around 6 or 7 when you start quoting gross scores rather than net! :D

Can't say it's ever bothered me if someone quotes a net score.
 
After a stableford you'd tell people how many points you got, and they are based on nett scores. It's so you have some idea of where you came in a competition round.
 
I think we need a rules thread. It should give everyone information on how to post and the meaning of golfing terms.

For example:

"Do not state an average driving distance as some pedants will get upset. Instead, state how far you think you hit the ball when the ball is struck somewhere between quite well & well. Giving the caveat that sometimes it may include drives which didn't quite hit the fairway and as such couldn't be included in longest drives comps"
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Are sarcastic comments okay for every post or are they only allowed after sceptical ones?? ;)
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I'd say sarcastic posts are fine at any time, not that I'd ever use them myself ;)
 
I am still confused why using Net. score in the clubouse after a comp whilst discussing results is pathetic :D
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Of course it's relevant in terms of who's won the medal, I was angling more towards when you ask someone what there score was they immediatley say a net score without telling you it's a net score, they want you to hear 68 or 70 or something low to try and impress.

I think they should say "I shot an 85, net 69" etc.

If you give someone your net score I think it's ok as long as you say I shot net 69. I still think you should say the gross score first.

A lot of people who play golf dont hold official handicaps but still count shots, for them net scores dont mean anything.
 
I've noticed that there's a few folk on here question people when they say they can hit a ball a certain difference with a certain club.

As far as i can see, handicaps bear little relation (;)) to how well you can hit a ball, or even to how well you can swing a club. It is all about how many strokes it takes to get the ball in the hole, and more often than not, hitting it further than a low handicapper will get you in trouble.

So, please lay off joe blogs who says he can drive the ball over 300 yds. He may well be telling the truth, and that also includes the fact that his next shot is a duffer into the trees, chipping through the green, unable to read putts, can't play out of bunkers etc...

It's quite easy to be not very good at this game we all love, no matter how far you can hit a ball!
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Seeing as I can't be asked to read through 5 pages of posts I'm going to answer the original post....

Yes it is possible on one hand for a high handicap player to strike the ball at times better than some lower handicap players, or have a more tutored swing.

However, the problem with high handicap players & I'll raise my hand here, is consistentcy. Not every shot is going to be anywhere near 100%, or even 95% reliable. Even pro's are not that reliable at times. Yes we can all say withing plus or minus so many yards where a certain club of a particular loft is going to get us, but the possiblility for error & dispertion is much higher than a lower handicap players. It is possible that only one area of a players game may let him or her down, giving the higher handicap status.

Many of us are capable at times of hitting the 300 yarder, but its most likely going to be on rare occasions when everything just fall right for us. It mearly shows the potential of what we might be able to do should consistency be better.

At times we can & do kid ourselves that we are better than we are. Some of us can produce certain miricle shots where others can't, but there will be much lacking in the rest of our game.

It is very true the further you can hit it, the greater the opertunity for getting into trouble. Not too much of an issue for lower handicap players, but can be if you are going to spray shots with the driver. It wouldn't matter if you could hit it 350 yards, if that drive leaves you so deep in the jungle or even OB, that it costs shots. It would actually make more sense for us high handicap players to swing more within ourselves & loose a few yards for the sake of more accuracy.

Due to lack of regular practice my yardages have fallen off considerably. The irony is I'm probably scoring better, this is due to a couple of factors.
 
I can't see a problem with discussing Net scores in the clubhouse after a match or a friendly, because everyone's talking about the same thing.

But I guess if I were to come on here and say I went round in 74 at the weekend, that wouldn't make a great deal of sense to those who have no idea what the par is at my course. That's why I nearly always say, "I went round in 13-over". It's pretty much universal.
 
HNJ

On your post you said "does anyone believe me" so I think you were setting yourself up for reply you got. If you looked at my post carefully I said I didn't believe you but as I wasn't there I'd have to take your word for it. As such I'd have to assume your word to be honest and so you hit it as far as you said you did. End of in my opinion. No more to say on the matter.

I am a short hitter and so I only average around 220 with a driver and Sunday best for me would be around 245-250 although I managed to fluke a 260 last week downwind. I've never claimed to hit it xx yards
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You're contradicting yourself all over the place here Homer.
First of all it's "I don't believe you/I'll take your word for it.

You can't say you don't believe him and in the same sentence say that you'll take his word for it.
You either believe him or you don't. Simple as that.


Then it's "I managed to fluke a 260 last week downwind/ I've never claimed to hit it xx yards"

For the record, I believe that anyone, on any given day, can hit a ball 300+ yards and I say well done to those who have.
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Talk about nail on the head there atticus ;)
Its funny, I only posted this long drive on another thread simply making example ref to wind effect following Tigers 7 iron 225 and I also indicated how much gain on normal drives I was getting. I then made another jovial ref in this thread when the size and length marshals came out :D
 
OK let me make it clear having had 25 minutes to sit down and reflect on this thread and others.

I cynical and sceptical by nature so if you want a black and white answer it would be no I don't beleive him.

However in an effort to comply with recent requests on the forum to be more "open minded" with other members and to prevent the huge flame wars we have experienced recently on other subjects, I was saying that I wasn't there and therefore giving HNJ the benefit of the doubt. Not a deliberate contradiction, more an attempt to keep some level of cordiality.

Second point. I have never at any point stated I can hit the ball regularly (which was the orginal point that people are hitting 250-300+ on a regular basis) huge distances. The drive I hit that went 260 was a Sunday best, once in a blue moon effort, severely aided by conditions. It was a reference to the point made in this thread that everyone is capable of a big drive every now and then, just not on a regular or consistant basis.

My final point was that I guess if a hole is downwind and downhill even the short hitters like me have a chance to punch a 300 yard drive but the chances are very slim. To those that have I was saying well done. Nothing more.

It seems that HNJ has a habit of fine picking a number of posts I make especially if it doesn't agree with his point of view and I've had a few PM's commenting that a couple of others have felt the same way and asking if we had had a falling out. As far as I'm aware the answer to that is No.

Let me spell this out so no-one is in any doubt about where I stand.

This is an open forum where people can make any comment they like withing the guidelines of decency and behaviour that have been set down. There is no pre-requisite that any comments I make have to be shared or agreed with by ANY member of the forum and it is their right to disagree and offer even a polarised opinion on any topic which I will accept (not necessarily agree with) and will reply and try and fine some common ground and enjoy the frank exchange of views.

That does not mean I accept my posts being dissected by individual members and held to public scrutiny if they don't match that persons parameters on a set topic.

Let me be crystal clear about this.I have no axe to grind with HNJ and will hopefully continue to lock horns in I hope a friendly and constructive way.
 
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