How do you measure your Irons distance?

[brendy]

There is one particular fella at our club with whom I have played a few times, he is obsessed with distance. Now I would be in the top couple of percentage in our club for distance so am never intimidated on the course by anyone elses drives/shots. This fella insists on thrashing his irons so he can ask what I/someone hit at a par 3/4 etc then say he hit 2 clubs less. There is times when a 7 iron 170yd par three actually calls for a lower trajectory 5 iron (headwind/tight landing area etc). To him though, no guts no glory, even when hes hacking out of the bunker in front of the green that 7 iron 'nearly had him inch perfect if he hadn't hit it off the toe'!
What is ironic though is the fact he is 4 inches taller than me but is a fair bit shorter with his driver/woods from the tee so thinks he has something to prove.

 

[RGuk]

I play the yardage game, always pace it out, tend to take a club more if in doubt, all that jazz.
For me it's about 12 yards between clubs 9,8,7,6 then slips to 10 and only about 8 between 2 and 3 say.
The pain in the arse gap is between PW and 9 iron.

I got to learn the distances first at the range (allowing for a bit more on the course) and then having an "instict" about how I'm hitting it on the day. At the moment, I'm about 145-150 for a 7, but this has been up n down for years.

 

[brendy]

My iron distances are usually fairly good in my minds eye, I can usually judge wind, elevation, lie etc. The shot I find difficult is the shot across a valley/dip. The amount of times I have ended up 5 yards through or short of the green.. I couldnt even begin to count.

 

[RGuk]

The shot I find difficult is the shot across a valley/dip. The amount of times I have ended up 5 yards through or short of the green

Tell me about it......I can't judge any distance at all, let alone over a dip, always looks much further (to me).

I can't remember the last time I didn't take a proper reading. My course has 150 stake markers and 100 red disks...no excuses for getting it wrong.

 

[John_Findlay]

Love my laser rangefinder for checking my distances with irons....but in the wind it's kinda guesswork and experience.

Was playing down the east coast on Sunday and there's a wee 130 yard downhill par 3. Without the wind it's a gap wedge or wedge for me. On Sunday I creamed a 5 iron to the back lip. That was a 90 yard wind!

Tried concentrating on playing whichever club would land me at the back of the green every time and hit 13 out of 18 that day. Lesson learned! Shame about the 40 putts!

 

[Sam]

The shot I find difficult is the shot across a valley/dip.

Fairly common issue and nothing to do with golf - if I remember correctly (often don't) the inability to measure dead ground is often a failure point for would-be helicopter pilots

 

[Toad]

I'm reasonably good at calculating distance's from 200 yards in and what club is required,I spent a long time in the park behind my house measuring out my irons and at worst I'm only out by about 5 yards.
I am usually very good from within 100 yards for judging the distance and this is probably the strongest part of my game.

 

[Basher]

I tend to stuggle with distances.

Often I'll hit a shorter club and watch the ball land woefully short. However, watching the ball in flight and heading greenwards I sometimes think I've overhit, especially on uphill fairways and greens. I guess it's an optical ilusion as the ball seems to have lots of airtime.