Senior distances!

[Tashyboy]

Well I played today and our fourball ended up a five ball which we split to a two and three ball. A senior golfer walks over the hill and we invite him to play in our two ball which he's does. Lovely old guy called Andy from Northumberland.
he has arthritis in back and pelvis. His first tee shot ends up in the water.
The third tee shot I bladdered 230 ish straight as an arrow. His ball was 10 yd behind mine. I was gobsmacked. Think he said he was 74.

 

[louise_a]

I wouldn't mind those distances!

 

[delc]

Delc
I have 7 years on you and I would love your length through out bag.
A chronic stiff back has done for me yardage wise.
Keep swinging for all your worth is my advice
I do manage a reasonable short game but it still hurts in the middle of the fairway on a shortish par 4 to know you could stand there all day and not get up in 2 shots, unless of course I had a -303 Lee Enfield.
Dewsweeper

I also have a rather stiff back and a sore left hip. These rather limit my backswing; once upon a time I could get the shaft past parallel to the ground at the top, but now it's closer to vertical. At best a three-quarter swing, which I think has cost me the distance over the years. I do do stretching exercises by the way, but they will only go so far!

 

[selwood90]

I played with 2 lovely senior aged chaps the other day, invited to play by them after rolling up to the first on my own. As a 25 year old, yes I drove much further, but when you can hit the ball 200 yards off the tee, then hit a 150 hybrid, chip on and sink your putt. My driving distance made little difference on many holes. And I don't mind admitting it! Yes they were short, but also consistent and played to their strengths. Whilst I was making the green on our par 4's in 2 and then 3 putting. All respect to them!

 

[Smiffy]

as the old saying goes - "its's not how far, it's how many"........ Keep it on the short stuff and the occasional single put and that leads to a respectable game!

I played in the Seniors Open at Tyrrells Wood last Summer. I was in a group with an old boy, in his late 70's, who was playing off 18. He couldn't hit the ball very far at all, maybe 170 or so at most with his driver, and played with quite a bad slice. But he knew his limitations and almost everything ended up in the middle of the fairway. He hardly hit a green in regulation but had a short game to die for, he got up and down from around the green a few times, his bunker play was fantastic, and I don't think he had one 3 putt. He finished in 2nd place with 38 points despite a couple of one pointers and a blob on the closing holes when he started to get tired. It should (and could) have been quite a few more.
Chatting to him on the way round, he said that his lowest handicap was 6 when he was younger. That's where his short game came from.
He was a lovely old boy and a pleasure to play with. You can learn a lot from playing with the old 'uns, one of the most important things being "it's not how far, it's how many".

 

[delc]

Perhaps I should add that I never hit my shots flat out, preferring to keep my swing smooth and under control. This makes me a relatively straight hitter (apart from the occasional shank), if not very long.

 

[fenwayrich]

I am 59, suffer from ankylosing spondylitis which means my back is very stiff and I have a very short backswing and abbreviated follow through. I am comfortably the shortest hitter of the group I play with. I am also the straightest, which makes up a little (but not much) for the distance I give up.

Although I can only hit four of our nine par 4's in two (and those often with hybrid or wood) I have come down from 11 to 8 in 2015. The secret for me is being a good chipper and decent putter on our relatively flat greens.

 

[garyinderry]

My brothers mate has hit driver at every hole on his course and is easily the lowest handicap in their regular 4 ball.

All about the short game.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Those are my distances but not always straight. Stop your moaning . Do what Tiger is unable to do, accept your game has changed and play to it. Others have pointed out the obvious, work on your short game as that is not a distance issue. You do not have a problem as far as I can tell.

 

[garyinderry]

Gaps between 3 hybrid and good drive seem to close. Driver should be well past that.

3 wood and driver also seem a tad close.

Other than that they seem fine.

Oh a buy yourself a decent chipper. You seem to have the room and it's your weakest part of your game.

 

[Maninblack4612]

We have a lot in common Delc. I am 69, prone to shanking, have a sore hip, stiff knee & in my younger day was a longish hitter. (but I don't look like Jimmy Saville!) I can do about 230 - 240 yards with the driver and I'm about 10 yards ahead of you with the 5 iron. By the time I get to 8, 9, & wedge I'm almost exactly the same, since I tend to hit the short irons very high. My pitching wedge is bent from 46° to 44° and I still only get 100 yards max out of it. My short game & putting has improved as I got older, allowing me to hang onto single figures by the skin of my teeth. In my teens & early 20s I managed to play to 5 with a very poor short game. Oh for those days again!

 

[351DRIVER]

You always in these thread need to consider that most people do not know what a 220 yard average drive looks like, so anyone claiming big distances usually is doing so through poor awareness

Its a constant theme in golf

 

[North Mimms]

Length isn't everything, chaps.

#justsaying.

 

[drdel]

Those who allegedly hit the ball 'forum distances' can have a good laugh, but these are the distances I achieve as a 69 year old senior golfer in average conditions:
Driver 200-210 yards
3-wood 185-195 yards
3-hybrid 180 yards
5-hybrid 165 yards
5-iron 155 yards
6-iron 145 yards
7-iron 135 yards
8-iron 125 yards
9-iron 110 yards
PW 100 yards
GW up to 80 yards
SW up to 65 yards

And I am far from being the shortest hitting senior at our club! Back in my 40's and 50's, I could hit the ball much further and actually won several longest drive prizes! Any long par-4 is now a driver and a 3-wood or hybrid, followed by a pitch shot into the green with a short iron or a wedge. Makes scoring rather more difficult than it used to be! Any tips for getting more distance in old age?

Same age, pretty much identical distances. Good fun this age thing!

 

[delc]

Same age, pretty much identical distances. Good fun this age thing!

Old age is not so bad when you consider the alternatives! :mmm:

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Never got tied down with distances. Apart from being a short hitter anyway (and getting older all the time) I'm more interested in hitting it and finding it and getting it round in the lowest number.

 

[delc]

Never got tied down with distances. Apart from being a short hitter anyway (and getting older all the time) I'm more interested in hitting it and finding it and getting it round in the lowest number.

If you don't know your distances, how do you know which club to use? :mmm:

 

[HomerJSimpson]

If you don't know your distances, how do you know which club to use? :mmm:

I know all my distances based on averages on the practice ground (into and down wind - approx 10mph) with Sky Caddy. What I was alluding to, was that I don't care if my 150 yards is a 5/6 iron for me and an 8 iron for someone else.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

I know all my distances based on averages on the practice ground (into and down wind - approx 10mph) with Sky Caddy. What I was alluding to, was that I don't care if my 150 yards is a 5/6 iron for me and an 8 iron for someone else.

Then why reply to the thread, he was asking a genuine question in the op!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Then why reply to the thread, he was asking a genuine question in the op!

Because my point is the same. As a short hitter, not quite in the senior category but creeping up slowly, it makes no odds if my 6 iron only goes 150 and others hit an 8 iron the same. As I said it's hitting it and finding it (so hitting well enough to keep it straight and in play) and making the best score I can hitting it the distances I do. Not sure why the slightly aggressive response?