Short / Medium / Long hitters

Still tho . been honest most days i can hit the ball a fair ole crack .. il always wait for the green to clear on our 12th 294 off the whites 311 off the blues (have driven it off both, but most times be just up short.). & i wait till players are on the 2nd green or close to it when off the whites 332 but bunker protects the front of it (out of courtsey) 200 off either of these tees makes them short ..
 
I recall seeing a study in which hundreds of amateur american golfers (wide range of handicaps) were asked to play a hole the pros play and the AVERAGE drive was between 190-200 yards.

180 or less - short
181-230 Medium
231 plus, for most amateurs, is a long drive.
 
I recall seeing a study in which hundreds of amateur american golfers (wide range of handicaps) were asked to play a hole the pros play and the AVERAGE drive was between 190-200 yards.

180 or less - short
181-230 Medium
231 plus, for most amateurs, is a long drive.

I'm guessing they couldn't reach the fairway then?

I'm not a big hitter by any means, but in Portugal recently, in very wet conditions I had to dig my ball out of its plug mark at about 230, or if down hill, 240. I measured this by lazering the tee markers, so pretty accurate.

To me, the true test of distance hit is carry, and if there was a pond in front, how much you would bite off.

Short is less than 200, carry.

Medium is 200 to 230 carry.

Big is 230 plus carry.

Swinger ( a new category I have invented ) is 290 plus carry.
 
as Murph points out we need to make sure that we are on the same page - but whilst I agree carry is important I don't see it as part of this discussion.

it's important in course set up to consider the needs of various groups, and that's without the course design elements associated with it (where carry really comes into it).

there's no one answer, and we move the fairway cut as required, but I am of the view that the early suggestion that overall -

< 200 short
> 250 long

translated to carry distances deduct about 25
 
Still tho . been honest most days i can hit the ball a fair ole crack .. il always wait for the green to clear on our 12th 294 off the whites 311 off the blues (have driven it off both, but most times be just up short.). & i wait till players are on the 2nd green or close to it when off the whites 332 but bunker protects the front of it (out of courtsey) 200 off either of these tees makes them short ..

Downhill, downwind, hard fairways?? :whistle:
 
I read it as him expecting not to carry it to the green, but to land short and roll on, but the extra height gave extra carry and also presumably stopped the ball on the green too?

Or maybe I'm completely wrong..!

Simple really guys. I estimated (no GPS or range finder) 170yds to centre of raised green. So 160 to front (where flag was). Felt like it should be a 6 iron for me. And then I went and hit it high (so assumed it was going to be short) - but no - on to front edge of the green and it stopped within a couple of yds. Point (if there is one) is that that's probably as good a 6 iron I can hit. And I hit it 160yds - not the 175 or 180yds that some guys say they hit their 6 iron. My doubt came as I was estimatng distance and my buddy from not much further out was short with a 5 wood. I just said to myself 'no stick with what I've decided' and it worked. No need to BIG your distance - it's accuracy and consistency for me. No idea if 160yds for 6 iron in still conditions is short, medium or long - but for me it is just fine.
 
Simple really guys. I estimated (no GPS or range finder) 170yds to centre of raised green. So 160 to front (where flag was). Felt like it should be a 6 iron for me. And then I went and hit it high (so assumed it was going to be short) - but no - on to front edge of the green and it stopped within a couple of yds. Point (if there is one) is that that's probably as good a 6 iron I can hit. And I hit it 160yds - not the 175 or 180yds that some guys say they hit their 6 iron. My doubt came as I was estimatng distance and my buddy from not much further out was short with a 5 wood. I just said to myself 'no stick with what I've decided' and it worked. No need to BIG your distance - it's accuracy and consistency for me. No idea if 160yds for 6 iron in still conditions is short, medium or long - but for me it is just fine.

I think you have avery good point there. If you hit it straight then what does it matter? If we started to talk how far then we can all start flexing our muscles and bragging about it. But do you know what? I have always said I would give 20 yards off my drive to be a better golfer.
 
Not really sure what this thread is trying to achieve...
Does it matter if you're short or long or somewhere inbetween?

For me not really - probably my best (not lowest score) round I've ever played was first (and only) time around Blairgowrie Rosemount. Much of the time I just hit a nice drawing 3 iron off the tee for position. Dropped 5 shots. Just a simple 'decide where you want the ball to end up and hit it there' round. That's why it's probably my best. Distance off the tee mattered not a jot.
 
If anyone wants to accurately check their yardages, download google earth. Under Tools there is a ruler facility where you can measure the distance between any 2 points that you click on. Zoom in on your course and measure where your average drive finishes on any given hole. I think a few people might be in for a shock :whistle:
 
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