Tell the truth about your driver distances....

[Fish]

who said anything about carry? 250 yards with a driver is not that big a hit.

You did Your PB is 375 and then you stated your average would be 250 - 300 AND roll out! That eludes to those numbers being carry, especially taking your PB into consideration. If that's not the case it was poorly written but its how I, and no doubt many others read it

If you drive your 300yd+ 18th and use your 3w (too much club) and drive your 265yd 10th, then clearly your drives are straight and long and they would both be clear birdie opportunities or at the very least pars, so its not out of the question to query, what happens on the rest of the 16 holes, or is that where you drop a shot on each of them

 

[Fish]

Long hitting does not equate to low scoring so handicap has nothing to do with how far you can hit a driver.

I agree with that in part, but, you will still scramble a good few pars and even birdies being so close with a long drive so the rest of the game then has to really stink

I played against 2 Cat1's the other day, one of them was driving in excess of 300yds all of the time, he drove a few par 4's (320 & 342) and should have cleaned me out, but, he didn't! Why, because he flopped his chips, 3 putted a few times and really showed he had no confidence in his short game. His driver was his best club in the bag, but, as I'm constantly told, 70% of the game is played inside 100yds He would have still shot around 79 possibly 80 due to his huge consistent drives which was not good for him, but it kept the door well open for me

After being in that company and seeing that match play out the way it did, long drives will no longer intimidate me nor will I try to keep up, I'll let my short game do the talking

 

[SaintHacker]

Ive beenusing a gps app on my phone the last few times out to get me as good average for my bag, results for the last 12 (good) shots are
Driver 239 yds
3w 245 yds.
Go figure... Suffice to say there will likely be a RBZ driver finding its way onto the for sale section very soon!

 

[Dave B]

Threads like this are good for amusement. The average pro on the PGA Tour in good conditions including a good ambient temperature hits the ball 287 yds with a 60% average of fairways hit. The European tour stats are slightly lower.

In the UK The average pro hits the ball 270-280 yds however according to one stat I read the average amateur hits the ball 220.

The 220 yds may seem short to some however my local course is blessed with some very good ditches all running diagonally to the right starting at 190-200 yds but widening to 215-240 yds. The low handicap golfers, i.e. generally lower than 10 normally clear the ditches at the narrowest point however for the average golfer it's a lot more challenging and this is reflected in the medals where many elect to lay up rather than taking on a 190 carry, widening to the right.

 

[lyden]

Discounting any wind assisted monsters I'd say between 250 & 280 with roll out. I can pull off a Bubba Watson style wide to narrow that goes silly distances but its neither accurate nor pretty.

 

[Airlie_Andy]

You did Your PB is 375 and then you stated your average would be 250 - 300 AND roll out! That eludes to those numbers being carry, especially taking your PB into consideration. If that's not the case it was poorly written but its how I, and no doubt many others read it

If you drive your 300yd+ 18th and use your 3w (too much club) and drive your 265yd 10th, then clearly your drives are straight and long and they would both be clear birdie opportunities or at the very least pars, so its not out of the question to query, what happens on the rest of the 16 holes, or is that where you drop a shot on each of them

No I said my average distance (at no point did I use the word carry) is between 250 and 300 depending on strike and roll out so that includes any roll out.

As an example yesterday our 3rd hole is 288 off the yellows. My drive was about 5 yards through the back of the green in some short but quite thick rough. I duffed my first chip about 2 yards and then hit my next chip about 20 ft away and 2 putted from there. So even though ive hit a long drive ive still ended with a 5.

The 18th yesterday (303 from the yellows) I was in the right hand greenside bunker. I actually managed to play a decent bunker shot and 2 putted for a 4.

This may sound unlikely but when I hit my drive straight left (my bad shot) it still goes a long way which puts me in all kinds of trouble. The 265 yard 10th you mentioned is SI 18 so I dont get a shot on that hole and if I pull my tee shot straight left its usually going OOB.

I have no reason to lie about my distances as its not a badge of honour, I'd much rather be scoring better and actually the distance off the tee gets me in a lot more trouble when its wayward.

 

[Fish]

Threads like this are good for amusement. The average pro on the PGA Tour in good conditions including a good ambient temperature hits the ball 287 yds with a 60% average of fairways hit. The European tour stats are slightly lower.

In the UK The average pro hits the ball 270-280 yds however according to one stat I read the average amateur hits the ball 220.

The 220 yds may seem short to some however my local course is blessed with some very good ditches all running diagonally to the right starting at 190-200 yds but widening to 215-240 yds. The low handicap golfers, i.e. generally lower than 10 normally clear the ditches at the narrowest point however for the average golfer it's a lot more challenging and this is reflected in the medals where many elect to lay up rather than taking on a 190 carry, widening to the right.

I agree, so many courses that I play have fairway bunkers or ditches strategically placed at around the 190yds straight in jobbies to 230yds your rolling in!

I think this speaks volumes of what true averages are and where course management isn't applied with the average mid-handicapper throwing caution to the wind.

 

[Piece]

Interesting that no one quotes their average driver distance from probably the most accurate source of info, a launch monitor set up by a proper pro fitter. Spend enough time on this and you'll get your average, without wind, without silly bounces, inflated opinions, etc.

 

[Fish]

I'd much rather be scoring better and actually the distance off the tee gets me in a lot more trouble when its wayward.

So use your 3w, hybrid or 4 iron off some tee's that you know if you flush your driver it will only get you into trouble and put you in a place where your game isn't at yet. Surely short & accurate is better with a fuller shot into the green and hopefully closer to the pin with an opportunity of par?

 

[Airlie_Andy]

So use your 3w, hybrid or 4 iron off some tee's that you know if you flush your driver it will only get you into trouble and put you in a place where your game isn't at yet. Surely short & accurate is better with a fuller shot into the green and hopefully closer to the pin with an opportunity of par?

Course management is something im slowly starting to get better at but I still throw silly shots away. Last weekend I shot -3 my handicap and that inluded a 9 on a par 5 and a 7 on a par 4 both of which were due in part to OOB off the tee.

 

[Stuey01]

Interesting that no one quotes their average driver distance from probably the most accurate source of info, a launch monitor set up by a proper pro fitter. Spend enough time on this and you'll get your average, without wind, without silly bounces, inflated opinions, etc.

By that measure 250 carry. With a variety of drivers as it was at a fitting, 2 different fittings with different launch monitors. A 3rd at a Callaway demo day had me at 270 carry but I strongly suspect that launch monitor was juiced up to sell more clubs.

Most people are assuming average = mean. Other averages are available. Mode, or even median, is actually more useful on the golf course.
This is pre-gcse statistics... You apply the method of measuring average that provides the most meaningful practical data. Including outliers like the 400 yard monster that bounced down a cart path, or the 10 yard top, into a mean to skew the data is just stupid and pointless.

 

[Hunka Turf]

By that measure 250 carry. With a variety of drivers as it was at a fitting, 2 different fittings with different launch monitors. A 3rd at a Callaway demo day had me at 270 carry but I strongly suspect that launch monitor was juiced up to sell more clubs.

At your fittings were you lashing at everything to get those numbers?

To be able to hit it that far you need at least half decent technique so I don't understand why your handicap is what it is. How bad is your short game?

 

[Stuey01]

At your fittings were you lashing at everything to get those numbers?

To be able to hit it that far you need at least half decent technique so I don't understand why your handicap is what it is. How bad is your short game?

Is it so hard to understand? No I was not lashing at it. I'm relatively young, fit, strong and flexible. I also have pretty decent technique. Yes I can hit the ball a reasonable distance, not long by the standards of some I've played with but decent length. My technique is not consistent enough to always hit it where I want it to go, but its always long. So sometimes I'm in great position to score and others I'm in the crap and trying to extricate myself from trouble.
That said, as I have already posted earlier in this very thread, my last two rounds were 79 and 79 and te one before that was low 80's on a strange course, so to be honest I am improving and 17 is not representative of my ability but unfortunately I have not that many qualifiers available and I have not been able to play the last few. Putting has improved markedly recently as has chipping which has resulted in scores that are way lower than my handicap on a regular basis.
Hitting it straight is way more important to scoring than hitting it long anyway.
I'm not even a proper long hitter and the reaction on this forum is ridiculous and the implication of lying frankly shows more about your own insecurities than anything else.

 

[groundskeeperwilly]

I think to be fair some folk will be able to bomb it a long way and still score highly-the longest hitters on tour are not winning every week either. My background is in rugby-if I played golf with a few of the rugby boys they could hit it miles but for whatever reason couldn't control short shots. Or maybe they just loved smashing the ball and got frustrated by the short game side.

Personally I have been driving well the last few rounds-putting up the best distances I can remember BUT my 100 yard and in shots have let me down so I have had very few birdies and often am so far from the pin I need 3 putts!

 

[Deleted member 18121]

Glad I started this thread... I see a lot of people being honest and a lot with the same old BS.... but hey, if you need to big yourself up on an Internet forum then so be it.

As for my driving. ... I had 3 drives today that edged just over the 270 mark (finish). Over the moon!

 

[Fish]

My longest drive today was.............146yds at Nailcote Hall, par 3 British Championship course

 

[Airlie_Andy]

Glad I started this thread... I see a lot of people being honest and a lot with the same old BS.... but hey, if you need to big yourself up on an Internet forum then so be it.

As for my driving. ... I had 3 drives today that edged just over the 270 mark (finish). Over the moon!

Your off 21 so im afraid im going to claim that as BS and you bigging yourself up on an internet forum even though it makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[groundskeeperwilly]

Should also have said in my last post that I have seen recently a few folk switching to XHot, RBZ or similar drivers adding 10-20 yards on drives too which could alter some of the figures folk are quoting on here.

 

[Hunka Turf]

That said, as I have already posted earlier in this very thread, my last two rounds were 79 and 79 and te one before that was low 80's on a strange course, so to be honest I am improving and 17 is not representative of my ability

Ah so you're a bandit, now it makes sense.

I didn't mean to have a go, I would certainly take some of your yards if offered, just curious.

 

[richart]

My longest drive today was.............146yds at Nailcote Hall, par 3 British Championship course

I know you don't have a driver so I assume you hit three wood ?