you guys are awful at this game

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I believe the tour stats for driving distance are only measured on two holes per round also...and the shot must be in the fairway. I tend to average my yardages off the tee whether in the fairway or not, so the ones that do make it in the fairway are probably better struck, so maybe my average is more like 290+. I just try not to artificially inflate numbers or decrease "what I usually shoot".

Asking what someone usually shoots is always fun. Even funner when you ask what peoples handicap is and due to lack of knowledge about how it is actually measured and what it means, most people are way off. A 0 hdcp doesn't shoot even par every round, but that is a common misconception. The term scratch golfer doesn't mean you shoot even par every round either.

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This is a good post, and illustrative of what I'm talking about.

More than likely you are in the baseline of longer hitters in club play I use above. There are most likely several guys at your club that you know of that can push it out there 280+ off the box. Its not all that uncommon.

Also, I agree with the lack of knowledge around HDCP.

Technically, a 0 HDCP / scratch can play his/her home course and never shoot even Par even once.

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There are most likely several guys at your club that you know of that can push it out there 280+ off the box. Its not all that uncommon.

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The point of all these studies and statistics is that it actually IS uncommon. It's a statistical fact that most people, even the best amateurs, overstate how far they hit it. When actual yards are measured instead of guestimated, the numbers are always lower. That's why not a single player in the link I showed hit a drive over 290 during the measurement.

I don't doubt or dispute that there are people here whose distances are accurate. I'm giving y'all the benefit of the doubt when you say it, but pointing out that if those numbers are true, they are quite rare. Probably pointless to argue but to my own detriment I'm a stickler for details like this.

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I believe the tour stats for driving distance are only measured on two holes per round also...and the shot must be in the fairway. I tend to average my yardages off the tee whether in the fairway or not, so the ones that do make it in the fairway are probably better struck, so maybe my average is more like 290+. I just try not to artificially inflate numbers or decrease "what I usually shoot".

Asking what someone usually shoots is always fun. Even funner when you ask what peoples handicap is and due to lack of knowledge about how it is actually measured and what it means, most people are way off. A 0 hdcp doesn't shoot even par every round, but that is a common misconception. The term scratch golfer doesn't mean you shoot even par every round either.

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This is a good post, and illustrative of what I'm talking about.

More than likely you are in the baseline of longer hitters in club play I use above. There are most likely several guys at your club that you know of that can push it out there 280+ off the box. Its not all that uncommon.

Also, I agree with the lack of knowledge around HDCP.

Technically, a 0 HDCP / scratch can play his/her home course and never shoot even Par even once.

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Yet, you mentioned the person being a scratch golfer playing from the "senior tees". A scratch golfer (AKA 0 handicap) is independent of tees played.

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I believe the tour stats for driving distance are only measured on two holes per round also...and the shot must be in the fairway. I tend to average my yardages off the tee whether in the fairway or not, so the ones that do make it in the fairway are probably better struck, so maybe my average is more like 290+. I just try not to artificially inflate numbers or decrease "what I usually shoot".

Asking what someone usually shoots is always fun. Even funner when you ask what peoples handicap is and due to lack of knowledge about how it is actually measured and what it means, most people are way off. A 0 hdcp doesn't shoot even par every round, but that is a common misconception. The term scratch golfer doesn't mean you shoot even par every round either.

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This is a good post, and illustrative of what I'm talking about.

More than likely you are in the baseline of longer hitters in club play I use above. There are most likely several guys at your club that you know of that can push it out there 280+ off the box. Its not all that uncommon.

Also, I agree with the lack of knowledge around HDCP.

Technically, a 0 HDCP / scratch can play his/her home course and never shoot even Par even once.

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Yet, you mentioned the person being a scratch golfer playing from the "senior tees". A scratch golfer (AKA 0 handicap) is independent of tees played.

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I understand this, and it's precisely why I made the point.

In the Scope of the distance discussion at hand it's relevant.

A scratch golfer shouldn't be used as the baseline of the longest hitters in club play.

The longest hitters in club play should be the baseline.

I think the game is over

watty sounds like a short-knocker.

That's the funny thing, in all seriousness, it's very rare that I play with anyone longer than me. But I drive it probably 230-250 on an average well-struck drive, and maybe up to 275 on my bestest bestest swings. At 230-250, I am a longer than average hitter. Like I said, very rare that I get paired with someone longer than me.

Maybe everyone that answered is in their 20's and legitimately hits the ball that far...lots of variables in just a few responses. A buddy of mine hits the ball 300+ every drive. Problem is more often than not it is in a lake, next fairway, several fairways over, trees, etc. I'm a few yards shorter but there's a reason I'm a single digit and he's pushing 20. Fairways and greens.
And my 5'2" wife drives the ball 230+.

Since it seems we are breaking down on the thread, I'm the A-player (first time ever in my career I could say that). I'll agree with Watty, looking at my last couple of rounds I'm more likely 250 on the driver, the rest is pretty accurate. I'm over 50 and I know I'm above average chipping and putting or I would be a lot higher in scoring.

I run around a 10 HCP.

I also play with a guy who is about 6 inches taller than me and really hoods all of his clubs. He hits it much lower. It is regular that I'm hitting a 5 iron and he is hitting a 7 or 8.

I'm player C. Handicap is 5.0.
I'm also 30 and those distances are 100% accurate.

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That's the funny thing, in all seriousness, it's very rare that I play with anyone longer than me. But I drive it probably 230-250 on an average well-struck drive, and maybe up to 275 on my bestest bestest swings. At 230-250, I am a longer than average hitter. Like I said, very rare that I get paired with someone longer than me.

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Ha! Exact same situation as me.

I am player B, age 32, HDCP is 10.7, and that driver distance is accurate. I was a 6.4 in Jan of 2014 then broke my ankle and had to take a long hiatus. Coming back was very diffificult and I had a long run-in with the s****s. I have finally regained my confidence and am finally starting to trend lower.

F here!

Handicap = 13

Age 57

Was as low as 8 around 3 years ago.

Age is not kind.

Losing distance as we speak.

Need to move up a box.

Do you think most people just lie or they don't realize how far they actually hit it when doing the math on the course? Could be that people just say the farthest they've ever hit it, too.

For disclosure, I would say I average btw 240-270, but I've hit it 300 a few times. I'm newish to the game (which is a negative), but I'm a big guy (which is a plus). I tend to think most people just say the number that tends to be their most favorable drives.

I think most people just don't realize it. For a lot of reasons.

I'm D. I don't normally keep up with my handicap because I don't play in many tournaments. For the game I figured in my last 5 rounds at the Campus Course and ended up being a scratch handicap.

I'm also 26 and played college baseball and am probably in better shape than most as far as the muscles needed for swinging a golf club. I also play with a lot of former baseball players who can drive the ball a good ways, but I'm usually one of the longer ones in my group.

We've always wondered exactly what we average and what not. Like I said, the way I figured my driver and 3 wood distances (while I'm still not positive on the 3 wood distance) was we pulled out a yardage book from the Campus Course and figured out what bunkers we try to fly and which ones we can't get to under normal-ish conditions.

In todays game with laser range finders, more people know how far they hit than they used to. Of course there are factors involved with every shot/round but there is no way I would doubt anyone who I haven't seen play. I am 45 now and still carry my drives 260-270 with varying amounts of roll. I hit several drives every round in the 300-320 range dependent on all of the variables. My buddies and I are always trying to outdo each other and have measured these shots out of fun. BTW...I also hit 10-15 fairways a round routinely.

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A swing speed of 100 to 110 will fly the ball about 240- 260 yards with a clean strike and minimal side spin, plus about 5% - 10% roll. My guess is that in "neutral" conditions, the longest hitters you'll come across in normal club play do not exceed the top end of that range (280-290-ish) and those would be rare.

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There more in the 280-290 range than you suggest.

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I don't doubt it is possible that there are some young limberbacks in here that can do it, and more power to you if you are one of them! I'm over 50 so maybe my perspective is a little skewed. My observations of the general population of middle-aged club golfers, even the good ones, is that those people are a low percentage of the players. And, just because you hit an occasional drive "optimal" does not mean that is your typical drive on which to base your expectations.

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Yeah, I've hit drives 280 before, but that is not the norm. There are 23 PGA players that average drives over 300 yards. Jason Dufner (and many others) average below 290.

Although, I suppose most people are going toward their max, not average. Better someone is the closer the average is to the max.

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AS an FYI.....the average driver lengths for tour pros is measured on 2 holes per tournament day. It is not an accurate measurement.

15 out of 14 fairways is pretty impressive

I guess if we are spilling the beans, I am player G and currently have a +0.6 hcp. Only a handful of courses I can actually play to that right now. One being Timbercreek where I play 75% of the time, but my distances are not embellished

Dad, I already moved up a box. It took me a while to quit carrying and get a pull cart. I have now graduated to a nice push cart. Gonna be a long time before I quit walking though. I can take the heat with my push cart.

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15 out of 14 fairways is pretty impressive

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My mistake....typed faster than I thought. You are correct......but I have hit 14 out of 14 fairways before.

player E here, +0.4 hdcp

distances with recreational golfers is a pretty much a cluster. See it all the time, people trying to hit clubs they have no chance at getting close to the green because that one time they "pured it" and got it there. I would challenge everybody in double digit handicaps to take 2 more clubs on every shot, slow down a bit and see what happens. If you end up going over more than half the greens, then next round take one more club on every shot. It would be an interesting experiment.

IMHO, chipping from behind the green 10-15 yards is the same as chipping from 10-15 in front of the green, but just like short putts, never up never in (or in this scenario never up, never on).

If you take a longer club, and not if, but WHEN you mis-hit it, it will go shorter - the proper distance - and give you a putt instead of a chip. I'd be curious to see how this works for someone...

People could reduce their scores dramatically with better club selection and better course management, and none of this takes hours beating balls on the range.

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player E here, +0.4 hdcp

distances with recreational golfers is a pretty much a cluster. See it all the time, people trying to hit clubs they have no chance at getting close to the green because that one time they "pured it" and got it there. I would challenge everybody in double digit handicaps to take 2 more clubs on every shot, slow down a bit and see what happens. If you end up going over more than half the greens, then next round take one more club on every shot. It would be an interesting experiment.

IMHO, chipping from behind the green 10-15 yards is the same as chipping from 10-15 in front of the green, but just like short putts, never up never in (or in this scenario never up, never on).

If you take a longer club, and not if, but WHEN you mis-hit it, it will go shorter - the proper distance - and give you a putt instead of a chip. I'd be curious to see how this works for someone...

People could reduce their scores dramatically with better club selection and better course management, and none of this takes hours beating balls on the range.

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I still take one more club everytime I'm trying to reach the green. Occasionally I'll over shoot it, but I hit it alot more now. Puring it off the mats at the range gives a good boost to distance than off the fairway up a green complex.

other than skulling chip shots, how many times are people long of the green? right - almost never.

I'm constantly telling a few friends to club up one or two clubs on approach shots. They are always short.

This is where launch monitors help and understanding carry vs total distance.

for most golfers including myself with an index that usually hangs in the 7's (maybe not all golfers, I don't want to offend anyone!) one of the most important distances to measure is the one to the back of the green. If there is any question as to what club to hit, hit the one that if you hit it solid it should go to the back of the green without going over. Usually, it is the right club! Exceptions to the rule can, and do, exist.

Good luck to everyone playing this afternoon or this weekend!

that is good advice. Also, don't concern yourself with what other people are clubbing. Too many people let pride get in the way on a par three when tall skinny guy hits a 7 iron on the green and they have a 5 iron in their hand wanting to go back to the bag.

Won't argue with anything you said, but PGA average driving distance is based on 2 holes per round and guys aren't always hitting driver. But yea, his numbers he's claiming are ridiculous.

They've measured 48 drives of Stenson so far this year. That's plenty to be meaningful.

I put 290+ as my driver distance. I'm playing now and doing what I can to measure each drive. I'm probably hitting around 280 consistently. Yesterday we played from the seniors to switch it up and I drove(carried) a green that was 275 with about a 10 mph wind in my face. I've hit two today that were downwind with about a 5-10 mph wind and I was 310-320.

I'm only measuring balls in the fairway or close to it.