The driving distance stats are such a joke.

[smoothaction]

You know, I understand hitting the ball long really does not make one a great golfer but it is a fun thing to keep track of.

 

 

One thing that really gets under my skin in when people use the Shot Link stats to say one player is longer than the other. Here is a good example. Let's take Bubba Watson and Hank Kuehne. I have heard countless people say Watson is longer based on the shot link stats Waston had in 2003 of 334 yards a drive on the Nationwide tour. Well, Golf Digest clocked Watson's club head speed at 126MPH. Now, let's move on to Hank Kuehne, he broke the PGA tour driving distance record and set the new one at 321.4 in 2003. That same year in 2003 Golf Digest clocked his clubhead speed at 134MPH. Waston has yet to break Kuehne's record on the PGA tour.

 

This year on the Nationwide tour Tag Ridings is leading the stats at 321.3. Sure, Tag is long but not as long as Watson or Kuehne. Then when you look at Tiger's stats this year he is a 291.8. We all know Tiger is longer than that. The player's do a lot of laying up on distance recored holes so the stats don't tell the full story.

 

 

I would bet that if you put Hank Kuehne and Bubba Watson on the same hole a par 5 and had them use the same ball and driver and they both went after one as hard as they can and hit the ball clean based on clubhead speed, Kuehne would be longer. I fully understand golf is about putting the little white ball in the whole in fewer strokes than the other players but, do you guys see what I am getting at?

 

 

I think all the stats can act a bit funny and don't tell the full story.

[TourPro]

It is hard for the driving distance stat to be all that accurate when it is only measured on 2 holes per round. I agree with you. Hank is the longest Tour player I have ever seen (when he was healthy ).

[beaverjc]

Not only is driving distance a useless stat so is number of putts. You could be an awful putter but since are a solid irons player you get the ball closer to the hole - thus resulting in a lower putt per round stat.

[Baller]

Understanding the game as we all do on here, i would say the driving stat is for showmanship, or used to draw interest in the game for novices (sensationalism). The real stats are Money list, GIR, and putts per GIR.

[arkstorm]

Not only is driving distance a useless stat so is number of putts. You could be an awful putter but since are a solid irons player you get the ball closer to the hole - thus resulting in a lower putt per round stat.

 

I agree with you about the putts per round stat being misleading but for a different reason. If a guy misses a lot of greens his putts per round are going to be lower since he's going to be chipping and get up and down at least some percentage of the time. But the caveat is that if a player has high G.I.R. stats and good putting stats you should expect to see him in the winners circle very often.

[MTM]

Understanding the game as we all do on here, i would say the driving stat is for showmanship, or used to draw interest in the game for novices (sensationalism). The real stats are Money list, GIR, and putts per GIR.

 

Don't remember where I heard it but someone changed the adage "drive for show, putt for dough" as it relates to today's PGA Tour players "drive for dough, putt for a whole lot more dough"

[MTM]

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/core.aspx?pa...&select5=17

 

Last year when the Nationwide Tour was here #1 and #2 in driving distance were two brothers that are still high school kids.

[smoothaction]

I will be sure to watch Kuehne on the Nationwide tour this year and see if he is truly back to his old self?

 

 

First he had the shoulder then the hip. I have heard people say that Hank was never the same power wise after the shoulder problem. So, even after his 321.4 in 2003 he was a good 30 yard shorter than he was in college.

 

In truth, it seems like Hank got away from his old style of let it rip and go find it and hit it again which for him IMHO was the best way for him to play, it just seems to be the style that makes him play for keeps if you will. I think when he started to lay up he took it too far. By that I mean he started laying up too much and lost some of that edge he had to his game. I think he should lay up here and there but, to me it just seems he plays better when he goes for broke.

[Pdougherty]

Yeah, Way to go Tag.

 

Sorry I had to throw that in, I am a huge Tag Ridings fan.

[Milo]

Watched (on TV yesterday) Kuehne playing for a few holes in a Wine course tournament on the Nationwide. Had to feel sympathy for him as he was spraying the ball all over the place and did not look very happy at all. In fact he did not look very well. He looked fit but not well.

Hope he gets better.

[smoothaction]

You know being that we are talking about distance, I must ask if anyone knows what happened to Victor Schwamkrug? I watched him on the Nationwide tour a few times. He used two drivers before Phil did it. He had one that was 45 inches and the other 47 inches. With the 45 inch driver he was close to Kuehne and Watson distance but with the 47 inch driver he was longer than both. He came close to winning a few times on the Nationwide tour so it looked like he was on his way to the PGA tour.

 

 

He just dropped out of site...anyone know what happened to the guy?

[Newman]

Understanding the game as we all do on here, i would say the driving stat is for showmanship, or used to draw interest in the game for novices (sensationalism). The real stats are Money list, GIR, and putts per GIR.

 

Actually, there's only one stat that really matters on Tour, "Wins"...