So How Far Do Average Golfers Really Hit the Ball?

[Argonne69]

I cant remember the tee box distance calcs. Not sure but I think its somewhere around 24 or 22.

 

If the player hits driver 300 yrd average then multiply by 24 = playing from around the 7200 yrd tee box markers.

 

250 yard drive = 6000 yrd tees

 

200 yard drive = 4800 yrd tees

 

Distance is a state of mind built upon ego & bragging rights. Most amateur players dont play from the correct tee boxes. IMO if your hitting driver 200 yrds then you should be playing from 4800 - 5200 yrd tees. Its a much more enjoyable game while your learning w/o distance pressure & tension added to play. The player should move back once their skills justify the move.

 

Theres nothing more frustrating than players in front playing from the wrong tees. Guys using 7 or 8 strokes on every hole. It makes for a slow round of play.

 

I think this equation should be one of the first lessons taught to new players.

 

The number is actually 36 * 5i distance, or 25 to 26 * driver distance. The pros play at ~26 the average driving distance.

[deadsolid...shank]

I cant remember the tee box distance calcs. Not sure but I think its somewhere around 24 or 22.

 

If the player hits driver 300 yrd average then multiply by 24 = playing from around the 7200 yrd tee box markers.

 

250 yard drive = 6000 yrd tees

 

200 yard drive = 4800 yrd tees

 

Distance is a state of mind built upon ego & bragging rights. Most amateur players dont play from the correct tee boxes. IMO if your hitting driver 200 yrds then you should be playing from 4800 - 5200 yrd tees. Its a much more enjoyable game while your learning w/o distance pressure & tension added to play. The player should move back once their skills justify the move.

 

Theres nothing more frustrating than players in front playing from the wrong tees. Guys using 7 or 8 strokes on every hole. It makes for a slow round of play.

 

I think this equation should be one of the first lessons taught to new players.

 

The number is actually 36 * 5i distance, or 25 to 26 * driver distance. The pros play at ~26 the average driving distance.

 

Well none of those work because according to PineStreetGolf nobody really knows how far they hit their clubs! (See the Equipment forum thread on how far people,hit their three wood)

[rawdog]

I cant remember the tee box distance calcs. Not sure but I think its somewhere around 24 or 22.

 

If the player hits driver 300 yrd average then multiply by 24 = playing from around the 7200 yrd tee box markers.

 

250 yard drive = 6000 yrd tees

 

200 yard drive = 4800 yrd tees

 

Distance is a state of mind built upon ego & bragging rights. Most amateur players dont play from the correct tee boxes. IMO if your hitting driver 200 yrds then you should be playing from 4800 - 5200 yrd tees. Its a much more enjoyable game while your learning w/o distance pressure & tension added to play. The player should move back once their skills justify the move.

 

Theres nothing more frustrating than players in front playing from the wrong tees. Guys using 7 or 8 strokes on every hole. It makes for a slow round of play.

 

I think this equation should be one of the first lessons taught to new players.

 

The number is actually 36 * 5i distance, or 25 to 26 * driver distance. The pros play at ~26 the average driving distance.

 

Well none of those work because according to PineStreetGolf nobody really knows how far they hit their clubs! (See the Equipment forum thread on how far people,hit their three wood)

 

Link please, if you have it?

 

Baselines or guidelines are just that, guidelines and generalities. Maybe I'm optimistic, but I'd like to think most golfers are intuitive enough to choose appropriate tees without whipping out pencil and paper, or a spreadsheet to do the math.

[deadsolid...shank]

I cant remember the tee box distance calcs. Not sure but I think its somewhere around 24 or 22.

 

If the player hits driver 300 yrd average then multiply by 24 = playing from around the 7200 yrd tee box markers.

 

250 yard drive = 6000 yrd tees

 

200 yard drive = 4800 yrd tees

 

Distance is a state of mind built upon ego & bragging rights. Most amateur players dont play from the correct tee boxes. IMO if your hitting driver 200 yrds then you should be playing from 4800 - 5200 yrd tees. Its a much more enjoyable game while your learning w/o distance pressure & tension added to play. The player should move back once their skills justify the move.

 

Theres nothing more frustrating than players in front playing from the wrong tees. Guys using 7 or 8 strokes on every hole. It makes for a slow round of play.

 

I think this equation should be one of the first lessons taught to new players.

 

The number is actually 36 * 5i distance, or 25 to 26 * driver distance. The pros play at ~26 the average driving distance.

 

Well none of those work because according to PineStreetGolf nobody really knows how far they hit their clubs! (See the Equipment forum thread on how far people,hit their three wood)

 

Link please, if you have it?

 

Baselines or guidelines are just that, guidelines and generalities. Maybe I'm optimistic, but I'd like to think most golfers are intuitive enough to choose appropriate tees without whipping out pencil and paper, or a spreadsheet to do the math.

 

 

"3w distance off the fairway" Is the the thread title in the equipment section. I'm sorry, I don't know how to link it (it would be great if someone could explain to me how to do so).

 

My comment is more of a good natured jab at PineStreet. He argues in that thread, extremely civily I might add, that amateurs are "over optimistic" on their yardages. It was a good discussion.

[Argonne69]

 

"3w distance off the fairway" Is the the thread title in the equipment section. I'm sorry, I don't know how to link it (it would be great if someone could explain to me how to do so).

 

My comment is more of a good natured jab at PineStreet. He argues in that thread, extremely civily I might add, that amateurs are "over optimistic" on their yardages. It was a good discussion.

 

 

Understood. Perhaps the guideline needs adjusting, given that the average player overestimates their distances. Maybe it should 26 * D * 0.80. Instead, it's likely 26 * that one time I had the 20 mph tailwind and really nutted the D.

[Cool Hand Luke]

for most amateurs, distance will be a surrogate for how good their ball striking is.... sure there are outliers with extremely slow swing speeds that still hit the middle of the club face consistently and just can't get it out there farther than 200 yds. but for the majority, distance and accuracy are not mutually exclusive. the same factors for the most part influence both.

[rawdog]

I cant remember the tee box distance calcs. Not sure but I think its somewhere around 24 or 22.

 

If the player hits driver 300 yrd average then multiply by 24 = playing from around the 7200 yrd tee box markers.

 

250 yard drive = 6000 yrd tees

 

200 yard drive = 4800 yrd tees

 

Distance is a state of mind built upon ego & bragging rights. Most amateur players dont play from the correct tee boxes. IMO if your hitting driver 200 yrds then you should be playing from 4800 - 5200 yrd tees. Its a much more enjoyable game while your learning w/o distance pressure & tension added to play. The player should move back once their skills justify the move.

 

Theres nothing more frustrating than players in front playing from the wrong tees. Guys using 7 or 8 strokes on every hole. It makes for a slow round of play.

 

I think this equation should be one of the first lessons taught to new players.

 

The number is actually 36 * 5i distance, or 25 to 26 * driver distance. The pros play at ~26 the average driving distance.

 

Well none of those work because according to PineStreetGolf nobody really knows how far they hit their clubs! (See the Equipment forum thread on how far people,hit their three wood)

 

Link please, if you have it?

 

Baselines or guidelines are just that, guidelines and generalities. Maybe I'm optimistic, but I'd like to think most golfers are intuitive enough to choose appropriate tees without whipping out pencil and paper, or a spreadsheet to do the math.

 

 

"3w distance off the fairway" Is the the thread title in the equipment section. I'm sorry, I don't know how to link it (it would be great if someone could explain to me how to do so).

 

My comment is more of a good natured jab at PineStreet. He argues in that thread, extremely civily I might add, that amateurs are "over optimistic" on their yardages. It was a good discussion.

 

There might be a better way, but to paste a link I just go to the address bar in my browser, highlight the web address, right click and choose "copy" then go to the reply box and right click and paste. I use keyboard shortcuts, but I'll keep it simple for now.

 

As for PineStreet, he's a good dude. We have similar views on most things. I'll have to go check out the discussion, especially since it was civil. Thanks.

 

EDIT: Just finished reading the first 7 pages of that thread. I like me some good debate, but...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Oiq-_jXvjQ

[Switter]

I cant remember the tee box distance calcs. Not sure but I think its somewhere around 24 or 22.

 

If the player hits driver 300 yrd average then multiply by 24 = playing from around the 7200 yrd tee box markers.

 

250 yard drive = 6000 yrd tees

 

200 yard drive = 4800 yrd tees

 

Distance is a state of mind built upon ego & bragging rights. Most amateur players dont play from the correct tee boxes. IMO if your hitting driver 200 yrds then you should be playing from 4800 - 5200 yrd tees. Its a much more enjoyable game while your learning w/o distance pressure & tension added to play. The player should move back once their skills justify the move.

 

Theres nothing more frustrating than players in front playing from the wrong tees. Guys using 7 or 8 strokes on every hole. It makes for a slow round of play.

 

I think this equation should be one of the first lessons taught to new players.

 

Those may be guidelines, but have a look at this scorecard. If you played from the Middle tees from 6,011 yards, a guy driving it

250 would have PW or less into all of the par 4s. The Blue or even the Orange tees would be more appropriate.

 

http://downloads.sky...=1&t=1492613260

 

I cant remember the tee box distance calcs. Not sure but I think its somewhere around 24 or 22.

 

If the player hits driver 300 yrd average then multiply by 24 = playing from around the 7200 yrd tee box markers.

 

250 yard drive = 6000 yrd tees

 

200 yard drive = 4800 yrd tees

 

Distance is a state of mind built upon ego & bragging rights. Most amateur players dont play from the correct tee boxes. IMO if your hitting driver 200 yrds then you should be playing from 4800 - 5200 yrd tees. Its a much more enjoyable game while your learning w/o distance pressure & tension added to play. The player should move back once their skills justify the move.

 

Theres nothing more frustrating than players in front playing from the wrong tees. Guys using 7 or 8 strokes on every hole. It makes for a slow round of play.

 

I think this equation should be one of the first lessons taught to new players.

 

Those may be guidelines, but have a look at this scorecard. If you played from the Middle tees from 6,011 yards, a guy driving it

250 would have PW or less into all of the par 4s. The Blue or even the Orange tees would be more appropriate.

 

http://downloads.sky...=1&t=1492613260

 

Like I stated, I dont remember the calc, the multiplier could have even been 26.

 

26 x 250 has the player playing 6500+ yrds.

 

FWIW

[Sean2]

I don't know anyone who suggested golfers should be hitting short irons/wedges into every green. Be kinda boring.

 

Strange. I played 6 rounds last week on courses ranging from 5798 to 6670, and I swear I hit every club in my bag. I guess I have to check the lofts on my hybrids, because they must be playing at 56 degrees if I was hitting them into the long par 4's and par 3's.

 

Anyone playing a course that's 6400 yards and hitting less than 8 iron into every green must be playing on a really poorly designed course.

 

Well, given the lofts of some irons, there probably are some golfers who will be hitting 180 yard sand wedges. :-)

[Sean2]

I don't know anyone who suggested golfers should be hitting short irons/wedges into every green. Be kinda boring.

 

Strange. I played 6 rounds last week on courses ranging from 5798 to 6670, and I swear I hit every club in my bag. I guess I have to check the lofts on my hybrids, because they must be playing at 56 degrees if I was hitting them into the long par 4's and par 3's.

 

Anyone playing a course that's 6400 yards and hitting less than 8 iron into every green must be playing on a really poorly designed course.

 

6400 yards is short if you are hitting driver 250-260. Sure there will be one or two par3 that's 180-190 on that course but majority of the par4 will be 350-380. The par 5 will range from 470-520.

 

So it really does depend on your driving distance. Most 6400 yard courses can be over powered.

 

I agree. I know a few people who could play 6400 yards with just their irons, and others who would struggle with that yardage.

[Sean2]

Average male player clubhead speed is around 93 mph so similar to the average LPGA player. The lady pro will be hitting it longer though because they will hit the sweetspot more.

 

No doubt about it.

[Sean2]

Had a good lesson in why I'm happy to be a short hitter last night. Four of us playing 9 holes - three young un's and me at 50.

 

They pretty much all hit their clubs 50% further than me. It being the shorter back nine they only used their drivers once. A couple of the par fours were 'on in one' for them and at the second par three which is 130 yards they used a PW and I used an 8 iron. But I damn near won it (or would've if we were scoring). Two of them managed to find a lot of trouble and were a bit shaky at putting. The chap who won it only just did so because he ran off the back of a couple of holes and had a couple of miss-hits that nearly went OB. I just bimbled round with three pars, a few bogeys and a couple of double bogeys. Nothing much went wrong for me other than a couple of missed putts.

 

I reckon it might have been a different score on the back 9 though as that's the longer half, but we were running out of light. What a shame :D

 

Nice!!

 

When I played my first singles match last season, my opponent was 30+ years younger and could hit his 4-iron 220 yards. Instead of letting it get in my head...or try to keep up with him (THAT would have been funny), I just stuck to my game. I ended up winning the match simply because I had a better short game. However, without a half-way decent short game he would have made short work of me (pun intended).

[Sean2]

I cant remember the tee box distance calcs. Not sure but I think its somewhere around 24 or 22.

 

If the player hits driver 300 yrd average then multiply by 24 = playing from around the 7200 yrd tee box markers.

 

250 yard drive = 6000 yrd tees

 

200 yard drive = 4800 yrd tees

 

Distance is a state of mind built upon ego & bragging rights. Most amateur players dont play from the correct tee boxes. IMO if your hitting driver 200 yrds then you should be playing from 4800 - 5200 yrd tees. Its a much more enjoyable game while your learning w/o distance pressure & tension added to play. The player should move back once their skills justify the move.

 

Theres nothing more frustrating than players in front playing from the wrong tees. Guys using 7 or 8 strokes on every hole. It makes for a slow round of play.

 

I think this equation should be one of the first lessons taught to new players.

 

I agree, though the formula I saw was multiplied by 26. I think it was the Trackman folks who stated the average drive for the average golfer was around 215 yards. Multiplied by 26 and you get 5590 yards. You don't see many courses with that yardage. The average from the middle tees is probably in the 6000 yard range. I know some people leave the game because of frustration. I wonder sometimes if that frustration is primarily a result of playing too far back. They rarely get to putt for a birdie or string together a slew of pars.

 

Last season we were waiting for the group in front of us to tee off. They were playing all the way back. In front of the tee was a pond, which required a shot of 120 yards or so to clear. Each one hit their tee shots in the water. Ditto for their second tee shots. Fortunately it was a beautiful day, and I was in good company, so despite the longevity of the round, I enjoyed myself.

 

I didn't start playing golf until I was 50, so ego was never really a factor in my game. I have always been realistic about what I can and cannot do on the golf course. That said, I see a lot of folks my age who have been playing since they were young clearly frustrated with their inability to hit the ball as far as they used to, which is understandable. In addition to losing distance, not many will admit they are getting old too, which is also understandable. Some move up, many do not. I feel bad for the latter because the game isn't as much fun as it used to be.

 

I played with a father/son last season (middle tees). A good drive for the father was 150 yards. He was getting frustrated with his inability to get to any green in regulation. I asked the son why his father didn't move up to the forward tees. He looked at me, sighed, and said that is what he has been trying to do, but his father refuses to play the "ladies tees".

 

There are some things folks can do though to help them score better: become proficient at the short game. It doesn't require athleticism, youth, or raw talent. Anyone can develop a decent short game.

 

ps: reminds me of a conversation I had with a fitter a few months ago. I client came in to get fitted for a driver. He hit all the new stuff and he wasn't getting anymore distance. So the fitter had an idea and gave him one more club to hit. The client was gaining a legitimate 20 yards with this driver and was very excited. He then looked at the shaft, saw it had an "L" on it and told the fitter he would never play ladies flex and only plays stiff. So the guy insisted on purchasing a new driver, which was no better than his previous one, and left 20 yards on the table to boot.

[BillyZ2]

Average male player clubhead speed is around 93 mph so similar to the average LPGA player. The lady pro will be hitting it longer though because they will hit the sweetspot more.

 

No doubt about it.

well compared to me another aspect comes into play, along with hitting the sweet spot much more often they also have a better spin stats on their golf ball for flight.

[Parker0065]

In the era of persimmon/balata as a scratch golfer in my 20's in excellent physical condition, the average golfer was 30-40 yards behind me on a consistent basis. Never, ever did they even come close on their best Drives of the day

 

As far as one man making a judgement(me), it's hard to say because now at age 51, still scratch and still in above average physical condition for my age group, I can still hang(just barely) with college players on man sized(+7000yd) courses, but on occasion a 5-20 handicap 20-something can accidentally catch one or two solid a round and be near or just ahead of me by a yard or two.

Considering this basically "never" happened in the old days, I would say technology is the main source for the average golfer "thinking" they hit it further. But, reality is they only "occasionally" hit it further when the stars align just right. The simple truth is back in the day the stars "never" aligned for them because the harder they swung at it the worst contact and greater dispersion they got leading to short, wild garbage!!!

 

I would have to conclude that if I could turn back the clock and have today's technology in my former 25 year old body I would likely gain back much of that 30-40 yard advantage over the average golfer. For god's sake, Nicklaus could hit it +300 with 1960's technology. Are there people out there so dense that they don't recognize he would easily hit it in the 330-340 range with today's equipment, lol!!!!!!!!

[andrue]

Average male player clubhead speed is around 93 mph so similar to the average LPGA player. The lady pro will be hitting it longer though because they will hit the sweetspot more.

 

No doubt about it.

well compared to me another aspect comes into play, along with hitting the sweet spot much more often they also have a better spin stats on their golf ball for flight.

Yeah, my backspin isn't brilliant. The Big Bertha OSes have made a difference but it's still rare for me to stop a ball on the green if hit with anything other than an LW or SW and even an SW hit will likely roll on a couple of yards. When I bought my clubs we compared a few different models and the Big Berthas were the only ones that got my spin into the normal range. Not that it bothers me much though as I've learnt to play with it. But there's a couple of par 3s that I have to lay up on purely because I either risk dropping the ball onto front hazards to run it up or risk it bouncing off the back and going OB :-/

 

It's sometimes like other people are landing a helicopter and I'm landing an A380 :D

[mantan]

The whole idea of overage gets skewed due to outliers and whether you use the mean, mode or average.

 

Let’s say you take the average golfer and put them hit ten 7-irons.

 

Six of the shots they hit between 155-165 to average out to 160

Two shots are pushed off the toe and average 140

One shot is hit fat and goes 120

One shot is topped and goes 80 yards

 

The mean average of those shots is 132. The median is in the 140 range. The mode is 160.

 

If that player went to a 135-yard par 3, should they play their 7-iron since that’s what they ‘average’ with that club?

This number is often wildly different with the driver where the number is going to be skewed by mishits…especially as you get to higher handicaps/more inconsistent golfers.

I think most golfers play distances based on the length they ‘expect’ to hit on a good day…then raw averages. Based on raw averages, you could say golfers should play up a tee or shorter courses. IMO that’s not a correction for shorter length, it just makes it easier to recover and leads to a faster pace of play.

[Fade]

The whole idea of overage gets skewed due to outliers and whether you use the mean, mode or average.

 

Let’s say you take the average golfer and put them hit ten 7-irons.

 

Six of the shots they hit between 155-165 to average out to 160

Two shots are pushed off the toe and average 140

One shot is hit fat and goes 120

One shot is topped and goes 80 yards

 

The mean average of those shots is 132. The median is in the 140 range. The mode is 160.

 

Mean = 144

 

Median = 160 and Mode = 160 (if all shot distances are represented as multiples of 20)

[mantan]

The whole idea of overage gets skewed due to outliers and whether you use the mean, mode or average.

 

Let’s say you take the average golfer and put them hit ten 7-irons.

 

Six of the shots they hit between 155-165 to average out to 160

Two shots are pushed off the toe and average 140

One shot is hit fat and goes 120

One shot is topped and goes 80 yards

 

The mean average of those shots is 132. The median is in the 140 range. The mode is 160.

 

Mean = 144

 

Median = 160 and Mode = 160 (if all shot distances are represented as multiples of 20)

 

You are correct - see what happens when I'm up posting due to insomnia.... :(

[RBImGuy]

In the era of persimmon/balata as a scratch golfer in my 20's in excellent physical condition, the average golfer was 30-40 yards behind me on a consistent basis. Never, ever did they even come close on their best Drives of the day

 

As far as one man making a judgement(me), it's hard to say because now at age 51, still scratch and still in above average physical condition for my age group, I can still hang(just barely) with college players on man sized(+7000yd) courses, but on occasion a 5-20 handicap 20-something can accidentally catch one or two solid a round and be near or just ahead of me by a yard or two.

Considering this basically "never" happened in the old days, I would say technology is the main source for the average golfer "thinking" they hit it further. But, reality is they only "occasionally" hit it further when the stars align just right. The simple truth is back in the day the stars "never" aligned for them because the harder they swung at it the worst contact and greater dispersion they got leading to short, wild garbage!!!

 

I would have to conclude that if I could turn back the clock and have today's technology in my former 25 year old body I would likely gain back much of that 30-40 yard advantage over the average golfer. For god's sake, Nicklaus could hit it +300 with 1960's technology. Are there people out there so dense that they don't recognize he would easily hit it in the 330-340 range with today's equipment, lol!!!!!!!!

 

tour pros are different than handicap players.

they do benefit from technology, top 100 players are 290 yards due to that.

However what they dont know is they should be at 350 yards.

guy I coach can hit a 2i the same distance sadlowski does it 280-290 yards without being trained for long driving.

 

amateurs however have a correlation between handicap and ball striking and distance.

80% will be bad at distance in spite of new technology.

they sit at 18-36 handicap and no help from technology to hit longer as their mechanics are hugely flawed.

 

new ball and whatever technology helped tour pros hit longer.

not the average handicap player as they hit the same distances which would be a 220 yard driver on average or shorter.

adding a 10 to 20mph speed increase wont work with current swing flaws.

 

for me it just shows how weak the modern golf theory is with pga trainers.

[Poser]

In the era of persimmon/balata as a scratch golfer in my 20's in excellent physical condition, the average golfer was 30-40 yards behind me on a consistent basis. Never, ever did they even come close on their best Drives of the day

 

As far as one man making a judgement(me), it's hard to say because now at age 51, still scratch and still in above average physical condition for my age group, I can still hang(just barely) with college players on man sized(+7000yd) courses, but on occasion a 5-20 handicap 20-something can accidentally catch one or two solid a round and be near or just ahead of me by a yard or two.

Considering this basically "never" happened in the old days, I would say technology is the main source for the average golfer "thinking" they hit it further. But, reality is they only "occasionally" hit it further when the stars align just right. The simple truth is back in the day the stars "never" aligned for them because the harder they swung at it the worst contact and greater dispersion they got leading to short, wild garbage!!!

 

I would have to conclude that if I could turn back the clock and have today's technology in my former 25 year old body I would likely gain back much of that 30-40 yard advantage over the average golfer. For god's sake, Nicklaus could hit it +300 with 1960's technology. Are there people out there so dense that they don't recognize he would easily hit it in the 330-340 range with today's equipment, lol!!!!!!!!

 

tour pros are different than handicap players.

they do benefit from technology, top 100 players are 290 yards due to that.

However what they dont know is they should be at 350 yards.

guy I coach can hit a 2i the same distance sadlowski does it 280-290 yards without being trained for long driving.

 

amateurs however have a correlation between handicap and ball striking and distance.

80% will be bad at distance in spite of new technology.

they sit at 18-36 handicap and no help from technology to hit longer as their mechanics are hugely flawed.

 

new ball and whatever technology helped tour pros hit longer.

not the average handicap player as they hit the same distances which would be a 220 yard driver on average or shorter.

adding a 10 to 20mph speed increase wont work with current swing flaws.

 

for me it just shows how weak the modern golf theory is with pga trainers.

 

You probably trained uncle Rico how to hit a golf ball over a mountain as well..... If we only had your secrets can I throw lots of money at you and you can tell me? Whats your paypal address.

[royourboat]

tour pros are different than handicap players.

they do benefit from technology, top 100 players are 290 yards due to that.

However what they dont know is they should be at 350 yards.

guy I coach can hit a 2i the same distance sadlowski does it 280-290 yards without being trained for long driving.

 

amateurs however have a correlation between handicap and ball striking and distance.

80% will be bad at distance in spite of new technology.

they sit at 18-36 handicap and no help from technology to hit longer as their mechanics are hugely flawed.

 

new ball and whatever technology helped tour pros hit longer.

not the average handicap player as they hit the same distances which would be a 220 yard driver on average or shorter.

adding a 10 to 20mph speed increase wont work with current swing flaws.

 

for me it just shows how weak the modern golf theory is with pga trainers.

 

I trained you well, young padowan.

[Ghost of Snead]

In the era of persimmon/balata as a scratch golfer in my 20's in excellent physical condition, the average golfer was 30-40 yards behind me on a consistent basis. Never, ever did they even come close on their best Drives of the day

 

As far as one man making a judgement(me), it's hard to say because now at age 51, still scratch and still in above average physical condition for my age group, I can still hang(just barely) with college players on man sized(+7000yd) courses, but on occasion a 5-20 handicap 20-something can accidentally catch one or two solid a round and be near or just ahead of me by a yard or two.

Considering this basically "never" happened in the old days, I would say technology is the main source for the average golfer "thinking" they hit it further. But, reality is they only "occasionally" hit it further when the stars align just right. The simple truth is back in the day the stars "never" aligned for them because the harder they swung at it the worst contact and greater dispersion they got leading to short, wild garbage!!!

 

I would have to conclude that if I could turn back the clock and have today's technology in my former 25 year old body I would likely gain back much of that 30-40 yard advantage over the average golfer. For god's sake, Nicklaus could hit it +300 with 1960's technology. Are there people out there so dense that they don't recognize he would easily hit it in the 330-340 range with today's equipment, lol!!!!!!!!

 

tour pros are different than handicap players.

they do benefit from technology, top 100 players are 290 yards due to that.

However what they dont know is they should be at 350 yards.

guy I coach can hit a 2i the same distance sadlowski does it 280-290 yards without being trained for long driving.

 

amateurs however have a correlation between handicap and ball striking and distance.

80% will be bad at distance in spite of new technology.

they sit at 18-36 handicap and no help from technology to hit longer as their mechanics are hugely flawed.

 

new ball and whatever technology helped tour pros hit longer.

not the average handicap player as they hit the same distances which would be a 220 yard driver on average or shorter.

adding a 10 to 20mph speed increase wont work with current swing flaws.

 

for me it just shows how weak the modern golf theory is with pga trainers.

 

Is this you ?

 

[DLiver]

I don't buy into the "driver distance times 26" because it always tells me to play a shorter course than I enjoy.

 

FWIW, all of the golfers I play with tend to be <5 handicaps, and believe me these guys know their max, typical, and uh-oh distances for each club in their bag.

[North Texas]

I don't buy into the "driver distance times 26" because it always tells me to play a shorter course than I enjoy.

 

FWIW, all of the golfers I play with tend to be <5 handicaps, and believe me these guys know their max, typical, and uh-oh distances for each club in their bag.

 

I'm with you. What do you do when everyone in your group hits all different distances? Are you going to all play different tees?

[Ghost of Snead]

I don't buy into the "driver distance times 26" because it always tells me to play a shorter course than I enjoy.

 

FWIW, all of the golfers I play with tend to be <5 handicaps, and believe me these guys know their max, typical, and uh-oh distances for each club in their bag.

 

I'm with you. What do you do when everyone in your group hits all different distances? Are you going to all play different tees?

 

Within reason, I don't see an issue with that. What about guys that play with girlfriends/wives ?

 

As long as they move along, no worries.

[jut111]

I regularly play in a foursome where 3 different sets of tees are utilized. No problem at all, and we play fast.

[North Butte]

It depends on how many people, how often they play together and just how sensitive each guy is to distance and tee box selection.

 

It does get old when you have a foursome playing four different sets of tees. I've played a couple rounds that way just by chance. My previous club has a dogfight game in which some of the flat-bellies played the tips, most of us played either the "mens" or "senior" tees and a few older gents (we're talking guys in their 80's) played the way-forward ladies tees. Occasionally the pairings would be drawn and one of each tee would get put in a group. It seems a bit of a fire drill the first time it happens but after a couple holes you get used to it.

 

OTOH, if it's four guys who really want to stay together as a group and they normally play one set of tees apart then usually the guys who like to play longer tees will just move up a set to keep the group together. But that's a social thing that probably doesn't apply to most groups.

 

One of my favorite friends to play with (who lives out of town so we don't get together very often) hits the ball about as far as anyone I've ever played golf with. I am a fairly short hitter 20+ years older than him. As much as we'd enjoy hanging together the entire round by playing the same tees it just isn't any fun. There are Par 4's where a good driver shot (which for me is about 210) would leave me 220 yards out from his tees. But from my tees the hole would play 3-wood/8-iron or something for him. So we play from tee boxes two sets apart and that has the advantage of making up most of the advantage I'd get for being the higher handicapper. it's win-win, we both play our favorite tee box and we can play straight up instead of him giving me six or eight strokes!

[DLiver]

Personally, I don't find it a big deal for people in the same group to play different tees. We do it all the time and it works out just fine.

[Argonne69]

I don't buy into the "driver distance times 26" because it always tells me to play a shorter course than I enjoy.

 

FWIW, all of the golfers I play with tend to be <5 handicaps, and believe me these guys know their max, typical, and uh-oh distances for each club in their bag.

 

I'm with you. What do you do when everyone in your group hits all different distances? Are you going to all play different tees?

 

Yes, many do it all the time. No issues.