Pros' Irons

[Richardcabeeza]

Most pros play with irons made out of ore mined on the moon. The low gravity ore allows for the ball to fly further and spin anti-clockwise. Tour balls actually have a core of lead, otherwise they would never come down. FACT

 

I played one of those tour balls once. I swung mightily but it still sat there on the tee after I swung. I think I was playing with that beer per hole guy. Pretty sure of it in fact. Probably hole 17 or 18.

[McCann1]

Average carry I see for full 6-irons with tour guys is ~210-215. No jacked up lofts.

no disrespect but I think it's closer to 200. And I have spent quite a fair share of time around pga tour pros

[Santiago Golf]

My distance example was an exaggeration, a little. But I am seeing examples like 180+ yards with a 9. Often. Just find that a little mind-blowing. These guys ARE good...

 

Anybody notice Koepka's 3-wood near the end of the Open? I think it was around 340 yards. That cracked me up.

His 3 wood went 378.

 

Second. I can hit a 9 iron (155 stock) from 180. If its downwind and a back pin with greens they are playing. I hit one with a mid traj so add 5 yards from the wind thats 160 carry, its going to bounce/roll another 15 yards. So now i have a 15 footer for birdie. I could probably swing hard with same conditions with the 9 iron and it would carry 175 though its either landing and spinning 10 yards vack if i take a divot or 20 yards over the green if i pick it.

 

And i suck

[McCann1]

My distance example was an exaggeration, a little. But I am seeing examples like 180+ yards with a 9. Often. Just find that a little mind-blowing. These guys ARE good...

 

Anybody notice Koepka's 3-wood near the end of the Open? I think it was around 340 yards. That cracked me up.

His 3 wood went 378.

 

Second. I can hit a 9 iron (155 stock) from 180. If its downwind and a back pin with greens they are playing. I hit one with a mid traj so add 5 yards from the wind thats 160 carry, its going to bounce/roll another 15 yards. So now i have a 15 footer for birdie. I could probably swing hard with same conditions with the 9 iron and it would carry 175 though its either landing and spinning 10 yards vack if i take a divot or 20 yards over the green if i pick it.

 

And i suck

his 3 wood went 378 but guys come on it landed on a downslope and rolled upwards of a hundred yards. If he would've hit driver it would've probably ended up shorter. He got a great first bounce and the fairways were fast. Let's not kid ourselves here

[Santiago Golf]

My distance example was an exaggeration, a little. But I am seeing examples like 180+ yards with a 9. Often. Just find that a little mind-blowing. These guys ARE good...

 

Anybody notice Koepka's 3-wood near the end of the Open? I think it was around 340 yards. That cracked me up.

His 3 wood went 378.

 

Second. I can hit a 9 iron (155 stock) from 180. If its downwind and a back pin with greens they are playing. I hit one with a mid traj so add 5 yards from the wind thats 160 carry, its going to bounce/roll another 15 yards. So now i have a 15 footer for birdie. I could probably swing hard with same conditions with the 9 iron and it would carry 175 though its either landing and spinning 10 yards vack if i take a divot or 20 yards over the green if i pick it.

 

And i suck

his 3 wood went 378 but guys come on it landed on a downslope and rolled upwards of a hundred yards. If he would've hit driver it would've probably ended up shorter. He got a great first bounce and the fairways were fast. Let's not kid ourselves here

I agree 100 percent with you about the playind conditions on that one

[TheInfidel]

No one is hitting 9 iron 223

 

Careful on here bud #TW lol

 

 

[Sean2]

My best friend's daughter is on the LPGA Tour. There is no "tweaking" of her equipment. If anything, her irons are weaker in loft than most irons out there (she plays a blade).

[Ferguson]

Average carry I see for full 6-irons with tour guys is ~210-215. No jacked up lofts.

no disrespect but I think it's closer to 200. And I have spent quite a fair share of time around pga tour pros

 

 

Speaking of fair share around certain people, and respect there to...............

 

I've spent a fair share of time around on this forum, and I still can't routinely drive it 320+.

[golfing_penguin]

Average carry I see for full 6-irons with tour guys is ~210-215. No jacked up lofts.

no disrespect but I think it's closer to 200. And I have spent quite a fair share of time around pga tour pros

 

 

Speaking of fair share around certain people, and respect there to...............

 

I've spent a fair share of time around on this forum, and I still can't routinely drive it 320+.

 

Then you're not ho'ing right ;)

[ElJefe26]

I think part of the perceived big distances with tour pros is our own biased memories, and the way the talking heads comment. They giggle like school girls when Mickelson hits his 9-iron 180 yards, but nary a word is spoken when he hits the same club 135 yards into an elevated green in a headwind. Their distances really are all over the place and highly dependent on conditions, and the TV picture and the associated comments don't really provide context to the distances the tour pros hit the ball. Do the math occasionally on some of their drives, when the talking heads don't comment. There are plenty of occasions when a pro hits his drive on a 454 yard hole, and then the shot from the fairway says 178 yards. That's a pedestrian 276 yard drive, which everyone on this forum can easily outpace. But the commentators aren't gushing about that drive, and so it escapes our notice. When Brooks Koepka bombs his 3-wood well over 300 yards, we'll hear about it. But when his drive only makes 275, no commentator is going to wax poetic on what a slug he is.

[ferrispgm]

Their irons are about the same loft as off the rack, especially these days....7 or 8 years ago, maybe they would be stronger, but now the rack clubs are stronger as well. I have seen them up close pull an 8 iron but watched coverage and the announcer says 9...also...pay attention to the tee box on the par 3's.....they will say it's 220 but they are 1 or 2 boxes up so it's actually 180 downhill and wind helping....also, the greens are firm on tour so a lot of times they will land the ball 10 yards or more short of the hole, especially with mid/long irons and allow the ball to chase a bit but still leave them 20 feet below the hole with an uphill putt....they don't fly the ball to the hole all the time or try to like amateurs....it's about placing the ball on the correct side with an uphill putt...even if that putt is 20 or 30 feet....Another point is that watch on some holes where they say..."he has 290 to the hole" and the pro hits his 3 wood and it lands just short or on the front edge and rolls 30 yards to the hole and the announcer goes crazy with a 290 3 wood....prob is that it was actually a 260 3 wood...still good, yes, but not as crazy. I also notice that a lot of pros do come up short and often...reason being that it's generally better to miss a couple yards short of a green than be over the green since their greens typically slope back to front and are rolling at a 11 or 12.

 

My stock 9 iron is 150-155 depending how i feel that day but would be right up there on tour.....I would and could never hit a 9 from 200 yards unless it's a flyer, down wind and firm fairways/greens with the pin back......Heck...that's long drive player type distance and none of the tour guys, even DJ, can sniff the long drive guys.

[F_N]

The only advantage to tinkering with lofts is to get the desired trajectory and perhaps spin. I don't really think they care how far they hit a particular club as long as they can control it and knock it close.

 

I still don't know why everyone is so enamored with distance.

[djmohab2]

I still don't know why everyone is so enamored with distance.

 

Because it's a huge advantage to have it.

 

...also...pay attention to the tee box on the par 3's.....they will say it's 220 but they are 1 or 2 boxes up so it's actually 180

 

I feel like the broadcast graphics actually do account for this.

[hdr_ric]

My distance example was an exaggeration, a little. But I am seeing examples like 180+ yards with a 9. Often. Just find that a little mind-blowing. These guys ARE good...

 

Anybody notice Koepka's 3-wood near the end of the Open? I think it was around 340 yards. That cracked me up.

.

 

He hit it 376 on the 72nd hole. But that was with ~90 yards of roll. He carried it 285-290.

[BenHoganSlam1953]

I remember when I first started taking lessons my instructor mentioned that the pros played souped up irons - strong lofts, longer. Is that true? I always marvel to hear, "He's 223 out, hitting a 9 iron." WHAT!!!???

 

Don't forget that the PGA Tour (don't know so much about the others) likes to take into account slope when the pro is hitting uphill, however, often fails to take into account or mention slope when the green is 20-30 yards below the tee (or where the ball is). They will even edit the video to show the tee and then try to cut right to the flat green, excluding that long fairway sloping down 7 stories.

 

They also like to state the maximum playing distance of the hole, even if on that day they are using the forward tees - I wouldn't be surprised if they are also always using a back flag position to totally maximize the potential yardage of the hole.

 

I've also seen a player take the same club on different holes (or within a club as the relationship to the player is almost identical) yet in one case it is a 3i and the other a 7i ... one would have to be pretty ignorant of golf to not notice the difference in the players' posture and how long the club is in relation to their arms - I guess those announcers have never played golf.

 

You know, those guys are not just good, they are superhuman, freaks of nature.

[HeadCase1]

I still don't know why everyone is so enamored with distance.

 

Because it's a huge advantage to have it.

 

...also...pay attention to the tee box on the par 3's.....they will say it's 220 but they are 1 or 2 boxes up so it's actually 180

 

I feel like the broadcast graphics actually do account for this.

 

It's a gross oversimplification to flatly declare that distance always equals an advantage. If you're talking about guys who can't hit it out of their own shadow, then ok

[djmohab2]

I still don't know why everyone is so enamored with distance.

 

Because it's a huge advantage to have it.

 

...also...pay attention to the tee box on the par 3's.....they will say it's 220 but they are 1 or 2 boxes up so it's actually 180

 

I feel like the broadcast graphics actually do account for this.

 

It's a gross oversimplification to flatly declare that distance always equals an advantage. If you're talking about guys who can't hit it out of their own shadow, then ok

 

How? You 'll always have less club in your hand, whether it's because you bombed it 50 yards past the other guy or you played to similar position off the tee but hit your irons further. Not to mention you can than get away with hitting less than driver for positioning. Has anyone actually said, you're right, I could stand to lose 20 yards?

[BIG STU]

Average carry I see for full 6-irons with tour guys is ~210-215. No jacked up lofts.

no disrespect but I think it's closer to 200. And I have spent quite a fair share of time around pga tour pros

I tend to agree with you on that for the same reasons. I have caught the talking heads on TV bumping up distances on courses I know well. A few years back when the seniors were playing The Rock Barn up in Hickory NC (before the redesign) Big Andy Bean had a second shot to I think it was 17 a par 5 and the talking heads were saying it was around 270 or so up that hill. My wife and I watched it and I called BS right then and there. I had played some comp and some money matches on that old course and knew it like the palm of my hand.I keep all of my old yardage books filed away and went into the spare bedroom and got mine. I was correct it was 225 or so. And this was in the days before range finders so either I had marched it off or one of my caddies had. Of course he hit one hell of a shot with a 4 wood I think and won the tournament. When they played the Wells Fargo in Wilmington this year I watched some and caught them a couple of times overstating distances. Now I have played Eagle Point but have no books on it but as anyone knows who lives on the coast and plays here you do not get as much distance at sea level and thick salty air. I have seen DJ hit a 6 iron around 210 or so carry at sea level here and that was when he was a junior at CCU. No doubt those guys crush the ball but I think the broadcasters overstate distances on a regular basis. Me I have gotten so old that I hit whatever I can get there with even if it is a 3 wood at 230 now or have to run chase a 3 iron up

[Jc0]

So golf digest shows the distance players play for the what's in my bag segments. For the last 5 male players distances (carry) are:

 

9 iron- 138, 155, 150, 158, 148

5 iron- 190, 210, 198, 202, 200

driver- 270, 285, 285, 280, 295

 

Majority don't hit it an extreme distance. The course allows the extra yardage. Also Koepka stats from 2015 for his what's in the bag were 155, 205, 305.

[ExTrumpet]

No one is hitting 9 iron 223

 

While this may be true, I once hit a sand wedge from a greenside bunker 223.

[BearQ]

Average carry I see for full 6-irons with tour guys is ~210-215. No jacked up lofts.

 

I'd say it's more in the 195 territory

[Santiago Golf]

No one is hitting 9 iron 223

 

While this may be true, I once hit a sand wedge from a greenside bunker 223.

 

 

cool bro

[Dan Drake]

Ok, first things first: These guys are good. Really good. They hit the ball very, very well and can often achieve extreme distances. But.........

 

Some of it is a "bit" disingenuous. You have to remember that advertising monies are driving these TV telecasts. And where do the companies get the money for this? That's right, from the sales of golf clubs. And what is the single biggest reason someone buys new golf clubs? Yep, because the new ones go "farther." So what we hear on TV is often a little bit of a fable. Do they outright lie? Not quite. But do they fudge, massage, forget, mistake, and generally always err on the side of "ZOMG, he hits it sooooooo long!" Yes. For instance:

 

Some holes, especially par 3's, are often stated at their max yardage even though they are playing a tee box up or the tees are moved up.

Rarely do the announcers tell you about elevation change and how that is going to help someone hit a 180yd 9i.

You'll sometimes catch an announcer saying that the golfer hit a "7" and then see the number "5" on his iron sole during his follow through. I'm also quite certain that 3 woods are often "mistaken" for 5 woods when a pro is hitting one towards a green from 240yds, as well. Trackman backs that up, fwiw.

Really, really hard fairways. I mean 5'+ high first bounces seem to be the new norm. Wow.

Green firmness. Those guys are rarely playing the full yardage, especially to a back pin. They play for a large first bounce and they usually get it.

The announcers almost NEVER tell you the club hit when one of these guys "takes something off of one" and hits Pw from 102. They smoothly glaze over it with a "Looks like he sawed off a little wedge or something there, Gary." Never an actual club name or number.

Again, the announcer almost never give you a club number when the player is hitting into the wind, unless the wind is so strong that it makes for hilarity. Playing into a 5 club wind? Sure, they'll tell you about it. But into a 1 club wind that makes it look like the player hit a pedestrian 9i from 136? Rarely.

 

And on and on and on.

 

Add to all of that, these are the best in the world at what they do, playing with optimized equipment, excellent exercise and diet regiments, and all kinds of new 3d motion capture Doppler radar awesomeness, and it happens. There was a college golfer who was a student of my past instructor. 6'2", 210. The type of kid who used to play football, but now plays baseball or golf. His 10 swing average on Flightscope with a driver? 129.Xmph. And he wasn't playing long drive. That was his "stock" driver, lol, if you can call it that! Only way I can get a driver up to that is in my car. Going downhill.

 

And yes, some of the guys have jacked up lofts. Jason Day, for instance, has all of his clubs 2° - 3° strong. His set Pw is 43° or so and then he adds a wedge at 47°, 52°, and 60°, I believe. So when you hear him hitting Pw from 168, it's entirely plausible. Or when they tell you he is hitting Sw from 125, well, his "Sw" is 52°, so yeah, again, it's really happening, just not exactly as it seems from face value.

 

What you see on TV is a factor of all of these things. Marvel over the distance, if you like, because it truly is amazing at times. Be cynical and skeptical if you like as well, because it is a bit fabricated, on purpose.

 

But, I don't care what club they are hitting, you have to marvel at just how good these guys can be from 190+ yards and that's no lie. 5i or 9i, 3w or 4i, these guys can get up there when they are playing well and put that silly white ball really, really close to where they are looking, time and again.

 

And that's for real.

[SlickT73]

I don't understand the confusion. It's not that hard to hit it a long way. It's hard to hit it the distance you want, the place you want, over and over again.

[grm24]

I once hit a sand wedge from a greenside bunker 223.

Inches or feet?

[jons1]

Better technique, more athletic, faster clubheads... ball goes further. There are no secret clubs, or shafts, or swings theories, or whatever...

 

UNLESS I'M TOTALLY WRONG!

 

 

 

No, pretty sure I'm not.

[ExTrumpet]

I once hit a sand wedge from a greenside bunker 223.

Inches or feet?

 

Unfortunately, yards...

[ThinkingPlus]

Agree with Dan Drake. Watch very carefully how far the ball is carried for a no-elevation change, non-wind situation vs. pin position. Unless the greens are very receptive the pros carry the ball at least 10 yards short for middle or back pins to account for the bounce, hop, and check. They also tend to keep the ball below the hole so snuggling the ball just under the pin 3 or 4 yards is the ticket.

 

Drives are kind of a joke these days. The longest can assuredly carry the ball out to 300+, but a lot of the crazy, crazy differences come from the tarmac fairways with the 40 - 50 yard or more run. Pro tournament fairways stimp faster than many munis. That helps and hurts obviously. Total distance goes way up, but fairways get harder to find.

 

The pros are the best at what they do because of consistency and control as well as supreme mental toughness. The mental part is the true separator between the various stratospheric levels of tour golf. Lots of Hooter's tour guys with the physical tools, but not the neurons.

[3jacker]

Average carry I see for full 6-irons with tour guys is ~210-215. No jacked up lofts.

no disrespect but I think it's closer to 200. And I have spent quite a fair share of time around pga tour pros

 

And compared to lofts of the 80s and 90s, all std lofts today are indeed "jacked up."

[RichieHunt]

Not really. Many of them use a muscle back design which has higher lofts, softer faces and generates more spin because the CoG is higher up on the face. All of which do not produce greater distance. A few years ago Mickelson was using extra long shafts in his irons and hitting them ungodly lengths, so he could have been considered 'jacking up' his irons.

 

PXG may have the most 'jacked up' lofts out there and even their Tour staff goes to the 0311T irons which are more 'normal' in terms of lofts.

 

These guys can hit their irons long because they generate a lot of club speed with them.

 

 

 

 

 

RH