He's 220 out. He's hitting an 8-iron...

[bladehunter]

Funny topic. I’d say anyone Sunday wished they owned a off speed 7 iron to that left back pin on 16 ... instead of having to try to step on a 8 iron and pulling it left. And yell “ go” as soon as it’s hit. Tiger or Phil would have floated a 7 iron back there pin high. Distance is great. But control is a must. When you get a lot of perfect full swing numbers it looks easy. Until you get one that’s in between and suddenly you’re exposed. A player should have at least 3 windows / with 3 real directions each ( left right and straight ) for a total range of 15 yards with each iron.

[Barfolomew]

Do they use the Protracer/LM on those to show ball speed and apex like they do on drives? .... gonna have to pay attention to some them 200+ short irons lol!

 

 

I play w bombers and dont see that.... ijs

[jmvargas]

the distances they hit it nowadays are mind-boggling..

I once thought I had illegal clubs when I started hitting--ie--carrying-- my sand wedge 140 yards when my normal distance was about 100...

 

it turned out that particular club had for some reason out of spec shafts--Wilson Firestick graphites-- vs the rest of the set..

this was like 30 years ago..

[sdandrea]

I blame talent.........

[MtlJeff]

> @GSDriver said:

> Played with a guy the other weekend, former HS 6A golfer, had scholarship for golf, sadly had to decline due to taking care of parents who are both ill.

> Not a huge kid, 19 years old, about 6'3" maybe 185, long arms.

> Hadn't played in a few months, never saw our course, asked how far a particular Par 3 was, laser says 191, he hit 8 iron pin high about 15 feet right of flag....silly long.

 

190yd 8 iron is huge. And still 30 YARDS SHORTER than what the OP I claiming here.

 

I'm not saying 220-230yd 8 irons have never happened, it's just not something that you really see during pro broadcasts.

[Krt22]

I have not seen a 220 yard 8i, do we remember what tournament? Either way, times like this is why I like trackman on every hole. Forget the iron in their hand, just look at the ball speed.

 

With that being said, I have flown past the pin from 190 with a 9i. Wind and elevation are amazing. Feels good man

[pgapromex]

Meh... Shepard hit a six iron 2 miles

[Krt22]

> @jdl said:

> Could also be the yardage to the middle of the green vs the actual pin location which might be on the front of the green. Also an "8 iron" is somewhat meaningless without knowing the actual loft of the club.

 

Eh...For the most part pros play much weaker lofts..either way 1-3 degrees of static loft is much less of a difference than how much less delivered loft a pro (or even an elite am) will have vs your typical amateur with a flip at the bottom

[wkuo3]

It's the golfer.

Justin Thomas can drive 250 with a miniputter. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=hit+a+putter+250+yards&view=detail&mid=6CE40B2636D654DF895B6CE40B2636D654DF895B&FORM=VIRE

Other video showed drives over 350 yards with a putter.

[sdandrea]

The 7i that Don Johnson hit in Tin Cup to win Costner's RV is "still going" ;)

[Hubijerk]

So, this has been touched on some but I'll weigh in a bit. A high ss player hitting a shot downwind is where it get's tricky. The goal is to get it close, even though the ball doesn't travel nearly as far it is much easier to get it close into the wind.

Many players won't pick up much distance downwind because it knocks off spin and makes the ball drop out of the sky like a bird getting hit with a randy Johnson fastball. Sometimes a shorter iron will actually go farther than a longer one downwind, but you have to be able to hit it high enough, and hard enough, and most golfers just can't do that. In the case of hitting downwind spin is you're friend and height is a necessity. They're not doing it for show, it's out of necessity. From 200-220 from downwind, a flier, etc... The ball needs to come in high, cause there won't be enough spin to hold it.

 

You'll also see them hit draws into a fade wind and fades into a draw wind as that effectively puts the ball into a headwind as it's coming down and will minimize bounce and roll... A lot more thought goes into things like this among high level golfers than most recreational golfers think about.

[CrushSticks]

> @bladehunter said:

> Funny topic. I’d say anyone Sunday wished they owned a off speed 7 iron to that left back pin on 16 ... instead of having to try to step on a 8 iron and pulling it left. And yell “ go” as soon as it’s hit. Tiger or Phil would have floated a 7 iron back there pin high. Distance is great. But control is a must. When you get a lot of perfect full swing numbers it looks easy. Until you get one that’s in between and suddenly you’re exposed. A player should have at least 3 windows / with 3 real directions each ( left right and straight ) for a total range of 15 yards with each iron.

 

You’re so right. Except that all of these jabronis are just hitting sand wedges to every hole, so it doesn’t even make a difference. But you gotta love it when Tiger hits those real shaped and flighted shots.

 

 

[ExTrumpet]

> @bladehunter said:

> Funny topic. I’d say anyone Sunday wished they owned a off speed 7 iron to that left back pin on 16 ... instead of having to try to step on a 8 iron and pulling it left. And yell “ go” as soon as it’s hit. Tiger or Phil would have floated a 7 iron back there pin high. Distance is great. But control is a must. When you get a lot of perfect full swing numbers it looks easy. Until you get one that’s in between and suddenly you’re exposed. A player should have at least 3 windows / with 3 real directions each ( left right and straight ) for a total range of 15 yards with each iron.

 

Crap, I'm just happy when I don't hit it fat.

[Blade Junkie]

All depends if you believe the numbers that the commentators trot out ... I think it's "230 yards" in the same way that the WWF wrestlers were all "500 pounds" ...

[Roadking2003]

> @bladehunter said:

> Funny topic. I’d say anyone Sunday wished they owned a off speed 7 iron to that left back pin on 16 ... instead of having to try to step on a 8 iron and pulling it left. And yell “ go” as soon as it’s hit. Tiger or Phil would have floated a 7 iron back there pin high. Distance is great. But control is a must. When you get a lot of perfect full swing numbers it looks easy. Until you get one that’s in between and suddenly you’re exposed. A player should have at least 3 windows / with 3 real directions each ( left right and straight ) for a total range of 15 yards with each iron.

 

Did you read Haney's book on Tiger? Haney said he would have Tiger practice nine windows with EVERY club. High draw, medium draw, low draw, high straight, .....etc.

[bladehunter]

> @Roadking2003 said:

> > @bladehunter said:

> > Funny topic. I’d say anyone Sunday wished they owned a off speed 7 iron to that left back pin on 16 ... instead of having to try to step on a 8 iron and pulling it left. And yell “ go” as soon as it’s hit. Tiger or Phil would have floated a 7 iron back there pin high. Distance is great. But control is a must. When you get a lot of perfect full swing numbers it looks easy. Until you get one that’s in between and suddenly you’re exposed. A player should have at least 3 windows / with 3 real directions each ( left right and straight ) for a total range of 15 yards with each iron.

>

> Did you read Haney's book on Tiger? Haney said he would have Tiger practice nine windows with EVERY club. High draw, medium draw, low draw, high straight, .....etc.

 

No I haven’t read anything from Haney. But I knew tiger had many windows. I was being serious on the 3. But if you multiply that by the 3 directions you get 9. So pretty spot on.

[golfer07840]

> @GSDriver said:

> Played with a guy the other weekend, former HS 6A golfer, had scholarship for golf, sadly had to decline due to taking care of parents who are both ill.

> Not a huge kid, 19 years old, about 6'3" maybe 185, long arms.

> Hadn't played in a few months, never saw our course, asked how far a particular Par 3 was, laser says 191, he hit 8 iron pin high about 15 feet right of flag....silly long.

 

6'3 and long arms... "Free distance" instructors would call this. Must be nice.

[RacineBoxer]

Just watched Justin Rose hit a 7 iron to a 188 yard pin (#2 on Friday). Looked like he flew it about 178.

[Valtiel]

Another good example from today; Tiger's second shot approach on #10. The graphic on the screen said 185y but the broadcaster said 166y and he was hitting 9 iron. Pretty big discrepancy there. Those 19 yards could have been the difference between the flag and where he wanted to land it, but that just goes to show you how misleading it can be. On the surface that would look like "wow, he's hitting a 185y 9 iron" when in reality the elevation and the either shorter landing spot or incorrect screen graphic actually adds up to about a 155-160y 9 iron.

[mocokid]

> @KyGolf said:

> I can hit my 8 iron 280.

>

> If I hit it twice.

 

I blame supination.

[bermuda]

I played with a guy years ago who was built like a bodybuilder, probably not more than 3 percent body fat (really big and strong, not a "Rory McIlroy is built like a defensive back" deal) and it might have been only the first or second time he had ever played golf. In a 150-yard par-3 he pured a pitching wedge over the green. As for the OP, yeah, it's irritating not to hear the full story about how they're hitting "8-irons" 200+ yards.

[new2g0lf]

We typically only see the best of the best hitting their best shots so when a guy hits an 8i 230 yards, it's an anomaly, either due to win, elevation, lie, etc. It's one of the things I dislike about golf broadcasts because it's rarely live and the producers / directors decide what we see and how it gets presented. Obviously these guys can hit the ball far, especially when they deloft the club but I don't think it helps the game to highlight these instances as it's not an accurate portrayal of the game or their overall abilities.

[smeal818]

Look at Koepka's yardage chart that was floating around, think his max 8i was 183yds- the stuff you hear/ see on TV is either inaccurate or misleading

[Krt22]

> @smeal818 said:

> Look at Koepka's yardage chart that was floating around, think his max 8i was 183yds- the stuff you hear/ see on TV is either inaccurate or misleading

 

That is his max carry for a stock shot..factor in wind, elevation, roll out, etc and he might be hitting 8i from 200+

[smeal818]

> @Krt22 said:

> > @smeal818 said:

> > Look at Koepka's yardage chart that was floating around, think his max 8i was 183yds- the stuff you hear/ see on TV is either inaccurate or misleading

>

> That is his max carry for a stock shot..factor in wind, elevation, roll out, etc and he might be hitting 8i from 200+

 

I'm aware, was just stating it in case anyone was thinking PGA tour pros are carrying 8i 220yds like it's presented on TV.