Tour Pro Driving Distance

[Lark]

Gary Player is definitely one of the all-time greats, and he was at best average in driving distance.

[Ashley Schaeffer]

Zach Johnson, Spieth, Kuchar, Snedeker, McDowell, Dufner, Oosteheizen, Na, and of course, Furyk (who played/plays in the modern era). There's a few shekels and some (9?) majors among that group since the demon ball showed up.

[jons1]

 

btw, Spieth is in the short hitter clubs? He averages 300 per drive! So what players are we calling short these days? More proof that the ball is EVIL... and probably created by ancient aliens

 

PGA Tour Statistics - Drive Distance | NBCSportsthe shortest guy on tour averages 285... just saying.

[Ashley Schaeffer]

Welp, that list has 100 (PGAT/Euro) wins and 9 majors.

As for Spieth, I was going off of the official PGA Tour Stats from last year where he was T-89 in driving distance.

[oikos1]

Sometimes I don't even know what's being argued around here

[Golfjack]

Exactly. If we roll it back, short hitters are still short and won't win. Jack had a distinct advantage in length, amongst other things, and so did Tiger. But I guess it saves courses having to keep on building new tee boxes. Amateurs just keep on struggling from the white tees without fail anyway.

[klebs01]

I posted this in another driving distance thread a couple months ago, its a rough estimate based on handicap distribution and trackman data. While there are millions of golfers that struggle from the white tees, there are millions that don't.

"Assuming there are 60 million male golfers in the world and average club head speed of 106+ is capable of occasionally hitting a 300+ drive. That would mean there are 4.8 million golfers capable of 300+ driving distances.

I also found a data source that had a chart that 110mph was only the 25th percentile for 17-29 year olds. I think the players skew to better players but it still shows that lots of people have sufficient clubhead speed."

 

[Golfjack]

PGA tour average of 115 mph doesn’t even get to 300 yards. How does 106 get to 300+? And yes young guns do hit it plenty far as you could see on the Koran Ferry Tour, but the 25th percentile for elite junior/amateur golfers is a very small population, not a large one. And if there a millions of guys swinging 106, there would be a lot more x stiff shafts sold.

[klebs01]

Trackman’s data show 8% of male golfers average 106+. 115 can easily get a ball 300, and 106 can under the right circumstances. This isn’t about averages, the issue is how far balls can travel off line. And for those that can control it, it turn almost all courses into wedge challenges. I’m not sure where you all play, but guys that hit it 280-300 are dime a dozen.

[DrDon]

A 30-year-old Arnold Palmer hit a 3 wood into a 224-yard par 3 on today's Golf Channel broadcast of Shell's WWG. If you ever saw Arnie up close, he had the widest back of any male golfer that I've ever seen . . . which no doubt contributed to his power and swing speed.

[gvogel]

How windy was it? Asking for a friend.

[Ashley Schaeffer]

It changes. It was score, then sanctity of classic layouts, then designer intent, then "the making of shots", then firm and fast conditions, then no rough/trees, then the cost of maintaining longer courses, then the environment, then how vs. how many, which pretty much comes back to score.

It's basically like when my college roommate refused to put the heat above 60* in the winter because of the cost of the heating bill. When we told him the rest of us would pick up the extra cost, he said, "It's not about the money." When we said, "Great, so turn it up to 70*.", he said, "It's gonna cost like $150 per month!" Same stuff.

[Lark]

I can count on one hand how many times I've seen a recreational player hit a drive 300 yards. I think most people overestimate how far drives go.

[klebs01]

I've seen recreational players hit it over 350 during a round. I would run out of fingers trying to count 300+ drives during summer rounds with some groups I play with. These aren't the geezers, but its not just one or two guys either. Rory and the other top guys can really pound the ball, but tour average distance isn't rare.

[Ashley Schaeffer]

Agree 100%. I play with plenty of recreational players who can hit it 300+. One guy in particular in the morning group is 61 and regularly hits it over 320, at sea level, at like 6:45am. I've personally witnessed him drive a 370 yard par 4 in a heavy marine layer. He's a great athlete. Former pro baseball player who says he wished golf was more of a thing when he was younger. Interesting guy to talk to about athletics in modern golf.

[Lark]

Ok. The stats don't agree with you. Are you playing in some massively high altitude?

[klebs01]

I'm not sure 700 ft is massive elevation. Most of the guys I play with are under 40 and sub 10 index. Tons of people in that category out there.

[Shilgy]

How long was he? I am certainly not disputing his standing as one of the all time greats. My response was to Brock laughably saying Phil was not. I am guessing though the super fit-for his time-Player was within 10% driving distance of the leaders. That was the premise earlier.

[elwhippy]

Thomson 5 majors. Trevino 6. Player 9 including the slam.....pretty good on the all time list.

[Shilgy]

Which is about 10% below the leader. Just like eras of the past. The game, and certainly the equipment, has changed over the years. Some things are easier today and some were easier in the past. Short game was much easier in the past. A balata ball that spun more around the greens and slower and softer greens made chipping and pitching much easier then. Putting you had little to no fear of going uncontrollably past the hole.

And yes, I am 63 and played then. Not a wild guess.

[Ashley Schaeffer]

Such a great point. I play with a guy your age who used to play on the the Asian Tour (or whatever it was called back then). He says he still hits it close to as far as he did, but the game inside 100 yards is much harder now. Anecdotal, for sure, but it's an interesting thought, and I trust his judgment. The short games on tour now are incredible comparatively. Fifty years ago, we had the best player in the world putting around bunkers.

[Lark]

The average driving distance of 6 handicaps or better is 236 yards. The average drive of men ages 20-30 is 239. So your playing partners are supermen.

https://golf.com/news/how-far-do-amateur-golfers-like-you-hit-the-ball-the-usga-distance-report-has-the-answer/

[Ashley Schaeffer]

We should roll it back to make 6 or better HCPs average 213 . . . to grow the game.

[disco111]

I have no earthly idea of where or who officiated those numbers, but in truth............they are bovine excrement.........

[gvogel]

Ashley, I think that you're on to something.

[Golfjack]

So this 61 year old can compete in long drive comps. I’m not doubting former baseball players can hit it far, but random anecdotes don’t really say anything, other than ‘cool story’.

[Ashley Schaeffer]

Hey, I know it's anecdotal. I'm not disputing that. He's not even close to LD stats, though. If I had to guess, he's a 120 CHS guy. Maybe gets low-mid 170s ball speed. The 370 yard hole he drove was in our skins game. Drives definitely roll out on that hole more than other holes, and the drive was on the front edge of the green. Probably went 355 or so. Conditions.

I wasn't trying to "say" anything, other than some recreational players can definitely hit it 300+, and gave a first-hand, extreme example to support it.

[clevited]

Recreational player here, 300 carry is a mis hit spinny slice for me. While my golf talent on the whole isn't great, the raw power I have developed over the years isn't just from genetics. I worked and continue to work really hard to obtain and maintain it. You might be seeing more people capable of hitting bombs these days simply because they are trying to learn to do so. If you really want it, speed can be obtained and having the measuring devices we have today are a huge help with that. If you have the hand eye coordination and the repeatable swing to take advantage of that, well you might be able to do something professionally with it.

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

106 does not need XStiff, more like 115-120? Basically, Tour speeds.
I’m about 104-109, slow transition and stiff works fine. Regular tends to spin too much, but Stiff works great. My 106-107 gets carries in the 255-260 range.
Roll back, grow the game? @Ashley Schaeffer , Haha, I couldn’t agree more with you. I’m so glad I’m a 7 Lol

[gvogel]

here is my suggestion as a first take on changing the ball. Make the circumference 1.7 inches, up from 1.68. Only elite golfers would know the difference. That would actually help recreational golfers.

make the weight 1.6 ounces, down from 1.62. Only elite golfers and my friend Ashley Schaeffer could tell the difference. I like round numbers.

heck, if that doesn't work, make the balls floaters.