The Reddit "mythical golfer who hits 300 yard drives"

[Dan Drake]

1 hour ago, bcflyguy1 said:

Reasonable sized handful of guys at my club can squish it out there, and none of them would be classified as flat-bellys.

Will be 45 in a couple months, 6'3"-ish and 240-ish, and have a dodgy L4/L5 from way too much time in a seated position for work. Working with a TPI Level 3 coach has done wonders, as has The Stack System. For a washed up guy with a lovely wife, 3 girls, 3 jobs, and a bad bfack I move it OK. It can be done; this was a cruising, course speed driver following my Stack workout yesterday afternoon. CHS was 118 on this ball. Time is undefeated, but like my guy @Dan Drake will go down fighting for every inch.

Is it weird that my first reaction to seeing this picture was "My goodness, that's sexy AF!"

[bcflyguy1]

19 minutes ago, Dan Drake said:

Is it weird that my first reaction to seeing this picture was "My goodness, that's sexy AF!"

[RoyalMustang]

19 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

I don't really think of myself as a long hitter these days, given that I'm one of the shorter guys in the group I play in.  I am however reminded of the fact that I do hit it pretty good in the rare instance  I get paired up with random people, and I find myself 50+ yards in front of them playing a tee back.  I guess some of it is perspective.  What I can say is it's not common at all, I can count on one hand how many random people in the last 10 years that drove it out there with me or past me.  250+ I think is pretty rare.

 

It begs the question: are all good golfers usually paired up with others? I rarely play in an organized group, mostly due to the course I'm at being mainly 55+ and the morning crowd. What about public course golfers? Or do most better players belong to a private club? I get that if you live in a smaller area, but private clubs in bigger metros can cost an arm and a leg. Just because you are a good golfer doesn't mean you have an extra $100k laying around for an initiation fee. 

[jda]

I mostly play by myself with randos.  I am with somebody at least once a month who can smash it farther than me and I am right at 300 when I want to be.  Played with a twosome randomly last year who were both +3 or 4 on any course and were about the same as me.  I play higher level public courses and stay away from the bargain or courses with "character" or "the greens roll good" since those are code words for "the course sucks."  The public courses that I play are the kind to have Colorado GA qualifiers and sometimes National type of events.

[bigred90gt]

21 hours ago, Dan Drake said:

I'm part of this camp, L4/L5 herniated at 29yrs old.  It's been good since then (although shoulders and knees are now shot), except when I quit taking care of it.  

 

That said, I've been over 120mph in the last year and plan on getting to 125mph this year.  Note: these are MAX speeds, not on-course cruising speeds.  I'd like those to be in the 115-118 range.  

 

Just enough to carry it 300, lol!

I absolutely don't practice near enough anymore to get back to those speeds. For starters, I cant. While the L4/5 is fixed, the L5/S1 that was herniated at the same time never got fixed. It never bothered me until the last couple of years. Also, the older I get, the more I realize I have other things I would rather be doing most of the time than eat/sleep/breathe golf. There was a time in my life that everything I did was planned around my golf and I was at the course 3-5 days a week. I think it's been 2-3 months since the last time I played, and I've probably played 5-6 times since April of last year. At the rate I'm going, I'll be lucky to keep the handicap in single digits, and I dont believe my swing speed will be going up as time continues to march on. 

[NRJyzr]

3 hours ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

It begs the question: are all good golfers usually paired up with others? I rarely play in an organized group, mostly due to the course I'm at being mainly 55+ and the morning crowd. What about public course golfers? Or do most better players belong to a private club? I get that if you live in a smaller area, but private clubs in bigger metros can cost an arm and a leg. Just because you are a good golfer doesn't mean you have an extra $100k laying around for an initiation fee. 

 

I play with a regular group, and also part of the Men's Club at my course.  The regular group was formed of two separate groups, but over the years we've picked up a number of random folks who have joined the crowd, so to speak.

 

My regular group is made up of a range of ability.  We have some low to mid single digit players, some mid-hdcps, and a couple senior players.  Short hitters and long hitters are both represented.  Some hockey and baseball players in this crowd, as well, even guys who are still playing.  The longest guy in this group is a random who joined the crowd; he's got 115+ in his bag (baseball).

 

The Men's club I play with has a number of younger guys who have a lot of ability.  A couple plus caps, several low single digit, several mid single digit, etc, all the way up to 20 and 30+ caps.  And, several guys (including a 27 hdcp) who have considerable length, easily touching this magic number.

 

edit to add:  The above is entirely at Public courses, primarily one, but occasionally elsewhere...

 

Edited March 21 by NRJyzr

[bigred90gt]

21 hours ago, bcflyguy1 said:

I get it; my appetite never got the memo that the days of eating like you have a hollow leg without consequence ended about 20 years ago.

If that aint the truth, I dont know what is! 

 

I played all the sports growing up (football, baseball, basketball, ran track, etc). I ate whatever I wanted and was still lean. Fast forward 25+ years, and I've bounced from 230-330 and back a few times. In the name of helping relieve some strain on my back, I'm trying to lose weight again, and the older I get the harder it gets.  

[bcflyguy1]

3 minutes ago, bigred90gt said:

If that aint the truth, I dont know what is! 

 

I played all the sports growing up (football, baseball, basketball, ran track, etc). I ate whatever I wanted and was still lean. Fast forward 25+ years, and I've bounced from 230-330 and back a few times. In the name of helping relieve some strain on my back, I'm trying to lose weight again, and the older I get the harder it gets.  

I feel ya; was also a four sport bubba in high school. Soccer and football in the fall (which meant four practices per day in August), basketball in the winter, track (4s and 8s) in the spring. 
Senior year I played the fall sports at 6'3" 185 lbs., knew I would have to play the 5 spot for basketball so lifted and ATE to get to 205. After the first two weeks of basketball (with before-school practices that consisted entirely of line running), I was right back down to 185 again...WOMP WOMP. 20 pounds lost in 2 bloody weeks; could not keep weight on no matter what I ate. Broke my nose as many times as we won that basketball season trying to guard dudes 6" taller and 30 pounds heavier on most nights. Not much fun was had...LOL.

[MountainKing]

3 hours ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

It begs the question: are all good golfers usually paired up with others? I rarely play in an organized group, mostly due to the course I'm at being mainly 55+ and the morning crowd. What about public course golfers? Or do most better players belong to a private club? I get that if you live in a smaller area, but private clubs in bigger metros can cost an arm and a leg. Just because you are a good golfer doesn't mean you have an extra $100k laying around for an initiation fee. 

 

I'm in the Chicago area and play strictly public course.  My normal group these days consists of 10 guys total with handicaps in the +2 to 2 range.  10 works well in that any day of the week we're able to fill a foursome, and on weekends we can generally put together two foursomes.  Very rarely do we have to worry about getting paired up, but when you play 70 or so rounds a year it does happen.  In the last few years getting paired up has become a miserable experience, we do everything we possibly can to avoid it. 

 

To answer the questions

1) Yes we play public courses

[Ty-Webb]

Reddit is a toxic dump

[Obee]

30 minutes ago, Ty-Webb said:

Reddit is a toxic dump

So are Twitter and Threads. Wow.

[Obee]

On 3/21/2024 at 8:18 AM, RoyalMustang said:

 

It begs the question: are all good golfers usually paired up with others? I rarely play in an organized group, mostly due to the course I'm at being mainly 55+ and the morning crowd. What about public course golfers? Or do most better players belong to a private club? I get that if you live in a smaller area, but private clubs in bigger metros can cost an arm and a leg. Just because you are a good golfer doesn't mean you have an extra $100k laying around for an initiation fee. 

Good players tend to play with good players. I played with a 32 year old buddy the other day and hit hit several drives at 1200 feet above sea level in 55 to 65 degree weather that day that were 315 to 335. His clubhead speed is 120 to 125+. Ball speed of 180+ when he hits it good, but he has a full-time job now. Hardly plays.

[BombinJim]

On 2/7/2024 at 11:38 AM, RoyalMustang said:

I've heard this from time to time Reddit. It got me thinking: how often do you play with someone who can hit the ball 300 yards on a regular basis? 

 

I have a few guys: 

1) buddy of mine, mid 30's, played baseball and has a pretty powerful swing. He's pretty wild but can match me in distance a couple of swings a round. Not consistently though. 

2) guy in occasional playing group, + 2 cap, usually not 300 off the tee but can get there. Deadly accurate at 275-280 though. 

3) another guy in occasional playing group, played on a team that qualified in the NCAAs multiple times. He carries over 300 on every swing. 

4) group of players we were paired with that had recently graduated college and were on a mini-tour. All were carrying 300+. On the first hole we played, which is 365 and slightly uphill, all the guys were within 50 yards of the green.  

5) Another buddy who is a 13 cap. He just swings way too hard though and rarely connects.  

6) a couple of the HS kids that I've been paired with are getting out over 300 regularly. 

 

I'd wager it's not exactly rare to find a player capable of driving 300. Carrying 300, that's tougher but still NOT that rare. But the Reddit crowd seems to think so. Sure, I don't think I've ever been paired with a rando hitting the ball that far; it would be cool if I did.

I must be your 13 cap buddy 😂 I’m working on the consistent connection though and its going to be a good season.

[jda]

Three randos a few days ago on a city course.  Two of them could smash it well past 300 yards.  They were probably 12-18 caps and were "played in high school" kind of guys with good turns and strong top hands.  We didn't really measure any, but when have 100-110 yards in on a 440 yard hole, that is good enough for me.  I got one or two at 300, so that makes 3 randos in a group of 4 that got to 300.

[ldchristopher]

I’ve played with a couple players who could carry it over 300. The most memorable was a guy named Tom who I randomly got paired up with. Large human being who hit some absolute bombs. The thing I remember most about him was his iron shafts. The guy played ProjectX 7.0 in his MP 68’s. 

[GrandStranded]

On 2/7/2024 at 3:43 PM, hollabachgt said:

Among Shot Scope users, only 4% can drive the ball over 300 yards. Within Arccos users, no age/handicap range averages over 300 yards.  Even on the PGA Tour, there were 21 players last year who's longest drive was shorter than 300 yards.

All that to say, among the hard core golfers, the percentage of players who can drive the ball over 300 is very small. When you expand it to all players, it's a very rare feat.

Every one of them posts on WRX apparently. 😂

[SurfDuffer]

Up until two seasons ago I routinely hit it 300+ off the tee.  Injuries and age have hit me hard the past two seasons.  Right shoulder, lower back, right hip and left knee.  I feel like I am suddenly paying the price for all of the range time it took me to hit it the way I used to.  There is a 30-foot high fence at the end of our range and I used to be able to fly that fence on command with the driver and occasionally with the 3-wood.  Now I can barely reach the base of that fence two years later.

[toddbournes]

On 4/1/2024 at 11:48 AM, GrandStranded said:

Every one of them posts on WRX apparently. 😂

lol this.  You just can’t get them to give it up. Even when the stats are there. Hard data. Only about the top 40 or so on the pga tour average 300 off the tee. These are the best players in the world. Who train every day for nothing but golf. Who have optimized equipment. On courses where the fairways roll out for days. Are there guys who can hit one or two per round 300? Certainly. But there just aren’t that many randos around who can average 300 off the tee. The facts just don’t support it. 

[SurfDuffer]

On 3/20/2024 at 3:53 PM, Dan Drake said:

I'm 45 years old as we speak and the speed is still there.  I plan on keeping it as long as possible as well, lol!

I peaked at 47 so you've got a couple more years.  At that point I was between 121 and 123 clubhead speed.   From there I slowly slipped until the age of 52.    The past two years my distance has gone off a cliff.  Haven't been on a monitor in the past year but going to guess between 105 and 108 now.  I'm at the point now where the shafts in my clubs no longer feel right.  Its all down hill after 50.

[jda]

Late 40s for me too.  Have to work to keep the speed whereas did not have to do much before but show up.  Starting to add weight since I am still strong and can swing a heavier club and the same club speed for more smash and ball speed.

 

I wonder how Arccos and Shot Scope gives stats for reading and comprehension?  Less than 4%?  The post was about 300 yard hitters, not averagers, tour people or how folks do course management.  The longest hitter that I know is 340 easy and he uses 5 iron and 3 wood as much as the driver and likely does not average 290 off of the tee.  Every tour play is a 300 yard hitter, I would imagine.  Every one.  They likely all would average 320-340 on the courses that we play where they don't have to choose approach angles, miss the 6" rough and all of that.

[Nard_S]

On 3/21/2024 at 11:18 AM, RoyalMustang said:

 

It begs the question: are all good golfers usually paired up with others? I rarely play in an organized group, mostly due to the course I'm at being mainly 55+ and the morning crowd. What about public course golfers? Or do most better players belong to a private club? I get that if you live in a smaller area, but private clubs in bigger metros can cost an arm and a leg. Just because you are a good golfer doesn't mean you have an extra $100k laying around for an initiation fee. 

Part of threesome that plays most Sundays six months of year. Always public. Used to go solo a lot, do a lot of range time too. Home course, 30 years there. Do not do men's association, no time for that, someday though.

[SurfDuffer]

38 minutes ago, jda said:

Late 40s for me too.  Have to work to keep the speed whereas did not have to do much before but show up.  Starting to add weight since I am still strong and can swing a heavier club and the same club speed for more smash and ball speed.

 

I wonder how Arccos and Shot Scope gives stats for reading and comprehension?  Less than 4%?  The post was about 300 yard hitters, not averagers, tour people or how folks do course management.  The longest hitter that I know is 340 easy and he uses 5 iron and 3 wood as much as the driver and likely does not average 290 off of the tee.  Every tour play is a 300 yard hitter, I would imagine.  Every one.  They likely all would average 320-340 on the courses that we play where they don't have to choose approach angles, miss the 6" rough and all of that.

When they say "Average" have you ever seen what the average golfer is?  The "Average" golfer is pretty pathetic.  Visit a municipal course any day of the week or a private on a summer weekend.  There are no shortage of members on the range where I play on a July weekend who can't hit a driver 150 yards before they take to the course.

[toddbournes]

1 hour ago, jda said:

Late 40s for me too.  Have to work to keep the speed whereas did not have to do much before but show up.  Starting to add weight since I am still strong and can swing a heavier club and the same club speed for more smash and ball speed.

 

I wonder how Arccos and Shot Scope gives stats for reading and comprehension?  Less than 4%?  The post was about 300 yard hitters, not averagers, tour people or how folks do course management.  The longest hitter that I know is 340 easy and he uses 5 iron and 3 wood as much as the driver and likely does not average 290 off of the tee.  Every tour play is a 300 yard hitter, I would imagine.  Every one.  They likely all would average 320-340 on the courses that we play where they don't have to choose approach angles, miss the 6" rough and all of that.

I believe the original post says something to the effect of “ who hit it 300 yards on a regular basis”. My idea of a regular basis would be about as many 300+ as not. That sounds very similar to a 300 yard average. It’s my personal opinion but for be to consider someone a “300 yard hitter “ I’d expect them to be able to stand on the tee box on a flat straight way hole or driving range with no wind and normal roll conditions, not dry and hard as a rock, to be able to hit 4 or 5 out of every 10 drives 300+.  I’ve played a lot of golf over the past 15 years with a lot of folks at a lot of courses. The simple fact is there just are not a ton of people who can do that. 

[RoyalMustang]

2 hours ago, toddbournes said:

lol this.  You just can’t get them to give it up. Even when the stats are there. Hard data. Only about the top 40 or so on the pga tour average 300 off the tee. These are the best players in the world. Who train every day for nothing but golf. Who have optimized equipment. On courses where the fairways roll out for days. Are there guys who can hit one or two per round 300? Certainly. But there just aren’t that many randos around who can average 300 off the tee. The facts just don’t support it. 

 

The tour ball speed average off of the tee is 173.25 mph. That's out of 183 players; median is going to be 92. Top 40? That's 178.33 mph. 

 

On the Ping chart, even a 170 ball speed is right at 300 carry with well optimized spin and launch. I've been on monitors at low 170's ball speed and seen 300 carry; it plays out on the course as well. Almost 180-On what planet is that not well past 300 yards? 

 

If the tour players average below 300, it's because they are measuring one or more of the following:

1) conditions into the wind (even if it corresponds to a tailwind measurement, it isn't a 1/1 gain/loss ratio)

2) soggy or damp conditions (Pebble at 55 degrees, no rollout)

3) guys using a 3W off the tee to more easily control shot shape

 

My assumptions are that 300 yards are done in fair conditions (reasonably warm temps, reasonable fairways, no wind effect). No more than a slugger in baseball doesn't hit a home run every at bat or even every game but they are still a slugger, as they stand above their peers in terms of slugging %. 

 

 

 

 

[toddbournes]

19 minutes ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

The tour ball speed average off of the tee is 173.25 mph. That's out of 183 players; median is going to be 92. Top 40? That's 178.33 mph. 

 

On the Ping chart, even a 170 ball speed is right at 300 carry with well optimized spin and launch. I've been on monitors at low 170's ball speed and seen 300 carry; it plays out on the course as well. Almost 180-On what planet is that not well past 300 yards? 

 

If the tour players average below 300, it's because they are measuring one or more of the following:

1) conditions into the wind (even if it corresponds to a tailwind measurement, it isn't a 1/1 gain/loss ratio)

2) soggy or damp conditions (Pebble at 55 degrees, no rollout)

3) guys using a 3W off the tee to more easily control shot shape

 

My assumptions are that 300 yards are done in fair conditions (reasonably warm temps, reasonable fairways, no wind effect). No more than a slugger in baseball doesn't hit a home run every at bat or even every game but they are still a slugger, as they stand above their peers in terms of slugging %. 

 

 

 

 

https://www.cbssports.com/golf/stats/pga-tour/drive-distance/ 
 Top 62 this year averaging 300+. No need to ping charts or whatever. Those are the actual numbers. The top 62. Of the best golfers on the planet. 

[Barfolomew]

Didn't think 300 was far anymore.... this aint the 90s.... 320 is the new 300

 

Hasn't all the fancy computers takin the fun out the game by revealing all the secrets of droppin bombs...

[NRJyzr]

1 minute ago, toddbournes said:

https://www.cbssports.com/golf/stats/pga-tour/drive-distance/ 
 Top 62 this year averaging 300+. No need to ping charts or whatever. Those are the actual numbers. The top 62. Of the best golfers on the planet. 

 

None of whom could likely be competitive in local long drive qualifiers, which are loaded with guys you've never heard of.

 

 

[GrandStranded]

16 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

 

None of whom could likely be competitive in local long drive qualifiers, which are loaded with guys you've never heard of.

 

 

Ah yes, another 1% of the golfing population! Can’t forget them… 😜

[jda]

I just don't understand how people do not know that folks who can hit it this far don't really choose to do it that often.  They have no need.  On my main course, there is 4 holes where I try and hit it over 300 and I usually get about 2 of them.  On most the other courses around me, there are as few as 2 holes.  If I get one or two a round, that is 50%.  This is not like some 240 hitter who swing out of their spikes with every swing because they have a 3 wood or 3 hybrid left if they don't.

 

Even if I only get it 285 on a 440 yard hole, that is a 44 degree 9 iron left, or so... or on a 500 yard par 5 is a 5 or 6 iron.

 

I am somewhat amazed that people think that the transitive property applies to what they seen from other folks and cannot figure out that the length applies to the other clubs too.  You know all of those bunkers and doglegs that are in play for you at 240-250 yards from the whites?  ...when you scoot back to the back tees, they are just as much in play there too.  I guess there could be some clowns smashing it 300 from the whites, but that is not anybody that I know.

[RoyalMustang]

19 hours ago, jda said:

I just don't understand how people do not know that folks who can hit it this far don't really choose to do it that often.  They have no need.  On my main course, there is 4 holes where I try and hit it over 300 and I usually get about 2 of them.  On most the other courses around me, there are as few as 2 holes.  If I get one or two a round, that is 50%.  This is not like some 240 hitter who swing out of their spikes with every swing because they have a 3 wood or 3 hybrid left if they don't.

 

Even if I only get it 285 on a 440 yard hole, that is a 44 degree 9 iron left, or so... or on a 500 yard par 5 is a 5 or 6 iron.

 

I am somewhat amazed that people think that the transitive property applies to what they seen from other folks and cannot figure out that the length applies to the other clubs too.  You know all of those bunkers and doglegs that are in play for you at 240-250 yards from the whites?  ...when you scoot back to the back tees, they are just as much in play there too.  I guess there could be some clowns smashing it 300 from the whites, but that is not anybody that I know.

 

Yeah, that's a well designed course and why people should play tees based on carry yardage, not handicap. Not enough people do this. I play with a guy with a similar cap to myself: he plays 2 tees up as he's in his 60's and gives me 7 strokes. It works: trouble off the tee comes into play roughly the same way. I have a shorter iron in on a par 4 and can more easily reach on a par 5, so I have the advantage there. He's still 2-3 clubs shorter on our long par 3s, which evens it out. 

 

When I play the whites (regular mens tees) on my course, the course gets a whole lot easier than the 1.8 strokes shown on paper for that very reason. I can just hit over all of that trouble that's about carry distance from the back tees. I cut corners on doglegs. I can fly a couple of tree islands that would otherwise be in play. The fairway bunkers are now at 260, not 295, so they aren't a concern. I'm hitting a hybrid on layup holes with the increased accuracy that comes along with it. 

 

Different topic though, one I posted about awhile ago. The slope/rating accuracy will vary wildly for individual players depending on driving distances. If the trouble on your course is all at 300 yards and you hit the ball 300 yards, you may not be in much better shape than the guy hitting 270, unless you have a good ball striking day and avoid the trouble. Just as if all of the trouble from the whites is at 265; the guy carrying 300 will have a massive advantage over the guy hitting 265, moreso than an average rating/slope number will pick up.