Distance comparison table

After seeing the post about distances I thought of this. I was reading some old mags I have from when I played golf the first time and found a table of distances which compares Tiger and then low, mid and high handicappers. This is from Today's Golfer Decemeber 2000.



My distances are a slight mix.
Driver = unknown
3-wood= 210
3I=180
4I=170
5I=160
6I=150
7I=140
8I=130
9I=120
PW=105
SW=80-90

These were my distances from as soon as I could hit a ball and were the same for the first 2 months that I played originally. After 2 months for about 1 week only (after a lesson and before one that made me quit) my distances went really long like I was hitting 7I 170 odd, 5I 200 odd, PW 130 and odd 150. I then quit playing the week after and took it up again 2-3 months ago and my distances were back to the above list straight away and are still exactly the same having switched to a One Plane Swing from a Two Plane Swing.

The strange thing is that the first trip to the range after changing to One Plane Swing I was hitting it super long but then it was back to my normal after that one session.

How do you guys fit into this table, you think it's accurate?

I've got Low Cap distance with High Cap scores...

*sighs*

Distance, distance, distance........

It was ever thus I suppose, rather than drooling over his yardages, envy his putting, sand and recovery stats.....

D.

I am on a 17 handicap and here are my distances
driver 240 metres (264 yards)
3 wood 210 metrtes (231 yards)
1 iron 215 metres (236 yards)
3 iron 200 metres (220 yards)
4 iron 185 metres (203 yards)
5 iron 175 metes (192 yards)
6 iron 165 metres (181 yards)
7 iron 155 metres (170 yards)
8 iron 145 metres (159 yards)
9 iron 135 metres (148 yards)
Pw 120 metres (132 yards)
Sw 100 metres (110 yards)
LW 75 metres (83 yards)

I didn't start this thread coz I'm obsessed with distance btw. I don't really care about my distances. I've only been playing a couple of months and I'm 5'7 so I don't expect to be sending balls into orbit. I just wondered if it were accurate and thought it would be interesting.

Actually, I think all golfers should be obsessed with distance. That is, the exact distance they hit the ball per club carry wise. Especially the short game and wedge distance. Cmays has an excellent point - most of us overestimate carry distance.

wow! with those distances I would figure you would be at least a single handi.

10 handicap here, these are my average distances:
Driver- 270 yards
3W- 240
5W- 220
22* hybrid- 200
27* 7W- 180
6i- 165
7i- 155
8i- 140
9i- 125
PW- 110
SW- 70

I have wierd things happen to me distance-wise. My best drives are about 280. I can hit my 16* hybrid 210 consistently, but I've hit it 230 on occassion.

2 shots come to mind in recent weeks: a 210 4-iron which had no roll (landed in a fairway bunker), and a 6-iron which I pulled a bit and hit 190-195. There was no extra effort on either shot, and I obviously expected both to come up well short of what they actually flew.

I wonder if the extra carry were just because the shots were struck better. Normally I would bank on 190 from a 4 and 165 from a 6. I'm also stretching regularly and finding that this is adding distance and making it easier to swing.

__________________
Mike Ryan
Rhinebeck, NY

TaylorMade R5 N, 8.5*
TaylorMade V-Steel, Aldila NV 65 Stiff, 13*
TaylorMade Rescue Mid, 25*
Mizuno MP-32, 4-PW
Cleveland Tour Action 588 Wedge, 52*, 56* & 60*
Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2
Nike Tour Accuracy TW

"You can talk to a fade, but a hook won't listen."
- Lee Trevino

My distances are about the same as yours. "Driver unknown" is especially accurate! I use the driver frequently but I'd say my distance with it is anywhere from 200 or less to 260, at absolute best. I've shot 260 yards twice that I know of, where I could get a good measure of it.

I don't carry a 3 or 4 iron, but my 3h goes 180-190 when I connect. Also there's some difference with the wedges. My gap wedge goes 80-90, SW about 60-70, and LW about 50.

An example of how strange distances can be is a day when I was on a 155 yard par3 and meant to pick a 6Iron but mistakenly picked up a 9Iron (go ahead and laugh only time I've ever done that and certainly make sure I won't again).

Anyway, I proceeded to hit the shot thinking I had a 6 in my hand and hit a perfectly straight shot that fell just short of the green probably 140+ yards. I wondered why it fell so short after feeling great then looked down. I normally hit my 9Iron no more than 120 yards. Made me wonder how much the mental game can affect distance.

I just read on pgatour and Tiger mentioned that he has never hit it so long. I think he is average at 315yards now...freaky stuff. But when you see how hard he hits at the ball, you can kinda understand. Naturally if a normal person tries to swing like that they would most likely slip a disc and wont be able to play for a while.

Here are my average yardages. Not extremely long but does the job and gives me chances to reach par 5s in two in general:
Driver 275
3W 250
3I 220
4I 210
5I 195
6I 185
7I 175
8I 165
9I 150
48W 135
52W 115
56W 100
60W 80

I think when measuring distances you need to look at carry.
Carry is all thats important for hitting over trees/water/bunkers/hazards
Roll changes depending on the season.

I play off 15 but my distance is the same as most category 1 players (5 and lower)

My average carry distances are as follows:

I have noticed of late however that my distances are increasing, Il need to go measure them again soon.(my estimate is the one to the furthest right)

Driver: 250 yards 260 (not consistent at the moment though)
3 wood: 225 yards 235
hybrid: 215 yards 225
3 iron: 195 yards 205
4 iron: 185 yards 195
5 iron: 175 yards 185
6 iron: 165 yards 175
7 iron: 155 yards 165
8 iron: 145 yards 155
9 iron: 135 yards 145
pw: 115 yards 130
sw: 100 yards 115
lw: 70 yards 85

The reason for my handicap being 15 is mostly down to shortgame which I am just starting to really work on.

I'am also struggling with my driver and my bad shot at the moment is a big push bout 20 yards!!! I think it is down to not clearing my hips.

I hit on average:
5/13 fairways
6/18 GIR
25% UP AND DOWN
40% SAND SAVES
34 PUTTS
2 PUTTS PER GIR

__________________
Craig

My bag:

Taylormade r7 9.5* Stiff stock shaft
Sonartec SS2.5 3+ 13* Stiff Fujikura Tour Platform shaft
Taylormade Utility 2 16* XS Fujikura TP stock shaft
Titleist 904F 4 wood 17* Stiff Aldila NV85 shaft
Mizuno MP67 3-PW S300 shafts
Cleveland 588 47*, 53*, 56* DSG, 60*
Odyssey White Hot #4 putter

Mine are terrible.
My driver is consistently 250M stretching to 270M with a perfect hit later in the round. Thats with no roll, the ball doesnt roll due to the height I get and the wet ground here in Ireland.
5W which I just bought is also good, about 230M

My other distances are terrible.
LW 50M
SW 65M
PW 85M
9i 95M
8i 105m
7i 115m
6i 125m
5i 135m
4i 145m
3i 155m
1i 180m

I have started to notice that nearly all of the divots on my iron shots point left, Im pretty straight so I reckon I am effectively delofting the club by
a) casting
b) cutting across it

time for a lesson methinks
Its no good bombing a drive 290yrds on a 400yrds par 4 and the having to hit a 6 iron to the flag

Looking at the Chart I would guess the numbers would be a little higher for Tiger amd the low handicapper. I would guess the increase is somewhere in the 5-10% range.

Most of the numbers for the low handicapper seem to be acurate for me except for the driver where I would be at 260, the 3 wood 240 and my utility 2 iron 225. The rest would be accurate. I would link those 3 diferences to hotter face technology. Though I think a true low handicapper hits the ball farther then I do (could be wrong) I am currently playing at a 9.

Bob