distance misjudging.

ok, heres my problem, i play this mini par 3 we have. and theres 3 holes, 100, 105 and 90 yards. the 3rd one i hit a full 58* wedge no problem. the otheri use a very soft 55*. and they get there no problem. but when i go to the course and faced with the same distances, my wedges never go as far. i know about wind and everything, but i account for it.

Things to consider:

Distance markers on the course are always measured to the center of the green.

I find it odd that those tee boxes are cut to exactly said yardages.

Ideally, if the yardages are correct, they too should be measured to the middle of the green.

Being a par 3 course I'm assuming that you're pin-seeking. So if the pin is in the front of the 90 yard hole, it may be playing more like 80 yds.

true, but they r almost always in the middle of the green.

I'd say the first thing you have to do is establish the accuracy of the par 3 measurements. It's possible they're wrong giving incorrect reads of the distance. Then make another assessment between the two distance results.

If they are correct, then I'd suggest you analyse your 2 swings on videoto make sure they are 'the same'. Don't analyse them by looking for mistakes but swing tempo, swing speed and impact alignment. I often find that practice-range swings and chip & putt swings differ quite a bit from approach to the green swings. They can be as much as 5mph slower with a wedge. 5mph would give about 10yards difference in distance.

__________________
Golf is easy ... once you know how.
Graham Arnott, teaching professional
Kelrosa Golf Studios
www.kelrosagolf.com
Class 'A' PGA Member
Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I)

true, could the fact that the fairway is soft and the teebox at the par 3 course is like a driving range that is pretty hard have to do anything with it.

Yeah, it could. The club won't lose as much energy into impact on the harder par3 tee boxes and could well be the strike is 'cleaner'. Whereas on the fairway, impact a little 'fatter' to get spin and the softer turf will cause more drag ad slow the club down.

Remember, even 5mph difference wil cause the ball to go 10 yards less. Very small margin here.

Also, on the fairway with a more downward blow, fatter impact, etc. the ball will have more backspin. That additional backspin will cause more lift and less distance.

alright thanks gys. i think im going to get a 53* to get a little more gap between my 558 and 58*

What about the difference between the practice range and on the course? The distances at the range never look like the distances in "real life". Someone tried to tell me the range balls are shorter so the distance markers are "to scale" with the 30% reduction in distance from the range balls. Sounded like bull-@#$% to me.

Well, measured distances on a driving range are always a problem. You never know where they measured from and aren't necessarily correct where you hit from.

As for range balls, Golf Digest did a study using various grades and conditions of golf balls, including range balls. A good condition, good quality range ball flies further than a good condition, good quality golf ball. Not by much but 5 yards is 5 yards ... a really rubbish range ball that has been beaten more times than Mike Tyson loses 15 yards against a 'normal' golf ball in a similar condition.

So, I'd say: you might see a small variation in distance, but 15-20 yards at the most with a driver. With a wedge, the difference could be a yard to 2.

__________________
Golf is easy ... once you know how.
Graham Arnott, teaching professional
Kelrosa Golf Studios
www.kelrosagolf.com
Class 'A' PGA Member
Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I)

You need to qualify that. Like, 'since the late 90's'. (Considering that Iron Mike is 50-6 w/44 KO's). Douglas in '90, Holyfield '96 & '97, Lewis '02, Williams '04, McBride '05.

Don't get me wrong - Tyson the person is a piece of work. Tyson the fighter? Unstoppable in his prime. He was 38-0 (with 33KO's) before he lost to Douglas.

Sorry for the threadjack.

Okay, let me qualify that:

a really rubbish range ball that has been beaten more times than Mike Tyson (after he became useless) loses 15 yards against a 'normal' golf ball in a similar condition.

Better now?

Much!

lol

Hmm all of our fairway markers are to the front of the green, only Par3 distances are to the centre of the green. (Same for all of the courses I have played btw)

Why not go to a practice area and hot 15 shots with each club, remove the 5 longest and 5 shortest and thats your average distance right there.
Walk the distance, dont rely on range markers with range balls.

Or use a laser rangefinder.