Know Your Distances

Finding out your distances used to be a difficult task.  Golfers will have a general idea how far they hit each club through their experiences on the golf course but unfortunately these estimated distances were unreliable and …. I’m going to hurt a few people here … often overstated.

In a previous article I wrote about a study that shows that the majority of golfer’s approach shots end up short of their target and that how through the simple adjustment of taking an extra club players will see their scores come down.  How can you take advantage of this “low hanging fruit” in order to lower your scores this coming golf season?  Well, the first thing you need to do is get an accurate assessment on how far you currently hit your ball.  As mentioned in the opening paragraph most players overestimate how far they hit it but not to worry we also overestimate how far others hit it.  Below is an interesting chart containing the average Driver Distance for various groups of golfers broken down by age and handicap.  Keep in mind the distances are total distance (carry + roll).

As a general assumption that will get you close enough you can think of roll as been about 20% of carry.  As an example if we look at the 10 to 20 handicap group with a Median Total Distance of 215 yards we can guess that carry would be roughly 175 yards.

Knowing your distances regardless of what they are is an important step in improving the way you play a round of golf, it is a vital piece in course management.

If you are interested in finding out your current distances schedule an hour with me using the GC Quad Foresight which provides accurate measurement of ball and club data.  Not only will you learn how far you hit it but we will also be able to see what adjustments you can make in order to add yardage to your game.