What is your Avg Drive Distance ?

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By Darius V

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  • 21 Replies
  1. Darius V

    Darius V
    Barrie, ON

    I am sure you have heard this one before... The older I get, the further I used to hit it ! I fall into that category and it really hit home this past weekend watching the pros pounding it down the fairway. I never used to hit drives as far as the pros do, but I use to hit drives an average of 240 or more. I even recall my longest recorded drive at the Old Course in St. Andrews where I drove a green that was 315 yds. (yes - a lot of roll). Now days, as I creep closer to the age of 65 I feel like I have crushed it if I get it out to 250 with a helping wind down hill :) The other day it really became obvious that things have changed when I made a nice full smooth swing through the ball to a slightly uphill fairway and could feel the ball come off the center of the club face - you know that feeling... I measured that one out and got 228 yards. Disheartening, but such is life... How far do you hit it (really) and are you losing distance as you get older ?

  2. PAZTOR

    PAZTOR
    Tillsonburg, ON

    My driving average is probably around 250-260. I’ve felt like I’ve crushed one before and also found that it didn’t go as far as I thought it should. I know it’s not the equipment.
  3. FJL

    FJL
    Kitchener, ON

    Darius, I hear ya! I'll be 65 in a month but have been doing this as per one of my pro friends.....

    Try this.... tee the ball a little higher, widen your stance a bit and set up your forward foot and place your driver about 2" behind the ball and now when you swing and are about to hit the ball, you will be on the upswing just before hitting the ball.... you should get an extra 20 -30 yards from using this technique. Caution though, you may want to align yourselt to the right side of the fairway as the club tends to be closing just before impact but if you master it, you will be reqarded with a beautiful draw and the ball will "go far in sky" and then "Run like it stole something". LOL!
  4. JasonK

    JasonK
    Whitby, ON

    I gained distance since last year for some reason. I was hitting about 260 last year and this year I'm 290to 300. My irons I gained a club length on as well. My 5 iron is now going 200 and I go down by increments of 10 which is how I think when I play courses.
  5. Chuck Z

    Chuck Z
    Mt Pleasant, SC

    Military
    Hey Darius, how are things up there in beautiful Canada. Had back surgery in February and my golf game is a train wreck. Guess at the wonderful age of 73 it is probably around 220. Lost a bit of distance with every club. Have played once round since December 6th. With the virus and the heat index in the hundreds, finding lots of excuses for not playing. Oh, and the back still having a few pains. Same FJ Chuck Z....hope you and the guys are doing well.....be safe....no worries....
  6. Darius V

    Darius V
    Barrie, ON

    Chuck Z said:

    Hey Darius, how are things up there in beautiful Canada. Had back surgery in February and my golf game is a train wreck. Guess at the wonderful age of 73 it is probably around 220. Lost a bit of distance with every club. Have played once round since December 6th. With the virus and the heat index in the hundreds, finding lots of excuses for not playing. Oh, and the back still having a few pains. Same FJ Chuck Z....hope you and the guys are doing well.....be safe....no worries....

    Good to hear you on the forum with us Chuck. I imagine that since you have been back attempting to play again that the surgery went relatively well. As for having a few pains, I did not have surgery and have the odd pain in the back, neck, shoulder, knee, etc.... It is called getting older :) The important thing is that none of those pains are a result of anything serious, just something to complain about and use as an excuse for our lack of ability to score the way we used to ! What I am finding is that more and more guys my age are less concerned about the ultimate score and more focussed on enjoying their day on the links. I do have to admit that my AP3's and Vokeys have given me more accuracy and are keeping me on the fairways more and not rummaging around in the fescue or forest. That makes the game move along at a nice pace and keeps things enjoyable :)
  7. Dino J

    Dino J
    Burnaby, BC

    Great to see you back up and playing again Chuck!! Still helping out with FJ?
  8. Todd J

    Todd J
    Calgary, Alberta 🇨🇦

    I would be in the 250-260 club.
  9. Don O

    Don O
    Madison, WI

    From fittings, I know my smash factor on a solid hit with TS1/TS2 is 1.48 to 1.51, so ball speed is close to 1.5 of club head speed. I've gotten 220-230 five years ago. I noticed on a Top Tracer at a local range that my ball speed was falling under 120 mph (under 80 mph club head). At 69 I've incorporated flexibility and strength training (no protein shakes and not attempting to Dechambeau) and have moved to the TS1. I can get the ball speed up to 132 (roughly 85 mph) with the same crappy range balls and get to 230 yards. Even if you don't need to move to the TS1, there are things to do to slow the decay.
  10. Dale V

    Dale V
    Surprise AZ

    The good news is my distance loss is offset by my fading eyesight so hitting it further now would be problematic. Guess it's natures way of adding balance. I still have one more set of tees I can move up to when needed. Just want to stay healthy enough to continue enjoying this wonderful game. Hit'm straight and stay safe!
  11. Trevor D

    Trevor D
    Bragg Creek,

    This has been a big discussion alongside the distance debate among my friends. I'm just about 41 now so I'm in the era that learned with balata's and persimmons but still had speed when the newest generation of equipment came along. So I'm preparing for our "Balata Open" tournament this week, where you have to use Pre-1990 clubs and Maxfli or Titleist Balatas (that's all we have left) and I'm hitting a McGreggor Persimmon driver and a Lynx Persimmon beauty that I had just oiled up. All the old feels came back and it was awesome. But I didn't DARE go at a ball 100%. The penalty for those is way to severe. So the best I did was around 290, with an average of about 280 playing the old hard draw. I'm a fader now and a good fade with those old beauties went no more than about 260-265ish. The difference between when I was 19 (the last time I had a persimmon, an old McGreggor Tourney 3 wood, in my bag and a couple years before the ProV1) and now at 41 is STAGGERING. Nowadays, I use 295 as my comfy carry number. Anything inside that number doesn't even warrant a glance unless the wind is hurting.
    1) I swung it faster when I was 19 than I do now and I'm waaaay longer now.
    2) I'm about 2400 RPM with the TS3/-ProV1x in my bag. The Lynx Persimmon+Balata was 3900 at the best of times
    3) I hit the modern ball/driver about 4000 feet higher than the old gear. The difference in ball flight is jaw dropping.
    4) I'm a better ball striker now than I was then. I was a better scorer back then, than I am now.

    Like everyone else, Father Time will have his way with me at some point, but for now I'm still adding distance which I think is remarkable for being on the back 9 now. What a time to be alive.
  12. Jason R

    Jason R
    Ottawa, ON

    I will always trade a few yards of distance for straight down the fairway. We have a few 75+ year olds who hit it 80 to 100 yards max but straight up center ice - every single time. 3 to 4 shots and a one put for par - consistently..... probably a lesson in there somewhere!
  13. Chuck Z

    Chuck Z
    Mt Pleasant, SC

    Military
    Last September my club head speed with my driver (917D2 11.25 Fujikura Pro Speeder 64) was 93 mph with ball speed 132.....ball spin 2200.... I found a chart that is pretty universal regarding distances with drivers and club head speed and thought it might be interesting.....with those numbers my ball carries 220......and they were measured consistently by Trackman at a range....by my guy from Titleist.....I like the older driver, because of it's accuracy....so much easier to hit from the middle of the fairway.......seems the distance lost is more in my irons.....weird...will be playing sparingly....the heat index is not very golfer friendly in our area...went to the driving range Monday morning and it hit 108* around 10 am......spent the rest of the day hydrating and resting.......if the ground is hard the ball will roll maybe another twenty yards.......depends if I hit a cut or a draw........my Drs tell me to happy that I have my health and can out a play golf.....no worries
    Post Image
  14. Darius V

    Darius V
    Barrie, ON

    Chuck Z said:

    Last September my club head speed with my driver (917D2 11.25 Fujikura Pro Speeder 64) was 93 mph with ball speed 132.....ball spin 2200.... I found a chart that is pretty universal regarding distances with drivers and club head speed and thought it might be interesting.....with those numbers my ball carries 220......and they were measured consistently by Trackman at a range....by my guy from Titleist.....I like the older driver, because of it's accuracy....so much easier to hit from the middle of the fairway.......seems the distance lost is more in my irons.....weird...will be playing sparingly....the heat index is not very golfer friendly in our area...went to the driving range Monday morning and it hit 108* around 10 am......spent the rest of the day hydrating and resting.......if the ground is hard the ball will roll maybe another twenty yards.......depends if I hit a cut or a draw........my Drs tell me to happy that I have my health and can out a play golf.....no worries
    Post Image

    Great Chart Chuck... My Driver Club Head Speed is around 98 so the distance numbers I get seem to make sense. I also keep in mind that I will not always catch the drive with the center of the club face or at the optimum timing (smash factor) and as such will not always get the numbers where I want them. Hey - that is what makes the game interesting :)
  15. Dino J

    Dino J
    Burnaby, BC

    My driving distance is typically 230-255 here at sea level ... when I go to the interior of BC with higher elevation, drier air, I get an increase to 240-270 ... depending on course conditions. This is total distance (carry and roll)
  16. Michael M

    Michael M
    London, ON

    Sad to say that thanks to some health issues the distance of all my clubs has dropped. These days if I have a hard fairway permitting good roll I can get the driver (910 D2) to 200-yd (180-yd carry). Still enjoying the game though.
    Hopefully will stay healthy long enough to get fitted for some new clubs later this year and maybe new technology can offset the relentless march of the clock.
  17. AWells

    AWells

    Well reading everyones replies is great!! you can alkmost feel the love of the game and Titleist products through the screen. Anyways I am one of those that carries 230-250 maybe 260 if i hit it right on the screws as they once used to say.
    But heres the thing, I havent been playing long and I have been working a lot on my swing since my lessons with Kathy Stecyk. SO i have discovered different ways of getting power from my legs and other bits of the swing. and please tell me if I am crazy here, but when i center hit my driver, I almost feel like I can get more from the driver itself as well?
    And FYI I currently use a 910 D2 ( of which quite a few at teh club have told me was hard to hit? idk)
    AND before you tell me too I have booked an appt. for a fitting at the end of august and I hope I slot into a TS2
    But if you feel like commenting, please let me know if I am nuts about driver feelings, and if the 910 D2 was harder driver to smack or?
  18. Darius V

    Darius V
    Barrie, ON

    AWells... I also had a 910D2 and switched over to a 917D2... I won't say that the 910 was difficult to hit, but there is no doubt the 917 increased my distance a bit and gave me much more consistency as it comes to hitting fairways.
  19. DennisB

    DennisB
    New Lowell, ON

    Since I started swinging the orange whip I have gained 10-15 yards, so now I’m averaging around 265yds.
  20. AWells

    AWells

    My average drive distance is about to go up, as I got fit for my TS2. But in discussion with the fitter and testing a few of Titleists drivers. They literally have a driver for all players. And when they match a shaft to you for your swing, you can see massive improvements, just as I did.
  21. JasonK

    JasonK
    Whitby, ON

    I played Oakridge golf course last week, the scorecard said the green was 319 yards away and I drove the ball 40 to 50 feet past the flag. I missed my eagle by 2 inches but made the tap in birdie.
  22. JasonK

    JasonK
    Whitby, ON

    Jason K said:

    I played Oakridge golf course last week, the scorecard said the green was 319 yards away and I drove the ball 40 to 50 feet past the flag. I missed my eagle by 2 inches but made the tap in birdie.

    *on the 9th hole

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