average 300 yards really?

[LowPost42]

Re: average 300 yards really?

I'm not trying to be rude but If you hit it in excess of 255 yards 9 times out of 10 then how come you only managed a 99 on your home course? Where are you losing all those shots? I'm a 90s shooter too and hit only 230 4 out of 10 times and my iron play, is not stellar either. But if I was hitting it as far as you with that kind of consistancy I would be shoting in the 80s.

I'm in excess of 255, but don't hit many fairways. Or greens. I don't get up and down well (23%), and average 5 penalty strokes/round. I take about 36 ppr (all stats provided by GameTrack). I'm pretty much a double bogey golfer. A typical hole goes one of two ways for me:

1) Drive into the rough. Miss the green by 20 or 30 yards. Blow the chip/pitch. Get on, and two putt.

2) Drive out. Chunk the approach. Miss the green. Chip on, two putt.

Every now and then, I get:

Drive out. Hit the green. Three putt.
or
Drive out. Hit the green. Two putt.

When I shot 99, I only had 31 putts (with two 3 putts). But 5 triple bogies and 2 doubles with only 1 birdie to help offset the score makes for some seriously high scores.

[snowman]

Re: average 300 yards really?

I'm in excess of 255, but don't hit many fairways. Or greens. I don't get up and down well (23%), and average 5 penalty strokes/round. I take about 36 ppr (all stats provided by GameTrack). I'm pretty much a double bogey golfer. A typical hole goes one of two ways for me:

1) Drive into the rough. Miss the green by 20 or 30 yards. Blow the chip/pitch. Get on, and two putt.

2) Drive out. Chunk the approach. Miss the green. Chip on, two putt.

Every now and then, I get:

Drive out. Hit the green. Three putt.
or
Drive out. Hit the green. Two putt.

When I shot 99, I only had 31 putts (with two 3 putts). But 5 triple bogies and 2 doubles with only 1 birdie to help offset the score makes for some seriously high scores.

Sounds like you could do with some short game help there. My driving is utterly inconsitant at best and non-existant at worst. I rarely hit greens in reg but bought Dave Pelz short game bible. I think it is helping me save bogey a lot and hence getting scores in the low 90s (as I would nab a few pars in a round as well).

I did 2 things:

1) Calibrated my wedges, i.e. I went to a nearby soccer field with some cones and measured out (with a tape measure) 10 yard intervals and then calcualted my average distances with AW, SW, LW at 3 different backswing levels (7:30, 9:00 and 10:30). When at the course faced with a 50 yard shot, I know that a 9:00 SW will get me roughly there, a one putt and it's a par, a two-putt for bogie.

2) Practiced short chips with a variety of clubs. It is best to get the ball on the green and rolling ASAP so on the fringe a 7i or 9i depending on the distance could get me closer to the hole than trying to fly a risky SW or LW to the pin.

Together with a bit of putting practice this has helped me no end. When my driving is on I will flirt with breaking 90 (invariably another part of my game will be off that day e.g. putting), if the driving is sour then my short game will let me salvage a 97. If everything is off then I will shoot 102-107. I am so close to 80s golf I can smell it, but every time I get close another part of my game breaks down. I hit a PB 91 last season, but had 4 3 putts in that round, normally I hit 32-25 putts per round.

Good luck.

[LowPost42]

Re: average 300 yards really?

Thanks snowman.

I'm a Pelz guy, too - and would be lost without my 60°!

I haven't practiced much for distances, except to know that a 7:30 60° is 28 yards carry. I had my distances down, then changed my swing.

My biggest problem is club selection - which I'm learning at a rapid rate. My normal 'trick' is to pick the club based solely on yardage alone, irrespective of wind or lie. Brilliant, I know. That said, my last round was a gross 106 - including a 12 on one hole, and 12 penalty strokes! (Can you say 'Tin Cup'? I was determined to fly a hazard, rather than lay up (after putting my tee shot in the lateral hazard). 3 balls in the hazard later, I was on for a 3 putt. Nice. But, overall, I was generally pleased. I was picking the right club for the conditions (I played in a 2 club wind all day, that gusted to a 4 club wind at some points), and was pin high when I struck the ball well. The highlight was sticking one to 6 feet out of the deep rough (took 2 extra clubs for that). Then I left the putt 2" short. 2 freaking inches... which I dropped for a par. But the perfect example was the next hole: Driver skied, second into the rough, third left out to the right, but pin high. Thin my chip over the green. Hammer my chip 12 feet past the cup. Putt to 3". Yes, 3 inches. Drop that for triple. And that's how they normally happen. Triples, I mean. I can only imagine how much tougher this would be if I was, say, a 44 ppr kind of guy.

[Adzy2106]

Re: average 300 yards really?

Adz, how do you know you're hitting it 285? Based on how far you have to go to the pin? Using that methodology, I used to hit it about 285, too, with my 105 mph SS. It wasn't until I actually had a method of straight-line measuring my shots that I realised I carried it 255, and get about 10 yards of roll or so.

I get my average from straight driving holes, on a dogleg hole I'd be close to 300 yards but I know thats not exactly accurate because your cutting the corner.

[snowman]

Re: average 300 yards really?

That said, my last round was a gross 106 - including a 12 on one hole, and 12 penalty strokes!

Wow, if you can eliminate half of those penalty strokes and avoid the occasional blow up you will be in the 90s every time. My best scores come when I think about every shot. I.e. this club will get me there but leave me with a tough sliding downhill putt, therefore i'll take one club less and aim for the middle of the green where I can easily 2 putt, 1 putt if I am lucky.

My main problem is knowing when to be aggressive and when to lay up. In the past I have saved bogie or par after laying sideways out of tough rough, and also by going for it with a big old swing with my 5 wood. Conversely I have tried to lay up to safety and made a mess of it putting myself in worse trouble only then to be aggressive and collect more penalty strokes.

Good on you for counting all those penalty strokes, I am charting my index (it's 27.3 at the moment) so I count all mine too, but some of the guys I play with routinely ignore penalty strokes and kick balls out of the woods at no extra cost to their score. I had to explain what stroke and distance was the other day to one of them when I hit a second ball off the tee after my first had gone OB. "Just drop the ball over there in the rough near where your ball went OB" he said. "No thanks I said, i'm playing by the rules, so that I can chart an accuate index" I replied. A look of bemusement followed. Oh well.

Good luck

[alexk]

Re: average 300 yards really?

if i hit well i am only hitting 220 yards carry. Not talking about roll. That vary depends on course.

[alexk]

Re: average 300 yards really?

Can someone explain this GPS devices? Is it free to use? How many years?. what is so special about this ? How is it better than Bushnell?. I know it has other stuff. But for other stuff like course information. if it is not legal in Pgatour , then it is like cheating. Also this does n't know the wind information..etc.

[LowPost42]

Re: average 300 yards really?

GPS devices vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. IMO, the best bang for your buck is the iGolf. It's better than a laser rangefinder in that you don't have to find targets with a big enough reflective signature in order to get a distance. The satellites above the earth locate your GPS signal and can tell you where you are instead.

As for other stuff, what other stuff are you looking for? No, it doesn't know what the wind is, or what your lie is. It's simply a different yardage device (and quite useless the first time you play a course, unless it's mapped). So, like a laser rangefinder, you get your yardage, then you account for wind and lie, and pick a club. the advantage that GPS units have over rangefinders is that you often get other points - like the carry distances for hazards, or the distances to the end of the fairway, or the distance to a lay up spot - not to mention the distance to the front, middle, and back of a green, all at a glance.

It's not legal on PGA Tour events for the competitive round, but in the practice rounds, all the caddies use them to get their yardages. Don't fool yourself and think they're pacing off every tree, shrub, sprinkler head and trap. However, the USGA has ruled them legal for any non-professional event.

[alexk]

Re: average 300 yards really?

Thanks. Not that useful then. is GPS is free for life? it depends on satellite or carrrier? If satellite is dead (old)..will this device is useless?

Laser ranger finder will work forever.

[LowPost42]

Re: average 300 yards really?

I can't tell if the service will be free for life.

In my experience, things that start out free accumulate costs (think NetZero), and things that start out pricey come down in price. In the end, it's all the same. As it stands, once I purchased my iGolf unit, I was under no obligation to spend another dime. I chose to buy a membership for $50 (and extend my warranty by 9 months). This allows me unlimited scorecard downloads, 50 course mappings, and 1 credit to request a course to be mapped.

As for the satellites, the most I've picked up at one time is 9. The least I've picked up is 3 (and the unit didn't want to work). So if one dies, I think there's 12 others to jump in.

[james.welsh]

Re: average 300 yards really?

Don't worry about the GPS satellites. They're military and if they die they'll be replaced. EVERYONE depends on gps now and there's no way it'll go away nautical, aviation, you name it -- golf! The devices get more and more accurate. The first ones were only accurate within a 100 meters (on purpose as this was back in the Cold War days).

[mattpodger]

Re: average 300 yards really?

I'm definitely nowhere near 300yds and most people i play with are around the same distance i am. The only person i've seen who is a lot longer than anyone else is my brother, and he certainly doesn't 'average' 300. On a good day he'll get out there, but he can also get way left/right. He recently put one over the clubhouse and into the carpark!

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: average 300 yards really?

Well if you think about it, there are, right now, only 11 PGA players averaging over 300 yards, with a bunch more at 290+. Of course these are the ones who managed to hit the fairways when measured. The best players, with the best swings, with the best coaches, with the best equipment.........still just 11. I would suspect that more than few of those posters who claim to average 300+ yards fail to mention course, and weather conditions. Also, I am sure some have hit a few cart paths for some of their longer drives.

I once hit a 400 yarder, of which 150 yards of it was due to a down hill cart path. Problem was I passed the pin up by about 75 yards.....lol

I average 250, with anything longer having some outside help. The longest drives will come from the swing that matches your own swing's tempo/timing. GJS

[cb44]

Re: average 300 yards really?

I'm in the 250 range on average. On a good day when everything is functioning smoothly I may average 260-270. Now, if I don't care where the ball goes, I can get 290-300 about everytime. I prefer knowing where the ball is going over distance, however.

[rharris06]

Re: average 300 yards really?

Im 15 and I average around 265-275 on a normal day! But if i really crank it and catch it out the middle i can hit 290-300 but i never catch it out the middle so im 265-275 LOL!