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are on the 'Eagle' - Handicaps page
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| What
are the golf club distances? |
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This
is one of the most asked questions: How far am I supposed
to hit each club? What is the golf club distance? Unfortunately,
the only completely honest answer is: It depends.
It depends on a lot of factors, the clubs you are using, the
balls you are using, the conditions under which you
play, your gender and age, your physical fitness, coordination
and athleticism, your swing speed, how solidly you are connecting
with the ball. You get the idea. It depends - and it varies
widely from golfer to golfer.
One person's 5-iron distance is another person's 3 iron etc.
There is no wrong golf club distance, there is only your
golf club distance. And knowing your distance is much more
important than knowing how far each club is "supposed"
to go.
Here's an interesting fact: While PGA pros hit their drives
anywhere from 280 yards to 320 yards on average, and LPGA
pros hit their drives from 230 to 270 yards on average, most
amateurs - according to Golf Digest, average somewhere around
195 - 205 yards with their drivers.
The moral of that story? Don't compare yourself with the world's
best players. You'll quickly get an idea of whether you are
a "long" hitter or "short" hitter by simplying
playing golf and comparing yourself to those you play with.
There's no shame in being a short hitter and being a long
hitter doesn't guarantee anything, and certainly not a lower
score. And of course, hitting the ball far doesn't matter
at all if you can't also hit it straight.
But
you didn't click on this topic to read all this, did you?
You want those yardages, darn it! OK, I'll give you some yardages
but consider everything you've read to this point to be my
caveats on this subject.
The
yardages listed below show a range for average amateurs, both
male and female. As you'll see, the ranges are quite large
and represent short hitters, mid hitters and long hitters.
(There are of course, people who hit it longer, just as there
are people who hit it shorter.)
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Club
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Men
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Women
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| Driver |
200-230-260
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150-175-200
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| 3-wood |
180-215-235
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125-150-180
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| 5-wood |
170-195-210
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105-135-170
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| 4-iron |
150-170-185
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90-120-150
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| 5-iron |
140-160-170
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80-110-140
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| 6-iron |
130-150-160
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70-100-130
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| 7-iron |
120-140-150
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65-90-120
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| 8-iron |
110-130-140
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60-80-110
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| 9-iron |
95-115-130
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55-70-95
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| PW |
80-105-120
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50-60-80
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| SW |
60-80-100
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40-50-60
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There
is a greater gap, percentage-wise, between the longer and
shorter women than there is between the longer and shorter
men because better women players tend to be significantly
longer than weaker women players. Especially compared to men.
A male player who shoots 110 might be just as long as a male
who shoots 80. That is extremely unlikely in female players,
however.
A
final caveat: You can find charts such as this one on other
sites around the web. And if you do, one thing you'll notice
is that the numbers rarely, if ever, match up. Because golf
club distance depends more on the player than on the clubs.
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| Modification
to Handicapping System as from 1st February 2004. |
| CONGU
Unified Handicapping System. The main points are as follows: |
| 1. |
Maximum
handicap to be 36. Players with a handicap of more than
36 will revert to 36 on 1st February 2004. |
| 2. |
No
Extra Day scores. |
| 3. |
Ladies'
Sections will have access to Clause 19, this will include General
Play increases and reductions. Clause 19.8 Stableford Adjustment can
reduce the effect of a very bad hole in a Medal round e.g. a lady
with a handicap of 18 who takes 10 on a Par 5, this would be converted
to 8 for the purposes of handicap only. |
| 4. |
Whenever
you play away from home in a qualifying competition, you must report
your score along with the CSS (Competiton Scratch Score), if known,
to your Home Club. |
| 5. |
Handicaps
will increase at Open Meetings as well as reduce. The only time a
competition will be for reduction only is as a result of the CSS calculation
or if a competition is abandonded. |
| 6. |
Other
than for disciplinary measures, handicaps will not lapse. It will
not be necessary to return a requisite number of competition scores
in order to retain a handicap. However, your Club may make it a condition
of entry into trophy competitions that a certain number of qualifying
scores are returned in the previous year. |
| 7. |
Small
fields of 5 or less - a CSS will not be calculated (previuosly the
figure was 10). |
| 8. |
Handicaps
will increase immediately. |
With thanks to Sue Rawles, Gloucestershire Handicap and Rules Adviser,
for explaining the new ladies handicap system being introduced on
1st February 2004.
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One
site which is useful if you wish to read more about handicaps is
www.handicapmaster.org.
It predominantly details the HandicapMaster Golf Club Software which
is a programme for Golf Clubs to administer competitions and handicapping,
but it gives some clear explanations in a Question and Answer format
on the Ladies handicapping system. You can find
the page via a link from the UK Handicapping page in the website.
Other
sites to visit for information are:
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Ladies
Professional Golf Assocation (LPGA) www.lpga.com
English Ladies' Golf Assocation (ELGA) www.englishladiesgolf.org
- any questions about the handicapping system which crop up frequently
can be found on the "Answers Please" page.
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Bunkered,
Golf's Progress
(Extract from The Daily Mail, written by George Gordon in New York) |
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Golf
has come a long way since players swung curved sticks at hand-sewn
leather balls stuffed with feather.
But, despite all the modern hi-tech aids to a better game - from
titanium-coated drivers to graphite-shafted irons - players are
generally not getting the ball into the hole any sooner.
The average golfer still takes 100 shots for 18 holes, says
the National Golf Foundation, a U.S. industry research and consulting
service.
And even among the professionals on the PGA tour, the scores of
the best players have increased only by 0.28 of a stroke over the
past ten years.
Among serious amateur players, the improvement in handicaps has
been "slight" over the past 4 years.
In 2000, the average male handicap was 15.7 and in 2004 it was 15.2.
Among women, it improved from 15.7 to 15.2
over the same period. The statistics are not being trumpeted by
the big sporting manufacturers, who spend millions of pounds convincing
golfers that their dream of hitting balls like Tiger Woods still
lies in buying the newest equipment.
Rick Martino, director of instruction of the PGA of America, says
one reason may be that while equipment has improved, courses are
harder.
Other experts say thousands of elderly people are taking up the
game and most do not practice enough, so their poor performances
impact on statistics!!
Are you an average golf player?
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