Golf Club Distances - What Is the Average Distance and Why It Matters?
The topic of golf club distances is a very important one simply because golfers of skill levels want to know how much distance their clubs generate. And also what is the distance these golf clubs are supposed to generate.
Such questions are among the most frequently asked, no doubt. But the answers are not so simple. Largely due to the fact that they’re based on several factors.
The type of golf clubs and balls you’re using. The condition of the turf and even the weather play an important role. Along with other equally crucial aspects like your age, gender, physical fitness, golf swing speed, etc.
So allow us, in this post, to explain almost everything important related to the distances achieved by golf clubs. In that case, I’ll begin with the most basic piece of practical information.
Table of Contents
Golf Club Distance Chart - Average Distances Achieved by Men and Women
These are the average yardages hit by male and female golfers. The range includes short hitters (mostly beginners), then medium hitters (mostly intermediates), and long hitters (mostly professionals).
GOLF CLUB | WOMEN GOLFERS | MEN GOLFERS |
|---|---|---|
Driver | 150-175-200 yards | 200-230-260 yards |
3-wood | 125-150-180 yards | 180-215-235 yards |
5-wood and 2-iron | 105-135-170 yards | 170-195-210 yards |
3-iron | 100-125-160 yards | 160-180-200 yards |
4-iron | 90-120-150 yards | 150-170-185 yards |
5-iron | 80-110-140 yards | 140-160-170 yards |
6-iron | 70-100-130 yards | 130-150-160 yards |
7-iron | 65-90-120 yards | 120-140-150 yards |
8-iron | 60-80-110 yards | 110-130-140 yards |
9-iron | 55-70-95 yards | 95-115-130 yards |
Pitching Wedge | 50-60-80 yards | 80-105-120 yards |
Sand Wedge | 40-50-60 yards | 60-80-100 yards |
Difference Between Women and Men Golfers
If you look at the golf club distance chart closely, you’ll notice that the gap between longer-hitting and shorter-hitting female golfers is much greater than that between longer-hitting and shorter-hitting men. The reason for this is that skilled women golfers tend to hit drastically longer in comparison to weaker female players.
So a male golfer who achieves 110 yards might hit as long as another man shooting 80 yards. But this kind of scenario is not so common among women players.
Why Distances of Golf Clubs Vary
Needless to say, the distance of any particular club differs from one player to another. That means the distance of your 7-iron might be someone else’s 3-iron or 5-iron yardage. What I’m trying to say is that there’s no correct golf club distance. What’s more important instead is finding out your yardages.
So focus on how much distance you’re generating, and not on how much distance you’re supposed to generate. I’ll put my point across better with the help of a very simple example. PGA Tour professionals achieve an average driving distance between 280 and 320 yards. As for LPGA Tour professionals, the range is between 230 and 270 yards.
What about recreational golfers, the average driving range here is between 195 and 205 yards. So what does all this information mean? That it makes no sense to compare your yardage with someone else’s, even if he or she is among the top golfing professionals.
Finding Out Your Distances - What Matters
You can easily learn a lot about your yardages by comparing them with your fellow golfers’. This way you can find out if you’re a short or long hitter.
But let me tell you that it doesn’t matter if you’re a short or long hitter because being the latter doesn’t automatically lower your golf scores. Along the same vein, a long hitter also doesn’t always hit straight or know how to get the golf ball onto that green.
How to Find Out Your Average Distance
As you spend more time on the golf course, you start to become more familiar when it comes to finding out your distance average and potential. But if you’re in a hurry to get there, then the most effective method involves heading to that driving range. You can choose the golf course as well but know that it might take longer plus the results might be slightly inaccurate.
Hit your every golf club and note down the results. Let’s say you take 50 shots with any one particular golf club. Eliminate your 5 best and 5 worst shots. And that should suffice in terms of determining the average for that club.
Now do this with every golf club you own, such as woods, irons, and driver. Once you have those numbers, you can compare them to the distance chart. However, don’t forget that the average differs a great deal from one golfer to another. So your personal average is not an indicator of anything, be it your technique or skills. And also, personal averages increase with time.
You can watch this video to understand your average distance for each club in your bag.
Important Factors That Determine Distance of Golf Clubs
It goes without saying that multiple factors decide the distance you achieve with your golf clubs. So what are the most important factors? Let’s find out below.
Loft of the Golf Club
Every club features a different loft angle. The more angled the clubface, the higher the loft. This should explain why drivers specifically designed for beginners have a low loft i.e. between 8 degrees and 13 degrees. These are the most suitable for golfers who want to boost their driving distance, such as beginners, high handicappers, and even women golfers.
As for higher lofted golf clubs like a pitching wedge (47 to 53 degrees), the clubface design is more parallel to the turf. Then there are clubs with loft adjustability, which you can control based on your swing speed and skill level.
Distance of the Golf Club
I think you already know that yardages achieved by long, mid, and short hitters vary based on the golf club and gender of the golfer. Generally speaking, men have a faster swing speed than women, which means the former hits farther. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t women long hitters who can also hit the golf ball long, sometimes even farther in comparison to men.
Swing Speed of the Golfer
When the swing speed is higher, so is the distance achieved by the golf club. Both go hand in hand, there’s no doubt about that.
Weather
Unfavorable weather is when there are strong winds that significantly influence distance and loft. So you simply cannot expect the golf ball to fly longer and higher during such unfavorable conditions. It’s impossible for you to hit the ball into strong winds and still be able to achieve the loft and distance you desire.
Determining the Distance You Need
This part, without the shadow of a doubt, becomes very instinctual as you progress into the game of golf. Nevertheless, it benefits to know the exact distance to the pin, green, or potential hazards. For this, you need to have access to tee box markers and scorecard. Or you can use yardage markers as well.
Yardage markers, more often than not, are color-coded. Blue is 200 yards, white is 150 yards, and red is 100 yards. So you can move forward or backward from the closest marker for determining your distance.
Then there are some golf courses that offer yardage diagrams for more accurate distances of each hole. Even though these are more useful, they slow down your pace of play. And finally, many golfers use feature-packed rangefinders as well to get the most accurate readings.
Conclusion
So you head to the driving range and take 10 shots with your every golf club. Keep track of these numbers to determine the average distance achieved with each golf club. Then compare your yardages with those in the chart mentioned in this article. And you get an idea as to whether you’re a short, mid, or long hitter.
But whatever you are, mind you, doesn’t say anything about how likely you are to lower your golf scores. Because even long hitters sometimes don’t know how to hit straight. Also, the average distance one particular golf club achieves varies from one player to the next. Because it’s all based on several factors like age, gender, swing speed, weather, etc.
