What's a good handicap? How far should I be able to hit each of my clubs?

Question

Ok, I am fourteen years old I have been playing golf for about nine or ten years now, I am about six foot tall and 175-180 pounds. Now that you know some of my background info, how far should I be able to hit EACH of my clubs? Driver through pitching wedge please. Is there a website that lists the distances? And what should my handicap be?
Thanks for the help,
TigerWoodsFan.

Answer 1

One thing you have to understand is that everyone is different, so distances will vary. Most "experts" will tell you that, on average, you should be able to hit a 7 iron about 150 yards. For each club up and down either add 10 yards or subtract 10 yards; ie, 8 iron 140yds, 6 iron, 160yds.
But there is so much more that goes into clubs and distances. Each manufacturer has slightly different lofts. So, for example, your pitching wedge might have a 50 degree loft. But one of your buddies might have a wedge that has a 48 degree loft. Assuming everything else is equal, he will hit his wedge farther because he has less loft.
Like many people, I had my wedges lofts all adjusted to fit the distances I wanted to be able to hit them. I did this by hitting, for example, my sand wedge over and over, carefully checking the distances. Then I hit my middle wedge, again checking distance. Once I knew how far I was hitting them I had the lofts adjusted a degree or two so that I could fine tune them and got them to a point where I knew there was only about 10 yards between the two, 100 to 105 for sand wedge, 110 to 115 for my middle wedge. But I could have adjusted them anywhere inbetween.

Frequently a manufacturer will make a set of clubs with lower lofts, thus giving the golfer the impression that he can hit his clubs father than someone else. What you have to understand is that distance doesn't really mean squat, its accuracy that counts. By that I mean, if you stand on the tee of a par three and have to hit a 6 iron when someone else is using an 8, but you hit the green and they don't, who cares, you are on the green. With that said, its certainly easier to hit the shorter clubs. Corey Pavin is hardly a long ball hitter, but he is good enough to compete at the top level. Why? He is very good with his irons, putting and short game. He can't hammer it 340 yards, but he still manages to compete.

Get to the range and start hitting balls, then as carefully as possible figure out how far you hit each of your clubs and make a record of that fact. You can even tape a small piece of paper around the shaft to remind you of your expected distances. Then, when the next 165 yard shot appears, you will more easily be able to determine which club "you" should use.

Also keep this in mind; other things affect distance, the type of ball used, ambient temperature, wind and direction, spin, shaft flex and kick point. A shaft that is too stiff will rob you of distance, but may give you better accuracy, if not too stiff. Too much flex and you may hit it farther but you will hit it all over the course and lose accuracy. You have to find the proper balance based on your swing speed "and" your tempo.

You can play golf for the rest of your life so do your best to get it right in the beginning and it will be more enjoyable as the years go by. Spend most of your time working on putting and chipping and other short game fundamentals and your scores will improve, and don't worry so much about overall distance. That will come as your swing improves and you mature.

I forgot to mention handicap. There is no golden rule. If you were Tiger Woods, maybe scratch already, but really there just isn't any way to say at what level you should be already. Golf is a fickle game and takes years of practice to play well. Focus on the fundamentals of developing a solid swing, making good contact and being consistent. If you are persistent and have some athletic ability it will show in your handicap in time.

Best of luck.

Answer 2

If you have been playing for 9-10 years a good handicap should be below 20...realistically below 10. I would guess a wedge 110,9-125, 8-135, 7-150, 6-160, 5-170, 4-180, 3-190, 3wood 210, Dr-230. Depending on your contact and swing speed those distances could go up 10%-15%. More important than distance is accuracy. Does the ball go in the direction you intend it to? If not, that needs to be resolved before any distance issues are dealt with.

Answer 3

A good handicap is 18 for someone who has only played a couple years. Here are some yardage for newer golfers

1 Wood (drive) – 180 Yards
2 Wood –170 Yards
5 Wood –160 Yards

4 Iron –150 Yards
5 Iron –140 Yards
6 Iron –130 Yards
7 Iron –120 Yards
8 Iron –110 Yards
9 Iron –100 Yards
Pitching Wedge –90 Yards

Answer 4

A good handicap is 0-10 ! and as far as how far to hit each club don't worry about what is listed or what someone else tells you only you can find out how far you hit each individual club by going too the Driving Range and practicing , just keep track of your distances then just take it from there , the distance you hit a golf ball all depends on your swing speed and everyone is different.

Answer 5

Most top flight high school level golfers in my area shoot around a 0-2 handicap playing from the back tees. From playing a lot of golf a lot of years and with many different people I would say that the minimum yardages you would need to achieve to make good scores consistantly and competitively for a high school aged golfer would be:
Driver: 240+
3 Wood: Tee - 225 Fairway 200+
3 iron: 190
5 iron: 175
7 iron: 150
9 iron: 125
P wedge: 100
But most importantly you have to be able to chip and putt. Everything listed above here is garbage if you can't chip into position to 1 putt and make that 1 putt.

Answer 6

If you have been playing for ten years then I would say you know golf and should know allot of things come in play when swinging for distance. They say if you take your PW and strike 20 balls for distance and calculate the 20 balls avg distance you can then calculate the rest of your clubs in a 15- 20 yard increments. So if you hit your PW 100 yds solid your 9 i should be around 115-120 yds. so on....

Answer 7

Driver 220
3w 210
5w 200
7w 190
9w 180
11w170
5ir 165
6ir 150
7ir 135
8ir 120
9ir 105
pw 95
sw 80
distance info from pga of america for the
average male golfer age 18 to 55 hc 17

Answer 8

Lots of good info above, especially accuracy and short game over distance!.

I found the website below some years ago. It will calculate carry based on the criteria you enter. Give it a try.

Answer 9

10 or under a good handicapp

Answer 10

Find the answer here: www.golfrewound.com/forums