Drive Length

Doogie, in a comment it the last post, has asked about my driver length.  There are details in some of the blogs are about this. 

And I've got a few things to say in any case and blogger has made it impossible for me to reply to comments - I must be doing something wrong and doing it again and again.  What a pain.

Ok, driver length...

When I hit the ball well it might go 200 and then some roll out.  I've seen drives close to 240 total length. 

When I'm in my "hook it under a bush" mode it goes about 180.

Most of the guys I play with will hit it shorter than that on average.   There are exceptions and a couple are quite long, maybe 250 or so and not necessarily with a driver.  Most of them are more consistent off the tee.

It's my experience that most people will over estimate the length of a shot.  We have a par 3 that requires 150 carry.  I don't see a lot of folks managing to do that.  I've found I need a well struck 5 iron to carry that distance.

Doogie's question was about length; that's been answered above.

Let me also add that being in the fairway and the 40 or so yards closer changes the club I hit on my approach.  Cuts down on angular dispersion and allows more flexibility as to which shots can be hit to play a hole.

Let me expand on that a bit.  If I'm 300 out on a par 5 and want to get home in two from there, I would divide that up into 200 + 100 yards to get there and reach for a wood or utility club.  If I'm 250 out and in the fairway, a 5 or 6 iron is enough to get me to a good layup position.  I'm more likely to be in the fairway with the shorter club.  If I don't hit it great, I'm coming in with a 9 instead of a 6 or 7 iron.  The 9 iron is high confidence, the 6 is not as accurate and I may be more tempted to over swing with it.

If I'm coming in from 100 yards it's pitching wedge or gap wedge and I am quite straight with those and would not expect to miss the green.  I would also tend to hit at the pin and not just play to the middle of the green. 

Getting close makes for the odd birdie and a lot of tap in pars.  All in all a lot less effort to play the game.