Updated on March 14th, 2023 at 03:19 pm
When you play a lot of golf, you start to learn your average distance for your shots. These distances will change based on the day and the person. However, having an idea of the average distances will certainly help you adjust and create your golf goals.
Distance matters in the game of golf; there is no getting around it. The closer you can get to the hole and the better your knowledge is of your distances, the more accurate you can be. We will go over average golf club distances for both men and women and some great tips for gaining some extra distance in your game.
Average golf club distance – Driver through wedges
One of the biggest problems that golfers have when it comes to distances is that they have difficulty finding an accurate number. Many players say they hit their seven iron 150 yards when in reality, it’s 145 or 155. Having an accurate idea of your average distance for each of your clubs is extremely important.
Unfortunately, for many female golfers, distance can be an issue. With the lack of club head speed that some women experience, it can be hard to get the distance they desire. Many women focusing on getting pure distance and forget to focus on understanding the yardage they get from each club.
Golf club distance chart
Why Is Distance So Important?
The further you can hit the ball, the quicker you can get closer to the hole. Getting the ball in the hole as quickly as possible is the ultimate goal of any golfer. Although you will need a great short game to allow this to happen, hitting the ball a long way will impact your scoring.
Take, for example, a par 4 that is 420 yards. If you can drive the ball 260 yards, your tee shot will leave you a 160 yard shot to the green. Now let’s say on that same hole, you are a player that can drive the ball 200 yards. Now you have left yourself a 220 yard shot to the green.
Most golfers will agree that it is much easier to hit a 160-yard shot close to the pin than hitting a 220-yard shot close. Although golfers on the LPGA and PGA tour have longer distances than the average player, you can understand why distance is so critical in the game.
Is There A Big Difference Between Male and Female Golfers?
Some women can hit a golf ball further than men, but generally speaking, men hit the ball farther than women. The ultimate determining factor will come down to the swing speed and the ball speed at impact.
It is always thought that women can’t hit the ball as far as men because women have a hard time generating as much swing speed as the male golfer. Although this very often tends to be the case, it is not 100% of the time.
There are plenty of women golfers out there that aggressively go after the ball. When you look at our golf club distance chart, you can see that a high swing speed female hits the ball considerably further than a low swing speed male.
You will also find another difference between the distances between length for male golfers compared to females is the equipment. Women’s golf clubs are usually an inch and a half to two inches shorter than the men’s.
The loft angle on women’s golf clubs tends to be quite a bit higher. If you look at the chart of a standard set of Callaway irons for both men and women, you can see the difference in the loft angle.
Golf equipment and distances
When a manufacturer releases a new golf club, they claim that it is the longest club yet. There is undoubtedly some truth to the increasing distances that we see from year to year. However, many golfers wonder how much the equipment affects the distances.
Golf professionals will tell you that equipment can impact your game, but it is not going to save your game. In other words, if you usually drive the ball 200 yards, chances are a new driver is not going to have you start hitting the ball 250 yards. The new driver could certainly help you gain ten and sometimes even fifteen yards.
Some manufacturers like TaylorMade and Callaway focus very highly on ball speed. They want players to swing their clubs extremely fast and have this positively impact the ball. Other manufacturers focus on forgiveness and the impact that forgiveness has on golf ball distances.
The bottom line is that golf equipment will impact how far you can hit the golf ball, but it will not be the only determining factor. Spend some time on the driving range, trying out new equipment, and you will see that new clubs will impact your distances slightly.
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Average distance for golf clubs
The following golf club distance chart helps break down the average distances for both low, average, and high swing speed players. Many golf distance charts will break down these distances into low, mid, and high handicaps. There are some issues with that.
Not all low handicap golfers are fast swingers. Not all high handicap golfers are going to be slow swinging players. Breaking down distances by using handicaps is not an effective or accurate method.
Swing speeds are critical when it comes to distance. How fast you swing the club will have a direct impact on how far you hit the ball. Generally, speaking women golfers do not get as much clubhead speed as a male golfer, and therefore women tend to hit it shorter.
Regardless of if you think you are a long hitter or a short hitter, this golf club distance chart should give you a general idea of how far your golf club should go based on your swing speed.
Average driver carry and roll
When golfers ask each other how far they can hit the ball, a player would rarely answer with their five iron, seven iron, or pitching wedge distance. Most golfers want to know how far other players can drive the ball. Certainly, the drive is a crucial factor for players, and the distance of the drive can change the way the rest of the hole goes.
If you are curious about the average golfer’s drive distance, this information should fill in the missing pieces.
Average For Male Golfer
The average distance for a male golfers driver is 235 yards. This is based on a medium swing speed and a hit on the center of the club face. The average male golfer is most likely a mid handicap player, but this is not necessarily the case. A golfer that can drive the ball this far is very likely playing with a regular shaft in their drive.
For Female Golfer
The average driving distance for a female golfer is just under 200 yards. Male and female distances vary with the driver because of the driver’s swing speed and loft. The average men’s driver is about 10.5 degrees of loft, and it is closer to 12 degrees for women. When you add loft to a golf driver, you will add forgiveness and ease of use, but you can potentially take away a bit of distance.
Average for LPGA
The average driving distance for a female golfer on the LPGA tour is about 250 yards. These women can hit their 7 iron close to 160 yards. The LPGA tour golfers seem like such long hitters compared to the average female golfer because of their swing speed.
The LPGA tour players work hard to get higher swing speeds so that they can increase their distances.
PGA Tour Professionals
The average driving distance for a golfer on the PGA Tour is just under 300 yards. Certainly, the drivers that these golfers play are built specifically to their needs; however, a few other factors come into play.
For instance, the PGA Tour golfers are in excellent physical condition for the most part. They use their physical prowess to gain some extra speed and performance on the course.
Even a short hitter on the PGA tour will drive the ball quite a bit further than the average golfer.
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best Women golf driver
As we mentioned, if you want to get the most yards out of your driver, the club has to be the right fit for your game. Choosing the proper driver can be quite difficult. However, there are some that make getting extra distance on the golf course seem easy.
The best driver on the market right now for distance is the Ladies Callaway Mavrik Driver.
Callaway Mavrik Women’s Driver
The Callaway Mavrik Women’s Driver is a great choice if you are looking for pure distance. The yardage that women are getting from this club has certainly increased from previous releases. Part of the reason the Callaway MAVRIK Driver is so effective is that it is considered one of the best game improvement clubs out there.
The internal jailbreak bars on the inside of the clubhead help players to get very high ball speed. In addition to the Jailbreak technology, you will also notice that the Flash Face technology helps to make long hitters even longer.
The forgiving club head can help you hit golf balls considerably further with more speed than you ever imagined. When you switch to the Mavrik, chances are you will want to switch to the Mavrik irons as well.
Pros
- Very forgiving
- Long distances
- Top of the line technology
Cons
- Large aerodynamic clubhead takes a bit of getting used to
Best men’s driver for added length
The best golf drivers for men are those that can help them convert their speed into yardage. Lots of clubhead speed is positive, but when you can’t make it convert into long yardages, it is worthless.
One of the best drivers on the market when it comes to long yardages is the TaylorMade SIM Max driver. This is a newer release from TaylorMade, and it has one of the hottest club faces in the game of golf.
TaylorMade SIM Max Driver
The TaylorMade SIM MAX Driver comes with a brand new clubhead and clubface specifically designed to get golfers lots more distance. TaylorMade always leads the way when it comes to ball speed, but they really took it quite a bit further with the release of the SIM Max.
One of the things we will talk about when it comes to driving distances and yardage is forgiveness. Sometimes a forgiving club face can help golfers to get more distance from the shots that they hit. If you happen to miss the center of the club, it can cost you several yards.
However, with a forgiving clubface, it may only cost you a yard or two. TaylorMade is equipped with the Twist Face technology that helps players pull off great shots even if their swing missed just a bit.
The TaylorMade SIM Max is also an adjustable driver. If you are a player who has enough speed and you want to lower the club to a lower loft to reduce ball spin, you can certainly do so. Overall this is high quality and great feeling club for the player trying to increase yardages.
Pros
- Twist face technology
- One of the top game improvement clubs on the market
- Trusted by PGA Tour players
Cons
- Newer release from TaylorMade, so the pricing remains quite high
What clubs to use for a specific distance
It has become quite easy to know how far you are from the golf hole. With the introduction of golf range finders and GPS devices, most players know exactly how far they stand from the hole. This is a great fact to know, yet it is completely useless if you don’t know how far you hit your golf clubs.
Aside from some new technological advancements such as a portable launch monitor, or a one of the best simulators,, you will have to spend some time on the driving range to know your club distance. You should try and narrow your club distances down to within a few yards.
Sometimes it is not good enough to know that you hit your 7 iron about 150 yards or that if you pure a 3 wood, it will go 215. You need to be very honest with yourself and come up with your average distances.
One of our best golf tips is to take your Golf rangefinder or distance finding device and head to the driving range. Find a target and start working your way up through your golf bag. If you can fly over the target with your 9 iron and come up short with your pitching wedge, try and figure out your average distance for both clubs.
Alternate your target often and ensure that you are treating each shot as you would on the golf course. Standing on the range and hitting seventeen 8 iron shots in a row will probably not give you an accurate representation of what will happen on the golf course.
Treat the driving range a bit more like the course, and you will get more accurate yardages.
If you have a tough time figuring out your club distances, you can use an electronic device. Sometimes like a device in the end of your club that records your distances or a GPS device with a caddy like an app may give you a good idea of how far you hit your clubs.
These are great features to have if you are working on improving your distances.
You can find a number of different products to help you dial in your distance on our Golf Accessory page.
What impacts the carry and roll of a shot?
There are several factors that impact golf club distance. The weight, loft, and forgiveness of the club has a significant impact on distance, along with the swing speed, conditions, and how close to the center of the face the ball was struck.
Now that you have a better idea of how far each club is supposed to go, it may help to know the factors that impact total distance. As all great players know, there are hundreds of things that can come up in the course of a round that will impact your game. Here are a few of the most significant factors when it comes to the carry and roll of each shot.
Weight of the Club
Heavier golf clubs are harder to swing. If you play with a club with a steel shaft in it, the club will be considerably heavier than that with a graphite shaft. When you swing this club, it will, without a doubt, impact the distance that you can get.
IF you have lots of club head speed or swing speed, playing a heavy club can help you get some extra distance. For those that have a slower swing speed, the lightweight club is the best possible choice. Remember that in addition to the flex of the shaft, the weight and material of the shaft will have an impact on the overall distance.
Loft
Golf club lofts will impact how far the ball can go. For example, let’s take your lob wedge, which most likely has about 60 degrees of loft. When you swing with the lob wedge, the ball gets quite a bit of height, but it won’t get nearly as much distance. The 3 wood, on the other hand, has about 15 degrees of loft.
With the 3 wood, you will get a much lower ball flight but quite a bit more distance and roll as well. Loft will have a significant impact on how far you can hit your golf clubs. In recent years lofts have been changed considerably on irons. A typical 6 iron today has the same loft as a 5 iron from years ago.
Hybrids have also grown in popularity and are versatile to hit from the rough, from the fairway, or from the tee. If you have a large gap between your lowest iron and fairway wood, adding a hybrid with higher loft can help most golfers of all skill levels, including beginners.
Forgiveness Of The Club
When you miss the center of the clubface, not only is the ball going to travel on a bad line, it is also very likely going to lose yardage. When you play with game improvement clubs, you will notice that you can get a much easier distance.
In other words, you can miss the center of the clubface but still get plenty of yardages. If you are a higher handicapper looking to increase your average distance, choose something that is much more forgiving.
Swing Speed of The Golfer
On the shorter irons like a sand wedge, pitching wedge or nine iron, a golfer’s swing speed is not going to have as much of an impact on distance. However, as the golf club length gets longer, a golfer’s swing speed will significantly impact the distance a ball can travel.
Weather Conditions
As all great golfers know, your average distance can be impacted by the weather conditions. Golf balls are going to move differently depending on wind, rain, and even humidity. A golfer hitting a pitching wedge at a high elevation will easily fly it past a golfer at sea level. Weather and atmosphere are going to change the distances each will carry.
A golfer needs to establish a baseline of how far they hit each club. When you figure out this baseline, you can understand that high winds can impact by ten to twenty yards. You may realize that rain takes about five yards off your shots.
However, you will still need to know the average distance that you hit each of your clubs. Once you have these numbers established, you can then start looking into how weather plays a role.
How To Hit The Golf Ball Further
Once you establish your average distances, you will know if you are considered more of a long hitter or a short hitter. If you are happy with your golf club distances, there is really no need to gain extra yardage. However, most players are always looking for ways to increase the length they hit the ball. Here are a few simple golf tips that you can use to help hit the golf ball further.
Conclusion
This guide on golf clubs’ distances should have provided you with everything you need to understand how far you hit the golf ball, the importance of the proper yardages, and whether you are a long hitter or a short hitter.
Your average distance won’t matter much compared to other players, as long as it works for you. However, if you find that you are a short hitter compared to the average player, there may be some things that you can do with your game to help see a significant improvement.
In the world of golf, golf club distances are very important. All great players have a very thorough understanding of how far their golf shots travel.
