Going The Distance: How Your Yardages Are Affecting Your Scoring
Everyone digs the long ball…right? Yes, of course they do. Can we all drive it as far as Rory McIlroy, who averaged 331 off the tee last year? No, of course we can’t. But! it turns out that everyone benefits from even just a few extra yards added to their game. So maybe it is time to consider letting the ‘Big Dog Eat’ just a little bit bigger of a helping.
‘Managing Your Expectations’ is back for another segment and this week Arccos’ own (and self-proclaimed) “data nerd” Lou Stagner and Golf Channel’s Damon Hack discuss just how important the long ball is and how you can enjoy some added distance to your game. Look, sometimes the truth hurts and while we would all love to think we hit it wayyyyy further (Um, guilty as charged), the numbers don’t lie.
As Lou mentions, the average male golfer hits their driver about 218 yards. But what would happen if we upped that average just 10 extra yards? Turns out, 65% of them would shave a stroke off their game, 44% shave two strokes, and a whopping 29% shave more than three strokes off their game. Seems like an extra 30 feet makes a big difference.
While Lou doesn’t specify the ages of players, we can all assume that we will get a little slower as time passes. We can try our best to defy the laws of aging, but something that might be a little easier is just not losing a ton of yards. Players who lost 10 yards, will add over a stroke to their game. Big yikes.
Related: How Gaining And Losing Distance Affects Scoring
A simple solution (a VERY rare thing in golf) to hitting it further off the tee is just, ya know, moving up a tee box. One fact that Lou dishes out is that the average golfer is typically playing a course around 6300 yards, over 500 yards longer than where they should be playing. If you’re curious to know just how far you should be playing from, the USGA and the PGA of America’s Tee it Forward program offers a convenient guideline to help.
Related: What Tee Yardage Should You Be Playing
Don’t miss the Manage Your Expectations segment during Golf Today live on the Golf Channel. The show airs on Tuesdays usually between 11-2pm EST depending on other golf news. Alternatively, if you subscribe to our YouTube channel, we upload the segments so you won't miss any fun facts to impress your golf buddies or make smarter decisions on the course.
Here are some of the other ‘Managing Your Expectations’ segments you may have missed!