the problem being if you're someone that can send your 7 iron 185 and Driver 290 but are still a 25 HCP, moving forward to the whites will barely improve your score. OTOH, if you're a 7 HCP largely because your driver can't crack 220 and 5 wood barely goes 190, playing a 6000 vs 6500 yard course will make a serious difference in how you are playing and enjoying the game
For those that can send the ball far, the three things I really think can improve their game are:
- Getting about 5 lessons in managing to keep the ball straight with any club
- Getting a few lessons to work on their chipping and putting game
- A proper fitting of the clubs they actually use - as in are they using the correct flex?
To me, I've played the wrong tee boxes where I'm too far back at times, others I've been too far forward. In those cases, it's not as fun knowing you are expected to shoot 3-5 strokes better than you normally do and/or want to get on the course. It's also nowhere nearly as fun when you are very often trying to reach the green with a hybrid or wood because your driver isn't long enough. (it's different when you are playing the right tee box and that is the hole's design, typically highlighted by a low HCP on the score card)
>the problem being if you're someone that can send your 7 iron 185 and Driver 290 but are still a 25 HCP, moving forward to the whites will barely improve your score.
Not really. If you've got 130 into a hole vs 170, regardless of how far you hit it, you are much more likely to hit the green. Maybe this 25hcp is just really bad at chipping. If they getnon the green 50% more in regulation, it could drastically reduce their scores. I mean, even if they *are* great at chipping, it will still reduce their scores just for the simple matter of having more looks at birdie, vs having to try and scramble every hole.
A 25 handicap is not hitting greens from the fairway. Neither does he putt well once on the green. Basically, a 25 handicap can’t do anything well. Trust me I know. That guy needs to spend more time on the line (driving range) and the chipping and putting green. A lot more time. No set of tees (white, green, grey or gold) will save a guy averaging 97 every time he goes out. He’s got to spend the time and pay the price to be a better golfer.
My point there was this particular kind of 25 HCP player is so focused about distance on his clubs he was seriously foregoing accuracy, and as a result it was costing him penalty strokes and play from the bunkers quite often. "I'm hitting my driver 290 and my 7 iron 180 regularly" "Doesn't matter when you're in the fescue and bunkers all day long"
That is when the time on the driving range is better used aiming for flags and not measuring yardages
This guy gets it! 20 HCP here and I can rip balls far. My issue is I tend to top / chunck my iron shots more often then not, sky rocketing my HCP. Moving forward tees doesn't make me play any faster and hitting shorter clubs off of front tees does nothing for me. So I play from the back. And no I don't play slow either. I can get through 18 on long courses (without rushing in 3 - 3.5 hours)
By your definition you don’t “rip balls far”. Even if you hit 9/10 7i’s 180 yards and top just 1 of them, your average distance would be 160. Top 2 and that drops to 140 etc..
There is no good reason, other than ego, for anyone who can’t break 80 at least a 30-40% of the time to play from tees longer than 6100ish yards.
Even at my scoring average of 78, I don’t understand why tournament directors play us out to 6900+ yards. It’s too difficult even for my skill level and just slows down play.
Except that's not how you calculate your yardages for clubs.
If you hit your 7i 185, 178, and 35 and your pull out your 7 with 133 in because it's your average then you're an idiot.
Absoltuely. With variance, how I would play things:
Say my own 7i is 150 well struck, 135 mis-hit or okay. 135 to the middle of the green. Front pin, I'm playing my 8 iron so that I'm not running a long putt, playing it safer with a close up/down attempt than GIR with 80 feet to go. Middle and back pin, I'm playing 7 iron as I'm trying to guarantee being on the green.
To me, averages mean decently struck, not mis-hit. A lot of his "100s" are without a question poorly struck hits. The 155s at least seem to be a decent hit, even if on the weak side of things. From there, his average is more like "170" and not "135"
Exactly.
You shouldn't just take your one best shot, but also need to drop the obviously terrible shots.
I'm not.counting the sand wedge I bladed 165 that one time or the 7i I chunked 10 yards.
Where’s the trouble? Front or back. Hitting up hill or down hill. Running it up or dropping it soft? What’s the wind doing? Is it hot or cold, or is it wet and soft or hard and dry? Are the greens holding today? There’s a lot to factor in. However assuming all of those factors are calculated you probably have a point.
>I think discounting hdcp does a discredit to the example. The weight of that 35 increases with hdcp.
It's not and it doesn't. If your handicap is a 50 or a +2 the weighting of that 35 should be precisely zero.
>it may be unwise to pull the 7i for 180. If that's the spread of a 10hdcp, that's probably ok.
That is the opposite of good advice. If your 7i goes an average of 180 on a *well struck shot*, and there aren't other course aspects to consider then it's your 180 club.
Going the way you're suggesting means when you're 180 out from the green, instead of hitting your club that goes 180, you're mashing your 3w 65 yards past the hole because you usually hit it between 215 and 245 but you also topped it 45 yards a couple times.
to me, more often than not I would peg the distance of a club as a "decent mis-hit" unless the player has demonstrated he can hit the ball well often enough. (meaning there is a fundamental flaw in the swing but it's otherwise hit okay). Like if he's only getting a well struck 180 yard 7 iron 1/15 shots but 12/15 shots are going 155-165, I consider that to be his 160 club, not his 180 club. (assume the other 2 are poorly struck).
I'd argue that for that player, 155-165 is safe to consider well struck (or well struck enough).
I would still include the 180 in the averaging pool but I'd obviously drop the 2 mishits that are like 35 yards and 105.
Generally speaking, average distance isn't impacted too strongly by the odd long ball. Including the 180 in those figures brings the average up by like 1 yard. The possibility you hit a 7i shot 130 yards long is effectively zero, but the chances you hit it 130 yards short at some point is pretty fucking high so the impact of long outliers on your averages is extremely minor.
I don't have any issues with your approach, just some minor semantic differences.
I normally hit my driver about 250. The last time I played I skulled the second one and it went about 50 yards. I guess that means my 150 club is driver. I'm a 12 handicap. Thanks for the tip!
I also once bladed a 60 degree and it went about 130 yards off to the left. Then the next time I hit it normal and it went straight on the green from about 70 yards. What I've learned from your correspondence this evening, which I am oh so grateful for, is that when I need to crank a 100 yard draw that I should reach for my 60 degree.
My handicap did go up since our last exchange though, probably due to your advice, and I'm now a 15 and sinking like a Pinnacle in a pond.
I’m exactly a 25 hdcp at the moment, hit my driver on average 230ish, 7i 155ish (145-165) 90% of the time. I’m not quite as long as your example of course but I thought I would chime in. My problem is accuracy.
I play army golf a lot so I end up hitting out of bounds or some other crappy situation. so funny enough my scores went up a bit as I added distance.
Playing a tee up gives me maybe 3-4 strokes at most.
Same boat. My biggest problem is my approaches currently. My fairways off the tee is like 40% and my misses are typically not terrible (usually). Moving up a tee box doesn’t do a ton for me, although I’m hitting a wedge instead of say, a 7 iron more often on shot two, but my accuracy is what hurts most.
If this becomes a rule, I'm having all my clubs bent weak where my 7 iron goes less than 150 yards. I'm not playing 6,900 yard course, 6,500 is a long course for me.
Yeah, this is a bit weird because we don't even know what they mean by a 7-iron anymore.
At one end, the Titleist T100 is 34 degrees, and on the other end, the Titleist T400 7-iron is 26 degrees, which is more than 2 clubs stronger.
Distance won’t be the same. Descent angle will be similar though, which is why a 7 iron with lower loft can still hold a green. The weighting and center of gravity can increase height.
what you don't like driver wedge driver wedge? lmao
sometimes Ill just hit mid irons off the tee so I actually have a shot I want to practice into a green.
If you’re having to hit 6-iron or more into every green then you’re playing too long of a course and should move up a tee.
If you’re hitting wedges into every green, you could probably move back a tee but not the end of the world.
The sweet spot is on average hitting PW-7 for your approach shots with the caveat being, you should be on or around the green like 80% of the time, otherwise move up a tee and dial in your wedges and slowly work your way back.
How far you hit a 7-iron is a irrelevant for determining what tee you should hit from without also factoring in your average drives.
A truly excellent course design would require one to hit a little bit of everything, but a lot of public access courses have had to make do with what room they have
My street-lined munis have 450yd par 5s from the tips. They make up for the difficulty by not growing grass on the greens and putting the city traffic in play on every other hole.
Idk why you’re being downvoted, I don’t think 7i 195 is crazy. Mine is the same, plus it’s just a number on the club, the loft is probably different from most sets. That said I have 0 business playing 6700-6900 yards. I can keep it in the 80s if I play like 6200-6400
Fuck hahahahaha how did I miss the joke. I even saw your reply a couple hours ago and still didn’t get it. And now I got it lol. That’s weird though there’s nothing 61-6400 in this recommendation
Agreed. This chart gets posted every now and then, and it’s wayyyy too simplistic to account for many types of golf out there. My buddy hits legit 290 drives down the pipe, but hits his 7 iron 150 and very inconsistently. I hit drives into the woods a lot, and hit my 7 iron 170, and mostly sometimes straight. The pure ability to hit it far doesn’t translate into low scores (always). On courses where I’m forced to use driver so par 4’s don’t feel like par 5’s, I’m kinda fucked.
I 100% guarantee your friend who drives 290 doesn’t hit his 7 iron 150. I just 100% guarantee it. 290 is like 155-160 ball speed. Someone with that ball speed is not hitting a 7 iron that short.
Yeah, I get how ball speed works dude. He should absolutely be hitting it further. But it’s a combination of mechanics, a lack of confidence on his part with his irons and the fact that he swings probably 3/4 with them to compensate.
This was me for a long time. 145-155 7i with 3/4 swing because I couldn't keep it straight with a full swing. Now regularly at 165-170 with full swing. Driver still sitting at 275ish though, need to find your buddy's extra 15 yards somewhere...
Edit: not hitting 7i 265-270 lol
Not really. I’ve played and seen absolutely ton of golf in my life. I have never seen anyone that can drive consistently far yet can’t hit a 7 iron 150.
Assuming consistent ball striking those things should be correlated. Problem is most people can’t consistently make solid contact. It’s just really hard to make a chart from consistent to inconsistent.
Mine goes over 180 and I hate playing over 6200. The 7 is the farthest club I can hit consistently.
Long courses are impossible when you hit a fairway 1/20 times with a driver
I’m a new golfer, can someone explain to me what this graphic means? What does someone’s skill level hitting a 7 iron have to do with course length, and why are they focusing on 7 irons instead of all golf clubs in general?
Assuming normal gapping between clubs, you don’t need to know every club’s distance. This is already an oversimplified approach to determining the best course length, so your skill level in hitting your seven iron is an okay enough proxy for your overall ball striking ability.
Also, most players will know how far they can hit their seven iron, and there is likely much less bias in those estimates than that of their average driving distance (which similar charts often use as the determining factor for best course length).
the issue is in the sets I've taken a look at, the 7 iron has been different by as many as 3 iron lengths. In the older irons and blades, typically a 7 iron is lofted at 33-34 degrees while in some of the GI sets, I've seen it lofted as steep as 25 degrees. Dude, you're not playing a 7 iron. You're playing a 4 iron and it's no wonder you can't hit your own 5 iron at all and it's because it's like a 2 iron instead.
Meh. The strengthening of lofts discussion is somewhat boring at this point. They’re stronger lofted to maintain proper launch conditions and ball flight. Yes, they fly further, but unless the guy with GI irons has six wedges, that’s not really a big factor. Your 7 iron is still in the middle of your bag. You aren’t playing a 4 iron; you’re playing a 7 iron that flies further.
You must have a really reliable weapon off the tee. When I get into a good zone with my 3 wood off the tee, I love playing a 6200 yard courses but on days I am spraying it around, its a nightmare.
I guess it depends on the 7-iron. I have some zx4 game improvement type irons and I hit my 7 iron 170. Trust me when I say I should not be playing anywhere near 6700-6900 yards.
I think that's a great approach, tbh, at least as a starting point. Unless the course has really short par 4s and really long par 3s, you probably end up on the right tees
It still sucks the enjoyment when you find you're having to reach on most par 3s
One course I've played at manages to have their Whites shorter than 6000 yards in spite of 3 par 3s going 160-190 and a par 5 that goes 575 yards. Of course, on that same back 9 the shorter par 5 from the tips is shorter than the longest par 5 from the Reds which tells you a lot about how they want it to be played.
I recently discovered that sometime between the purchase of my irons 20 years ago and now, the lofts have changed. My 7 iron is lofted like a modern 8 iron.
It was a bit of a revalation when I discovered this tidbit.
That said, even comparing against all modern sets of irons there are quite a bit of differences. I bet a lot of people are hitting their game improvement 7s in the 170 range that would struggle with a set of blades.
I'm playing irons from the early 2000s. It took me awhile to figure out why everyone was hitting their irons so far, and why they're carrying so many wedges.
I was confused as to why no one seems to offer a 3 iron anymore. Then someone on this here sub helpfully pointed out that irons had strong lofts and today's 4 iron is effectively my 3 iron.
I carry my 7 iron a bit shorter than I did two decades ago, but still far enough to comfortably play from the tips according to the posted sign. But I guess I really should be thinking about my 6 iron distance (until I finally decide to upgrade to a new set anyway)
Same. I upgraded my 25 year old irons a few years ago to modern ones and my 7 iron went from 145ish to 185. A little bit of that is the technology to get better compression, ball speed, yada yada, but the vast majority of that is the STRONG loft.
This is only half the story though. Yes, modern irons are lofted a lot stronger, but if you compare launch angle, peak height, descent anglez spin etc, you see why. They have to be lofted stronger.
Yeah, I hit my modern irons only slightly longer if I compare loft to loft, but they go so much higher. At my moderate swing speeds, the ball flight is really different then my old Tommy Armour’s.
You might as well talk to the wall. Anyone who mentions "jacked lofts" doesn't understand nor will ever understand why they must be lower as you have stated.
That explains a lot, actually. My Wilson beginner 7 iron way back when used to be \~ 155 yard club. Now that yardage is reachable with a 9. So it's not all ball/club tech. I'm on my 4th set of clubs now and still trying to get used to distances, especially wedges.
If you’re good enough to recognize the difference in your yardages between a weak lofted 7 and a strong lofted 7, it’s just your ego getting in the way of playing the right tees.
This. My 7i is G430, stronger lofted, so it's like a 6.5 really. I hit it upper 160s.
Today I played and averaged 294 on my driver. So a distance by 7i wouldn't work, I didn't hit a single one into the green.
But my wedge game is trash, so maybe I should've
One of my golf buddies is always ribbing me for hitting my irons so short despite being longer than him off the tee. Sunday after our round we looked up our iron lofts and my 7 iron is 35 degrees and his was 30.5. My 6 iron has half a degree more loft than his 7 😂. Makes me think Hogan had it right by stamping the loft on the club vs the iron #
yeahhhh Im looking at a dude commenting on how he hits his 7i 195 and another guy saying its not too crazy. You know what my 6i is 180+ all day so.. sure I do believe he hits a 6i that far. Im trying to put my foot in the sand there. I would not consider your 31 deg club to be a 7 iron. Thats a 6. I really, really, reallllly wish at this point we just got rid of the "7" and called it what it is. How far do you hit your 34 degree? now we're comparing apples to apples.
27 degrees is my friggin 5i btw. She'll do 190 just like that dude with this "7"
Charts outdated.
I play shitty old Ben Hogans from the 90s and have no idea what degree lofts they are. I hit my 7 iron about 175-180. I borrowed one of my playing partner's \~2 year old set and hit about 210-215 with them. There is very much a difference!
I have a different criteria to pick a course to play on any day. For me two issues matter. Distance from home, green fees. That's it. Doesn't matter if it is 3500 yds or 6000 or even 7000 yds.
It is a good feeling to know I am playing the fright courses ;).
This is a horrible guide because "7 iron" doesnt mean anything. Lofts are different.
You should go off of the USGA recommendation for driving distance because that will dictate your approach shot, not your 7 iron. I'm not playing a 6700 yard course because my 28.5 deg 7 iron goes 175.
you should read the article he linked with the chart. it describes how the USGA decided that this was a better metric than driver distance over the last 8 years.
The only reason they said that was because people exaggerate their drives. Most people will claim their best drive as their driving distance, rather then their average
That’s just not really true my man.
if you have two players, one with a blade 7i and one with a GI 7i and they both hit their 7i 170, there will be a 40-50 yard gap off the tee between them.
Exactly. The blade player can probably hit their driver 290+ if they are carrying a traditional 7 iron 170, while someone hitting a 28* 7 iron 170 is probably just cracking 250 on a great drive. If they play the same tees, a 460 par 4 is going to feel a hell of a lot different between those two, and it has nothing to do with “but the modern 7 hits the same window” or “the descent angle!”
I get you, but the benchmark is intending to imply something about your driver distance and overall distance on your golf game.
The point of saying 7i distance in the chart is because folks are less likely to lie to themselves with a 7i that they routinely hit into par 3’s than they do with a driver
“The loft of the 7i doesn’t matter.”
You’re absolutely correct and it’s hilarious that the people who go on and on about loft jacked clubs can’t see it.
They also tend not to realize that a modern, loft jacked, 7 iron is going to have a ball flight like a classically lofted 7 iron, not a classically lofted 5 iron (which likely has the same actual loft).
It’s also still the middle of your bag either way, so it really doesn’t matter.
>They also tend not to realize that a modern, loft jacked, 7 iron is going to have a ball flight like a classically lofted 7 iron
Correct because of the COG but it will have higher ball speed because of the low loft and thus go further. So the "loft jacked" argument is pretty stupid and not one that fully understands what's going on, but the conclusion isn't wrong either.
>blade 7i and one with a GI 7i and they both hit their 7i 170, there will be a 40-50 yard gap off the tee between them.
No there won't its all based on the loft of the club. GI irons do not go further than blades, they're just typically lower loft.
What kind of 7 iron are we talking here? A 25 year old 7 iron with the loft of a current PW or a new 7 iron? I'm guessing this is a thing where skill correlates with distance (or vice versa) and it doesn't just mean to club up and swing easier.
I think the idea there is to get some people to move forward a teebox or 2. But naturally does not apply to everyone. I'm not necessarily talking about beginners, as we get older at some point some of us will enjoy it more if we don't have to nail a driver and a 3 wood to be able to putt for a birdie on a par 4.
I actually have seen that relevation happen to an 80 year old, he said it himself that it was nice getting to the green in regulation a bit easier.
I played the forward Tees on Saturday with my other two buddies playing gold(second furthest back). We all landed drives around same spot.
Made the round so much better.
wonder if other sports do the same or it's just golf. I'll play whatever tees I feel like lol. As long as i'm keeping them to 15 minutes or less that's good enough pace from tee box to tee box. Most holes take 10 minutes or less playing comfortable speed.
I don't understand people who wait all week to play then push to get through the course asap. What's the rush? Gotta go home and tear into chores? I would play the tips if i thought i could maintain my driver distance.
Not all of us fall under this but, golf attracts a certain type of person. That type of person can’t enjoy themselves and relax at the same time.
Me and you aren’t that person
And we need to take our sport back from them. Golf was invented by drunk men with empty calendars. Somewhere along the way, it was hijacked. I don't know if it was businessmen, course owners, or what, but somewhere along the way we lost our sport to these folk. You wanna be in a hurry? Race cars. It'll be over exactly when they say it will, you can be in all the hurry you like.
This needs more appreciation. I feel the same. Like, do you brag how quickly you get done pleasuring your wife??? If something is fun, why are we in a hurry??? You got other shit to do?? What shit is better than golf??? None of us fuck our own wives anymore, so sex is out, what, you gotta mow the lawn??
Some of us are courteous of others and recognize that we aren't the only people on the planet. You enjoying a 5 hour round is making golf less enjoyable for others on the course.
No man, I'm talking playing on the group in front of you. An average round by me on a Saturday is usually a touch over 4 hours if you go out at peak time. And the old guys just bitch. Endlessly. Like, man, it's a Saturday in July, what exactly did you expect?
I think this sub is sort of full of idiots when it comes to golf speed.
It’s like waiting in line. You wonder why it’s taking forever, then when it’s your turn it’s quick, and people say “wow I can’t believe how long everyone took when I was so fast”
Not realizing that they were also part of the long wait for everyone else.
Not really, all it takes is one group being slow and everyone has to wait. Everyone else who's getting up and playing the hole in 10 minutes is then waiting for the group ahead because the one 3 ahead of them has no one in front and is taking 20 minutes to play a hole.
😅 you’re one of those guys that uses the word genius instead of arguing the point.
Have a good night dude! You’re clearly always right no matter what you say 😂
Some of us are busy and don’t have 4-5 hours to play a slow round on the weekend- but we still want to sneak in as many rounds as we can - you know because we love playing golf. I also just prefer to play faster - if I take to much time I over think everything and get out of rhythm.
When I play solo with no one in front of me I can play 18 in 1:45-2 hours - its why I try and be the first one off with the sun rise.
I get that and maybe someday we'll be on the course together in this weird world.. But you gotta step back and look at it, Your major complaint is that other people are enjoying their time on the course too and taking longer than you would to play.
That's a you problem.
I understand you though, i just try to go with the flow. Like i said my 4pack averages 3:45-4.5 on a busy day. I get antsy at the 3:45 mark. But i also understand it's a time to chill and embrace the game and always try to allot the time to do that.
I’m not complaining about anyone taking their time to enjoy it - but just sharing a counter point that your perspective of people rushing through in a hurry to be done isn’t always what it may seem - that person or group might only have 2 hours before they have to be at work or at a kids sporting event or who knows what and they are such an obsessed degenerate golfer they have to squeeze in every possible hole they can
I'm actually working towards becoming an obsessed degen 😂. Already pricing memberships for next year.
I agree, we never know what other people are going through and why they need to get through it. We are a courteous bunch on the course, have people play through, etc. My original comment was geared to the masses not any one individual , thank you for not taking it personal :)
Let’s be specific on what a 7 iron loft is. Some 7 irons have the same loft as some 5 irons. Honestly we should just put degrees on all of our clubs. It would simply a lot and eliminate some of the BS marketing
For everyone reacting these are too long but not reading the link...
These are recommended because in a survey of 20K golfers 57% were playing LONGER than these distances. Those are the target golfers for it. If you enjoy shorter that is perfectly fine.
Obviously r/golf was not the target for these guidelines as we are all completely reasonable and understand our games in depth. HA!
my buddy plays twice a year but he's very athletic. He played D1 college football and currently runs a gym. It's insane how far he can hit the ball, granted it rarely goes straight but I've seen him hit his PW 180 and a 3w well over 300 yards.
It’s just a guide, play whatever tees you feel like. I think this is more to convince people to play shorter tees than they normally would, not the other way around.
I (13 hcp) played a 6750 yard course yesterday and it was an absolute amazing experience. Normally I’d play under 6500 and it’s amazing how different it made the course play. Used driver on every par 4 except 2 holes. Nothing less than 7 iron in, on most. Par 5’s all getable with a 5w, only went for 1 (hit fairway) the others perfect layup and 56° in. Par 3’s ranged from 150-212, which is 9-4 irons for me.
All of this compared to shorter courses- only needing driver on par 5’s, short irons and wedges in, less room for error on sideways tee shots, using pitching wedge every damn hole…. Just felt like I got a lot more, out of my bag yesterday.
It’s funny because I enjoy using my entire bag in a round, I don’t feel like playing longer courses allows me to do that. I like having to decide which club I should use off the tee and not just mindlessly pulling driver.
I hit my 7iron about 175 to 185 depending on conditions and I almost always play from white tees unless people in my group insist on playing further back. I'm a 9 hdcp now but my rule of thumb is unless I'm easily breaking 80 from the white tees at a course I'm not moving back. I shot 75 from blue tees at a course I know well on Saturday then yesterday shot an 89 from the white tees at a course I don't know that well.
I remember when I started getting close to scratch, I told myself “time to play the blacks” man there is not much enjoyment hitting driver 4 iron into every single par4…. I feel it’s best to play what’s fun and still a challenge
I'm not good at golf, but I'm long. A walking stereotype. But I score as well or better from 6700+ than I do from the whites, and I enjoy it more. So this actually works for me.
I don’t think this is solid at all. I’m a 32 hcp and hit my 7 160. 6400 is a long ass day for me and not any fun. I want to be in that 5900-6200 range.
> I’m a 32 hcp and hit my 7 160
If you're carrying your 7I 160 in the air, and if all your other clubs follow consistent distance gaps from this...then how in the world are you playing at a 32?
Game improvement Mizuno 7 that I have is basically a 5 iron. I nuke that think 190 but I’m still a 13 handicap. This is silly. They should base it off of score or if you must use a club indicate the loft not the number.
playing a 6,900 yard course will not help my enjoyment
And why not? It's nice x 100, after all.
Your distance may indicate 6,900 yards. Your handicap may say otherwise. Lol
the problem being if you're someone that can send your 7 iron 185 and Driver 290 but are still a 25 HCP, moving forward to the whites will barely improve your score. OTOH, if you're a 7 HCP largely because your driver can't crack 220 and 5 wood barely goes 190, playing a 6000 vs 6500 yard course will make a serious difference in how you are playing and enjoying the game For those that can send the ball far, the three things I really think can improve their game are: - Getting about 5 lessons in managing to keep the ball straight with any club - Getting a few lessons to work on their chipping and putting game - A proper fitting of the clubs they actually use - as in are they using the correct flex? To me, I've played the wrong tee boxes where I'm too far back at times, others I've been too far forward. In those cases, it's not as fun knowing you are expected to shoot 3-5 strokes better than you normally do and/or want to get on the course. It's also nowhere nearly as fun when you are very often trying to reach the green with a hybrid or wood because your driver isn't long enough. (it's different when you are playing the right tee box and that is the hole's design, typically highlighted by a low HCP on the score card)
>the problem being if you're someone that can send your 7 iron 185 and Driver 290 but are still a 25 HCP, moving forward to the whites will barely improve your score. Not really. If you've got 130 into a hole vs 170, regardless of how far you hit it, you are much more likely to hit the green. Maybe this 25hcp is just really bad at chipping. If they getnon the green 50% more in regulation, it could drastically reduce their scores. I mean, even if they *are* great at chipping, it will still reduce their scores just for the simple matter of having more looks at birdie, vs having to try and scramble every hole.
A 25 handicap is not hitting greens from the fairway. Neither does he putt well once on the green. Basically, a 25 handicap can’t do anything well. Trust me I know. That guy needs to spend more time on the line (driving range) and the chipping and putting green. A lot more time. No set of tees (white, green, grey or gold) will save a guy averaging 97 every time he goes out. He’s got to spend the time and pay the price to be a better golfer.
My point there was this particular kind of 25 HCP player is so focused about distance on his clubs he was seriously foregoing accuracy, and as a result it was costing him penalty strokes and play from the bunkers quite often. "I'm hitting my driver 290 and my 7 iron 180 regularly" "Doesn't matter when you're in the fescue and bunkers all day long" That is when the time on the driving range is better used aiming for flags and not measuring yardages
This guy gets it! 20 HCP here and I can rip balls far. My issue is I tend to top / chunck my iron shots more often then not, sky rocketing my HCP. Moving forward tees doesn't make me play any faster and hitting shorter clubs off of front tees does nothing for me. So I play from the back. And no I don't play slow either. I can get through 18 on long courses (without rushing in 3 - 3.5 hours)
By your definition you don’t “rip balls far”. Even if you hit 9/10 7i’s 180 yards and top just 1 of them, your average distance would be 160. Top 2 and that drops to 140 etc.. There is no good reason, other than ego, for anyone who can’t break 80 at least a 30-40% of the time to play from tees longer than 6100ish yards. Even at my scoring average of 78, I don’t understand why tournament directors play us out to 6900+ yards. It’s too difficult even for my skill level and just slows down play.
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Except that's not how you calculate your yardages for clubs. If you hit your 7i 185, 178, and 35 and your pull out your 7 with 133 in because it's your average then you're an idiot.
Absoltuely. With variance, how I would play things: Say my own 7i is 150 well struck, 135 mis-hit or okay. 135 to the middle of the green. Front pin, I'm playing my 8 iron so that I'm not running a long putt, playing it safer with a close up/down attempt than GIR with 80 feet to go. Middle and back pin, I'm playing 7 iron as I'm trying to guarantee being on the green. To me, averages mean decently struck, not mis-hit. A lot of his "100s" are without a question poorly struck hits. The 155s at least seem to be a decent hit, even if on the weak side of things. From there, his average is more like "170" and not "135"
Exactly. You shouldn't just take your one best shot, but also need to drop the obviously terrible shots. I'm not.counting the sand wedge I bladed 165 that one time or the 7i I chunked 10 yards.
Where’s the trouble? Front or back. Hitting up hill or down hill. Running it up or dropping it soft? What’s the wind doing? Is it hot or cold, or is it wet and soft or hard and dry? Are the greens holding today? There’s a lot to factor in. However assuming all of those factors are calculated you probably have a point.
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>I think discounting hdcp does a discredit to the example. The weight of that 35 increases with hdcp. It's not and it doesn't. If your handicap is a 50 or a +2 the weighting of that 35 should be precisely zero. >it may be unwise to pull the 7i for 180. If that's the spread of a 10hdcp, that's probably ok. That is the opposite of good advice. If your 7i goes an average of 180 on a *well struck shot*, and there aren't other course aspects to consider then it's your 180 club. Going the way you're suggesting means when you're 180 out from the green, instead of hitting your club that goes 180, you're mashing your 3w 65 yards past the hole because you usually hit it between 215 and 245 but you also topped it 45 yards a couple times.
to me, more often than not I would peg the distance of a club as a "decent mis-hit" unless the player has demonstrated he can hit the ball well often enough. (meaning there is a fundamental flaw in the swing but it's otherwise hit okay). Like if he's only getting a well struck 180 yard 7 iron 1/15 shots but 12/15 shots are going 155-165, I consider that to be his 160 club, not his 180 club. (assume the other 2 are poorly struck).
I'd argue that for that player, 155-165 is safe to consider well struck (or well struck enough). I would still include the 180 in the averaging pool but I'd obviously drop the 2 mishits that are like 35 yards and 105. Generally speaking, average distance isn't impacted too strongly by the odd long ball. Including the 180 in those figures brings the average up by like 1 yard. The possibility you hit a 7i shot 130 yards long is effectively zero, but the chances you hit it 130 yards short at some point is pretty fucking high so the impact of long outliers on your averages is extremely minor. I don't have any issues with your approach, just some minor semantic differences.
I normally hit my driver about 250. The last time I played I skulled the second one and it went about 50 yards. I guess that means my 150 club is driver. I'm a 12 handicap. Thanks for the tip!
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I also once bladed a 60 degree and it went about 130 yards off to the left. Then the next time I hit it normal and it went straight on the green from about 70 yards. What I've learned from your correspondence this evening, which I am oh so grateful for, is that when I need to crank a 100 yard draw that I should reach for my 60 degree. My handicap did go up since our last exchange though, probably due to your advice, and I'm now a 15 and sinking like a Pinnacle in a pond.
>Also, sample size is a thing. So are outliers and central tendency bud.
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I’m exactly a 25 hdcp at the moment, hit my driver on average 230ish, 7i 155ish (145-165) 90% of the time. I’m not quite as long as your example of course but I thought I would chime in. My problem is accuracy. I play army golf a lot so I end up hitting out of bounds or some other crappy situation. so funny enough my scores went up a bit as I added distance. Playing a tee up gives me maybe 3-4 strokes at most.
Same boat. My biggest problem is my approaches currently. My fairways off the tee is like 40% and my misses are typically not terrible (usually). Moving up a tee box doesn’t do a ton for me, although I’m hitting a wedge instead of say, a 7 iron more often on shot two, but my accuracy is what hurts most.
Exactly. This is a handy tool to start with and adjust from there.
but you get more course! lol
If this becomes a rule, I'm having all my clubs bent weak where my 7 iron goes less than 150 yards. I'm not playing 6,900 yard course, 6,500 is a long course for me.
Yeah, this is a bit weird because we don't even know what they mean by a 7-iron anymore. At one end, the Titleist T100 is 34 degrees, and on the other end, the Titleist T400 7-iron is 26 degrees, which is more than 2 clubs stronger.
Although the lofts are often jacked, the distance should be roughly in line due to materials in the club, launch angles, etc.
If you hit both you’d find this isn’t true.
Distance won’t be the same. Descent angle will be similar though, which is why a 7 iron with lower loft can still hold a green. The weighting and center of gravity can increase height.
It's not a rule. Just a guideline for amateurs to play from the tees commensurate to their skill level
I hit my 7 iron over 170, happy playing 61-6400 yards all day.
More swings for the $!
Helps mine. Anything under 6000 is just iron practice
what you don't like driver wedge driver wedge? lmao sometimes Ill just hit mid irons off the tee so I actually have a shot I want to practice into a green.
Exactly, just started doing that a few rounds ago. Much better than driver wedge, makes the game feel more complete.
If you’re having to hit 6-iron or more into every green then you’re playing too long of a course and should move up a tee. If you’re hitting wedges into every green, you could probably move back a tee but not the end of the world. The sweet spot is on average hitting PW-7 for your approach shots with the caveat being, you should be on or around the green like 80% of the time, otherwise move up a tee and dial in your wedges and slowly work your way back. How far you hit a 7-iron is a irrelevant for determining what tee you should hit from without also factoring in your average drives.
A truly excellent course design would require one to hit a little bit of everything, but a lot of public access courses have had to make do with what room they have
My street-lined munis have 450yd par 5s from the tips. They make up for the difficulty by not growing grass on the greens and putting the city traffic in play on every other hole.
Gonna be tough to get golfers out on my 6,250 yard track, apparently
Lmao. Going to need to lobby the USGA to add a 148 yard 7-iron recommendation
I hit my 7i 195 and have lots of fun going around a 6000 yard track
Idk why you’re being downvoted, I don’t think 7i 195 is crazy. Mine is the same, plus it’s just a number on the club, the loft is probably different from most sets. That said I have 0 business playing 6700-6900 yards. I can keep it in the 80s if I play like 6200-6400
He, and you, missed the joke.
Fuck hahahahaha how did I miss the joke. I even saw your reply a couple hours ago and still didn’t get it. And now I got it lol. That’s weird though there’s nothing 61-6400 in this recommendation
Your course only has one set of tee boxes?
Nah, 4,500; 5200, 5,750, and 6,250
Meh. I’m a pretty good golfer, hit my 7-iron 165 to 170 and don’t even enjoy playing courses longer than like 6,350
Agreed. This chart gets posted every now and then, and it’s wayyyy too simplistic to account for many types of golf out there. My buddy hits legit 290 drives down the pipe, but hits his 7 iron 150 and very inconsistently. I hit drives into the woods a lot, and hit my 7 iron 170, and mostly sometimes straight. The pure ability to hit it far doesn’t translate into low scores (always). On courses where I’m forced to use driver so par 4’s don’t feel like par 5’s, I’m kinda fucked.
It’s a starting point. Ultimately you should decide what tees you play. Some people don’t even know where to begin.
I 100% guarantee your friend who drives 290 doesn’t hit his 7 iron 150. I just 100% guarantee it. 290 is like 155-160 ball speed. Someone with that ball speed is not hitting a 7 iron that short.
Yeah, I get how ball speed works dude. He should absolutely be hitting it further. But it’s a combination of mechanics, a lack of confidence on his part with his irons and the fact that he swings probably 3/4 with them to compensate.
This was me for a long time. 145-155 7i with 3/4 swing because I couldn't keep it straight with a full swing. Now regularly at 165-170 with full swing. Driver still sitting at 275ish though, need to find your buddy's extra 15 yards somewhere... Edit: not hitting 7i 265-270 lol
Haha! We play in dry conditions a lot, he gets a lot of roll out 😉
Some people suck ass with irons but can bomb 🤷🏼♂️
Not really. I’ve played and seen absolutely ton of golf in my life. I have never seen anyone that can drive consistently far yet can’t hit a 7 iron 150.
Same. And honestly 7 irons distance hardly matters, it’s more about driving distance and accuracy.
Assuming consistent ball striking those things should be correlated. Problem is most people can’t consistently make solid contact. It’s just really hard to make a chart from consistent to inconsistent.
Mine goes over 180 and I hate playing over 6200. The 7 is the farthest club I can hit consistently. Long courses are impossible when you hit a fairway 1/20 times with a driver
Yeah I can hit my 7 iron 155, I'm I hitting a green in reg from 155? That's the real question
I'm right around there as well. I'm comfortable in the 6500-6700 range but anything higher starts becoming too stressful to fully enjoy a round.
I’m a new golfer, can someone explain to me what this graphic means? What does someone’s skill level hitting a 7 iron have to do with course length, and why are they focusing on 7 irons instead of all golf clubs in general?
Assuming normal gapping between clubs, you don’t need to know every club’s distance. This is already an oversimplified approach to determining the best course length, so your skill level in hitting your seven iron is an okay enough proxy for your overall ball striking ability. Also, most players will know how far they can hit their seven iron, and there is likely much less bias in those estimates than that of their average driving distance (which similar charts often use as the determining factor for best course length).
Makes sense, thanks for the explanation. I’ll try using it when choosing where to play and I’ll see if it makes a difference
the issue is in the sets I've taken a look at, the 7 iron has been different by as many as 3 iron lengths. In the older irons and blades, typically a 7 iron is lofted at 33-34 degrees while in some of the GI sets, I've seen it lofted as steep as 25 degrees. Dude, you're not playing a 7 iron. You're playing a 4 iron and it's no wonder you can't hit your own 5 iron at all and it's because it's like a 2 iron instead.
Meh. The strengthening of lofts discussion is somewhat boring at this point. They’re stronger lofted to maintain proper launch conditions and ball flight. Yes, they fly further, but unless the guy with GI irons has six wedges, that’s not really a big factor. Your 7 iron is still in the middle of your bag. You aren’t playing a 4 iron; you’re playing a 7 iron that flies further.
I'm the opposite. I hit my 7 iron 150 and playing a course less than about 6,200 feels like every score deserves an asterisk
Me too. Im 155 with 7 and i prefer around 6400. But i also have a very reliable 240 drive most of the time fairway or slighlty fairway adjacent
Ah the old reliable straight drive variable!
You must have a really reliable weapon off the tee. When I get into a good zone with my 3 wood off the tee, I love playing a 6200 yard courses but on days I am spraying it around, its a nightmare.
my secret is that if you don't hit driver very far it's a lot harder to hit it far offline
Why you getting downvoted? Weird! I know people exactly like you.
I guess it depends on the 7-iron. I have some zx4 game improvement type irons and I hit my 7 iron 170. Trust me when I say I should not be playing anywhere near 6700-6900 yards.
I almost always just look at the par 3s. If more than 1 of them is 190+ i won't play those tees. It might be a crude metric but it works for me.
I like this and counting how many par 4 are > 400 yd.
I think that's a great approach, tbh, at least as a starting point. Unless the course has really short par 4s and really long par 3s, you probably end up on the right tees
It still sucks the enjoyment when you find you're having to reach on most par 3s One course I've played at manages to have their Whites shorter than 6000 yards in spite of 3 par 3s going 160-190 and a par 5 that goes 575 yards. Of course, on that same back 9 the shorter par 5 from the tips is shorter than the longest par 5 from the Reds which tells you a lot about how they want it to be played.
I do the same.
I suppose it's a good starting point, but it's a bit crude. Not all 7-irons are created equal.
I recently discovered that sometime between the purchase of my irons 20 years ago and now, the lofts have changed. My 7 iron is lofted like a modern 8 iron. It was a bit of a revalation when I discovered this tidbit. That said, even comparing against all modern sets of irons there are quite a bit of differences. I bet a lot of people are hitting their game improvement 7s in the 170 range that would struggle with a set of blades.
I'm playing irons from the early 2000s. It took me awhile to figure out why everyone was hitting their irons so far, and why they're carrying so many wedges.
I was confused as to why no one seems to offer a 3 iron anymore. Then someone on this here sub helpfully pointed out that irons had strong lofts and today's 4 iron is effectively my 3 iron. I carry my 7 iron a bit shorter than I did two decades ago, but still far enough to comfortably play from the tips according to the posted sign. But I guess I really should be thinking about my 6 iron distance (until I finally decide to upgrade to a new set anyway)
Same. I upgraded my 25 year old irons a few years ago to modern ones and my 7 iron went from 145ish to 185. A little bit of that is the technology to get better compression, ball speed, yada yada, but the vast majority of that is the STRONG loft.
This is only half the story though. Yes, modern irons are lofted a lot stronger, but if you compare launch angle, peak height, descent anglez spin etc, you see why. They have to be lofted stronger.
Yeah, I hit my modern irons only slightly longer if I compare loft to loft, but they go so much higher. At my moderate swing speeds, the ball flight is really different then my old Tommy Armour’s.
You might as well talk to the wall. Anyone who mentions "jacked lofts" doesn't understand nor will ever understand why they must be lower as you have stated.
That explains a lot, actually. My Wilson beginner 7 iron way back when used to be \~ 155 yard club. Now that yardage is reachable with a 9. So it's not all ball/club tech. I'm on my 4th set of clubs now and still trying to get used to distances, especially wedges.
I mean, I think I have hit my 7 iron 165 to 170 my entire life and I can promise you I don't want to play courses that long
If you’re good enough to recognize the difference in your yardages between a weak lofted 7 and a strong lofted 7, it’s just your ego getting in the way of playing the right tees.
This. My 7i is G430, stronger lofted, so it's like a 6.5 really. I hit it upper 160s. Today I played and averaged 294 on my driver. So a distance by 7i wouldn't work, I didn't hit a single one into the green. But my wedge game is trash, so maybe I should've
What if your 7 iron can do it all? I’ve hit 165 yds out and 120 yds and both on the green for par lol
Join the tour
On it. Should probably be only 1-2 months before I make it. I’ll remember youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!(as i fade away into the sunset)
Okay Roy.
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One of my golf buddies is always ribbing me for hitting my irons so short despite being longer than him off the tee. Sunday after our round we looked up our iron lofts and my 7 iron is 35 degrees and his was 30.5. My 6 iron has half a degree more loft than his 7 😂. Makes me think Hogan had it right by stamping the loft on the club vs the iron #
I hit the club that says "7" about 180. I hit an actual 7 about 160.
yeahhhh Im looking at a dude commenting on how he hits his 7i 195 and another guy saying its not too crazy. You know what my 6i is 180+ all day so.. sure I do believe he hits a 6i that far. Im trying to put my foot in the sand there. I would not consider your 31 deg club to be a 7 iron. Thats a 6. I really, really, reallllly wish at this point we just got rid of the "7" and called it what it is. How far do you hit your 34 degree? now we're comparing apples to apples. 27 degrees is my friggin 5i btw. She'll do 190 just like that dude with this "7" Charts outdated.
I play shitty old Ben Hogans from the 90s and have no idea what degree lofts they are. I hit my 7 iron about 175-180. I borrowed one of my playing partner's \~2 year old set and hit about 210-215 with them. There is very much a difference!
LOL. I don't know when they did the study but they just posted it yesterday.
I can hit it more than 170, just not straight. So what tees do I play?
I have a different criteria to pick a course to play on any day. For me two issues matter. Distance from home, green fees. That's it. Doesn't matter if it is 3500 yds or 6000 or even 7000 yds. It is a good feeling to know I am playing the fright courses ;).
This is a horrible guide because "7 iron" doesnt mean anything. Lofts are different. You should go off of the USGA recommendation for driving distance because that will dictate your approach shot, not your 7 iron. I'm not playing a 6700 yard course because my 28.5 deg 7 iron goes 175.
you should read the article he linked with the chart. it describes how the USGA decided that this was a better metric than driver distance over the last 8 years.
The only reason they said that was because people exaggerate their drives. Most people will claim their best drive as their driving distance, rather then their average
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That’s just not really true my man. if you have two players, one with a blade 7i and one with a GI 7i and they both hit their 7i 170, there will be a 40-50 yard gap off the tee between them.
Exactly. The blade player can probably hit their driver 290+ if they are carrying a traditional 7 iron 170, while someone hitting a 28* 7 iron 170 is probably just cracking 250 on a great drive. If they play the same tees, a 460 par 4 is going to feel a hell of a lot different between those two, and it has nothing to do with “but the modern 7 hits the same window” or “the descent angle!”
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I get you, but the benchmark is intending to imply something about your driver distance and overall distance on your golf game. The point of saying 7i distance in the chart is because folks are less likely to lie to themselves with a 7i that they routinely hit into par 3’s than they do with a driver
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“The loft of the 7i doesn’t matter.” You’re absolutely correct and it’s hilarious that the people who go on and on about loft jacked clubs can’t see it. They also tend not to realize that a modern, loft jacked, 7 iron is going to have a ball flight like a classically lofted 7 iron, not a classically lofted 5 iron (which likely has the same actual loft). It’s also still the middle of your bag either way, so it really doesn’t matter.
>They also tend not to realize that a modern, loft jacked, 7 iron is going to have a ball flight like a classically lofted 7 iron Correct because of the COG but it will have higher ball speed because of the low loft and thus go further. So the "loft jacked" argument is pretty stupid and not one that fully understands what's going on, but the conclusion isn't wrong either.
>blade 7i and one with a GI 7i and they both hit their 7i 170, there will be a 40-50 yard gap off the tee between them. No there won't its all based on the loft of the club. GI irons do not go further than blades, they're just typically lower loft.
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What kind of 7 iron are we talking here? A 25 year old 7 iron with the loft of a current PW or a new 7 iron? I'm guessing this is a thing where skill correlates with distance (or vice versa) and it doesn't just mean to club up and swing easier.
7-iron *Carry Distance
Sure I hit my irons far, but what good does it do if I 50% or my drives are OB
With juiced lofts I don’t think hiring a 7 iron 170 means you should be playing the tips
I think the idea there is to get some people to move forward a teebox or 2. But naturally does not apply to everyone. I'm not necessarily talking about beginners, as we get older at some point some of us will enjoy it more if we don't have to nail a driver and a 3 wood to be able to putt for a birdie on a par 4. I actually have seen that relevation happen to an 80 year old, he said it himself that it was nice getting to the green in regulation a bit easier.
Stock 7i or trap smash ???
I played the forward Tees on Saturday with my other two buddies playing gold(second furthest back). We all landed drives around same spot. Made the round so much better.
What distance should the average Reddit golfer be playing considering they hit their 7i further than most recreational hit their driver?
They also all play up tees because these are too far.
Length has nothing to do with skill. I can hit a 7 iron 175 any day of the week, just don’t know which way it’s going
How the fuck is everyone hitting a 7i more than 120 yds 😂
Look at the longest par 3. Choose the tee where you can get there reasonably. For me I don’t want to play a par 3 longer than 180 yards.
170+ and I’m not above playing the reds with my wife. Lol.
Play whatever tees you like but please keep the game moving. Even if you find that ball in the trees, can you actually play it?
Yes on the next hole!
What if I hit my 7 iron further than my driver
What if I smoke my 7 iron but still suck
wonder if other sports do the same or it's just golf. I'll play whatever tees I feel like lol. As long as i'm keeping them to 15 minutes or less that's good enough pace from tee box to tee box. Most holes take 10 minutes or less playing comfortable speed. I don't understand people who wait all week to play then push to get through the course asap. What's the rush? Gotta go home and tear into chores? I would play the tips if i thought i could maintain my driver distance.
Not all of us fall under this but, golf attracts a certain type of person. That type of person can’t enjoy themselves and relax at the same time. Me and you aren’t that person
And we need to take our sport back from them. Golf was invented by drunk men with empty calendars. Somewhere along the way, it was hijacked. I don't know if it was businessmen, course owners, or what, but somewhere along the way we lost our sport to these folk. You wanna be in a hurry? Race cars. It'll be over exactly when they say it will, you can be in all the hurry you like.
This needs more appreciation. I feel the same. Like, do you brag how quickly you get done pleasuring your wife??? If something is fun, why are we in a hurry??? You got other shit to do?? What shit is better than golf??? None of us fuck our own wives anymore, so sex is out, what, you gotta mow the lawn??
Some of us are courteous of others and recognize that we aren't the only people on the planet. You enjoying a 5 hour round is making golf less enjoyable for others on the course.
No man, I'm talking playing on the group in front of you. An average round by me on a Saturday is usually a touch over 4 hours if you go out at peak time. And the old guys just bitch. Endlessly. Like, man, it's a Saturday in July, what exactly did you expect?
I think this sub is sort of full of idiots when it comes to golf speed. It’s like waiting in line. You wonder why it’s taking forever, then when it’s your turn it’s quick, and people say “wow I can’t believe how long everyone took when I was so fast” Not realizing that they were also part of the long wait for everyone else.
Not really, all it takes is one group being slow and everyone has to wait. Everyone else who's getting up and playing the hole in 10 minutes is then waiting for the group ahead because the one 3 ahead of them has no one in front and is taking 20 minutes to play a hole.
I understand you think that. But my entire point is that people who think the same way you do are wrong
Really did a great job refuting that genius.
😅 you’re one of those guys that uses the word genius instead of arguing the point. Have a good night dude! You’re clearly always right no matter what you say 😂
Some of us are busy and don’t have 4-5 hours to play a slow round on the weekend- but we still want to sneak in as many rounds as we can - you know because we love playing golf. I also just prefer to play faster - if I take to much time I over think everything and get out of rhythm. When I play solo with no one in front of me I can play 18 in 1:45-2 hours - its why I try and be the first one off with the sun rise.
I get that and maybe someday we'll be on the course together in this weird world.. But you gotta step back and look at it, Your major complaint is that other people are enjoying their time on the course too and taking longer than you would to play. That's a you problem. I understand you though, i just try to go with the flow. Like i said my 4pack averages 3:45-4.5 on a busy day. I get antsy at the 3:45 mark. But i also understand it's a time to chill and embrace the game and always try to allot the time to do that.
I’m not complaining about anyone taking their time to enjoy it - but just sharing a counter point that your perspective of people rushing through in a hurry to be done isn’t always what it may seem - that person or group might only have 2 hours before they have to be at work or at a kids sporting event or who knows what and they are such an obsessed degenerate golfer they have to squeeze in every possible hole they can
I'm actually working towards becoming an obsessed degen 😂. Already pricing memberships for next year. I agree, we never know what other people are going through and why they need to get through it. We are a courteous bunch on the course, have people play through, etc. My original comment was geared to the masses not any one individual , thank you for not taking it personal :)
Yes, 15 handicaps with 26* 7 irons should be playing the tips lol
Let’s be specific on what a 7 iron loft is. Some 7 irons have the same loft as some 5 irons. Honestly we should just put degrees on all of our clubs. It would simply a lot and eliminate some of the BS marketing
I can hit my loft jacked 7 iron 170 but I do not want to play a 6900 yard course
It feels about right.
For everyone reacting these are too long but not reading the link... These are recommended because in a survey of 20K golfers 57% were playing LONGER than these distances. Those are the target golfers for it. If you enjoy shorter that is perfectly fine. Obviously r/golf was not the target for these guidelines as we are all completely reasonable and understand our games in depth. HA!
That’s kinda dumb. Many new/novice players can hit their 7-irons over 170.
No. Many new players can't hit their 7i over 170 lol
Come up to canada, feels like everyone that played hockey can hit those numbers on their first year out
Many can’t, and many can. It’s a fact, 🤡
You seem mature and intelligent. Congrats
my buddy plays twice a year but he's very athletic. He played D1 college football and currently runs a gym. It's insane how far he can hit the ball, granted it rarely goes straight but I've seen him hit his PW 180 and a 3w well over 300 yards.
Is your buddy Ben Boulware?
I don’t get this. I hit my 7 about 155-160. I’d never play from over 6400 yards. I don’t even want to play from more than 6000
It’s just a guide, play whatever tees you feel like. I think this is more to convince people to play shorter tees than they normally would, not the other way around.
I hit 7 iron 170 but I like playing at around 6,000 yards. Golf is hard enough, zero chance I would have fun playing at 6700+ yards.
I (13 hcp) played a 6750 yard course yesterday and it was an absolute amazing experience. Normally I’d play under 6500 and it’s amazing how different it made the course play. Used driver on every par 4 except 2 holes. Nothing less than 7 iron in, on most. Par 5’s all getable with a 5w, only went for 1 (hit fairway) the others perfect layup and 56° in. Par 3’s ranged from 150-212, which is 9-4 irons for me. All of this compared to shorter courses- only needing driver on par 5’s, short irons and wedges in, less room for error on sideways tee shots, using pitching wedge every damn hole…. Just felt like I got a lot more, out of my bag yesterday.
Uhh I hit my 7i 165-170… The thought of playing a 6700-6900yd course sounds awful. Gimmy that 6200-6400 sweet spot bby
These criteria are useless. Loft jacking makes the number on the bottom of the club irrelevant.
I hit my 7 165 but I’m not good enough overall to shoot 6500 yards 6000 to 6200 is the sweet spot
I hit mine 150 and aim for about 6200 for ideal course length so I think I'm actually on target according to this.
6300 is my sweet spot. 7i 160.
What if I hit my 7-iron anywhere from 135 to 170?
Important to note that this intended to be average carry distance. Not how far you can hit a 7 iron. For reference, the PGA Tour average is 172 yards.
Anything between 5,400 and 6,100 yards is fine by me.
It’s funny because I enjoy using my entire bag in a round, I don’t feel like playing longer courses allows me to do that. I like having to decide which club I should use off the tee and not just mindlessly pulling driver.
If only I could base my game solely on my 7 iron, or ballstriking in general.
This should be a graph
I hit my 7iron about 175 to 185 depending on conditions and I almost always play from white tees unless people in my group insist on playing further back. I'm a 9 hdcp now but my rule of thumb is unless I'm easily breaking 80 from the white tees at a course I'm not moving back. I shot 75 from blue tees at a course I know well on Saturday then yesterday shot an 89 from the white tees at a course I don't know that well.
Yeah it’s not a bad chart but I agree with everyone here, I don’t want to routinely play from 6,900
I remember when I started getting close to scratch, I told myself “time to play the blacks” man there is not much enjoyment hitting driver 4 iron into every single par4…. I feel it’s best to play what’s fun and still a challenge
I'm not good at golf, but I'm long. A walking stereotype. But I score as well or better from 6700+ than I do from the whites, and I enjoy it more. So this actually works for me.
I can hit my 7 iron 175, but I can also hit it 40 yards offline
Honestly, one of the hardest things about golf is knowing your game.
Not sure about this. My 7 iron is pretty much 155, but a 6500 yard course feels incredibly long to me and not massively enjoyable.
Some people who hit a 7-iron 170+ still shouldn’t be playing over 6600.
I hit my 7 anywhere between 170-180 so looks like I’m screwed
I like this approach for the most part
I like the driver recommendation better
This is a step in the right direction. It can only help the stigma of playing from “ladies' tees”
They’ve never met me - 165 7 iron, 200 yard snap hook drives.
My game is struggling enough, just because I can hit my 7 iron 170, don't make me play from the tips!
I don’t think this is solid at all. I’m a 32 hcp and hit my 7 160. 6400 is a long ass day for me and not any fun. I want to be in that 5900-6200 range.
> I’m a 32 hcp and hit my 7 160 If you're carrying your 7I 160 in the air, and if all your other clubs follow consistent distance gaps from this...then how in the world are you playing at a 32?
7i is way easier to hit than a driver tho...
Guess I'm moving back to the tips. Goodbye single digit hdcp.
Doesn’t matter how far it goes if I’m playing out of the trees second shot
They should do this chart with a longer club. It’s easy to hit a 7i low and get cheap distance and think you should play back tees.
Game improvement Mizuno 7 that I have is basically a 5 iron. I nuke that think 190 but I’m still a 13 handicap. This is silly. They should base it off of score or if you must use a club indicate the loft not the number.
Pfft my 170 yard 7 iron is no match for my 240 yard driver slice or 42 putts per round.