When it comes to hitting the ball off the tee, remember to take driving distances with a grain of salt. You might be only averaging 210 yards (190 m) per drive at one course…and you hear of a friend that tells you he’s averaging 250 yards (227 m) per drive at his home course. However, when you play each other on the same course – you hit the same distance. What gives? You might think your friend is not telling you the truth about his distances…however, when you take in to consideration the various playing conditions of different courses around the country (and world), you might discover that your friend is actually being completely honest.
Take a look at the average driving distances by tournament his year so far on the PGA TOUR and you’ll see what I mean:
Mercedes-Benz Championship 252 (228 m)
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 268 (243 m)
PODS Championship 271 (246 m)
Verizon Hertiage 276 (250 m)
Buick Invitational 277 (251 m)
Zurich Classic of New Orleans 279 (253 m)
Honda Classic 281 (255 m)
Arnold Palmer Invitational 282 (256 m)
AT&T Classic 283 (257 m)
The Players Championship 285 (258 m)
EDS Byron Nelson 286 (259 m)
Shell Houston Open 290 (263 m)
Northern Trust Open 291 (264 m)
Bob Hope Chrysler Classic 292 (265 m)
FBR Open 293 (266 m)
Sony Open 295 (267 m)
Mayakoba Golf Classic 297 (269 m)
Wachovia Championship 297 (269 m)
Average = 283 (257 m)
If you play different courses, these differences are also useful to know for your iron play. Granted that you know how far you hit your clubs, within a few good shots of the first time you play a new course, you should be able to tell for the rest of the round approximately how much to add or subtract for your average shot. For example, if you regularly play TPC Scottsdale in Arizona and are planning a trip to play Pebble Beach in California, you should expect that your irons will go about 8-9% less at Pebble Beach.
Remember that this doesn’t only apply to courses in different cities. Even within your local area, different courses play different distances.
If you liked the article about the average PGA Tour driving distances and you think it would help another golfer, please
To learn more about Swing Man Golf products, click here.