Driver and 7-iron by handicap

These come from data published by Arccos, which makes sensors that screw into the grip and record every shot. The numbers are total distance, carry plus roll, for male golfers, rounded.

Handicap	Driver	7-iron
Scratch to 5	255 to 260 yards	155 yards
6 to 10	240	147
11 to 15	225	140
16 to 20	213	134
Over 20	197	123
Tour professionals	About 300	About 175

Two things jump out. The gap between a 20-handicapper and a scratch player is about sixty yards with the driver and thirty with a 7-iron, which is less than most people guess. And the step from scratch to a tour player is bigger than the step from a 20 to scratch. The overall amateur 7-iron average in an older Arccos study was 143 yards, and it hasn't moved much since.

Age matters too. The same data shows 7-iron distance dropping around four yards per decade, from about 164 yards for players in their twenties to about 140 for players over sixty.

A full bag, two typical players

Roughly what a 15-handicap man and a mid-handicap woman might see, total distance, in yards. Treat each column as a shape rather than a target. Your gaps between clubs matter more than the absolute numbers.

Club	Man, 15 handicap	Woman, mid handicap
Driver	220	170
3-wood	205	155
5-wood	190	145
4-hybrid	180	135
5-iron	165	125
6-iron	155	117
7-iron	140	108
8-iron	130	100
9-iron	120	90
Pitching wedge	110	80
Gap wedge	95	70
Sand wedge	80	60
Lob wedge	65	50

Notice the 3-wood and the 5-wood are fifteen yards apart but the 5-wood and the 4-hybrid are ten. The top of the bag bunches up for most amateurs, which is why a lot of mid-handicappers carry a driver, one fairway wood and one hybrid and are happier for it.

Carry and total are different numbers

Carry is how far the ball flies before it lands. Total adds the bounce and roll. On a firm fairway a driver might roll out thirty yards. On a soft one, five. Irons roll a lot less, maybe five to ten yards. When a launch monitor tells you 7-iron 150, it usually means carry. When you pace it off on the course, you're measuring total. Know which one you're talking about before you pick a club over water.

Why the range lies to you

Range balls are built to last, not to fly. Most are limited-flight balls that go 5 to 10% shorter than the ball you play, and they also spin differently so they curve less. Mats hide fat shots, because the club skids along the rubber instead of digging in, so a shot you'd have chunked thirty yards short on grass looks fine. And the 150 sign at your range may or may not be 150 yards from your particular mat.

Then there's memory. You remember the 7-iron that flew 155 and forget the four that went 135. The number you carry in your head for each club is usually your best, not your average, and that's why so many approach shots finish short.

How to find your real numbers

• On the course, with a rangefinder or GPS. Shoot the distance before you hit, then walk to the ball and shoot it again or pace it off. Write it down. Twenty rounds of this and you'll know your distances better than any session on a monitor.
• On a launch monitor. Many ranges and golf shops have one. Hit ten balls with each club, throw out the worst two and the best one, and take the middle of what's left. Ask whether the numbers are carry or total.
• On the range, as a check. Pick a flag, hit ten balls at it with one club, and count how many finished within a club-length of pin high. If most are short, your number for that club is wrong.
• With a shot-tracking app or sensors. They do the recording for you across every round, which is where the tables above come from.

Whatever you use, use the median, not the best. The best shot is the exception.

Gapping: the distance between clubs

Irons are built to go about 10 to 15 yards apart. Wedges are closer, maybe 10 to 12. If your 8-iron and 9-iron go the same distance, either the lofts are wrong, which a shop can check and bend in a few minutes, or your strike is inconsistent enough that the clubs don't matter yet. If your driver and 3-wood go the same distance, the driver isn't being hit on the face or launching high enough, and the fix is more often in the setup than the club. Video from behind you will show the ball position and the tee height straight away. Down the line or face-on covers which angle shows what.

Pick tees that fit your driver

A simple guideline that the governing bodies promoted a few years ago: multiply your driver distance by 28 to get a total course yardage that fits your game. A 220-yard driver points to about 6,150 yards. A 170-yard driver points to about 4,750. Most men play tees that are too long for them, and the game is more fun from the right ones. Moving up is also the fastest way to break 100.

Questions

How far should a beginner hit a 7-iron?

Anything from 100 to 130 yards is normal in the first year, and 90 is fine. Distance comes from a centered strike more than from effort, and a centered strike takes a while.

Why do I hit my 3-wood as far as my driver?

Usually because the 3-wood has more loft, so a mediocre strike still gets the ball airborne, while the same strike with a driver produces a low, spinning slice that dies. A driver hit well will always go farther. Hit well is the catch.

Does swing speed convert to distance?

Roughly two and a half yards of driver distance for every mile an hour of club speed, with a good strike. A 90 mph swing is about 225 yards of potential. Most amateurs get a good deal less than their potential because of where on the face they hit it.

How far do tour players really hit a 7-iron?

Around 170 to 180 yards of carry for the men, and about 140 to 150 for the women on tour. Far, but not as far as television makes it look, and most of the difference from you is club speed and strike rather than some secret.

Can my phone measure my distances?

Not from video, no. A camera can't tell how far the ball went once it leaves the frame, and Impact Reel doesn't try to. What it does show you is the start line and the curve of each shot, through a shot tracer you mark by hand, and that's where a lot of distance goes missing. A ball that starts twenty yards right and curves farther right is losing yards you'd rather have. How to add a shot tracer on iPhone explains the marking.