Golf Club Distances

Consistency is very important in the game of golf. A repeatable swing and knowing how far you hit each club will help any player achieve this elusive goal of getting the ball where you want it to land. When I play with someone I always ask what distances they get with a wedge, 9 iron, 7 iron, 3 wood and the driver. It tells me very quickly how long my to be golf partner has played the game…

The yardage you get with each club depends on a lot of factors: the clubs you use, the balls you use, the conditions under which you play (fairway condition, roughness of the ground, how much wind, how warm your body is, how relaxed you are), your gender and age, your physical fitness, coordination and athleticism, your swing speed, how solid you hit the ball, etc.

So distance varies from golfer to golfer. One person’s 7-iron distance is another person’s 5-iron distance. There is no wrong golf club distance, but your own distance. Knowing your distances (yardage) is much more important than knowing how far each club is “supposed” to go.

While PGA Tour pros hit their drives 300 +, most weekend golfers hit it around 190-200 yards with our drivers.

You get an idea of whether you are a “long” hitter or “short” hitter by playing golf and comparing yourself to those you play with. There’s nothing wrong in being a short hitter, and being a long hitter doesn’t guarantee anything, and certainly not a lower score.

Hitting the ball far doesn’t matter at all if you can’t also hit it straight or then get the ball on the green. The short game is the decisive part of the round, an putting is critical to lower your score. As the saying goes “you drive for show and you put for dough”

The yardages listed in the chart below show a range for amateurs, and represent short hitters, mid hitters and long hitters. (There are, of course, people who hit it longer, just as there are people who hit it shorter.)

Hybrids are numbered based on the iron they are intended to replace. A 4-hybrid, for example, is numbered 4 because the manufacturer says it replaces a 4-iron. A 5-hybrid is equivalent to a 5-iron, and so on. Hybrids are easier to hit than irons and are more forgiving.