Interesting new Article/research on what Yardage you should be playing.

[ssp]

What is the best course yardage for you? New tour data reveals a stark answer | How To | Golf Digest

 

1 old guide was your 5 iron yardage.  If you hit 5 iron 180 and multiply that by 36 = 6480 yard tee box should be played.

 

The article looks at avg Tour Driver Distance (at least Rory 326 yards) and Avg Tour Course Yardage 7300.  In summary you multiply your avg Tee Yardage by 4.473% to see how far you need to hit driver to match the Rory equation.

 

My numbers:

Old Calc -  5 iron 180 and multiply that by 36 = 6480 yard tee ( a good average number for my normal play)

New Calc - 6480 * 4.473% = 288.5 Yards Avg Driver.  .... Cough....  my average Driver is 235-240.  This indicates I should consider playing from 5300 yards to equate to Rory's situation.

 

A lot to digest on this one but thought it was worth sharing.

 

[vandyfan]

Will forever be one of my favorite topics. I generally prefer to play shorter. I did a calculation a while ago looking at the average distances into par 4s using shotlink data, etc. and found that I was playing longer (relative to my distance) courses than the tour pros were, which felt like insanity. I *can* hit a few drives that roll out to 285 but my overall average TOTAL is 267 yds. As such, I should be playing about 6,000 yd courses. This is what my tour research showed me as well.

 

All that to say, I feel like I am pissing into the wind. At my club EVERY male player under the age of 60 plays at least the blue tees which are 6,500 yds. Regardless of distance, handicap, fitness level, whatever. There are guys that are 20+ hdcps that poof the ball out there about 200 yds playing from 6,500 yds. It's crazy. So I can talk until I am blue in the face about the fact that most PGA tour players average a PW/9i into par 4s in regulation while the average member at my course averages a 7i into the par 4s but no one will listen. It's a shame. Whenever I play alone I play from the 6,000 yd tees but that is fairly rare. 

 

Also, the easier way to do this is to just divide your average drive by 0.04473. So for example I am 268 / 0.04473 = 5,991.504

Edited January 19, 2024 by vandyfan

[ssp]

 

 

[Maine Golfer]

I play so well on a public course 9 holes at  2071. 2 and 3 irons off the tee, is my tea. Do I wish I could drive the ball better, sure. But I enjoy my game for what I have. 

[KansasHacker]

I disagree with the premise, it’s not what distance you should be playing. It’s the distance you should play if you want pretend you are Rory.

[jvincent]

34 minutes ago, ssp said:

What is the best course yardage for you? New tour data reveals a stark answer | How To | Golf Digest

 

1 old guide was your 5 iron yardage.  If you hit 5 iron 180 and multiply that by 36 = 6480 yard tee box should be played.

 

The article looks at avg Tour Driver Distance (at least Rory 326 yards) and Avg Tour Course Yardage 7300.  In summary you multiply your avg Tee Yardage by 4.473% to see how far you need to hit driver to match the Rory equation.

 

My numbers:

Old Calc -  5 iron 180 and multiply that by 36 = 6480 yard tee ( a good average number for my normal play)

New Calc - 6480 * 4.473% = 288.5 Yards Avg Driver.  .... Cough....  my average Driver is 235-240.  This indicates I should consider playing from 5300 yards to equate to Rory's situation.

 

A lot to digest on this one but thought it was worth sharing.

 

 

The problem with those rules of thumbs is that they make a lot of assumptions about how long holes are, etc.

 

In reality, the first rule is play a length that you won't slow down play on the golf course, i.e. be respectful of other players. After that, play whatever distance you have the most enjoyment at. Personally playing a length that equates to driver-wedge on every hole is boring as hell.

 

At my course I typically play at 6500 yards. Depending on wind, tee locations, I'd say my approach clubs, assuming I don't go for any par 5's in two and hit a decent drive, are typically as follows:

 

LW, 8i, 9i, 8i, 4i, 7i, PW, 8i, 9i, LW, 5i, 8i, 5i, 7i, 6i, LW, GW, LW.

 

To me, that's fun. I get to hit a bunch of different clubs, including some longer ones. On the longer holes if I really hit a good drive it's a shorter club, or if I make a mistake I'm hitting something longer. If I moved up a tee box (500 yards shorter) the longest club I'd have is probably a 7i barring a terrible drive. It would be mostly wedges.

[elwhippy]

A lot of UK courses would need to build new tees. And which self respecting male is going to play off tees fifty or more yards in front of his friends? 

[bcjim]

38 minutes ago, KansasHacker said:

I disagree with the premise, it’s not what distance you should be playing. It’s the distance you should play if you want pretend you are Rory.

Agree.  If you want to feel like the best driver in the world for a day, by all means hit from 5000y or whatever.

[vandyfan]

1 hour ago, bcjim said:

If you want to feel like the best driver in the world for a day, by all means hit from 5000y or whatever.

 

Or the worst putter in the world when you still end up shooting relatively close to your normal score from 6,500 yds....ask me how i know. 

[ssp]

The other thing to consider with this article and numbers.  It really highlights the difference between the Pro game and Am game.  Should the rollback on the golf ball be the same for both?  Nothing indicates we should roll back the AM ball.  

Edited January 19, 2024 by ssp

[bluedot]

5 hours ago, KansasHacker said:

I disagree with the premise, it’s not what distance you should be playing. It’s the distance you should play if you want pretend you are Rory.

This is my understanding as well.  It wasn’t a recommendation; just a way of demonstrating how long McIlroy is.

Edited January 19, 2024 by bluedot

[Ross_Albatross]

3 hours ago, ssp said:

 

 

Weird way to put it, why not just say, your course length should be 24.325 * your driving average, which is as generalized and blended as the old 5i test.

 

As someone pointed out, I'm feeling this isn't a suggestion of tees rather an approximation of the tees you should play from to have an 'equivalent round as a Tour player' - in fact showing that everyone is making a tough sport even thougher on themselves compared to the pros

[Shilgy]

So the suggestion is we should all play the tees the rollback crowd decries as too short? So that we can all hit driver/short iron on every hole?

 

How exciting. /s

[Pepperturbo]

Golf Digest is NOT a source I chose to listen to.  Least of all, what tees I should play based on a new formula.  Next they will intrude and say what bathroom we should use. 

 

Good golf is about judgment, that which Golf Digest tends to lack.

 

My 5i is 170yds = 6120, though that's more inline, I can play that yardage without driver or 3wd and still score in the 70s.  Using driver and 3wd, I play yardages out to 6500yds, and score in the 70s.  As I see the subject, it's not so much what yardage we play but what are our scores from said yardage; that's what tells the story.  

 

That new formula is a concoction of... so someone can fantasize about...   I play in the real world of golf.

[ssp]

 This article is written as a 'Pro' comparison.  Not sure T box suggestions are really based on that.  Are the historical suggestions based on pace of play, handicap, yardage you hit Driver or 5 iron, whatever the hell you want to play?  Regardless .... it is some 'new to me' information that highlights a different metric that I thought was interesting.

 

[bluedot]

Everyone just relax; this was just for fun; it wasn’t meant to be any sort of a recommendation.  

[Hawkeye77]

So Rory would be predicted a 5 cap from 7900 yards?  Nah.  Too many variables in play, too many assumptions but have to give someone credit for trying to look at it differently and I don't feel like I'm having the Tour average experience on my course, lol, but haven't thought about it that closely and they really don't have a good way to translate it all to scoring which is what really matters.  

[iacas]

I've heard about this "formula" or guideline or whatever you want to call it for at least ten years. Golf Digest is just recycling this article, which they do from time to time.

[Greenie]

I use the 5i distance x36  method and I find it a good indicator of the correct yardage I should play. The formula mentioned in this post doesn't work out for me.

[Hawkeye77]

29 minutes ago, Greenie said:

I use the 5i distance x36  method and I find it a good indicator of the correct yardage I should play. The formula mentioned in this post doesn't work out for me.

I just look at the distances in mix of par 3s and par 5s for each set of tees or combo when available that looks good. 

[Birdman03]

20 hours ago, vandyfan said:

Will forever be one of my favorite topics. I generally prefer to play shorter. I did a calculation a while ago looking at the average distances into par 4s using shotlink data, etc. and found that I was playing longer (relative to my distance) courses than the tour pros were, which felt like insanity. I *can* hit a few drives that roll out to 285 but my overall average TOTAL is 267 yds. As such, I should be playing about 6,000 yd courses. This is what my tour research showed me as well.

 

All that to say, I feel like I am pissing into the wind. At my club EVERY male player under the age of 60 plays at least the blue tees which are 6,500 yds. Regardless of distance, handicap, fitness level, whatever. There are guys that are 20+ hdcps that poof the ball out there about 200 yds playing from 6,500 yds. It's crazy. So I can talk until I am blue in the face about the fact that most PGA tour players average a PW/9i into par 4s in regulation while the average member at my course averages a 7i into the par 4s but no one will listen. It's a shame. Whenever I play alone I play from the 6,000 yd tees but that is fairly rare. 

 

Also, the easier way to do this is to just divide your average drive by 0.04473. So for example I am 268 / 0.04473 = 5,991.504

Your post is one of the best summaries of this frequently debated topic.  The article itself is somewhat of a thought experiment, but it does lead one to think about the importance of playing hole lengths that fit your game.

 

The clubs you need to hit most frequently on GIR attempts are the key.  If pros are hitting mid and short irons on Par 4 approach shots and Par 3 tee balls, I want to do the same.  Average Joe rarely looks at the tee box he plays from that standpoint, but should do so a lot more often IMHO.