Do You REALLY Know Your Yardages?

During my time coaching students and playing golf with many amateurs, whether it is in a Pro AM, Mens Night, or just a casual round of golf, I have come to realize that avid golfers have a pretty good idea of how far they hit each club. However, nearly all of them have no idea of how far the ball carries with each club.

This is some crucial information and can help you instantly save strokes in every round you play. Below is a student of mine’s Trackman report showing the distance that he hits each club in his bag. However, if you only know each clubs total yardage, and don’t know how far you carry each club, you only have half the information.

Now you may be wondering “why do I need to know how far each club carries?”. Lets have a look at a scenario that demonstrates why this can save you strokes every round. Many of you may be familiar with Tor Hill Golf Course in Regina. We are going to put “Bill”, not his real name, on hole number 7 East, a par 5 measuring 520 yards. Bill has hit a good drive and a good lay up shot into the fairway leaving himself 125 yards to a front pin. Bill knows that he hits his 8 iron around 125 yards (126.6 to be exact). He pulls his 8 iron out, makes a good swing, hits the ball perfectly solid, watches the ball fly towards the hole only to land in the front bunker that was a 120 yard carry to clear. Now Bill isn’t a great bunker player, he then leaves his first bunker shot in the bunker,  hits it 35 feet past the hole on his next shot, then 3 putts and walks of the green with an eight, ruining what had been a great round. He then walks of the green and says to his playing partners, “ I only had 125 yards into that hole, I usually hit my eight iron 125. I must have miss hit it to end up in the bunker.” when in actuality he hit that shot perfect, It was the wrong club.

Below we see how far Bill carries each of his clubs.

What we notice is that Bill only carries his 8 iron 118 yards. That is why his ball ended up in the front bunker that was 120 yards to carry. If Bill would have hit his 7 iron which he carries 131 yards it would have left him about a 25 foot putt from beyond the hole for birdie. If Bill two putts he ends up walking off the hole with a par five instead of an eight, and his great round continues.

Now that you understand why it is so crucially important to not only know how far you hit your clubs, but to also know how far you carry each club, hopefully you will not make this same mistake.

Thanks for taking time out of your day to read my ramblings.

See you in the fairway…

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PGA of Canada – Saskatchewan Zone Professional Kevin Dietz is a regular contributor to the SaskGolfer community. For help with your golf game, contact Kevin via his website at www.reginagolflessons.com