How far do you hit your 5 Iron?

You will here this question or “what club do you use to hit 150 yards?” Either way, you should have a answer.  Why, because if you are wanting to score better, then this is good information to have.

If you walk up to any Pro Golfer and ask “How far do you hit your 6 iron?” Their answer will be something like “163 Yards” not 160 yards or 165 yards, it will be 163 yards, they will know exactly how far they hit each club.  The better Pro’s will know how far they hit all their clubs in different weather conditions, different altitudes, etc.  You give them a situation or climate and they will know how far they hit the clubs in their bag.

For us weekend warriors we do not need to know exactly how far we hit each club, but we should have a good idea.  We need to be close, 5 yard increments is probably fine for us. This information is good for scoring and for safety.  For instance, A new golfer is out on the course.  He is 150 yards to center of green.  He does not know what club he uses for 150 yards so he grabs his 3 wood.  He sends his ball through the windshield of a brand new Caddy in the parking lot,  Loses $5.00 skin, and worst of all he got a quadruple bogey.  But worse than that, he could have actually hurt someone.

OK, what do you do?  After you have had a few lessons, get out to a driving range, preferably a driving range that allows you to hit off the grass.  You might want to take several trips to the driving range.  Each time you go try to hit 10 to 15 balls with each club and make notes as to distance.  Once you know these numbers, you will see your scores drop and your enthusiasm for the game rise.

If you do not have the time to measure each and every club, then just take your 5 Iron.  Lets say that after a few trips to the range, you have determined that you hit your 5 iron 160 yards.  You can now estimate 10 yards per club in either direction.  Your 6 iron 150 yards and your 4 iron 170 yards, etc.

Now you are ready to see a yardage marker, pace off your ball and put it in the center of the green.

So I will ask you again.  How far do you hit your 5 iron?