"Jack would be hitting it..."

[birdie_man]

...

Watched "The Shark Encounter" last night....interview on TGC with Greg Norman...

He said if you took Jack in his prime and put him out there today with today's courses and equipment he would be hitting it 360.

What do yall think?

How long was Jack?

Cause 360 is Bubba and J.B. long.

 

[rwh]

Maybe if they played in Hawaii every week; but, I think Greg has been sampling some of his wine.

Let's compare a really long hitter from 1992 -- John Daly. He was #1 in distance average that year with 283. Fred Couples was 5th at 275. In 2006, Bubba Watson is #1 at 319. John Daly is 5th with 307 -- one yard longer than Tiger at 307. Daly is hitting it only 24 yards longer now. So, lets give him his 1992 body -- how much more is he going to get? 10 - 12 yards?

There is no way Jack Nicklaus hit it farther than John Daly or Tiger.
Jack wasn't even the longest hitter of his era. The PGA Tour website for driving distance stats only goes back to 1980. In that year, Dan Pohl was the longest at 274, only 9 yards shorter than 1992 John Daly. Jack was #10 at 269 and Johnny Miller was 80th at 258. With today's equipment, I don't think Jack would be hitting in 90 yards farther than he did in 1980.

Jack's stats would be comparable to or a little shorter than Daly or Tiger as far as length.

 

[Brian Manzella]

The stallion...

...hit it 303 and 305 today at The New Orleans Country Club.

Me. All 175lbs. of used to be muscle.

Trust me, Tom Bartlett would be longer than Daly now and Mike Finney right up there.

Distance-wise, they could build a Wal-Mart between me and their balls.

Jack Nicklaus in about 1960-1965 would be long as JB Holmes.

No problem.

 

[dbl]

rwh, don't forget in using PGA Tour numbers, you are talking about averages of 2 holes per round. It also doesn't consider what clubs the player is using off the tee.

When GN referred to 360 for JN, I think he is talking about "good" long drives, using a driver, in good conditions...not an average.

Other examples of non-average drives: Wasn't Snead and others hitting it sometimes 300? Mike Austin near 500?

 

[rwh]

rwh, don't forget in using PGA Tour numbers, you are talking about averages of 2 holes per round. It also doesn't consider what clubs the player is using off the tee.

When GH referred to 360 for JN, I think he is talking about "good" long drives, using a driver, in good conditions...not an average.

Other examples of non-average drives: Wasn't Snead and others hitting it sometimes 300? Mike Austin near 500?

Good point, dbl. I would guess that any pro can hit it longer in a long drive format than they do in a medal score competition.

 

[bantamben2]

also you said you would be suprised if jack was hitting it 90 yard longer then in 1980 remeber in 80 jack was 40 years old. When jack was young he bombed it.

 

[mb6606]

How many guys hit a 1 iron today??
Jack had no problem.

 

[birdie_man]

All I know is that Brian posted a face on sequence of Jack in his prime a while back.....

I couldn't find it but I remember it blew my mind....just how athletic it looked.

I'm pretty sure it was black and white and you (Brian!) did a little analysis.

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

Snead was hitting it close to 300 yards back in the day with shaggy fairways, persimmon woods, and balata balls.

I bet Snead would be one of the longest today.

 

[bantamben2]

How many guys hit a 1 iron today??
Jack had no problem.

Just hit a 1 iron this weekend with mac ogrady i did better than i thought i would. mac hits it great though sounds like a cannon. although with todays balls the 1 iron is really obsolete it doesnt spin enough so you end up hitting your two iron just as far as the 1 even if you hit the 1 iron high.