True or false?
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Jim Kobylinski
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I'm assuming they use shotlink, if they do then it's probably not. However i'm willing to bet the fairways roll a good bit more.
I've played a couple courses before/after a tourney was in town (nationwide) and i magically was hitting the ball another 15 yards longer. I've posted an unscientific poll about this on a different website and people have seen their driving distance increae between 10-25 yards when a tourney comes through town.
I've played a couple courses before/after a tourney was in town (nationwide) and i magically was hitting the ball another 15 yards longer. I've posted an unscientific poll about this on a different website and people have seen their driving distance increae between 10-25 yards when a tourney comes through town.
Jared Willerson
Super Moderator
The premise of this post is based on Lorena Ochoa's driving distance. Which according to LPGA.com is around 280. That is dead middle of the pack according to PGA Tour statistics. Her number puts her around major champions like Retief Goosen and above others like David Toms (I know he has been hurt this year)
So, is Lorena long enough to play the PGA Tour? According to her posted driving distances she is. However there is anecdotal evidence to support otherwise, such as her hitting fairway wood from 180 in a recent tournament and hitting 7i into a 135 yard par 3 (wind was not a factor in either case).
The above shots do not jive with someone being able to hit driver 280. So I believe that women, based on very professional driver fittings can get close to men in terms of driver distance. However, compression and iron distances are another subject. Based on my very unscientific poll of the WITB section of Golf Digest magazine, women tend to have huge gaps from driver to the rest of their clubs and also seem to be about 2 clubs shorter than the average PGA Tour man with their irons.
So, is Lorena long enough to play the PGA Tour? According to her posted driving distances she is. However there is anecdotal evidence to support otherwise, such as her hitting fairway wood from 180 in a recent tournament and hitting 7i into a 135 yard par 3 (wind was not a factor in either case).
The above shots do not jive with someone being able to hit driver 280. So I believe that women, based on very professional driver fittings can get close to men in terms of driver distance. However, compression and iron distances are another subject. Based on my very unscientific poll of the WITB section of Golf Digest magazine, women tend to have huge gaps from driver to the rest of their clubs and also seem to be about 2 clubs shorter than the average PGA Tour man with their irons.
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tongzilla
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glcoach...how do you know my premise for this post? ...you are right.
we should measure their clubhead speeds rather than total driving distance to get a better idea of the fudamental differences.
thefuture37
Banned
The golf digest witb yardages always looked like for the men the driver yardages were for carry, while the women's driver yardages included roll. I remember sometimes they even indicated that some of the men's driver yardages were carry too.
I don't believe Ochoa is long enough to play with the men. Annika in her prime was just as long(longer than fred funk sometime too) but she didn't stand a chance when she played Colonial.
Jim Kobylinski
Super Moderator
coach is using the PGA Tour driving statistics on pgatour.com and the average is about 280-285 (he saw 280 and it was 285 last i calculated)
Interesting comparisons.... and who really knows for sure. The driving yardage calculations have always been a little confusing to me... which holes are used, are they downwind or into it... etc. It seems like I see those guys with the distance calculators on virtually every hole in the tour event these days..... so one would think that they get data on almost every hole sans the par-3's
Regardless.. I suspect most members of this board would have a hard time staying up with "the girls".
Robbo
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Little Brit
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Jim Kobylinski
Super Moderator
the way driving distance is calculated on the pga tour is they select two holes on the course they tend to be in opposite directions of the wind (to mimize the effect of the wind on length) and that they feel players will hit driver. however even if you tee'd off that hole with a 3 wood, it would be calculated in your "driving average"
benhogan55
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I agree something is amiss with the distances. I was fortunate to see both the PODS and Ginn events this year..some observations.
1. Pure sound
The crack/swoosh of drivers at impact no comparison....men
2. Trajectory..women hit it much lower thus the roll factor goes to the women.
3. iron divots...big difference..women tend to thin it..
4. second shot club selection....while this is just a guess...I would say that on the average the ladies hit at least one more club than I do (my 8 iron 145-150 my 5 iron 185) amazing how many woods/hybrids they hit.
Ginn was played from white tees blue tees mixed (2 par 5 I covered 492 and 511)
It had been several years since I had seen a ladies event and it still amazes me that their short games are still (IMO) far below the men.
1. Pure sound
The crack/swoosh of drivers at impact no comparison....men
2. Trajectory..women hit it much lower thus the roll factor goes to the women.
3. iron divots...big difference..women tend to thin it..
4. second shot club selection....while this is just a guess...I would say that on the average the ladies hit at least one more club than I do (my 8 iron 145-150 my 5 iron 185) amazing how many woods/hybrids they hit.
Ginn was played from white tees blue tees mixed (2 par 5 I covered 492 and 511)
It had been several years since I had seen a ladies event and it still amazes me that their short games are still (IMO) far below the men.
Jared Willerson
Super Moderator
That is good info. On a side note, I thought trackman was going to be more prominent in golf telecasts this year. Trackman started off with a bang in January, but I have heard little about them since.
I worked the ginn tribute last year (Rivertowne, SC). I have played the course 15 times or so...and have a good feel for the yardages on the course. My conclusions are as follows Laura Davies is still the longest and can carry it 255-260 on her best, Karen Sjodin (sp) is very close to that along with another scandinavian lady whose name escapes me.... (getting very old).
There is a group behind that ... maybe 240-245 carries..with Suzanne peterson, perhaps ochoa (she is supposed to be longer this year I'll see in May at the Ginn) and some others. I think the average lady was around 225 carry. Having said that, the scores were very impressive for a course that was setup reasonably long... and was very windy and actually cold for that time of year in Charleston.
My conclusion is that the distances are most definitely contrived, and not just with extra roll. I think some of the distances have to involve yardages figured from the middle of a tee box where the tee is up etc. But these are still some impressive players.
There is a group behind that ... maybe 240-245 carries..with Suzanne peterson, perhaps ochoa (she is supposed to be longer this year I'll see in May at the Ginn) and some others. I think the average lady was around 225 carry. Having said that, the scores were very impressive for a course that was setup reasonably long... and was very windy and actually cold for that time of year in Charleston.
My conclusion is that the distances are most definitely contrived, and not just with extra roll. I think some of the distances have to involve yardages figured from the middle of a tee box where the tee is up etc. But these are still some impressive players.
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