If you can divide the surface of the green into 4 quadrants, with the ability to hit the selected quadrant with short irons, then, you will have lower average for putt.
Our golf course used to divide the green into nonuplet , 9 parts for the green surface because this golf course has generous undulating putting surface. Pin sheets each morning will help tremendously to determine whether on the southside of the 36 putts or north of the 36.
Knowing the pin placement and the shape /slope of the green is essential for scoring low.
For the average Joe, take the driving distance, even putting is the next important segment.
I guess, even with the amateurs, there are so many level of skill and reception to this game.
I don’t know if this will answer your question, I always feel the driver, wedge and putter are the most important sticks in the golf bag.
The average golfers with the OEM been pumping out “new” models of drivers, then the putters and now the wedges. Maybe that will show the general agreement the driver ( distance) sell?
I have to tell you, I consider myself pretty deadly (for an amateur) with 8i on in. Deadly meaning I can get the ball to the middle of the green, probably 65-70% of the time from almost anywhere at the 8i on in distance. Doesn’t mean that I meet those expectations as it all depends on conditions. I very rarely shoot at sticks, I use the stick as a directional tool. If you are talking about quadrants as an amateur, you are a low single digit hdcp or a plus, talking about quadrants is way above most players paygrade including mine! We are happy to find FW & Green… Listening to that is like listening to Phil Michelsons interview with Feherty talking about striking the ball on the second groove as opposed to the third groove on his wedge and he was serious. That’s a different planet than 99.9% of the world. When i’m over the ball with an 8 iron on in, I fully expect to be able to get the ball legitimately on the green 80-85% of the time from the FW (getting in the FW is my problem) … and properly struck it’s going to go where I aimed it, it’s not going over if the back pin distance is 150ish, but at worst it’s going to be short, 10 yds from expected distance. I’m very confident I can hit it to the 12 yd circle I draw for myself. Out of rough, it’s definitely more dicey on direction, not so much on distance. My problem is 2 fold after we get below 8i, my GIR drops precipitously in accuracy and I might only get to hit 8i and below 9x per round if I’m striping everything AND then also not taking into consideration crummy tee shots. Rough, can and does twist the hosel and with that accurate direction for me drops to 25-30% with 8i - LW. I will also say I’m a good enough player to identify a flyer lie and that freaks my partners out. I could be 175 out and say, it’s a flyer lie…I’m hitting a 9i. and distance wise I’m spot on. They might hit their Drivers 180-190! I’ll frequently club my partners to help them out and make them understand some different things that a 7w out of a bit of ruff is going to travel way more than when they pull their 3 or 4 metal… they don’t understand how loft, lie and bounce really work and they’ve been playing for years. For the average Joe… I’m gonna say this one more time… 50 yards more distance off the tee just means deeper in the woods. For the average Joe…ball in play off the tee at a reasonable distance is what should be their premium… for the average Joe to score, they truly need an above average chipping and putting game… I played with 3 very nice young guys that not only couldn’t keep it on the planet, a 4 putt was the norm! The reason golf club and ball and now shoe companies make new stuff and claim more distance is because they know there is a huge percentage of the golfing population that is just believes in Jack’s Magic Beans. And some golfers are so obsessed they will spend their money on those Magic Beans and will continue to do so because as PT Barnum said: “There’s a sucker born every minute”. From experience… distance and accuracy does not come from Magic Beans. It does however, come from the Dirt!
Yes, but we’re not comparing apple to apple here. the professional’s 8 iron is 165-175 yards. Mine 8 iron is only 130-135 yards. Big difference there.
my 7/8 iron to the selected quadrants is probably 40-50% at best, better percentage with the front and back half. No chance even thinking of anything else but to get on the green with longer sticks. Anywhere close to the green if I have to pull out 3/4 woods.
So for my game I’d swap out making everything 8-10’ on the green to getting the distance back.
We’re on the opposite side of the coin as you prefer to make more putts on the green instead of more distance off the tee.
I prefer more distance to give me a chance to get close to where I want to land the golf ball for a better chance to make the putt.
Of course, professionals are playing 7,000+ yards and the weekend warriors are struggling with 6,500 yards muni courses.
I had the pleasure golf with collegiate golfers and top local amateurs; and I can honestly say, they play a different game. They will probably say the same if they play with the PGA professionals.
If your 8i is only traveling 135 and this is a strong ballpark guess your 5i is traveling 165-170. You should be probably maxxed out at 6200-6300yds. On a par 70 course I’m maxxed out at 6400yds or a 72 around 6600yds at 63 yo. But I hit my 5i 185-190ish. Not for me to tell you what to play, but I think you would have more fun at those distances than 6500yds. That’s why they make all of those tee boxes. I have played with PGA pros in my prime around 28-32 years old before I had kids. And I could play 6800-7000 yd courses and break 80 no problem. I did not have the short game and putter to play with them. They could get up and down off the roof of a golf cart and they never missed a short putt.
Most the tee I play are between 6,300-6,500. Summer months, will occasionally ventures out to 6,600-6,700 yards. These days I play like a low teens index. Just don’t have the enthusiasm to get on the driving range . I only go to the driving range when friends or wife need help for spotting.
Used to practice and play a lot more when I was younger. Body is pretty beat up. Had gone to Sports Spinal rehab earlier this year. Arthritis in the knees got better with the regiment of high dose fish oil but the swelling and the soreness in the hands are still with me everyday. This is caused by hitting all those hard surface when I did the martial arts during the Bruce Lee era, and decades of hitting range balls off the mat.
Pay back time.
I’m just glade to be able to still enjoy walking the golf course. A few of my friends had already moved on to other activities because their bodies could not handle this sport.
I’ll swap out the iron shafts in my set this winter and try out the graphite shafts next season. Had already gone from 130gm steel shafts to 110-120 gm. steel shaft already, so the next step is transition to graphite shafts in the irons.
Google “PGA recommended tees.” They use not only driver distance but 5 iron distance.
I’m 62 and play with many members of my golf club that are even older and shorter than I am. There are many, many of these guys playing the same tees I do (only about 6,000 yards), but they have never been on a par 4 in 2 shots. No idea why they don’t move up.
EGO! Plain and simple. These are the guys who spend money and search for The Magic Beans. These are the suckers that seem to think some magic new club will gain them yardage off their current iteration of a swing. This is a game to have fun with when you get older. I’m 63. Unless you are playing in tournaments… who honestly cares if you move around a bit. I rebuilt my swing, I will never gain the speed I had in my youth, not no way/not no how! But, I did dig up 40-50 yards out of the dirt with my woods, my iron game lost maybe 10 yards from years ago, but I still can hit a 50* 100, and my 38* 140 without stressing and pretty str8 out of the FW. So on a 400yd hole with 2 solid hits…it’s Dr 8i or 7i. On the 350 holes I can get away with a 3w and 9i. My 3 Partners… 1 keeps up with me he’s 64, one is 68 and the other is 72… I tell them to move up or I move back… it evens things out. Something has to give or they can’t play for any shekels whatsoever. You can play wherever you want, but it’s not a true test of your actual skill if every hole is Dr, FW wood, short pitch…
A general formula may apply to most of the golfers but certainly not for all the golfers.
As the static measuring for club fitting, it’s only a starting point. No harm done if someone follows the guideline to try it out for a round or two.
I’ll be 70 next year and I had only lost maybe 7-8% of my driver distance thanks to the new driver and the new golf balls. The department I’m lacking is the irons play. I had already storage my 1& 2 irons ( also the 58 & 60 degree wedges). Replacing them with hybrids and 54/56 degree wedges.
I had also witness a lot of the guys won’t move to the forward tee even they are using 3 woods for approach shots on most the par4s.
I guess it is a matter of pride, to want to keep up with their buddies on the men’s tee?
I will experiment the next time by the first one to announce to use the forward tee just to see if anyone will agree and follow my suggestion.
I’m really still comfortable hitting mid irons to the green on the average par 4s so actually no need to move up a set of tee, but it’ll be fun to play with the guys. I’ll use fairway woods or hybrids off the tee to stay with the group if it’s less than 360 yards par 4.
What is ure typical driver swing speed and ball speed at 70 may I ask?
These days? 93-98 depending on how I feel. 45" -45.5"
I need to declare that my irons are 1992 Apex with #4 steel. Am considering change back to X-14 PS with Rifle 6.0.
I have no comment. Other than 
…! Only because your 8 i is traveling 135….image|375x500 That was my best this year. Here’s where my 70 year old partner is
I mean your 8i is traveling 135 so the swing speed vs driver at 98 just isn’t translating unless your irons are an inch shorter than standard. My drivers are 46”. At that ss 8i should be 85 mph and carrying further than me probably 155-160ish. My 8 goes spot on 145. 82 mph. It’s pretty easy math today. At 70 you should easy have lost 15mph even if you are Superman. You had Pro Tour swing speed in your youth. Amazing!
135 is the top of the range, I should count on the 8i 128-130 yds. in the air. My short irons do not run-out. Already lost the back spin from my youth. I wish I can carry my Apex 8 iron 135 yards, that’ll make me feel like 35 again. Wait, that’s before I had my first born.
In winter months, With the frost on the fairway, I can still carry my 8 iron close to 130 ( slick ground increase club head going through the turf, get it?) but usually 122-125 is stock distance in cooler temperature for this set of irons.
I’m eyeballing my wife’s Callaway BB with senior graphite shafts. She won’t let me have it unless, of course I’ll get her a new set of irons.
The issue with the older model iron sets with graphite shafts, the OEM just extend the length 1/2"-1" to get the same swing weight with the stock iron heads.
Unlike today, some will have light weight heads for lighter shaft weight. Callaway and Ping later played with the weight on the badge in the cavity to adjust the head weight. I don’t think my wife’s set has that feature.
Thought about drilling out portion of the hosel to adjust the weight for a shorter shaft length but wife stopped me. She does not like anyone to mess with her stuff. Even when I fix and repair all my friends golf clubs.
Lots of reasons why an 8-iron might not be swung as efficiently as a driver (though for me, it’s the other way around), and carry distance for a given iron is going to really depend on dynamic loft and spin.
From this chart we can see that a 135 carry on an 8, falls between 93 and a 100 driver speed (130 and 143 yds, respectively) Lots of slop in those numbers too. I don’t find Dew’s stated carries to be out of the norm, given that chart.
(Me, I swing my 8-iron at ~87 at 36.5", but usually top out at 155-ish distance, and far more often it’s in the 145s. I am really trying to replicate the feel of a 48 wedge I have that, at about 35.5", I averaged around 88 MPH with in the same session. No, I don’t know why a 1 inch longer club averaged 1 MPH slower, but I’d like to fix it.)
Big fan of this 1K Orange I just stuck in the Driver. 45.5" long, but more controlled strikes than some other 44.5 and 45" shafts I’d been trying. Golf is weird.
Yes, a lot of variables involved here. And no one chart should dominate the whole golfing population.
Data are good to narrow the chase down, but also can be misleading at some point.
Same as information, interpretation of the information is just as important as receiving it.
Jay it’s not just that. Unless someone has found the fountain of youth, it doesn’t translate. I know what I’ve lost from 40 to 50 to 60 to even 63. We’re talking 70 here. If the man says so, all I can say is more power to him. I can tell you at my club one of the best players in his 50s was busting it 290+ He turned 69 this year and physically looks exactly the same as he did 20 years ago and is barely out there 250 now. He said I swing exactly the same way I always have, I still go after it! The ball at age 70 does not go as far, period, full stop! The speed is just not there. Next year at 70 he moves to the golds in tournaments… that’s gonna be scary.
Oh, absolutely. All I’m saying is that 8 iron carry seems to be aligned with someone claiming 98-ish driver speed. Not all saying anything about the likelihood of a >70 year old rocking that speed.
However, see this article at GolfWRX, where some biomechanics guy is trying to assess swing speed potential by looking at performance on various physical activities: jumping height, shot put, etc… The analysis is broken down by age cohort. Looking at the younger participants, it looks like the study population was biased towards enthusiasts, to be kind, and even among those enthusiasts, that swing speed is somewhere in the 75th-90th percentile. With 100 being the fastest.
I.e., it ain’t slow.
You are data driven. If you happen to be around here next season, I’ll be honored to have a round with you.
Chances for me to go on a vacation is very slim. Still recovering from sending all my kids through grad-schools ( half of them out of State).
Another flip, I’m on the petite side for men. But I tees up with others in the pro sports business in the past and not being left behind.
These were the guys 6"-10" over me and at least have 50-60 lbs. advantage on body weight.
The course marshal had driven out to watch us play because those guys insisted teeing off from the tip. Back then I was pretty good with my 4 wood and 3 iron. Not needing the 4 wood unless I made a bad tee shot.
Same course marshal saw me weeks later and asked me to hit a driver he brought along, remember it was some Taylor Made driver with XS shaft in it. I hit an okay tee shot, with no one else around, he asked me to hit another one, which I did better.
Not saying that you doubt my numbers, I would, too. In this game seeing is believing. I was the kind of guy who will stick to the rule book and not socializing much when I was playing. Much more relaxed these days.
Yes, I lost distance comparing to my younger days.
With 43" TTDG S-400 persimmon woods I average 260-290 on a well struck tee shot. But that was long ago.
The strength came from the lower body, not so much the upper part. So no, I am not built like Ian Woosnam, but I am taller than he is.
Although shrinking a bit in the last 5 years after all the joints compacted down from aging.
There is no glory in fabricating any part of my game. I am not some guy on the other site who will drive over 300 yards and 6 iron over 200 yards. Not many golfers can do that on the average, not even the professionals unless they wish to hurt themselves.