Long drives.

Whats your longest ever, non wind assisted drive.

Mine comes in at 360yds, par 4 404 yards16th hole at redlibbets golf course, Kent. I was having a terrible round, I turned to my playing partner who wasn't fairing much better and said, 'lets have a longest drive hole here'. He hit a sweet one straight down the middle, about 300yds. I stood up, smacked it down the fairway, it carried to his ball, then rolled another 60yds.

Ive always found there's nothing like a little competition to focus the mind. I ended that round birdie, par, par.

Are you showing off or really asking a question to everyone

Guess you set a benchmark for yourself when you participate in a GST comp 

For the banter, when I played frequently around 7 years ago I managed about 370 yards.  To be honest I hit a sweet drive with draw about 270 carry and then it rolled another 20 yards before rolling 90 yards down a slope   lovely feeling but the downard stance didn't help hitting 130 to the green.  Needless to say I fluffed the rest and ended with a bogey 6

Regards,

Darren.

Nope, not showing off. When you have a short game like mine, there's nothing to show off.

Just trying to get a bit of banter going. I often use long drive and nearest pin comps with playing partners, to get a bit of focus back on a bad round. It often works but not always.

What do others find helps?

As I said, my short game is pretty poor at times. Many has the time been, when Ive nearly drove short to mid ranged par 4's and come away with, 6's, 7's or even 8's. Its the bane of my life.

I'd say a 2 on a par five, is alot tougher, and thus more sort after than a hole in one.

No Paul. Being 6ft 5" and 19 stone helps. If you see my short game you'd see why Im off 18. As I've said in a previous post, Im trying to get down to arround the 12 mark. Which I was, about 7 years ago, the stopped playing for a couple of years.

I think the longest potential shot I ever hit was on the Driving Range. A few years back I was at my local range, and swinging the diver well, constantly hitting the back fence of the range at 250 yds. Then in ammong the balls was a proper golf ball, so i thought to myself, 'lets give this a go'. I hit it as clean as a whistle, It cleared the back fence, and struck a big tree, some 20 yds past the fence. Who  knows how far that would have gone on a fairway. I should really spend time on my short game when at the range, but i just cant help it.

About 280 yards downhill in a comp, 5 yards further than the longest drive marker.  Unfortunately, my first effort off the tee disappeared into a cornfield so the drive was my 3rd shot.  Doh!

With my new driver I can spank it 300 yards easily, if I knew where it was going that would be a bonus

You are playing for the south i take it Greig?

How about you enormous hitters turning up at the UK Golf Show this week and competing in the Long Drive competition?  Such competitions are the only way of accurately measuring your TRUE hitting distance. I take all other measurements with a very large pinch of salt!  Golf course hole lengths can be 'miles' out, as can computer equipment. You cannot beat a tape measure on a flat piece of ground.  See if you can outhit a very old man - me.   

Having seen you drive a ball, Ivan, I will bet anything that none of them are in your class. Even Danny would not beat you.

HELLO JOHN! I did not know that you wrote here! Have you quit Virtual Golf Society's forum, or do you still hang on in there? I quit because of the stirrers. There are good stirrers and bad stirrers. Many of the bad stirrers do not even play golf. Least not more than once a year. I now write on the L.D. forum www.incepta.ca  It's mostly Yanks writing there, and just like you most of them have impeccable manners.  But they do tend to call you 'Buddy' which takes some getting used to.

John, I enter the season strong and healthy (after months of intensive gym work) and with much better equipment. but nevertheless am looking forward to again taking some good thrashings. I really do not mind, provided I hit my best.  What is important is that newcomers are persuaded to enter my fringe golf sport so that it can become as strong in Europe as in its USA homeland where it is massive. I hope that my small aged vegan built  frame will encourage the young guns to take me apart, and they probably will!

If you do not attend the Golf Show John I hope that we meet again soon. 

Your friend,

the Viper 

Ivan - Dont take this the wrong way, but its good to find you again. I used to really enjoy reading your amusing postings on VGS, so I`m glad to find somewhere were I can read them again. Take care and have a good season - Ian

Ian. Thanks for your very kind intelligence.  Nice photo. I sent my photo in twice but a golf ball was published instead.  Do I look like a golfball? Hmmm, maybe I do. It's the absence of a toupee I suppose! It's the dimples which I take offence to. Already I like this site, particularly as everyone has a name: No permitted registration without details, and hiding behind a pseudonym.  I'm off to the dentist now. Has anyone worked out why any toothache usually appears just before a tournament, a holiday, or something else important?  

I like the sound of that long drive comp. Shame its way up north.

Will they have one at the london show? 

I must say Ivan I dont understand how course yardage can be miles out.

Mine was with no wind or rain or snow not down hill or fast fairways and was just about 410 yards....

My daughters Wii is brilliant......

Danny, I played with Ivan at his home club in Corby and the first, off the yellow tees is 316 yds and he was past pin high to the left of the green with a three wood. The second which was 343 yds he pitched into the upslope in front of the green and stopped dead.

During the round he did have some disastrous drives but those that he  got square went out of sight.

You are certainly a long hitter, but this guy is really something else and for his age, absolutely amazing.

Ivan, will hopefully pop and say hello.  Definitely won't be having a go

Regards, Darren.

golfshake.com - founder/developer/support/sometimes golfer  

An unsurprising fact

Last year I always thought I had the potential to be a long driver, however I've since reigned back my swing and actually try to sweep the ball quite gently off the tee.  The result, unsurprisingly, is that I now hit the ball about 200 - 210 yds (that's according to the remarkably accurate Google Earth) instead of the 240 - 250 I was capable of before.  The downside is of course that second shots are always longer, but I now hit (according to the stats board) 54% of fairways instead of last years 22% - typically 9 instead of 3 and my handicap has dropped.

Why has it taken me so long to realise this?

if i can see it, its short.

if i cant, its long

or in the rough, or i skyed it or totally missed.

Danny,

I know nothing about the London Golf Show except that I think that the driving is measured indoors - hitting onto a screen - using Trackman or some other similar equipment.  Never take computer readings seriously except for monitoring progress, on the same machine of course - assuming that it has not been dropped between sessions! True Long Drive is only played on grass.  (I hear several indoor L.D. champs. about to riot).

You ask how course measurements can be so far out. I regularly ask that question! According to course measurements I have hit 392 yards uphill on a lousy wet day. If only!  Conversely,  I have hit a blinder on a 400 yards hole; got to my ball and found that I had a second hit of 200 yards facing me.  Once one knows how far one really hits, and after adjusting for weather etc., one quickly realises how far out many hole measurements are. Most holes are however are reasonably accurate. A big hitter will reproduce his / her length regularly anywhere, but 5% - 10% performance varyance is normal depending on how our body functions on any particular day.    

There are some MASSIVE hitters in the UK which I very much want to seduce into LD.  Usually they do not appreciate how good they are! The UK Golf Show gives them a chance to find out. (No, I personally have nothing to do with ownership etc. of the show).

Darren,

I am sure that at the UK Golf Show there will be many hours during the first three days when no-one is hitting. I encourage everyone to have a go and find out exactly how far they really hit.  Take a deep breath before you hit and wrap yourself in an imaginary protective bubble. All spectators at L.D. want everyone to hit well and are totally supportive. Any ribald shouts are only made  between close LD Tour friends. There is none of the spectator nonsense which other sports suffer from.

Yes, please say "Hello."  My wife (a photographer) will be around on Sunday. If you want a digital photo of you hitting taking then have a word with her.

Best wishes,

Viper 

Then JP why does big bubba not win every tour event? Thats average drive. My average drive is probably about 200 yards.

Driving well does not win tournaments, Danny, you know that as well as anyone. The guys who putt well under pressure are usually the winners. None better than the Tiger.

Most golf forums suffer with the delusional J P. If you watch carefully it always the very high handicappers that hit it over three hundred yards. They must hit their putts the same distance.

I can hit over 300 yards but not regularly. Hitting flat out and reaching 350 yards every now and then doesn't compare with a pro that can hit a ball 350 yards regularly with comparative ease.

Have a look at this page, http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/info/?159 and a 360 yard drive, the longest ever over 10 years of playing golf, is quite modest. 

You are obviously scrambling better than me, Graham, as my distances are the same as yours, apart from the driver, mine are 180/200 yds, yet my handicap is 14.5.

Graham, the yardages you quote are similar to mine and looking at your handicap it gives me hope.  Just need to work on accuracy and short game now.