Golf Club Distance Chart

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This golf club distance chart will help provide you with a guide to how far you should hit your golf clubs. You’ll also be able to tell what level you’re at compared to the pros and how increasing your swing speed will impact your yardage.

golf driving range

Golf Club Distance Chart by Swing Speed

This table from Trackman shows the average distance for golf clubs based on the swing speed of a driver. Of course, your distances will vary based on how well you’re striking the ball, but this cheat sheet should give you a good idea of how far you can expect your clubs to go when hit well.

Note that these are carry numbers. So you might expect from 0-10 yards of extra distance depending on the club, how it’s struck, and where it lands.

60708090
LPGA
100110
PGA
120130140
Driver (total)155181206232258284310335361
Driver (carry)144168192216240264288312336
3-Wood130152174195217239260282304
5-Wood123144164185205226246267288
Hybrid121141161181201221241261281
3-Iron114133151170189208227246265
4-Iron109127145163181199218236254
5-Iron104121139156173191208225243
6-Iron98114131147163180196212229
7-Iron92108123138154169184200215
8-Iron86100114129143157171186200
9-Iron7993106119132145159172185
PW738597109121134146158170
Distance (yds) by Swing Speed (mph)

Printable Golf Club Distance Chart

If you’d like to print this chart out, click on the image below or download this golf club distance chart pdf.

golf club distance chart

Average Swing Speed by Player Type

Here are the average swing speeds by type of player. These numbers vary widely, especially among amateurs, but they can give you an idea of where you stand among your peers.

Player TypeAverage Driver Swing Speed
Average Female80 mph (79-87)
Average Male94 mph (80-100)
LPGA94 mph (90-100)
PGA Tour113 mph (110-120)
Long Drive Competitor135 mph (130-157)

Average Swing Speed by Handicap

The distance you can hit your clubs directly correlates with your potential handicap. Of course, your actual handicap number will vary based on all the factors of your game, but these are the expected averages for males and females.

Male HandicapAverage Driver Swing Speed
Scratch or better110 mph
5 hcp101 mph
10 hcp95 mph
14.5 hcp (average golfer)94 mph
17.5-22.4 hcp (bogey golfer)92 mph
Female HandicapAverage Driver Swing Speed
Scratch or better90 mph
5 hcp87 mph
10 hcp83 mph
15 hcp79 mph

Average Driver Distance by Age

The table below shows the average driving distance by age. Your actual numbers will vary based on your fitness and skill. As people age, they tend to lose fast twitch muscle fiber and flexibility unless they’re actively working to maintain them.

AgeDriver Distance
20-29239.7 – 243
30-39233.7 – 241
40-49225.9 – 232
50-59215.4 – 224
60-69204.5 – 212
70+190.4 – 196
Data from Arccos & Shotscope

How to Find Your Driver Swing Speed

There are several ways to find your swing speed to place yourself on this chart.

The simplest way is to get the yardage for one of your clubs, such as the driver, and match that yardage to the chart. You should find one of the columns closely matches your yardages. Ensure you’re tracking average yardage and not your best drive to get accurate numbers.

Here are several other ways:

  • Use a golf simulator to get an accurate swing speed number. A device like a Trackman or a Skytrak should be able to provide you with this data. If you don’t have a simulator, you may be able to find somewhere nearby where you can rent time in a simulator bay.
  • Use a launch monitor like the PRGR (around $200), which accurately measures speed.

How to Make Your Own Club Distance Card

Arccos caddie club distance
Arccos Caddie club distances

To make your own club distance card, you’ll need to start by measuring each club’s carry and/or total distance. There are several ways to get this data:

  • A golf simulator (you can rent simulator time if you don’t have access)
  • A launch monitor (such as the PRGR mentioned above)
  • A golf tracker (such as the Arccos Caddie)
  • A range finder and some time at the driving range (this approach is less precise and takes extra effort)
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Choose which data is most helpful. For example, carry distances are useful for hitting a green or ensuring you can get over trouble, and the total distance helps you know your range. You can also track distances for partial swings (like a 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4 wedge).

After you’ve gathered all the numbers, there are several ways you can use them to make your club choices easier on the course:

  • Paper – the most basic way is to write them down on some note paper; you can use the templates below for an idea of what to write down.
  • Phone – you can save these numbers as a note or document for reference if your phone is easily accessible during your golf round. Apps like the Arccos Caddie (mentioned above) will also track this for you.
  • Print Out – we’ve included some sample templates below to give you ideas on how to design a card.
club distance cards
Sample club distance cards
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Once you have your distance card, you can laminate and carry it, put it in a scorecard holder, attach it to your bag with a bag tag holder, or tape it to your push cart.

FAQs

How far should I hit my irons?

You should expect to hit a 7-iron between 130 and 160 yards. Each iron should vary by about 8 to 10 yards (e.g., if your 7 goes 150, your 8 should go around 140). This will change depending on your swing speed, which is related to your technique, flexibility, fitness, and height.

What is the average golf drive distance?

An average male swings the driver at 94 mph, traveling around 240 yards. However, most amateurs don’t hit the ball perfectly, so this will often fall short of this potential yardage when mishit.

A PGA Tour player hits the driver an average of 295 yards (some are much longer, like DeChambeau at 320 yds). An LPGA player drives the ball around 240 yards in total.

What is the fastest swing speed?

In 2021 Kyle Berkshire hit a ball speed of 233.4 mph with a swing speed of 153.3 mph. His swing speeds have been slightly higher, but ball speed ultimately factors most into the distance.

Sources:

Comments

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7 Comments

  1. Avatar for JOHN T. HARTMANN

    JOHN T. HARTMANN

    Last check, my golf swing speed has been around 98 to 100mph. So as a reference I hit my 7-Iron about 165yds on average, pitching wedge would be 130 to 140yds and driver 230 to 260yds depending upon contact and degree of flight.
    I can handle tee spots up to 6700 to 6800yds. However, my wife thinks I should “play-up” because my scores are “mid 90’s on challenging course, but my issues have always been the short game, not distance. What do you suggest?

  2. Avatar for SS

    SS

    Regarding John Hartmann’s comment….play the tees where you have the most fun. If all your buddies are playing from the same tees as you maybe you want to just keep playing those same tees with your friends. Most of us are just playing for fun. Play where you have the most fun but if I were you I’d at least give it a try moving up. 6800 yards is a lot of golf course for weekend golfers. Who knows, you might have more fun making lower scores from closer tees.

  3. Avatar for Kyle J. Larson

    Kyle J. Larson

    Yeah, play whichever tees you like, but like SS said 6800 is probably a lot if you’re not hitting a driver at least 260+… if you take a look at the par 3 distances, and shots you may have to hit into greens on a 2nd or third shot (after subtracting your avg driver distance) it’ll help you figure out what to play. I’m going to have a lot more fun hitting irons into a green and having some birdie chances then if I’m always trying to crank a fairway wood in and missing or having long putts.

  4. Avatar for Paul W

    Paul W

    I’m 80 years old and hit my driver pretty consistently 200-210. Since moving to the up tees I have had so much more fun. Now it’s driver and a medium iron rather than driver, fairway wood, pitching wedge. Having a chance to make some birdies makes all the difference in enjoyment for me.

  5. Avatar for Gender Reveal Golf Balls

    Gender Reveal Golf Balls

    Finally, content worth reading. It’s great to find postings like this one.

  6. Avatar for Rick Gates

    Rick Gates

    Excellent info and explained in simple and understandable terms

    I’m in my late 60’s in average shape with a swing speed (driver) of 80-82 mph. My “average” drive is now at about 200 yards (at 60 was 220). I want to hit all shots 5-10% further. I assume a variety of factors will be required (strength, flexibility, swing speed, ball contact, etc). In what order of these factors can and should I improve 1st or most in descending order please? Thank you!

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