Golf Distance-My Personal Story.

Golf Distance-My Story

Golf Distance was not something I ever thought I would become fascinated with, so here is my story. My Dad got me swinging a club poorly as a young lad on our annual golf holiday in the majestic dunes of Enniscrone Golf Course. It is just off Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way.

magnificent dunes at Enniscrone golf club

Unfortunately, I didn’t put much effort into it. By the time I was a young accountant invited to the haughty surroundings on Stanwich Country Club in Greenwich Connecticut, all my PWC colleagues expected an Irish masterclass. Instead, they got a good laugh as I hacked around the pristine course in well over 100 shots. Golf distance was the last thing on my mind, more like survival!

I settled back to Ireland approaching 30 years, determined to get decent at the game. I got myself down to a respectable 7 handicap. The last big drop from 12 being a result of reading a short gamebook written in 1959!

Mid-Life Crisis

By the time my 40’s came around, mid-life crisis was stepping in. With my life going in different directions, golf had to take a back seat for another 10 years. Indoor football became my game of choice. When my joints could no longer bear the hard floors without regular injury, I returned to the game of golf in my 50’s.

At this stage Tiger Wood had transformed the game Maximising golf distance was way more important than it ever has been before.

Tiger Woods | Biography, Majors, & Facts | Britannica

I have experimented with all sorts of things in the last 8 or so years to both improve my club speed and technique. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so always willing to change things or experiment with new ideas for that extra bit of inspiration. At 59, I can still swing around 100mph but want to reach a steady 105mph before the inevitable decline starts.

Golf Distance

The analytical side of me always drew me to studying the finer points of golf distance closely. I can easily be a bit of a nerd when it comes to data. I love things like understanding Trackman results intimately and trying new gadgets. While that might make me a bit difficult to the few golf coaches I have tried, I figured it could be helpful to many fellow golfers. When I saw golfers questioning what their true average distance should be (after the release of some averages with the R&A/USGA distance reports), it stimulated me to gather and analyze all the available data in this great wide internet world of ours and come up with the answers.

Of course, one thing led to the other, and then I had to answer the next great question. Now that I know what my average driving distance should be, what should my optimal distance be? Even better, where should I focus to strive for this optimal? As a regular club golfer (now off 10 handicap), I hope I can help you with this site in some small ways. Here is a link to the origins of the work on the site, in more detail.