My usual shots are short enough to need to play "senior" tees on longer courses. Even my very best shots if I eliminated all my distance-robbing swing flaws are not long enough to render an average-length course into drive-pitch-putt.

The people I play with every week at my club, others I'm paired up with on away rounds or at resorts and even the best players who compete in something like a club championship do not hit the ball far enough to totally defeat fairway bunkering and so forth on most 6,600-7,000 yard courses.

However, the best males among the college scholarship athletes I see practicing at our course are pushing the line on "hitting it too far" if that's defined as requiring a changeover to hitherto unnecessary length of golf courses in order to offer a challege other than hitting it close to the hole with a wedge and making the resulting short birdie putt. The very, very strongest high school players that I've met are also in this category.

My conclusion is that the current level of technology gives any healthy male golfer of above-average athletic ability and sound swing mechanics the opportunity to overpower most sub-7,000 yard golf courses. It has not proceeded to the point where a 50-year-old weekend club player needs to play the course at 7,000+ yards to have his game tested but could conceivably reach that point if equipment improvements continue unabated (meaning of course unregulated or  ineffectively regulated). I think advances in training and physical conditioning will eventually mean that the strongest players a decade or two from now will be able to play pitch and putt on 7,800 yard courses even with today's equipment.

now that's a silly question Craig!

I'd say that question depends on whether the drive I just hit is heading down the fairway or off to the right (or left...but its usually right) into imminent disaster.

I'm a fairly long hitter, although nothing wonderful by "today's standards", but my scores vary all over the place because of my inability to control the accuracy of my tee shots. The distance thing is great when my timing is good, but it makes for long days when the ball goes a long way in the wrong direction. I like to think if I got to play more that maybe I'd be more consistant. I tend to think that I am capable of playing the back tees at most courses, but I have more fun playing the regular tees and therefore usually do so.

So do I hit it too far? Depends on the day

Uh, what the previous two posts said.  Between not having been able to play much lately and being 6'6 and long limbed, my tee shots have been wild recently.  Technology is great when you're hitting it straight, but my drives have wound up in some rather uninhabitable locales lately.

Too far...

too far in trouble, yes...

I don't hit it too far...

But, all of my opponents do!  

I think the technology has kept me about even to how I hit it 30 years ago with a wooden driver and balotta ball.  My guess is I would be 25 yards shorter with old technology.  Every once in a while I hit one high on the face and towards the toe (the sweet spot for the modern driver) and it goes forever.  But as a 6 handicap, this doesn't happen that often.  The problem is with expert golfers and professionals who hit it right 90% of the time, and have incredible swing speed as well.  I might not hit it too far, but they do!

thanks Mike...it makes me feel good when people have old clubs like me...my irons are 13 yrs old, 2 of my fairway woods are around 10...

I'd buy new ones if I KNOW they will help he hit it better, but whenever I demo something they never seem to be a big improvement

Do I hit the ball too far?  Hell no.  Somehow this whole distance thing missed me, and I am not shy about purchasing at least close to the latest technology.

But shivas' words do weigh heavily... if too many guys like him feel no need for fairway woods, then something isn't right.  Those and long irons should be a larger part of the game.

Michael - shivas' stood up and said so also, and gave a darn good reason why he feels that way.  Not that I enjoy giving him any credit - far from it - but you must have missed his post.

As for the rest of us, the answers are sincere.  If I could reach 500 yard holes with driver/7iron then I'd step up and concur with Ryan.  Fact is that's sadly driver/3wood/some sort of wedge, depending on conditions.  And that's the same as it was 25 years ago for me.  OK, sure, perhaps I shouldn't be able to do the same things at age 42 as I did at 17... but I still don't hit the ball too far!

 

Aha.  My bad.  I do need to read more carefully.

I also wish I could hit the ball like Ryan Simper... or shivas.. or lots of other people who truly do hit it too far.

 

aye, I think ye giv it a fine strike, young Huck

Paul, well I won't admit to being a complete weakstick... so thanks.    But man I am humbled and emasculated around really big hitters like our man shivas.  And the bottom line is I still don't reach too many par fives in two, and most definitely do still carry a 3wood I hit a LOT.