am Programm
I get lots of questions from my students regarding purchasing new golf equipment. Should I buy new irons now or wait until after lessons? Will that new driver really get me some extra yards? Answers to these types of questions usually promote me to ask you a few of my own.
How old is the equipment you are playing and was it fit for you? If the answer is the clubs are 10 years old and no they weren’t fit for me then you are ready for a change. At this point you can buy a better game!
Raymond Floyd in 1980 averaged 258.0 yards per drive. In 1998, 18 years later, on the Champions Tour averaged 278.3 yards per drive. Now I don’t really believe it was because Raymond, at 55 years old, was out pumping iron every day and getting that much longer. No equipment has made a big difference in distance.
In 1992 John Daly lead the tour with a 272.1 average.
There were only 2 measured drives over 300 yards that same year (308 the longest – again by Daly)
There were 13 players this year (2013) that averaged over 300 yards per drive.
For this last season (2013) the leader in distance was Luke List at 306.3. Unfortunately with a tie for 16th as his top finish and “only” $264,401 in earnings he will need to play his way back onto the tour for 2014. Dustin Johnson (2nd) did much better with his average of 305.8 yards per drive turning that into $2,963,214 for the year.
There has been around a 30 yard increase in distance average over the past 20+ years. Better check the real date on that club you are using…with all the technology going into drivers if yours is over 5 years old I suggest looking into a new one.
Thursday will be part two in this article on new equipment when we discuss a new set of irons…
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Craig Frank is a Class "A" PGA Member since 2003. He's taught over 6,000 lessons and is certified in motion analysis and video instruction.
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Are You Ready For New Equipment?
am Programm
I get lots of questions from my students regarding purchasing new golf equipment. Should I buy new irons now or wait until after lessons? Will that new driver really get me some extra yards? Answers to these types of questions usually promote me to ask you a few of my own.
How old is the equipment you are playing and was it fit for you? If the answer is the clubs are 10 years old and no they weren’t fit for me then you are ready for a change. At this point you can buy a better game!
Raymond Floyd in 1980 averaged 258.0 yards per drive. In 1998, 18 years later, on the Champions Tour averaged 278.3 yards per drive. Now I don’t really believe it was because Raymond, at 55 years old, was out pumping iron every day and getting that much longer. No equipment has made a big difference in distance.
In 1992 John Daly lead the tour with a 272.1 average.
There were only 2 measured drives over 300 yards that same year (308 the longest – again by Daly)
There were 13 players this year (2013) that averaged over 300 yards per drive.
For this last season (2013) the leader in distance was Luke List at 306.3. Unfortunately with a tie for 16th as his top finish and “only” $264,401 in earnings he will need to play his way back onto the tour for 2014. Dustin Johnson (2nd) did much better with his average of 305.8 yards per drive turning that into $2,963,214 for the year.
There has been around a 30 yard increase in distance average over the past 20+ years. Better check the real date on that club you are using…with all the technology going into drivers if yours is over 5 years old I suggest looking into a new one.
Thursday will be part two in this article on new equipment when we discuss a new set of irons…
About admin
Craig Frank is a Class "A" PGA Member since 2003. He's taught over 6,000 lessons and is certified in motion analysis and video instruction.