Golf Distance – GPS Can Help

In golf, you need to know two things about distance. The first is how far you are from your target and the second is how far do you hit each of your clubs. Everyone knows how to use a golf distance GPS device to get yardage to the target, and almost by default, most players will eventually get a better sense of how far they hit each club. However the second part can take a long time and if you don’t set out with the intention of learning exactly how far you hit your clubs, you may never get a true picture.

Probably the easiest way to get a good sense of how far you’re hitting your clubs is to buy a device like a Garmin G6, that allows you to measure each shot and record the club used. It keeps track of the details, so once you’ve hit enough shots with each club, it will give you a very good idea of how far you hit your clubs.

The only problem with that method is that conditions can really affect the distance a golf ball travels. Wind, elevation and roll will make a huge difference and your golf GPS doesn’t record that information. So without making this process too cumbersome, what do you do?

Best case scenario… if you can get to a golf course at a time of day when there isn’t much traffic, go when conditions are calm. Drop a half dozen balls in the fairway at what you believe to be 7-iron distance. Take your time, hit the shots and repair your divots. Use the shot measuring feature on your golf GPS to mark the spot. Now you can go to the longest of your shots and check the GPS distance. Pace to the shortest ball and record that distance as well.  Only record shots with which you made decent contact. Now you have a range of how far you’re likely to hit your 7-iron. You may want to do this with more shots, but you get the idea. 

Don’t assume you hit 10 yards different between clubs. If you have time, repeat this process for every other club in your bag. You can probably learn just about everything you need to know in a couple of hours on the golf course.