We've launched the new forums! Read more here

How much does your score go up with increased distance?

billyh

billyh

Goodwill Hunter
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Oct 1, 2017
Messages
3,778
Reaction score
5,235
Location
Maysville NC
Handicap
A Lot
Let's say you add ~13% to your normal course length. How much do you think you would shoot off your normal score? Here's my experience from today.

So my home course from the white tees plays just at 5900 yards. The par 3's are 165~(x2) and 135~(x2). There isn't a par 5 in the 500 yard mark from where I usually play from and only 1 from the tips. It is pretty challenging with forced water carries, sever dog legs, and 13 holes have water in play. I'm now consistently breaking 100 there and have flirted with the 80's but still haven't gotten there yet (stupid putting). I played the Hills course today at LPGA International from the blue tees and showing on the card they were playing at 6600. All the par 5's were over 500 yards and one par 3 was at 195 (fricken long for me) and they others weren't much shorter. I didn't shot the greatest today, but it still wasn't anywhere near my worst. My goal was to break 100 and that didn't happen shooting a very crazy but enjoyable 103. There were times I felt I hit some great shots, but they were just short. One thing that I know hurt pretty bad was it was super soft and I had ZERO roll out with my drives.
 
I play from 5600 to 6800 yd. course's up here and unless real soft like you ran into my scores stay in the low to mid 80s. Soft ,no run out and it can add 4 or 5 strokes.
 
The Grint keeps good numbers on that.F359FBAA-696C-4F33-B0CB-5D457210890D.jpeg
 
It would probably add a pretty significant difference for me. I usually play around 6000 yds, add 13% and that becomes 6780 yds. Par-3s would probably still be okay, but many par-4s pretty much become short par-5s where I'm hitting my longest, and least reliable, clubs into the greens instead of mid-irons.
 
I don’t really know. My regular round is around 6500. We really are not concerned with the Par 5’s or Par 3’s. It’s the 420 yard Par 4’s that seem to be tough on my age group. Under 400 are not so tough. At least they are offering a chance. Based on average golfer distances that leaves a 160-170 yard approach shot. That’s tough, for me anyway.
 
billyh said:
I might need to get me one of those official handicap things.
Click to expand...
The Grint may actually provide that for free, I’m not sure.
 
Looking at the same grint stats, statistically, and with questionable predictive math, I should theoretically score .2 strokes higher per hole or 3.6 total higher than my average at what would be ~7600 yards. I don't have many rounds at that distance this year, but from a small sample that 3.6 estimate seems a little high. It is a ton of work though. One of the ones I played was in real soggy conditions like that, and it felt like one of the most grueling rounds of my life.
 
My home course plays just under 5600 from the whites and just over 6000 from the blues. On any given day I could (and have) score better or worse from either set of tees. Longer yardage (within reason) doesn't affect my score as much as a narrow course that requires more precise shots, or a course with long forced carries. Either of those can drive my score up regardless of yardage.
 
Would depend upon course obviously. There's @ 11% difference going from my normal white tees (6019) to either blue (6536) or gold (5698) and I average @ 1.5 strokes different with each step. Much of that relates to design though. Every P4 or P5 is similar to #1 off the tee. There is a wider landing area which narrows significantly as you get closer to the green. On #1 I have over 40 yards of fairway off the blues or blacks (7066), shrinks to 20 yards off the whites and misses find deep bunkering. Off the golds I carry those bunkers but fairway strip shrinks to 12 yards wide. Some courses aren't designed with specific landing zones like that. Going blue to black is around 11% too but it pushes me past a horsepower threshold and costs me @ 5 extra strokes.
 
Last edited:
I play usually around 6500 or so. Jumping to 7200 isn't awful. The par 5's that were drive dependent are just now layups, so that doesn't bother me much. Few longer clubs into greens, and instead of short to mid irons, it's mid irons to hybrid or even 5w into par 3's.
 
Playing my normal 5900-6200 adding 13% would put me up around 6700 and it wouldn't be much fun at all. IT would easily add 5-8 strokes a round minimum.
 
On my home course there are two par 4 holes that I've accepted I can no longer reach in two. So instead of focusing on getting as close as possible, I focus on what I want my 3rd shot to be. I typically swing a little easier trying to get a straight 200 plus drive instead of trying to muscle it over 250. Then hit the 7 iron to get to the 70-80 yard distance from the pin. That is a shot I practice all the time just for those two holes. I've been getting a lot of bogeys on those holes since I approached them that way. And bogey is good for me. So I suppose it stands to reason extra yardage may not hurt my score much if any because I have a game plan.
 
I actually score better on my home courses from further back. It’s a mental thing, but it’s consistent.
 
First, your home course plays longer because of all of the doglegs and water forced plays.

if I added 13% to my regular 6300-6500 I would expect to be 5-6 shots more a round leaving me to hope I break 90
 
RealPretendPsychic said:
The Grint keeps good numbers on that.View attachment 8982499
Click to expand...
So actually answering the question, which I failed to do in my original response...
If I played a par 72 course at 6,000 yards:
  • Par 3 - 150 (3.8) - 15.2
  • Par 4 - 350 (4.8) - 48
  • Par 5 - 475 (5.55) - 22
  • Total score: 85.4
Going to 6,650 yards (11% increase)
  • Par 3 - 175 (3.9) - 15.6
  • Par 4 - 375 (5.0) - 50
  • Par 5 - 550 (6.3) - 25.2
  • Total score: 90.8
 
I don't think it makes much if any difference for me on my home course where whites are 800 yd. (14%) longer than the golds. In last 2 rounds I kept individual score, one form white and other from gold. From the whites I hit 9 of 14 fairways, 4 GIR, averaged 2 putts per hole with final score 92. From the golds yesterday were 9 of 14 fairways, no GIR, 1.8 putt per hole and final total was 100.
My worst part of the game is constancy with mid to short irons. I am more accurate in the 140 - 170 range than 100 - 130 range.
 
Carolina Dundee said:
First, your home course plays longer because of all of the doglegs and water forced plays.

if I added 13% to my regular 6300-6500 I would expect to be 5-6 shots more a round leaving me to hope I break 90
Click to expand...
I’m actually thinking about playing from the tips next time out just to see what I can do. The first 4 holes should tell me what I want to know.
 
billyh said:
I’m actually thinking about playing from the tips next time out just to see what I can do. The first 4 holes should tell me what I want to know.
Click to expand...

play the tips on the back 9 first, that front 9 may play pretty long from back there.
 
Two courses I play a lot are very dissimilar, but I play about the same to par. One is a mountain course that is 6,140 yards from the tips. Very challenging greens, lots of trees, elevation changes, forced carries, and fairways you have to land in the right place or the slope will take if into trouble. It requires thoughtful precise shots. Distance is not its defense. The other is a parkland course measuring 6,700 yards. Distance is one of the primary defenses on this course. Trees and bunkers too, including plenty of both on the fairway. Greens are more straightforward. The first course is a par 70. The latter a par 72.

I know many of you live in places where course characteristics are similar from course to course and the only primary difference in difficulty is distance, but that's not the case here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top