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Golf Club Distance Charts By Age, Gender And Skill Level

Congratulations on finding the most complete golf distance chart article on the internet.

Do you know how far your clubs travel? How do you compare to others? Its always good to understand that age, gender and skillset are the biggest
differentiators. 

I did so much research on this article to bring you the most up to date information to help you quickly skim the tables and charts about golf distances.
The charts are showing us golf club yardages and I go into more detail around age, gender and ability.  

Let's get you up to speed on golf club distance so you can learn where you an improve and where you might be ahead of the pack!

Golf Club Distance Charts: Key Factors

My golf distance charts show the the key elements that influence how far you can hit each golf club: 

1. Swing speed

2. Ball speed

3. Smash factor

4. Quality and optimization of equipment

Swing speed
Swing speed is the most important factor in determining the distance of the ball. Ball speed and smash factor both depend on swing speed. 

While the swing speed is important, it is not the only element. The quality of strike and correct technique is a big differentiating factor. A pro golfer
swinging at the same speed as an amateur gets wildly different distance numbers. 

Average swing speed by age chart

Age
Men
Women

10-16 years old

93 mph
83 mph

17-25 years old

113 mph
93 mph

26-40 years old

108 mph
90 mph

41-50 years old

103 mph
88 mph

51-60 years old

98 mph
73 mph

60+ years old

90 mph
70 mph

What is Smash Factor?

Smash Factor is ball speed divided by club speed. The number calculated gives a ratio to show how much energy is moved from the club head to the
golf ball at impact. Low Swing factor numbers mean less energy is transferred, while higher Smash factor numbers means a more efficient movement
of energy from the face to the golf ball.

The goal for excellent ball striking with the driver is a factor of 1.5.

For example: ball speed 150 mph with a swing speed of 100 mph, your Smash Factor  is 1.5.
Other smaller contributory factors also have an effect on distance:

The ball speed 

Ball speed will be affected by the type of golf ball you use as well as your quality of strike. A strike out the center of the club face, with the correct
technique will go much further than the same golfer hitting the toe or toward the heel. You can measure ball speed on launch monitors like the Mevo
Plus or camera operated simulators like the SkyTrak.

Equipment affects distance

The pros on tour have optimized equipment to their specific technique and skill level as well as body shape. The same swing speed in a PGA Tour pro
will send the ball much further than an amateur golfer of higher handicap but similar swing speed.

The reason is of course, technique, but if you were to use the same technique, the pro would still win, because every aspect of their golf club has been
designed around THEM. That is why a fitting can help to optimize your strengths for more distance.

Skill level affects distance

There are young, sporty beginner and even mid handicap golfers who might read this article or that you may know who think they are capable of
smashing a driver as far as a pro or scratch golfer. The myth is that they CAN but if it is not staying in play or being used to an advantage, then it does
not count. 

Key to the chart: Skill levels in golf. I created these categories from the article on how the handicap works and article I wrote. 

Beginner Golfer: New to the game - first 6-12 months.

Average Golfer: 15-24 handicap.

Good Golfer: 6-14 handicap.

Excellent Golfer: Below 6 handicap.

Here are the in-depth golf club distance charts curated by male, female and senior golfers.

Golf Club Distance Charts: Average For Male Golfers By Skill Level
The numbers are estimates and you can see in the beginner section that 2 iron to 4 iron is not a very impressive number. I would suggest that even a 2
iron and 3 iron in the Average column is ambitious. These are very difficult clubs to hit and often go very low distance due to technique and swing speed
issues. Most beginner and high handicappers should avoid these clubs for a long time.

From 'Good Golfer' onward, the 2 iron down to 5 iron should improve as confidence and technique improves, thus bringing on more swing speed. 
Club Beginner Average Good Excellent

Driver 180 yds 220 yds 250 yds 280 yds

3 Wood 170 yds 210 yds 225 yds 235 yds

5 Wood 150 yds 195 yds 205 yds 220 yds

Hybrid 145 yds 180 yds 190 yds 210 yds

2 Iron 100 yds 180 yds 190 yds 215 yds

3 Iron 100 yds 170 yds 180 yds 205 yds

4 Iron 100 yds 160 yds 170 yds 195 yds

5 Iron 120 yds 155 yds 165 yds 185 yds

6 Iron 120 yds 145 yds 160 yds 175 yds

7 Iron 110 yds 140 yds 150 yds 165 yds

8 Iron 100 yds 130 yds 140 yds 155 yds

 9 Iron 90 yds 115 yds 125 yds 145 yds

Pitching Wedge 80 yds 100 yds 110 yds 135 yds

Gap Wedge 60 yds 90 yds 100 yds 125 yds

Sand Wedge 55 yds 80 yds 95 yds 115 yds

Lob Wedge 40 yds 60 yds 80 yds 105 yds

Golf Club Distance Charts: Average For Lady Golfers By Skill Level
On average, ladies will hit it shorter than men. The advanced category may be a shorter distance than the advanced category in the mens. But when
comparing similar distance in the good to average category in the men, the accuracy of the ladies is much higher than the men. 

Club Beginner Average Good Excellent

Driver 150 yds 175 yds 200 yds 230 yds

3 Wood 125 yds 150 yds 180 yds 210 yds

 5 Wood 110 yds 140 yds 175 yds 200 yds

Hybrid 105 yds 135 yds 170 yds 195 yds

2 Iron 105 yds 135 yds 170 yds 190 yds

3 Iron 100 yds 125 yds 160 yds 185 yds

4 Iron 90 yds 120 yds 150 yds 180 yds

5 Iron 80 yds 110 yds 140 yds 170 yds

6 Iron 70 yds 100 yds 130 yds 160 yds

7 Iron 65 yds 90 yds 120 yds 150 yds

8 Iron 60 yds 80 yds 110 yds 140 yds

9 Iron 55 yds 70 yds 95 yds 130 yds

Pitching Wedge 50 yds 60 yds 80 yds 115 yds

Gap Wedge 45 yds 55 yds 70 yds 95 yds

Sand Wedge 40 yds 50 yds 60 yds 85 yds

Lob Wedge 35 yds 45 yds 50 yds 70 yds

Golf Club Distance Charts: Average For Seniors and Pro Golfer Comparison
Club Senior Average Senior PGA Tour
Distance Champions

Driver 196 yds 279 yds

3-wood 173 yds 240 yds

5-wood 164 yds 227 yds

Hybrid 160 yds 222 yds

2 Iron 156 yds 217 yds

3 Iron 151 yds 209 yds

4 Iron 145 yds 200 yds

5 Iron 138 yds 191 yds

6 Iron 130 yds 180 yds

7 Iron 123 yds 169 yds

 8 Iron 114 yds 157 yds

9 Iron 105 yds 146 yds

Pitching 97 yds 136 yds

Wedge

Gap 89 yds 122 yds

Wedge

Sand 82 yds 108 yds

Wedge

Lob 74 yds 97 yds

Wedge

Golf Club Distance Chart by Swing Speed

As an amateur golfer, you can gain access to rented Trackman bays where you can hit all your clubs and actually get a print out,
or soft file of your swing speed and many other data points. You can even use a Voice Caddie SC300 to do it privately at the
range. 

Swing speed does determine the golf club distances and we'll take a look in the charts below.

NOTE: The swing speed use at the top of each column is driver swing speed. We use this as a general gauge to estimate the
distance of each club thereafter. 

150 mph is the top range and only long drive competitors will be swinging toward this range. The average swing speed on the
PGA Tour (the best golfers in the world) is around 114 mph. 

Club 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150

mph mph mph mph mph mph mph mph mph mph

Driver (Total) 155 181 206 232 258 284 310 335 361 385
 Driver (Carry) 146 170 195 219 243 268 292 316 340 365

3 Wood 130 150 175 195 215 238 259 283 303 318

5 Wood 125 145 165 185 205 225 245 265 285 305

Hybrid 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300

2 Iron 118 135 155 176 194 213 233 252 271 292

3 Iron 115 130 150 172 188 207 226 245 265 284

4 Iron 110 126 145 165 180 190 208 226 245 264

5 Iron 105 120 138 155 170 185 198 215 228 247

6 Iron 100 115 130 145 165 175 185 195 208 219

7 Iron 95 105 120 135 155 165 175 185 195 210

8 Iron 85 100 115 130 145 155 165 175 190 202

9 Iron 80 90 105 120 130 145 160 175 186 197

Pitching 73 85 100 110 120 135 145 156 167 179

Wedge

Ball Speed To Club Head Speed Chart for Driver

The driver club head speed is often used as the benchmark for swing speed and the higher the ball speed, generally the better
the strike at that club head speed.
 Ball Speed (mph) 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200

Club Head Speed (mph) 77 84 91 98 104 111 118 125 132 138

Driver Carry 181 198 214 231 247 263 280 296 313 329

Driver Swing Speed Chart by Golf Skill Level

Confidence and skill make a big difference when hitting the driver efficiently and out the sweet spot. 

Skill Level Driver Distance Swing Speed

Beginner 190 yards 80 mph

Average 220 yards 94 mph

Good 240 yards 100 mph

Excellent 265 yards 110 mph

PGA Tour Average 275 yards 114 mph

Women’s Average 180 yards 77 mph

LPGA Tour Average 218 yards 94 mph

Golf Club Distance Charts Other Important Factors

Loft
Every club has a different loft and more loft goes less distance, while less loft goes longer distance in combination with longer
golf shafts.

Driver usually goes furthest while the lob wedge around 60 degrees goes the shortest.

Clubs Average Lofts 2022 Average Lofts 1990

Driver 8° – 13° 9° – 14°

3 Wood 13° – 15° 15° – 17°

5 Wood 20° – 23° 21° – 24°

 2 Iron 18° – 20° 20° – 22°

3 Iron 21° – 24° 23° – 25°

4 iron 25° – 28° 28° – 30°

5 iron 28° – 31° 31° – 33°

6 iron 32° – 35° 35° – 37°

7 iron 36° – 38° 39° – 41°

8 iron 40° – 43° 43° – 47°

9 iron 45° – 48° 48° – 50°

Pitching Wedge 47° – 50° 51° – 54°

The golf clubs of today go a lot further since the manufacturers started creating cavity back golf clubs in combination with
lower lofts for the same clubs. 

Every club is between 2 and 5 degrees lower in loft in current day, which automatically increases distance by up to 15 yards per
iron. Driver lofts cannot get much lower as people will not be able to hit them. In order to hit a driver with a loft below 9 degrees,
your swing speed needs to be incredibly fast. 

The club heads are bigger for all golf clubs in modern times with much larger sweet spots. With the addition of lighter shafts in
both the irons and the woods, the ball speeds and swing speeds are higher as well. 

Golf Club Distance Charts of PGA Tour Golfers

Club Average
Bryson De Dustin
Rory Tiger
Jack
LPGA Tour
Distance
Chambeau Johnson McIlroy Woods Nicklaus Averages
Range
(yards)

Driver 275 325 312 360 297 250 255

3 Wood 243 295 282 325 265 235 230

5 Wood 230 275 267 300 245 220 215

 3 Iron 212 – – – 227 210 197

4 Iron 203 255 236 272 215 195 186

5 Iron 194 235 225 256 200 180 175

6 Iron 183 220 212 235 186 167 164

7 Iron 172 205 200 222 170 155 153

8 Iron 160 190 186 200 157 145 142

9 Iron 148 175 172 188 148 130 130

Pitching 136 160 158 169 136 120 118

Wedge

Why are modern golfers longer than prior generations?

Physical fitness
Most pros are in the gym every day currently while in prior generations like Palmer and Nicklaus, the guys were regular people
who even used to enjoy a smoke and a drink on the course. 

Bryson Dechambeau is an example of someone who has beefed up in order to hit it further and it makes a big difference. Tiger
Woods was one of the first modern day pros to begin working in the gym. His huge transformation to a big, strong guy inspired
a whole new generation of golfer. 

Lofts of pro clubs

Lofts have changed how far the ball goes. Tiger Woods is only behind the modern guys in this chart because he uses 3-4
degrees more loft on every single club. He cares about precision and less about distance because he has plenty of power

Golf Ball
The golf ball when Tiger Woods first hit the tour and even more so when Nicklaus was in his prime, was much shorter than
today's Pro V1 and equivalents. The balata golf ball is significantly shorter than the current urethane covered solid core golf
balls they use today on the Tour. 

What Do These Golf Club Distance Charts Mean?

You can compare how you shape up against the average golfer, the senior golfer, the pro golfer and the advanced golfer. 

The key though is to understand YOUR own game and your distances so you can more effectively plan your game and piece
together a good golf score. When you fully understand and accept your distances that you hit the golf ball, you will score better.

For the pros and the advanced players, the distance they hit each club is not a matter of ego. It's a matter of 'which club gets the
job done?' and they use that.

You can too, whichever distance you hit it. Just be totally honest with yourself and leave the ego behind.

Last Updated on June 20, 2022 by Matt

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