At just about every 19th hole, you will hear how so-and-so drives the ball well over 300 yards every time he steps on the tee. And of course, they are all straight down the middle. Strange how you remember seeing this same player on the 400-yard 4th hole hitting his second shot from about 175 yards out.

So what's the big deal you ask? Knowing how far you hit each club will help improve your scores because you will know what club to hit from a specific distance.

If you know you hit a full wedge 100 yards, this is step toward game improvement. So throw ego out the window and use the 9-iron from 115, the 8-iron from 130 and the 7-iron from 145. Your consistency and accuracy will improve by using the longer club and swinging smoothly as compared to trying to get that extra 20 yards from a wedge and not knowing where it's going to end up because now you're out of rythm and timing. Don't get hung up on the macho distance game. Accuracy and consistency beat distance almost every time--just take a look at the PGA TOUR statistics.

If you don't know how far you hit each club, it's easy to figure out. The next time you are playing the course alone, on a flat hole, hit a few shots from specific yardages–and swing smoothly. This will help you determine how far you hit each club with your normal swing. You can do the same thing on the range, but keep in mind many range yardages are not all that accurate and range balls do not fly the same as the balls you play on the course.

The extra time you spend learning how far you hit each club will tell you a lot about your game. It can also find yardage gaps in your equipment. Are there a couple of clubs that you hit the same distances? If so, a loft adjustment may be needed to correct the gap. If you find there is a yardage in the set for which you don't have a club, you can now fill in that gap with a new club.

Knowing how far you actually hit each of your clubs will probably verify that you don't hit the ball as far as you may think, but it certainly should help you achieve consistency and lower scores as a result of your yardage knowledge.