What do you think when someone at the range says.....

[rezadue]

Yesterday while cleaning my club after a range session, I got to talking to the guy cleaning his clubs next to me. Started talking about ferrules. He asked about how I like my 910 driver and then he said:

I am using an R11S, but put the Rocketballs shaft in it. Works great. Last weekend on a par 568yard par 5 I hit my drive 370yards and only had an 8 iron into the green.

370 yard drive
198 yard 8 iron

Hmm. My first thought was, no freaking way. But then I tried to think some more about this. How likely is that? What do you think?

And for the record, he was probably about 6', 180 lbs. So, not a giant by any means. At this point, unless I actually see a non-pro hit balls farther than John(Jordan), i tend to be pretty skeptical.

And yes, Jordan is my yardstick for loooooooooong. In golf only!

[DenisO]

Nod and smile! No real point trying to question it, it won't stop them for believing they hit it even if they didn't.
Golf is an individual game at the end of the day, I try to only worry about my own distances

[leftygolfguy]

It could be down a mountain.... or off a cliff.

but seriouly, I think sometimes guys get confused. They look at distances from the back tees for their drives, even when they are playing from the whites.... I hear guys do that all the time.

Guy: wow you only got 150 left, you must have hit that 320!!!
Me: no, its 470 from the back, its only 415 from the whites....
Guy: oh... I guess I must have topped mine!!

[adam]

Conditions play the biggest part in longest drive stories. I carry the ball 250-260 with a good drive but have went Driver-Sand wedge on our 480 yard par 5 (straight down wind and huge kick and roll on drive).
Anyone can hit it 80 yards longer than their average shot with the right conditions and a perfectly struck ball.

[rezadue]

True Adam, but according to him, his second shot to the green was a 198 yard 8iron!

[Gropper]

True Adam, but according to him, his second shot to the green was a 198 yard 8iron!

He must of pured it! of course!

[Wilster]

It is possible , if not a little bit doubtful , just from our own experiences from playing with different golfers.
Its a pity you didn't get to see him hit a few balls , and you should have asked him on what course this par 5 is and did he get the eagle

[adam]

True Adam, but according to him, his second shot to the green was a 198 yard 8iron!

Option #1 - big dog leg cut down some of the distance leaving him a 160-170 yard 8 iron
Option #2 - skulled layup bounced off of a sprinkler
Option #3 - some people out there embellish their longest drive stories just a bit

[downhillslider]

Why would anyone start bragging aboout how far they hit a ball to a complete stranger ?

[John]

That is what i was going to say Slider, most guys that are actually "long" don't really need to talk about it.

[jeffc]

stop talking to Gropper at the range.

[John]

I'll go on the record too and say that my length seems to have flattened out a bit, i've played with a few guys this year that are hitting driver out there with me or longer. Now the irons on the other hand are a different story.

[golfisforfun]

A lot of people also don't know how to calculate yardage when cutting doglegs or other angles on the course... They just assume that the hole is 500 yards, and they are at the 150 yard marker after a tee shot, so they hit it 350 yards... forgetting that the hole is measured down the centre of the fairway ,so they may have saved 50+ yards by cutting a corner...

But most important is, WHO CARES what people say about their scores or yardages... just laugh and move on... I heard a hacker giving tips to a buddy of his (bigger hacker) at the range and he said "you know you hit a good drive when the tee pops up and flies backwards!" YIKES... they hit more shots of the toe than the face

[rezadue]

I was just more curious than anything else. As I said, first instinct is to just laugh it off and not believe it.
The question I asked was more aimed at seeing what others would think in this siatuation, and less aimed at whether said person was actually truthful, or even correct.

[goley]

Grab a ball and ask to see him fly one out of the range or hit a nine iron to the orange flag. Then just sit back and watch.. Think sadlowski not a big dude!! Back of the range is about 320. Or just say sweet finish cleaning ur clubs and tell him about the longest putt u ever made.

[adam]

Why would anyone start bragging aboout how far they hit a ball to a complete stranger ?

He must have got intimidated by Reza and felt the need to man up.

[Gropper]

stop talking to Gropper at the range.

If he was talking to me it would have been a baby cut 3 wood to 370 with a punch PW from 198. Get it right buddy!

[Gropper]

I'll go on the record too and say that my length seems to have flattened out a bit, i've played with a few guys this year that are hitting driver out there with me or longer. Now the irons on the other hand are a different story.

Gotta hard to go from "ridiculously long" to just plain old "Stupid long"

Once again only talking about your driving distance

[Wilster]

a lot of people also don't know how to calculate yardage when cutting doglegs or other angles on the course... They just assume that the hole is 500 yards, and they are at the 150 yard marker after a tee shot, so they hit it 350 yards... Forgetting that the hole is measured down the centre of the fairway ,so they may have saved 50+ yards by cutting a corner...

But most important is, who cares what people say about their scores or yardages... Just laugh and move on... I heard a hacker giving tips to a buddy of his (bigger hacker) at the range and he said "you know you hit a good drive when the tee pops up and flies backwards!" yikes... they hit more shots of the toe than the face

lol

[Break68]

It might be possible, one of my buddies older brother does long drive competitions and he is not a huge guy. He can hit it 400 plus yards with a driver but he has no idea where it will go. A lot of hockey players can hit it long like that. With high enough swing speed and catch it flush, you never know.
BUT, can they chip and putt??????????????????
I hit a perfect drive down the middle at Chateau Cartier on a back nine par 5 270 yards, then hit 3 hybrid 205 yards on to the front of the green, then promptly 3 putt for PAR, I can't putt for crap this year, but sure is fun when I catch one flush.
Stories like this always make me laugh.

[Sunny D]

I've had the same thing happen to me on the range. I guess I chock it up to the guy just happened to hit the best shot(s) of his golfing life and wants to share with another golfer. But that's just a guess. The guys who regularly pound the ball don't normally talk about it, it's the guys around them that talk about. As in "I'm hitting my 7 iron here. Are you hitting a pitching wedge again you freak". But I mean freak in the nicest possible way.

[rezadue]

Word!

I do cast a large shadow!

He must have got intimidated by Reza and felt the need to man up.

[leftygolfguy]

I'm okay with the drive... like everyone said it could be you catch one and blah, blah, blah.... but 198 with an 8 iron seems unlikely... and the two shots back to back... i would defintiely 4 putt, just to put the world back in balance.

then again he was using an R11s... whihc goes 15 yards further than the R11, which was 15 yards longer than the R9, and with a Rocketballz shaft... never mind... let me put down the kool-aid.

[gregnol]

well if he hit hit drive 370 i'm assuming huge wind and hard ground with some big bounces. like has been said in this thread sometimes the conditions are just perfect. so if they were perfect for his drive why would they be any different for the 8 iron shot. still not something to brag about at the range though. cause i hit one 1000 yards down an air strip once (joke from jack the hammer infomercial) pow

[Break68]

POW, he was using the HAMMER!

[Swerve]

...most guys that are actually "long" don't really need to talk about it.

This.

Plus, I don't know how many 25 handicaps (or people that don't even have a handicap) tell me they average "about 300" off the tee, LOL

[cleek]

I have only ever met 1 person who said something similar , Jason Zuback , but he could back it up. And he was built like a brick house

[mjf]

Well... I once hit a 384 yard drive on a par 4 that ended up pin-high and it a straight-away hole. I kid you not.

I could end the story there. Or I could expand and mention that it was in Palm Springs on a desert course where the 'desert' areas were actually crushed marble and that I pushed my drive quite a bit but it hit that hard ground and caromed back towards the fairway and just kept on going. Oh... and it was blowing about 45 miles an hour from directly behind us.

You just never know how much of the story you're being told in a situation like this.

[jimmyc]

Some people think that if they say cut a corner and take a huge risk that (distance left - yardage on hole) = drive distance. So they are not BSing really, just don't understand.

[downhillslider]

I'm okay with the drive... like everyone said it could be you catch one and blah, blah, blah.... but 198 with an 8 iron seems unlikely... and the two shots back to back... i would defintiely 4 putt, just to put the world back in balance.

then again he was using an R11s... whihc goes 15 yards further than the R11, which was 15 yards longer than the R9, and with a Rocketballz shaft... never mind... let me put down the kool-aid.

Beautifull !!!!