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

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. 

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. 

Golf Club Distance Charts: Average For Seniors and Pro Golfer Comparison

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. 

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. 

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.

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

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.