Golf's Distance Gap

I suspect that most recreational golfers feel comfortable playing into a green from under 160 yards, maybe as far away as 170. I also suspect they feel all right playing shots of about 200 yards or longer into fairways. That 30-yard gap in the middle, however, is the problem that many of us have yet to solve.

If we face a shot from within that gap, we're trying to hit a green. Not many of us can hit a green reliably from that distance. It's not just us, either. Touring professionals have a gap as well. It's just that their numbers are different than ours.

There's a chart in the book, The Search For the Perfect Swing that shows the percentage of greens hit, from which distances, in a professional tournament in England in 1964. The data show that the percentage of greens hit from 150 to 180 yards was fairly consistent at 75-80 percent. At the 190-yard mark, the percentage of greens hit dropped to below 50 percent. Remember that in those those days that they hit to 180 yards with a 4-iron.

So at some distance, there's a sharp drop-off for everyone, and it's sharp. What do you do about it?


1. Learn to hit the long clubs straighter. Obvious on paper, but pretty difficult to do in real life. If the pros can't do it, we can't either. Let's try something else.

2. Sharpen your short game. This is better. You're probably going to miss the green from such a distance, but if you can get up and down you'll be O.K.

3. Lay up. If there is real trouble around the green, bad trouble, it's a losing bet to think you can avoid it from a long distance. Play short of it and trust your greens game (chipping and putting). By real trouble, I mean water, and bunkers, especially if you're not a good bunker player or they're deep and plentiful. You might take four shots to get down from the fairway following this strategy, but if you can guarantee that, it's better in the long run than trying for three and most of the time taking five or six.

Recreational golfers should emphasize 2 and 3. These are two ways to play within the capabilities you now have and that you can likely attain to. I don't mean for you to play timid golf, and this isn't doing that. It's getting the most out of the game you have and not asking more from it that it can deliver.

What do you do when you have a shot that falls inside your distance gap? Post your solution in a comment below.


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