How far should you hit a driver? Average distance by handicap

Driver distance by handicap

Club	Scratch	5 hcp	10 hcp	15 hcp	20 hcp	28 hcp	36 hcp
Driver	275	260	245	229	212	182	161
3-wood	240	227	214	200	185	158	141

Typical total distance in yards, carry plus roll, on a still day at sea level. The same figures as the club distance chart.

England Golf's iGolf puts the typical male amateur's driver at 210 to 240 yards. That's the 5 to 18 handicap range on our chart.

What the USGA measured

The USGA's 2023 study put 627 recreational golfers on Trackman launch monitors and took the median of seven drives each. The average man hit his driver 226 yards and the average woman 144, both totals with roll. By Handicap Index:

Handicap Index	Men	Women
10	235	177
20	205	154
30	175	131

Typical driver distance in yards, total. Source: USGA, 2023.

Each 10 shots of handicap is worth about 30 yards for men and 23 for women. Distance also falls with age; the driver distance by age guide has the figures.

Carry or total?

Carry is how far the ball flies; total adds the bounce and roll. The two can easily be 20 yards apart: Foresight Sports' tables for a well-struck drive at 90 mph give about 215 yards of carry and 237 in total. On a firm links in summer the roll can be much more; on a wet parkland in winter, almost none. Plan carries over bunkers and water with carry, and expect total on a dry fairway.

The average golfer's speed, and why most fall short

Trackman puts the average male golfer, a 14.5 handicapper, at 94 mph of driver club speed. With ideal launch and spin, Foresight's tables say that speed could send a drive about 251 yards in total. The USGA's measured average is 226. The gap is strike and launch: off-centre hits, too much spin, or a launch that's too low. So for many club golfers, a common approach is to look for yards in a better strike or a better-fitted driver before trying to swing harder. The swing speed and distance chart shows what each speed can produce.

Tour players

The USGA's 2025 driving distance report, which uses two measured holes per event, gives these season averages, including roll:

PGA Tour: 302.8 yards
DP World Tour: 297.8 yards
LPGA Tour: 259.8 yards
Ladies European Tour: 249.3 yards

Trackman data puts the average PGA Tour drive at 282 yards of carry, from 115 mph of club speed.

Beginners and women

A beginner driving it 150 to 180 yards is normal: our chart gives 161 yards at a 36 handicap, and the USGA found 175 yards for a 30-handicap man and 131 for a 30-handicap woman. Women's distances through the bag are in club distances for women.

Driver loft

Most drivers are sold at 8° to 11°: Titleist, for example, offers 8°, 9°, 10° and 11°. A lower loft doesn't mean more distance. Foresight's tables put the best launch at 10° to 14° at every speed, and a common approach for slower swingers is a higher loft to help reach it.

Does length cost you fairways?

Less than you might think. In the USGA study, driver distance explained only about 11% of the difference in fairways hit, and fairways hit fell by only about 7% for every extra 100 yards. As a rule of thumb, the shorter club you have left for the next shot is worth more than the few fairways you might lose.

How to find your real driver distance

Measure drives on the course, not the range, and use the middle of 10 or more, not the best one. On our chart a 15 handicapper's driver goes 229 yards and 3 wood 200, a gap of 29. If your gap is much smaller, the 3 wood may be the better club on tight holes. The 3 wood and hybrid guide covers that choice.

Work out your driver distance from swing speed

Related guides

Sources

Golf Scout records where each drive finishes when you mark your next shot, so your driver distance comes from the course, not the range. Get Golf Scout on the App Store, free for iPhone and Apple Watch.