This is how far golfers hit their drivers, according to the new distance report (2024)

Driving

So you rip a drive down the middle, and you’re probably feeling pretty pleased with yourself. As you should! Nice drive.

Maybe your ball goes past your buddies. Maybe it doesn’t. It’s only natural, at that point, to wonder: How does my driving distance compare to everybody else’s?

On Wednesday, the USGA and R&A released a wide-ranging and detailed look at distance in the game of golf, and specifically, how it’s changed over the years. It’s part of the governing bodies’ years-long investigation into whether technology in golf needs to be reigned-in. In sharing the findings, the duo makes clear that their focus is on “the longest hitters,” and not “impacting hitting distances for shorter hitters at the recreational level.”

And along the way, the USGA and R&A makes it a point to underline that distance at the recreational level not a cause for concern, which they support with the following graph outlining the average driving distances by handicap, as measured by a sample of club golfers in the U.K. in 2019.

According to the findings:

As for female golfers?

It also went on to show that driving distance in the recreational ranks is one of the clearest correlations with a golfer’s overall handicap. Put simply: You can probably predict how low a player’s handicap is based on how far they hit it.

Some interesting findings that ill hopefully help you figure out where you stack up. And if you’re looking to add some swing speed, you’re in luck, because we’ve got a bunch of good content on the subject right here.