Golf Club Distance

The four different types of golf clubs are putters, wedges, woods and irons.

Putters are used to hit the golf ball on and around the green when the ball is close to the cup, so putters are not distance clubs.

A 1-wood should enable the golfer to hit the ball 170-plus yards for a beginner, 220-plus yards for an average player and 250-plus yards for a professional. Using the same three levels of play, distances for a 3-wood should be 160 to 170, 200 to 220 and 220 to 240 and distances for a 5-wood should be 150 to 160, 180 to 200 and 200 to 220.

A 9-iron should hit a golf ball 80 to 90 yards for a beginner, 125 to 135 yards for an average player and 135 to 145 yards for a professional player. For each number that the iron decreases, add about 10 to 15 yards to the distance. So a beginner will hit the ball 90 to 105 yards with an 8-iron, 105 to 115 yards with a 7-iron and so on.

The pitching wedge should will hit the ball 60 to 80 yards for beginners, 100 to 125 yards for average players and 115 to 135 yards for professionals. The sand wedge distance should be 40 to 60, 80 to 100 and 90 to 115.

All of these distances are rough estimates. Your exact distance for each club will vary depending on sex, weight, height and ability. There are several golf distance calculators online that will allow you to input your personal information and get a more exact number.