Driver distance at 85 mph
A driver swung at 85 mph carries about 199 yards and totals 215 yards on the published tour table, with a smash factor of 1.42 and 121 mph of ball speed. The tour average for the club is 113 mph and 275 yards of carry, so 85 mph sits -28 mph and -76 yards from it.
The number
Ball speed is club head speed multiplied by smash factor: 85 multiplied by 1.42 is 121 mph. Carry is ball speed multiplied by the club’s 1.65 yards per mile per hour from the published tour row: 199 yards. Roll adds 8 percent on a fairway landing, for 215 yards total. The smash factor sits 0.06 below the tour value of 1.48 because the model eases strike quality by 0.01 for every 5 mph below the tour speed.
Speeds either side
The same club 5 and 10 mph either side, which is the range a golfer moves through across a season.
Driver carry around 85 mph
| Club head speed | Smash factor | Ball speed | Carry | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75 mph | 1.40 | 105 mph | 173 yards | 187 yards |
| 80 mph | 1.41 | 113 mph | 186 yards | 201 yards |
| 85 mph (this page) | 1.42 | 121 mph | 199 yards | 215 yards |
| 90 mph | 1.43 | 129 mph | 212 yards | 229 yards |
| 95 mph | 1.44 | 137 mph | 226 yards | 244 yards |
What strike is worth
At 85 mph a strike that moves smash factor by 0.02 moves ball speed by 2 mph and carry by about 3 yards with a driver. Speed is the expensive way to add distance; strike is the cheap one, and a launch monitor session shows which of the two is limiting yours.
The rest of the bag
A golfer who swings a driver at 85 mph swings a driver at about 85 mph on the model, since every club runs at the same fraction of its tour speed. That driver speed maps to about a 22 handicap on the handicap model and about age 49 on the age model. The bag below is every club at that fraction.
Every club at a 85 mph driver
Each club at 75 percent of its tour speed.
| Club | Club head speed | Carry | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | 85 mph | 199 yards | 215 yards |
| 3 wood | 80 mph | 176 yards | 187 yards |
| 5 wood | 77 mph | 167 yards | 177 yards |
| Hybrid | 75 mph | 164 yards | 173 yards |
| 3 iron | 74 mph | 154 yards | 160 yards |
| 4 iron | 72 mph | 148 yards | 154 yards |
| 5 iron | 71 mph | 141 yards | 147 yards |
| 6 iron | 69 mph | 133 yards | 138 yards |
| 7 iron | 68 mph | 125 yards | 130 yards |
| 8 iron | 65 mph | 116 yards | 121 yards |
| 9 iron | 64 mph | 108 yards | 112 yards |
| Pitching wedge | 62 mph | 99 yards | 101 yards |
| Gap wedge (modeled) | 61 mph | 90 yards | 92 yards |
The gap wedge row continues the pitching wedge trend and is labeled modeled; every other row is the published tour anchor scaled to the speed.
In PinFlag
Import a launch monitor session and PinFlag turns your driver into a pattern of your own carries, labeled Measured, that stands behind every target you price on the course. Shot Cloud draws the real shots around the spot you are considering, on the hole in front of you, so the share of your drives that reaches the water or the rough is a picture of your own game.
Every shot you log with the driver on the course records the target and the result, so the pattern keeps growing from real rounds, and Insights shows the club’s proximity, the shots it cost and the shots it won across a season.
Frequently asked questions
How far does a driver go at 85 mph?
What ball speed does 85 mph produce with a driver?
What driver speed goes with a 85 mph driver?
How much more does a driver go at 90 mph?
Which golf app does this on the course?
Related
Sources
- PGA TOUR statistics
- Golf simulator and launch monitor, Wikipedia
- How PinFlag calculates strokes gained
Every figure on this page is computed from the published baselines, the same ones PinFlag prices your shots with. The scope of the figures: The carry is the published tour driver anchor scaled to 85 mph with smash factor easing below the tour speed; the driver, handicap and age mappings follow the models stated on the page.
Get PinFlag for iPhone
PinFlag shows you this number on the course, for the shot in front of you, before you swing: any target priced with your own dispersion and the lie read from the course map, your real shots drawn on the hole, and two taps to log. Golfer is $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, with a 14-day trial on the annual plan through the App Store.