Driver distance at 90 mph
A driver swung at 90 mph carries about 212 yards and totals 229 yards on the published tour table, with a smash factor of 1.43 and 129 mph of ball speed. The tour average for the club is 113 mph and 275 yards of carry, so 90 mph sits -23 mph and -63 yards from it.
The number
Ball speed is club head speed multiplied by smash factor: 90 multiplied by 1.43 is 129 mph. Carry is ball speed multiplied by the club’s 1.65 yards per mile per hour from the published tour row: 212 yards. Roll adds 8 percent on a fairway landing, for 229 yards total. The smash factor sits 0.05 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 90 mph
| Club head speed | Smash factor | Ball speed | Carry | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 mph | 1.41 | 113 mph | 186 yards | 201 yards |
| 85 mph | 1.42 | 121 mph | 199 yards | 215 yards |
| 90 mph (this page) | 1.43 | 129 mph | 212 yards | 229 yards |
| 95 mph | 1.44 | 137 mph | 226 yards | 244 yards |
| 100 mph | 1.45 | 145 mph | 239 yards | 258 yards |
What strike is worth
At 90 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 90 mph swings a driver at about 90 mph on the model, since every club runs at the same fraction of its tour speed. That driver speed maps to about a 17 handicap on the handicap model and about age 35 on the age model. The bag below is every club at that fraction.
Every club at a 90 mph driver
Each club at 80 percent of its tour speed.
| Club | Club head speed | Carry | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | 90 mph | 212 yards | 229 yards |
| 3 wood | 85 mph | 188 yards | 199 yards |
| 5 wood | 82 mph | 178 yards | 189 yards |
| Hybrid | 80 mph | 174 yards | 185 yards |
| 3 iron | 78 mph | 164 yards | 171 yards |
| 4 iron | 76 mph | 157 yards | 164 yards |
| 5 iron | 75 mph | 150 yards | 156 yards |
| 6 iron | 73 mph | 142 yards | 147 yards |
| 7 iron | 72 mph | 133 yards | 139 yards |
| 8 iron | 69 mph | 124 yards | 129 yards |
| 9 iron | 68 mph | 115 yards | 119 yards |
| Pitching wedge | 66 mph | 105 yards | 107 yards |
| Gap wedge (modeled) | 65 mph | 96 yards | 98 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 90 mph?
What ball speed does 90 mph produce with a driver?
What driver speed goes with a 90 mph driver?
How much more does a driver go at 95 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 90 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.