Golf at 100 mph swing speed
A driver swung at 100 mph carries about 239 yards and totals 258 yards on the published tour table, with 145 mph of ball speed at a smash factor of 1.45. At the same fraction of tour speed a 7 iron carries 150 yards. The speed maps to about a 6 handicap on the handicap model and above the peak the age model gives a golfer in their twenties; 5 mph more is worth about 14 yards of carry.
Driver at 100 mph
Ball speed is club head speed multiplied by smash factor: 100 multiplied by 1.45 is 145 mph. Carry is ball speed multiplied by 1.65 yards per mile per hour, the driver’s ratio from the published tour row: 239 yards. Roll adds 8 percent on a fairway landing, for 258 yards total. The smash factor sits below the tour value of 1.48 because the model eases strike quality by 0.01 for every 5 mph below the tour speed of 113 mph.
Every club at 100 mph
A golfer who swings a driver at 100 mph swings every club at 88 percent of its tour speed on the model, which is the fraction the table applies.
The bag at a 100 mph driver
| Club | Club head speed | Ball speed | Carry | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | 100 mph | 145 mph | 239 yards | 258 yards |
| 3 wood | 95 mph | 137 mph | 211 yards | 224 yards |
| 5 wood | 91 mph | 132 mph | 200 yards | 212 yards |
| Hybrid | 88 mph | 127 mph | 196 yards | 208 yards |
| 3 iron | 87 mph | 124 mph | 185 yards | 192 yards |
| 4 iron | 85 mph | 119 mph | 177 yards | 184 yards |
| 5 iron | 83 mph | 115 mph | 169 yards | 176 yards |
| 6 iron | 81 mph | 111 mph | 159 yards | 166 yards |
| 7 iron | 80 mph | 105 mph | 150 yards | 156 yards |
| 8 iron | 77 mph | 100 mph | 139 yards | 145 yards |
| 9 iron | 75 mph | 95 mph | 129 yards | 134 yards |
| Pitching wedge | 73 mph | 89 mph | 118 yards | 121 yards |
| Gap wedge (modeled) | 72 mph | 83 mph | 108 yards | 110 yards |
Where 100 mph sits
The handicap model puts a scratch driver at 106 mph and takes 0.95 mph off per stroke, so 100 mph is about a 6 handicap on the handicap model. The age model anchors 92 mph to a 15 handicap at 30 and eases 0.35 mph a year after that, so 100 mph is above the peak the age model gives a golfer in their twenties. Both are models of the average; the spread around the speed is where handicaps actually differ.
Five mph more
At 105 mph the driver carries 253 yards, 14 yards more. On a 400 yard par 4 that turns a 142 yards approach into a 127 yards one, which the published fairway table prices at 0.05 of a stroke before the iron is struck.
Speed against accuracy
Speed is worth strokes only when the ball stays in play. A drive into the rough costs about 0.25 of a stroke against the fairway at 150 yards on the published table, roughly what fifteen yards of carry buys back, and a penalty costs close to two. The number that decides a tee shot is the dispersion around the speed, drawn on the hole.
In PinFlag
A launch monitor session gives PinFlag your club head speed, ball speed and carry for every swing, which is a better input than any model: the carry that stands behind every driver decision on the course becomes yours, labeled Measured, and Shot Cloud draws your real drives around the target so speed and spread are priced together on the hole.
Frequently asked questions
How far does a 100 mph swing speed hit a driver?
What handicap swings 100 mph?
How far does a 7 iron go at a 100 mph driver speed?
What ball speed does 100 mph produce?
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 carries are the published tour anchors scaled to 100 mph with smash factor easing below the tour speed; the handicap and age mappings are 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.