Golf at 85 mph swing speed
A driver swung at 85 mph carries about 199 yards and totals 215 yards on the published tour table, with 121 mph of ball speed at a smash factor of 1.42. At the same fraction of tour speed a 7 iron carries 125 yards. The speed maps to about a 22 handicap on the handicap model and about age 49 on the age model; 5 mph more is worth about 13 yards of carry.
Driver at 85 mph
Ball speed is club head speed multiplied by smash factor: 85 multiplied by 1.42 is 121 mph. Carry is ball speed multiplied by 1.65 yards per mile per hour, the driver’s ratio from the published tour row: 199 yards. Roll adds 8 percent on a fairway landing, for 215 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 85 mph
A golfer who swings a driver at 85 mph swings every club at 75 percent of its tour speed on the model, which is the fraction the table applies.
The bag at a 85 mph driver
| Club | Club head speed | Ball speed | Carry | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | 85 mph | 121 mph | 199 yards | 215 yards |
| 3 wood | 80 mph | 115 mph | 176 yards | 187 yards |
| 5 wood | 77 mph | 110 mph | 167 yards | 177 yards |
| Hybrid | 75 mph | 106 mph | 164 yards | 173 yards |
| 3 iron | 74 mph | 103 mph | 154 yards | 160 yards |
| 4 iron | 72 mph | 100 mph | 148 yards | 154 yards |
| 5 iron | 71 mph | 96 mph | 141 yards | 147 yards |
| 6 iron | 69 mph | 92 mph | 133 yards | 138 yards |
| 7 iron | 68 mph | 87 mph | 125 yards | 130 yards |
| 8 iron | 65 mph | 84 mph | 116 yards | 121 yards |
| 9 iron | 64 mph | 79 mph | 108 yards | 112 yards |
| Pitching wedge | 62 mph | 74 mph | 99 yards | 101 yards |
| Gap wedge (modeled) | 61 mph | 69 mph | 90 yards | 92 yards |
Where 85 mph sits
The handicap model puts a scratch driver at 106 mph and takes 0.95 mph off per stroke, so 85 mph is about a 22 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 85 mph is about age 49 on the age model. Both are models of the average; the spread around the speed is where handicaps actually differ.
Five mph more
At 90 mph the driver carries 212 yards, 13 yards more. On a 400 yard par 4 that turns a 185 yards approach into a 171 yards one, which the published fairway table prices at 0.07 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 85 mph swing speed hit a driver?
What handicap swings 85 mph?
How far does a 7 iron go at a 85 mph driver speed?
What ball speed does 85 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 85 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.