How Far Do Male Amateur Golfers Hit Their Drives?
Find out how you compare with other amateur golfers for distance off the tee


A lot of club golfers are probably guilty of thinking that they hit the ball a little further than they actually do.
This is not to say some us aren't capable of hitting long drives - somewhere in the region of 290 yards (maybe a little further with a bit of ground help).
However, we can sometimes get a little carried away with how far we think we've been driving the ball, especially after a few post round drinks.
To find out how far male amateur golfers actually hit their drives, we asked our data partner, Shot Scope, to run some numbers - and these are displayed in the table below.
It's no surprise to see that the 'Performance Average' - which is the average without any significant mishits (outliers) - for the scratch handicap golfer is a healthy 285 yards.
This number might still be a little way short of the 300-yard average, or thereabouts, on the PGA Tour - but most of us would be happy to consistently drive the ball this far. Very happy.
As the handicap level increases, the average driving distance comes down - which, again, is something you'd expect to see.
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Handicap | Performance Average |
Scratch | 285 |
5 | 261 |
10 | 259 |
15 | 236 |
20 | 225 |
25 | 204 |
We also asked Shot Scope to provide the averages for female golfers - and these can be viewed in the table below.
Again, we have displayed the 'Performance Average', as this gives a true representation of a well struck shot, removing outliers such as tops.
A 6-10 handicap female golfer averages 226 yards with a driver
Handicap | Performance Average |
Scratch or better | 252 |
1-5 | 235 |
6-10 | 226 |
11-15 | 199 |
16-20 | 188 |
21-25 | 178 |
26+ | 166 |
Although these numbers give a good idea of how far different handicap players drive the ball, it should be noted that there is no breakdown of age group with this particular set of data - the figures include players of all ages.
You would expect a 25-year-old to hit a slightly further ball than a 60-year-old in the same handicap category, which is worth bearing in mind with these numbers.
If this has got you thinking that perhaps you could do with adding a few yards to your game, our panel of Top 50 Coaches can offer you plenty of driving tips to help you hit longer drives.
And although you can't rely solely on the latest equipment to boost your game, it might be that one of the best drivers for distance can give you that little bit of extra help off the tee that you need.

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, X and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 and 2025 Masters from Augusta National and was there by the 18th green to watch Rory McIlroy complete the career grand slam. He has also covered five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
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