Europe vs USA - Which Golfers Hit The Ball Further?

The driving distance debate is never far from the conversation, with controversy in the elite game following proposals to use a rolled back golf ball from 2026.

Meanwhile, earlier in 2023, Arccos Golf stats confirmed that driving distances in the amateur game have decreased over the last four years. But what about the comparison between players from Europe and the USA? 

With perfect timing ahead of the biennial Ryder Cup between Team Europe and Team USA, the platform has now released average driving distances based on Arccos member tee shots comparing the results of European and US male and female golfers. The results, from a dataset in excess of 790 million shots hit during more than 16 million rounds, are fascinating.

Where it comes to the men’s game, the results are unequivocal – no matter what the handicap level, the average driving distances for men in the US are higher than their European counterparts.

For those with a scratch handicap or better, US males average 264.5 yards using a driver off the tee, compared with just 256.4 yards for Europeans. 

The trend continues as the handicaps increase. So, the 0 to 4.9 category sees US men hit the ball on average 249.6 yards against 242.8 yards from Europeans. Then, from 5.0 to 9.9 handicap, US males again leads the way, on 235.4 yards against 229.1 yards.

On the trend goes, all the way to the final category, assessing average male driving distances for handicaps of 30 or more, where US players manage 191 yards, compared to just 179.3 for those from Europe. Of the eight categories, that’s also the one with the largest gap between the two, at a sizeable 11.7 yards between US players and Europeans.

But what about women golfers? While the results are more inconsistent, overall, the roles are reversed with European women golfers tending to drive the ball further off the tee on average than their US counterparts.

However, there are two handicap categories where US players still emerge with the longest average drives. The 0.0 to 4.9 category sees US women achieve an average of 10.2 yards longer with 222.6 yards against 212.4 yards. Then, in the 5.0 to 9.9 category, US women average just shy of a yard longer, with 203.3 yards against 202.4 yards.

In the remaining six categories, European women drive the ball further on average. Not surprisingly, the longest is among 0.0 handicap or better golfers, with 238.9 yards off the tee with a driver against 229.8 yards among female golfers from the US.

Meanwhile, it’s the average female driving distances for handicaps of 30 or more that sees the biggest contrast, with the distance for Europeans at 152 yards compared to just 139.5 for US counterparts – a gaping 12.5 yard difference.