Driving distance is one of the hottest topics in golf. Whether it’s wondering if the pros hit the ball too far, whether you hit it too short or anything in between distance off the tee is a popular talking point online and in 19th hole barrooms.
As far as the debate goes on if the ball goes too far in the pro game, the jury is split. While it’s true that pros are hitting the ball longer than ever before (Aldrich Potgieter leads the PGA Tour at 324 yards per drive this season), some insist it’s the natural progression of the sport as athletes and technology evolve. Others fear that ever-increasing driving distances are bad for the sport as more and more courses become obsolete.
What’s not up for debate is the thirst for distance among recreational players. No matter the skill level, weekend warriors all around the world are always seeking more clubhead speed so they can hit bombs off the tee.
How successful have they been in that pursuit? Thanks to Arccos’s Annual Driving Distance Report, we know for a fact how the average distance recreational players are hitting their drives.
How far golfers really hit the ball
Arccos’ shot-tracking system has amassed over a billion data points from an assortment of golfers of all skill levels. This is not only useful on the micro level to help amateur golfer improve, but it can also tell us a lot about the game in the macro sense. One such insight comes from their Driving Distance Report, which you can read in full here.
According to this report, the average men’s golfer — across all handicaps — drove the ball 224.7 yards in 2024. For women’s golfers, that average was 176.2 yards. If these averages seem a little low, that’s probably because the typical recreational player vastly overestimates how far they — and their playing partners — drive the ball.
The figures for both the men and women were actually slightly lower than the average driving distance of the previous year. In 2023, men averaged 225 yards off the tee while women averaged 178.1 yards. However, since Arccos began publishing this annual report, average driving distances for both men and women have remained relatively flat, which you can see in the chart below.
While pros might be getting longer and longer each year, the same cannot be said of recreational golfers, at least in recent years. So keep hitting the gym and keep at that speed training. You could pick up some serious gains — when it’s a safe bet your competition won’t be.
