Golf’s miniature offseason is upon us, which means it’s time to dive into the game’s burning questions — and also its random minutiae. Enter the data team at Arccos Golf, who decided to run the numbers on which state has the longest-driving golfers.
Some of the numbers might surprise you. Some make plenty of sense. Either way, check ’em out and see whether you’re living amidst some long bombers, short hitters or somewhere in between.
The Criteria
For the study, Arccos looked at low-handicap golfers — those playing between a 0 and a 5. And they looked at summertime drives only — rounds played between May 15th and September 15th.
The study was compiled on a whim by Lou Stagner, Arccos’ Data Insights Lead, who was fielding data requests from readers and got multiple asks for a state-by-state breakdown. He added the caveat that he did not control for age or other factors.
The Shortest Hitters
You’ll notice the group of states here is largely clumped on the Eastern Seaboard, where the states are, on average, lower in elevation and higher in average age. Here’s how the shortest 10 broke down:
242 yards — Florida
245 yards — South Carolina
245 yards — New Hampshire
245 yards — Hawaii
246 yards — Vermont
246 yards — Maine
247 yards — Delaware
247 yards — Virginia
247 yards — Iowa
247 yards — North Carolina
The Longest Drivers
The Wild West lives up to its reputation as a place to live large and rip driver; the states are clumped at high elevation and west of the Mississippi River. Here are the top 10:
267 yards — Utah
264 yards — Colorado
263 yards — Nevada
262 yards — Wyoming
262 yards — Montana
260 yards — Kentucky
259 yards — Arizona
259 yards — North Dakota
258 yards — Oklahoma
257 yards — Minnesota
257 yards — Nebraska
The Takeaways
What do we make of these numbers? Here are a few related numbers:
1. Elevation helps
Once you’ve looked at the Top 10 list above, check out the list of states by average elevation. The top three states by mean elevation — Colorado, Wyoming and Utah — are in the top four in average driving distance. We’ve looked at the effect that elevation has on driving distance in the past; here’s more evidence that if you want to hit it long, you’d better get high first.
2. Sea level hurts
The reverse is true, too: Basically the entirety of Florida is at sea level, and other low states like Delaware and South Carolina are on the list. Plus there are some relatively mountainous states like Hawaii or New Hampshire whose golf courses are concentrated closer to sea level. That’s not doing you any favors when it comes to distance.
3. Young bombers
Another interesting correlation is between distance and age. Check out the youngest states by average: Utah is the youngest at 31.3 years old, and it’s the longest, too. North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado also rank in the top 10 in both youngest people and longest low-handicappers.
4. Old, wily vets
Maine is the oldest state in the nation, with an average age of 45.0. It’s low-handicappers seem to be getting it done with slightly less distance off the tee, too — perhaps signs of a mature game. That’s true of other short-hitting states, too, like New Hampshire (average age 43.1), Vermont (43.0), Florida (42.5) and Delaware (41.1), each of which cracks the top 10 in oldest residents and shortest hitters.
5. The outliers
What’s up with Kentucky and Iowa? Both states would make sense as middle-of-the-road in distance; they’re relatively average in age, elevation and climate. But Kentucky is well above average at 260 yards a pop, sixth-longest, while Iowa is well below average at 247. J.B. Holmes and Zach Johnson, it turns out, represent their respective states quite well.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway here is that every participant involved has a handicap between 0 and 5; consider this yet another reminder that there are many ways to get the ball in the hole. And in the end, distance is all relative.