Average driver distance
By The Home Golfer editorial team · Last updated October 5, 2026
The average male amateur drives the ball 224.1 yards, according to Arccos’s 2026 report on nearly 10 million tee shots from 2025 rounds. The average woman in the same dataset drives it 175.7 yards. PGA TOUR players average 306.4 yards in 2026, about 82 yards past the typical amateur.
- Male amateur
- 224.1
- yards · Arccos, 2025 rounds
- Female amateur
- 175.7
- yards · Arccos, 2025 rounds
- PGA TOUR
- 306.4
- yards · 2026 tour average
- LPGA Tour
- 263.4
- yards · 2026 median player
Most of that gap is clubhead speed. The average 14-handicap man swings his driver about 94 mph, and TrackMan-derived data puts a 95 mph swing at roughly 230 yards of carry and 245 total. Our golf swing speed chart converts any speed from 80 to 130 mph into yards, so you can read your expected drive from your mph.
Handicap moves driver distance by 60-plus yards
A man in the 0 to 4.9 band averages 244 yards. A 30-plus handicapper averages 181, a 63-yard gap. Arccos found the same slope for women, from 220 yards at the top down to 145. Most golfers sit in the middle rows: a 15 to 19.9 handicap man drives it about 212.
| Handicap | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 4.9 | 244 | 220 |
| 5 to 9.9 | 234 | 206 |
| 10 to 14.9 | 223 | 195 |
| 15 to 19.9 | 212 | 178 |
| 20 to 24.9 | 199 | 167 |
| 25 to 29.9 | 194 | 154 |
| 30+ | 181 | 145 |
Total distance (carry plus roll), yards, driver tee shots on par 4s and par 5s in 2025 rounds. Averaged across all ages.
Source: Arccos Annual Driving Distance Report, 2026 Edition (2025 rounds, 37,000+ golfers, 9.7M driver tee shots), PDF, checked 2026-10-05. How we compile these numbers.
Shot Scope’s numbers run higher
Shot Scope has a scratch golfer at 285 yards and a 25-handicapper at 204. For roughly matching bands that is 10 to 41 yards more than Arccos reports. The method explains it. Shot Scope publishes a Performance Average, which leaves out significant mishits. Arccos averages every qualifying driver shot on par 4s and par 5s, topped drives included.
| Handicap | Driver (Performance Average) |
|---|---|
| Scratch | 285 |
| 5 | 261 |
| 10 | 259 |
| 15 | 236 |
| 20 | 225 |
| 25 | 204 |
Yards. Performance Average leaves out significant mishits, so it reads higher than a plain average of every drive.
Source: Shot Scope driving-distance data by handicap (Performance Average), via Golf Monthly, May 29, 2026, checked 2026-10-05. How we compile these numbers.
Use Arccos for the drive you can expect on an ordinary swing. Use Shot Scope for what a well-struck drive looks like at your handicap. If your good drives match Shot Scope and your average matches Arccos, you’re normal. Our guide to measuring your distances at home shows how to log both numbers in one session.
Men lose about 50 yards between their teens and their 70s
The decline is slow at first. Men in their 20s average 237 yards and men in their 40s average 230, only 7 yards apart. After that it speeds up: 219 in the 50s, 190 in the 70s. Women in their 20s average 201 and women in their 60s average 158.
| Age | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 15 to 19 | 240 | Not reported |
| 20s | 237 | 201 |
| 30s | 235 | 192 |
| 40s | 230 | 183 |
| 50s | 219 | 168 |
| 60s | 206 | 158 |
| 70s | 190 | Not reported |
Total distance, yards, across all handicaps. Arccos did not report women aged 15 to 19 or 70-plus (sample too small).
Source: Arccos Annual Driving Distance Report, 2026 Edition (2025 rounds, 37,000+ golfers, 9.7M driver tee shots), PDF, checked 2026-10-05. How we compile these numbers.
Past 50, the same drift shows up in every club. The senior golf club distance chart applies the Arccos age split to your irons.
The 2026 tour averages: 306.4 and 263.4 yards
PGA TOUR’s official stat puts the 2026 tour average at 306.4 yards through the Bank of Utah Championship (Oct 4, 2026). Aldrich Potgieter leads at 331.9. The LPGA lists 163 players but no field average, so the figure here is the median player on its 2026 table, which we calculated: 263.4 yards. Riley Smyth leads the LPGA at 288.55.
| Tour (2026 season) | Field average | Longest player |
|---|---|---|
| PGA TOUR | 306.4 (tour average) | 331.9 (Aldrich Potgieter) |
| LPGA Tour | 263.4 (median player) | 288.55 (Riley Smyth) |
Yards per measured drive. Both tours measure drives on two holes per course (PGA TOUR) or per round (LPGA).
Sources: PGA TOUR Driving Distance (stat 101), 2026 season, through the Bank of Utah Championship, Oct 4; LPGA Average Driving Distance, 2026 season (163 players listed). Both checked 2026-10-05. LPGA median calculated by The Home Golfer from the listed player averages.
You may see a lower tour figure elsewhere. The TrackMan tour averages on our golf club distance chart put a PGA driver at 290 yards total. The official stat counts only two measured holes per course, chosen before each event, so it samples a different set of drives.
The amateur average has barely moved since 2018
Arccos had men at 224 yards in 2018 and 224.1 in 2025. Women went from 179.2 to 175.7.
Altitude moves the number too. A 10-handicap man averages 220.5 yards at sea level and 239.7 above 5,000 feet, a 19.2-yard difference in the same report. If you play high up, compare yourself with care.
A launch monitor gives you your own driver number
A portable launch monitor reads carry, total and clubhead speed on each drive. Average a session’s worth and you can place yourself in the tables above, with no guessing off a range marker.
Garmin Approach R10 Portable Golf Launch Monitor
Portable radar unit, 14 metrics, up to 10 hr battery, includes tripod + phone mount.
Once you know your speed, the golf ball compression chart shows which balls each maker aims at your speed band. For the other end of the bag, the wedge distance chart covers all four wedges.
Related charts
Other distance charts built from the same published datasets.
- Golf club distance chartAverage carry distance for every club, driver to lob wedge, with tour, skill-level, and by-age tables. Printable.
- 7 iron distanceThe reference club, in depth: what a normal 7-iron number looks like by skill level, age, and swing speed.
- Hybrid golf club distancesA hybrid goes as far as the iron it replaces. Here's the manufacturer's own loft-equivalence mapping, brand-by-brand loft ranges, and why we don't print an invented average table.
- Wedge distance chartPitching, gap, sand and lob wedge carry for amateurs and tour players, typical lofts, and the 4 to 6 degree gapping rule.
- Beginner golf club distancesWhat a new golfer actually carries, driver through wedges, with the average-amateur column alongside. Why gapping matters more than yards at this stage.
- Senior golf club distance chartIron distances by age decade from Arccos tracked-shot data, senior columns first. How much distance drifts, why, and the one-club adjustment that fixes most of it.
- Women's golf club distancesDriver distances for female amateurs by handicap band, from two independent 2026 datasets, plus the LPGA Tour club-by-club reference. An honest note on what's still not citable.
- Golf swing speed chartDriver swing speed to distance, average speeds by handicap, age, and sex, plus the shaft flex each speed band points to.
The chart shows the average. Your drive is its own number.
Measure your real driver distance
A table tells you where golfers like you land. One session with a launch monitor tells you where your drives land. Here’s how to measure at home.
How to measure your distances