In this Issue

⛳ How far do you really drive it — and the distance dilemma every golfer faces

🆕 The 2026 drivers that quietly landed — and who they’re for

Plus: the “I drive 350” guy, distance vs accuracy & the Shotscope chart

Hi Reader,

⛳ You haven’t lost the distance you think you have

A lot amateur golfer believe two things about their driving: that they used to be longer, and that everyone else is longer than them.

The data says otherwise.

Arccos has just released its largest-ever Annual Driving Distance Report — built from close 10 million drives across 160+ countries, based on a random sample of 37,000+ golfers, each with a minimum of 100 driver tee shots taken during verified rounds.

It’s about as close to the truth on amateur distance as we’re going to get.

The headline: the average male amateur’s driving distance has shifted less than one yard since 2018. Women’s averages are within four yards of their 2018 baseline.

Eight years of new drivers, new balls, new launch monitors — and the needle has barely moved.

So if you feel shorter than you were, you’re almost certainly not. You’re just comparing yourself to a highlight reel.

But here’s the trap. It would be easy to read “no extra distance in eight years” and shrug — distance is overrated anyway, right? Wrong. And this is where the data gets pointed.

Look at the gap between an elite amateur (scratch to 4.9) and a 30-handicap: 63 yards off the tee. That gulf isn’t a fluke — it’s one of the clearest markers of skill in the whole report.

And it lines up with one the most important findings in modern golf analytics.

Strokes Gained inventor Dr Mark Broadie’s work shows the long game — driving and approach play — explains roughly two-thirds of what separates any two standards of golfer (around 40% approach, 28% driving).

The short game accounts for about 17%, putting just 15%. “Drive for show, putt for dough” is, statistically, backwards.

So here’s the uncomfortable truth: you can’t buy distance — the gear proves it — but you can’t materially lower your handicap without it either. The yards have to be earned: clubhead speed, a better strike, smarter practice. Not ordered online.

Which leaves you with a genuine trade-off again this season — and it’s worth being honest about both sides.

• Path 1 — prioritise accuracy over distance and sharpen the short game. This is the quick win. Take woods and irons off the tee, keep it short but in play, tidy up chipping and putting, and you’ll save shots very quickly. The catch: there’s a ceiling. You can only save so many strokes constraining how far you hit the ball off the tee.
• Path 2 — add distance off the tee to make your approach play easier. This is the slow burn. Clubhead speed and a cleaner strike don’t arrive in a weekend. But it lifts your potential far higher, because the long game is two-thirds of what separates golfers. This is how you materially drop your handicap — not just shave.

Neither is wrong. One gives you a fast few shots with a hard limit; the other can take a while but raises the whole game.

So what's your Golfing Focus?

PS Arccos' distance report also found on average, players with a 0.0 to 4.9 handicap (the most accurate) hit the fairway only 10 percentage points more often than players with a 30+ handicap (least accurate).

🆕 The 2026 drivers landed quietly

If you blinked, you missed it: a wave of 2026 drivers have hit the USGA conforming list this year.

• The TaylorMade Qi4D has arrived in three heads (standard, LS, Max) — already in play for Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Scottie Scheffler.
• Ping G440 K looks like the successor to the popular G430 Max 10K featuring a carbonfly wrap and movable weight for draw or fade bias, in lofts up to 12°.
• Cobra’s OPTM and Callaway’s Quantum round out the field with their usual ladder of head options.

Only one thing matters for us amateurs though of course. Will any of these give you any more distance than your current driver?

If your current model is less than 5 years old its doubtful. Only buy for the results, not the marketing!

🔗 Quick links

🎯 We’ve all played with him — the r/golf “I drive it 350” partner who carded a 107. A masterclass in belief vs reality.

📈 Shotscope's 2026 driver distance chart for comparison — Another "how do I compare?” benchmark.