🏌️‍♂️ Your golf game does not simply 'decline' with age

Golfing Focus has consistently noted how clear the data is that driving distance declines with age.

While it is positive that the decline in distances is gradual and only accelerates as players head over the 60 year age mark it is clearly there to see across the amateur ranks.

But when MyGolfSpy recently looked at other Arccos data comparing golfers by age they found it's not all one way traffic for your game as you get older.

Penalties moved the other way: 2.11 for under-30s, 1.88 in their 40s, 1.53 in their 50s and 1.16 in their 60s.

The 70-plus group also gained 0.72 strokes around the green and 0.85 putting against the under-30 group.

Course choice also matters. The average course played shortened from 6,370 yards for under-30s to 5,904 for over-70s - a difference of almost 470 yards.

This analysis of course does not track the same golfers as they age, so it cannot tell us that birthdays automatically improve putting.

But it does show why your own evidence matters. Distance may be the obvious change, but smarter course selection and fewer mistakes can quietly offset some of it.

⛳ Seven greens in regulation is 'good' golf!

One key challenge amateur golfers often face is unrealistic expectations - they watch the top players hit the green from 200+yards out and think that's the reference point.

But Shot Scope’s latest benchmarks put a 5-handicap at just 41% of greens in regulation - roughly seven per round.

A 10-handicap averages 32%, a 15-handicap 21% and a 25-handicap just 9%.

That matters when every missed green can feel like evidence of a poor strike.

The more useful number may be where approaches miss. Golfers finished short 30% of the time from 100–150 yards, 40% from 150–200 and 65% from beyond 200.

Missing a green is normal, even for good amateurs. Repeatedly missing the front of it is a club-selection clue!