Golf Club Distances Chart NZ: How Far Should You Hit Each Club?

Short Answer

There isn't a correct distance you should hit each golf club. A distance chart is useful for context, but the numbers that actually matter on the course are your own carry distances.

Use the reference points below to understand roughly where recreational golfers sit, not as a target you need to reach. Learn your normal carry with every club, look for gaps and overlaps in your bag, then decide whether anything actually needs changing.

Golf Club Distance Chart: Real Amateur Reference Points

Rather than an invented full-bag chart, here are real median actual-distance figures from Arccos shot-tracking data, a system that records actual amateur rounds rather than range sessions or self-reported estimates.

These are Arccos median actual-distance figures from recorded on-course shots (7-iron: scratch 159 yards, 10 handicap 148 yards, 20 handicap 140 yards; PW: scratch 122 yards, 10 handicap 114 yards, 20 handicap 104 yards), converted from yards to metres and rounded to the nearest metre. Arccos doesn't identify these as carry distances, so we haven't presented them as carry here either, they're reference points for where actual shots finished, not a carry-distance target to hit. See the carry vs total section below for that distinction.

We've kept this deliberately short rather than inventing figures for every club in the bag. Where we don't have a verified real-world reference, we'd rather leave it out than guess.

Why These Are References, Not Targets

Your handicap does not tell us how far you personally should hit a club. Handicap measures overall scoring ability, not club speed, strike quality, iron loft, launch, age, physical characteristics or equipment, and any of those can push an individual well outside the population median above.

The figures exist to give you a sense of where recreational golfers generally sit, not a number to chase. A 20-handicapper hitting a 7-iron 120m is not doing anything wrong, and a scratch golfer hitting one 155m isn't either. Distance varies with speed, strike, launch conditions, club design and the individual golfer, including age and physical characteristics. The only distance that matters for your own club selection is the one you've actually measured.

Carry vs Total Distance

Carry is how far the ball travels through the air before it lands. Total is carry plus bounce and roll.

For most approach-shot decisions, carry is usually the first number we'd want you to know: carrying a bunker, carrying water, reaching the front of a green, or clearing trouble all depend on carry, not total. Total distance still matters where rollout is part of the shot, particularly the driver, fairway woods and some hybrids or long clubs.

Instead of "my 7-iron goes 150m", it's more useful to think in terms of "my normal 7-iron carries around 137m, with better strikes around 140m." Treat your distance as a useful range built from normal strikes, not one career-best shot you're trying to replicate under pressure.

Why Two 7-Irons Don't Necessarily Go the Same Distance

The number stamped on an iron does not tell you its loft. A PING G440 7-iron sits at roughly 29°, a Titleist T100 7-iron at roughly 33°, and a Titleist T250 7-iron at roughly 30.5°. Three clubs, all labelled "7-iron", with a meaningful loft spread between them.

Two clubs both called a 7-iron can differ in loft, head construction, shaft, length, launch and spin. That means someone hitting one 7-iron farther than another hasn't necessarily gained any club speed, they may simply be swinging a stronger-lofted club. This matters most when comparing different brands, different generations of the same brand, or a game-improvement iron against a players iron.

How to Find Your Real Club Distances

Guessing based on feel, or your best-ever shot with a club, isn't a reliable way to know your distances. But we wouldn't recommend hitting 8 to 10 balls, throwing out the mishits and averaging what's left either, that method quietly cherry-picks your better strikes and inflates the result.

A better approach is to gather a genuinely representative set of shots, ideally across more than one session, using either a launch monitor or reliable on-course shot tracking. Don't let your longest shot define the club's distance, and don't let one complete duff define it either. TrackMan's Map My Bag builds a picture from multiple shots and rolling history, and apps like Arccos or Shot Scope are designed to reduce the influence of one-off outliers rather than eliminate your worst shots by hand. There's no single sample size that's scientifically mandatory here, we just want the distance you're likely to produce on a normal strike, not your best shot of the month.

Build Your Own Distance Chart

This is the chart that actually matters. Use the template below and fill it in as you measure each club, rather than copying numbers from anyone else's bag.

Fill this in with your own measured numbers. A photo of it saved to your phone, or a printed card in your bag, is enough, no app required.

How Much Gap Should You Have Between Clubs?

We're more interested in obvious overlaps and holes than making every gap in the bag identical. A universal "10 to 15 metres between every club" rule doesn't hold up once you look at a real bag, because different club types close that gap differently.

Common patterns worth noticing: a 4-iron and 5-iron carrying nearly the same distance, a hybrid and fairway wood that overlap heavily, a large gap between the PW and the next wedge, or one iron sitting unexpectedly close to its neighbour. The useful question for each club isn't "is it exactly the right distance apart" but does each club perform a distinct job in your bag.

What Your Distances Can Tell You About Your Bag

Distance alone isn't enough to diagnose the shaft, clubhead or swing. It can point you toward a worthwhile question, not hand you a definitive answer.

Distance alone can't tell you which shaft flex you need, either. Speed is relevant, but fitting also depends on delivery, shaft family, feel, strike and launch. Our Golf Shaft Flex Guide covers this properly.

Head design can also affect forgiveness, launch, ball speed retention and how a club behaves on off-centre strikes, separately from age or brand. If you want the deeper explanation of that trade-off, see our Forgiving Irons vs Blades guide.

When a Hybrid or Fairway Wood Might Make More Sense

If your 4-iron and 5-iron travel essentially the same distance, your long-iron launch is consistently poor, or you can't create useful separation at the top of the iron set, a hybrid or higher-lofted fairway wood may be worth testing.

That's not the same as saying hybrids automatically beat long irons, or that a 4-hybrid is the same as a 4-iron, lofts and designs vary too much for that to be a safe assumption. It's also not a recommendation that every recreational golfer should replace their long irons, only a reasonable thing to test if your own numbers point that way.

Wedge Distance Gaps

If there's a large gap between your PW, AW/GW and SW, check the actual lofts involved and the actual carry distances you're producing with each, rather than assuming the labels tell the whole story. Our Wedge Guide is the detailed source on building out a sensible wedge setup, so we won't repeat it here.

How NZ Conditions Change Distance

Wind can materially alter carry, trajectory and curvature. The wind the ball experiences higher in its flight can differ from what you feel standing on the tee, which is part of why there's no reliable fixed rule like "20 km/h of headwind equals two clubs."

Temperature matters too. Cold conditions can reduce distance, through both colder air and a colder ball, but we wouldn't publish a fixed metres-per-degree figure, the effect varies too much to be useful as a rule of thumb.

Ground firmness has a major effect on total distance specifically. Firm summer ground adds rollout, soft or wet ground reduces it, which is another good reason to think in carry distance rather than total when the ground is doing a lot of the work.

Elevation can increase distance, since thinner air creates less drag, though the effect varies by shot and we won't publish a universal percentage here.

On a windy coastal course, your calm-condition carry number is the starting point, not the final answer.

How to Use Carry Distance on the Course

Know the distance you need to carry the trouble, not just the distance to the flag. A bunker short of the green, water, the front edge of the green itself, or a forced carry over rough all set a real number you need to clear, and it's often different from the number on the card.

A club that goes 145m total isn't necessarily the right club to clear something that requires 140m of carry, if most of that 145m comes from roll rather than flight. Working out the carry you actually need, then matching it to your own measured carry numbers, is a more reliable process than picking a club off the yardage to the pin alone.

Should You Change Equipment to Hit It Farther?

Not automatically. If your distances are shorter than someone else's, that alone isn't a reason to buy new clubs.

Equipment is worth investigating when gaps in the bag overlap badly, the specification is clearly unsuitable for you, the club design doesn't suit your strike, a club is damaged, you've changed physically or technically since it was fitted, or a fitter has identified a genuine launch, spin or dispersion improvement available to you. Sometimes the right answer is simply to keep the clubs you have, learn your actual distances, and select the correct club on the course with that information.

If you're assembling a whole bag rather than fine-tuning one part of it, our Beginner Guide is a better starting point than this article. And if the driver specifically is what you're questioning, our Used Drivers guide covers head type, loft and shaft in more depth.

SwingStock Verdict

A distance chart is useful for context, but don't build your game around somebody else's numbers. Learn your normal carry with each club, understand your typical range, look for overlaps and large gaps, and use carry distance for obstacle and approach decisions. Investigate equipment only when the data actually suggests a real problem.

Measure first. Find the gaps. Then decide whether anything in the bag actually needs changing.

Focused FAQs

How far should I hit a 7-iron?

Arccos median actual-distance data puts the figure around 145m for a scratch golfer, 135m for a 10 handicap, and 128m for a 20 handicap. These are reference points from real recorded shots, not carry-distance targets, and your own loft and swing speed will move you around them.

How far should an average golfer hit a driver?

We haven't published a single number here because we don't have a properly verified current amateur dataset to point to. Age, ability, speed and individual characteristics create a genuinely wide range, so treat any single "average driver distance" figure you see elsewhere with some caution.

Should I use carry or total distance?

Carry first for most approach and obstacle decisions. Total is useful specifically where rollout matters, like off the tee.

How do I work out my golf club distances?

Use several representative shots through a reliable launch monitor or on-course tracking, ideally across more than one session. Don't rely on your single longest result.

How much distance should there be between irons?

There's no universal metre figure. Look for consistent, useful separation and watch for clubs that are duplicating each other's job.

Why do my 5-iron and 6-iron go the same distance?

Worth investigating rather than assuming: strike, launch, loft and whether the long iron actually suits your swing are all possible questions. Distance alone won't tell you which one it is.

Does a stronger-lofted iron go farther?

Stronger loft can contribute to more distance, but overall design and how you deliver the club matter too. This is exactly why comparing two clubs by number alone is unreliable.

Do new golf clubs go farther than old clubs?

Sometimes, but age alone doesn't decide it. Loft, head design, fit and strike all make a direct comparison harder than it first looks.

Does shaft flex determine how far I hit the ball?

It can influence performance, but distance alone doesn't identify the correct flex. See our Shaft Flex Guide for the proper fitting factors.

How much does wind affect golf distance?

Potentially a lot, and there's no universal "X km/h equals Y clubs" conversion that reliably applies to every shot.