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18 September 2026 · 10 min read

Golf club distances: the table per club, how far a 7 iron flies and how to measure your own in a simulator

Every distance table on the internet is somebody else's table. Here are the figures that are documented: the tour per club in metres, amateurs by handicap, the difference between carry and total. And the hour in a simulator after which you have your own: ten balls per club, the median on a card.

Golf club distances: the table per club, how far a 7 iron flies and how to measure your own in a simulator — post image

How far does a 7 iron fly? That depends on who is hitting it, and every table on the internet shows somebody else's club distances. The documented figures are still worth knowing: they show how big the gap between two clubs should be and where your own table has holes. So here are only figures with a source: the PGA and LPGA Tours per club in metres, the amateurs by handicap and the difference between carry and total. Then the hour in a golf simulator after which you have your own table.

The table: PGA Tour and LPGA Tour, carry in metres

TrackMan measures both tours with the radar that stands in many simulators too, and publishes the 2023 season's averages per club (trackman.com, Tour Averages). The figure is carry, the distance the ball flies before it lands, here in metres. The table names no total with roll.

ClubPGA TourLPGA Tour
Driver258 m204 m
3 wood228 m183 m
5 wood216 m173 m
Hybrid211 m163 m
3 iron199 mno figure
4 iron192 m160 m
5 iron182 m152 m
6 iron172 m142 m
7 iron161 m131 m
8 iron150 m122 m
9 iron139 m112 m
Pitching wedge130 m101 m

Three things stand out. First: from the 4 iron to the pitching wedge, the PGA Tour has 9 to 11 metres between two clubs, the LPGA Tour 8 to 11. That is the spacing a set of irons should have. Second: the PGA Tour's 7 iron carries 161 metres, from 92 mph of club speed and 123 mph of ball speed; the LPGA Tour hits it at 78 mph to 131 metres. Distance follows speed; where yours sits is in the club speed table by handicap. Third: the PGA Tour hits every iron to about the same height, between 27 and 31 metres. From club to club, loft takes ball speed away and gives launch angle and spin in return: the 3 iron leaves at 145 mph and 10.3 degrees, the pitching wedge at 104 mph and 23.7 degrees. That is essentially the difference between the irons.

How far amateurs hit a 7 iron

There are no tour statistics for amateurs, but there is course data. Shot Scope records where its users' shots come to rest, and Golf Monthly publishes the averages per iron and handicap from it (Golf Monthly, Shot Scope data). Two things about them: the figures are total distances including roll, not carry. And outliers are removed, such as the ball that hits a tree 40 yards out. Converted from yards, in the order scratch, 10, 15 and 20 handicap:

ClubScratchHandicap 10Handicap 15Handicap 20
4 iron204 m182 m170 m155 m
5 iron183 m171 m155 m148 m
6 iron169 m156 m148 m138 m
7 iron163 m147 m141 m134 m
8 iron152 m137 m134 m126 m
9 iron142 m128 m124 m118 m
Pitching wedge129 m116 m111 m99 m
Gap wedge115 m101 m95 m86 m
Sand wedge96 m90 m77 m78 m
Lob wedge79 m72 m69 m71 m

So a 7 iron goes 141 metres at a 15 handicap and 134 at 20, both including roll. The gaps are more interesting than the figure. At a 15 handicap the 5, 6, 7 and 8 irons sit about seven metres apart; for a scratch golfer, 14 metres separate the 5 and 6 irons alone. A mid-handicapper lacks the speed to turn the lower loft of the long irons into distance, so three clubs fly almost the same. And the scratch golfer's 7 iron, at 163 metres, goes further than the PGA Tour's at 161. That says nothing about the players and everything about the two figures: one is total, the other is carry.

Carry or total: which figure belongs on the card

Carry is the distance the ball flies until it touches the ground. Total is carry plus roll. On the range you see where the ball stops, so total, usually with a range ball that is not your ball. In the simulator the figure is carry: the ball flies a few metres to the screen, the device measures ball speed, launch angle and spin and calculates the flight to the landing. The total beside it is a second calculation, from landing angle and ground setting. How that works is in How a golf simulator measures the ball.

For irons and wedges, carry belongs on the card. Whether you clear the water in front of the green is decided by flight, not roll. For the driver and a layup, total counts, and that depends on the course: a dry fairway in August rolls differently from a wet one in April. That is why simulator figures are worth more for the card than range figures: measured without wind, slope or range ball.

Your own table in an hour: ten balls, the median

Anyone else's table is a reference point, no more. Yours takes an hour in a bay and three rules: your own clubs, ten balls per club, the median instead of the longest ball.

  1. Bring your own clubs. A rental set has other shafts and lofts, and the table would be its own.
  2. Warm up without writing anything down. The first ten balls do not count.
  3. Ten balls with every club, from the shortest wedge to the driver. After each club, write down the ten carry values, or read them later in the account if the system stores them.
  4. Sort the ten values and take the middle one, the median: halfway between the fifth and the sixth. Two topped balls and one dream shot pull an average down or up; the median stays put. If you measure by your longest ball, you come up short on the course.
  5. With the pitching wedge and the shorter wedges, also measure the half swing and the three-quarter swing. Otherwise the card starts with a hole below the shortest full shot.
  6. Write the medians on a card and put it in the bag. Measure again after a change of clubs, after a fitting, or once a season.

The bay for it is in the directory: 83 venues name TrackMan as their system; it shows carry, ball speed and spin after every shot; the others show carry too. 80 of the 110 indoor venues publish an hourly price, between CHF 25 and CHF 99, a median of CHF 50 per bay. With two of you the hour costs half, and one writes while the other hits.

Draw or fade, chip or pitch: the same method

Whether your draw flies further than your fade, no table can tell you; the same measurement can: ten of each, two medians. What separates the nine ball flights is in Draw, fade, hook and slice. There is no table for chips and pitches; you dose them by feel. If you measure them anyway, take the landing spot, not the total. Which shot fits when is in Chip or pitch.

The gaps: where a club is missing and where one is doubled

With the card in hand you see what no other table can show: your gaps. The yardstick is the tour with 9 to 11 metres per iron. Two clubs whose medians lie less than five metres apart are one too many. For mid-handicappers that is often the long irons, as the Shot Scope figures show; a hybrid in place of the 4 and 5 irons closes the row. At the other end, the gap yawns between the pitching wedge and the sand wedge: at a 15 handicap it is 34 metres, room for a gap wedge, which sits at 95 metres in the same data. Whether the lofts of your irons match your speed is a question for a fitting: Golf fitting in Switzerland.

More on this: Golf club types and numbers explained, Which club for which shot?.

The ball rollback: what happens to the table in 2030

In December 2023 the R&A and the USGA decided to test golf balls for conformance at 125 mph of club speed instead of 120; the limit of 317 yards, about 290 metres, then applies at that higher speed (The R&A, December 2023). By the bodies' reckoning, the longest hitters lose 13 to 15 yards with the driver, 12 to 14 metres, the average tour player 9 to 11, an LPGA player 5 to 7 and most recreational golfers 5 yards at most, so under five metres. The plan was January 2028; recreational golfers were to keep using existing balls until January 2030. In June 2026 the two bodies, with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, said that nothing changes in the test before January 2030, that most of the industry prefers a single date, 2030, and that the options are still being assessed (The R&A, June 2026). For your card that means: nothing changes before 2030, and after that less than a club gap, if the rule comes as decided.

The next step is an hour in a bay, with your own clubs and a piece of paper. Which venue near you delivers club data is in the directory; what to do with the figures over the winter is in Indoor golf training. Your table does not have to look like the tour's. It has to be right.

Frequently asked questions

How far does a 7 iron fly?

On the PGA Tour 161 metres of carry, on the LPGA Tour 131, according to TrackMan. For amateurs, by Shot Scope data: 163 metres at scratch, 147 at a 10 handicap, 141 at a 15 handicap and 134 at a 20 handicap, each a total distance including roll.

What is the difference between carry and total?

Carry is the flight distance to the landing, total is carry plus roll. The simulator shows carry; the range and the Shot Scope figures show total. For irons and wedges, carry belongs on the card.

How do I measure my club distances?

In a simulator with your own clubs: ten balls per club, then the median of the carry values, not the longest ball. 80 of the 110 indoor venues in Switzerland publish an hourly price, a median of CHF 50 per bay.

How big should the gap between two clubs be?

On the PGA Tour there are 9 to 11 metres between two irons, on the LPGA Tour 8 to 11. That is the yardstick for a set. Two clubs whose medians are less than five metres apart are one club too many, and a gap over 15 metres costs you half a stroke on every approach.

How far does a 20-handicapper hit it?

By the Shot Scope data, as total distance including roll: a 7-iron around 134 metres, a 9-iron around 118, a pitching wedge around 99. A scratch player gets 163, 142 and 129 metres out of the same clubs. The difference is less about length than about the gaps between the clubs.

Sources