Knowing the exact yardage of every club removes guesswork from club selection. This reference scales a Tour Average gapping table to your own game using a single input — your driver swing speed or your 7-iron carry — and produces a full 14-club carry matrix you can read like a yardage book.
How it works
Tour data gives each club a stable carry ratio relative to the 7-iron. The tool anchors the table to your reference:
if you know 7-iron carry: baseline = that carry
if you know swing speed: driverCarry = speedMph × 2.3
baseline = driverCarry × (7iron ratio / driver ratio)
clubCarry = baseline × (club ratio / 7iron ratio)Each club’s loft is shown alongside so you can see why the gaps widen toward the long clubs and tighten through the wedges.
Example and tips
A 95 mph driver speed implies a driver carry near 95 × 2.3 ≈ 219 yards, which scales to a 7-iron around 150 yards and a pitching wedge near 115. Re-measure on a launch monitor once a season; small swing changes shift your whole bag and a stale chart leaves you short or long on approach shots.
Understanding the gapping table
Why gaps widen toward the long irons
Every 10 yards of carry you move toward the driver, the loft decreases by a larger amount. Short irons and wedges are separated by only a few degrees of loft, while the long irons and fairway woods jump in bigger steps. That means carry distances are spread more closely together in the wedge range — useful for precise approach shots — and more widely in the long-iron and wood range, where you are making longer swings and precision matters less.
The 7-iron as an anchor
Tour professionals and fitting systems both use the 7-iron carry as the universal reference because it sits near the middle of the bag, it is the club most golfers strike consistently, and its relationship to the other clubs is stable across skill levels. If you know your 7-iron carry from a launch monitor session, you can build a reliable full-bag estimate from that one measurement.
Driver speed vs 7-iron carry
The 2.3 yards-per-mph rule is a widely cited rule of thumb derived from launch-monitor data on recreational golfers hitting standard drivers. It is an approximation. A high-spin swing may produce less carry per mph; a very efficient, low-spin swing may produce more. Similarly, the derivation from driver carry to 7-iron carry assumes typical loft and attack-angle ratios. Use the figure as a planning baseline, not a guarantee.
Typical carry distances at common swing speeds
| Driver swing speed (mph) | Driver carry (approx.) | 7-iron carry (approx.) | PW carry (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 75 mph | ~173 yards | ~115 yards | ~90 yards |
| 85 mph | ~196 yards | ~130 yards | ~100 yards |
| 95 mph | ~219 yards | ~150 yards | ~115 yards |
| 105 mph | ~242 yards | ~165 yards | ~130 yards |
These are carry figures in typical conditions. Roll, altitude, temperature, and turf firmness will all change your total distance. For precise gapping, a Trackman or FlightScope session at a fitting facility measures each club’s actual carry and ball speed under your specific swing.
How to use this for on-course decisions
Match the playing distance to your target, not the full carry. If the flag is 155 yards but there is a pond guarding the front of the green, count the water carry and use the club that reliably carries at least that distance. Similarly, when playing downhill the ball flies farther; uphill it falls shorter. The chart gives a reliable starting point for flat, calm conditions — adjustments for elevation and wind are where course management skill takes over.