I have never been a great driver of the ball. My end year stats last year had me hitting 33%. This year is the first that I'm tracking playable drives and so far at 80%, I certainly can't complain. But it dawned on me the other day after playing, that in the 4 rounds I have played off my home course I was hitting alot more fairways than I do at home. In fact, I have hit 65% or about 9 per round. Now my last 10 rounds at home I've hit 36% or 5 per round.I think I have found a contributing factor. My home course has narrow fairways. In a non-scientific method, I paced them off and found that the landing areas are about a 25 yd avg, with the narrowest at 18 yds(on a par 5)and the widest at 36 yds. I don't know what might be considered standard or if there is one. Has anyone else run across this or do I have way too much time on my hands

Dusty23 wrote:

My home course has narrow fairways. In a non-scientific method, I paced them off and found that the landing areas are about a 25 yd avg, with the narrowest at 18 yds(on a par 5)and the widest at 36 yds. I don't know what might be considered standard or if there is one. Has anyone else run across this or do I have way too much time on my hands

I do not think there is a standard and certainly the average width of fairways will vary significantly from course to course. Probably a good reason to count "playable drives" rather than focus on fairways hit.

bkuehn1952 wrote:

Dusty23 wrote: My home course has narrow fairways. In a non-scientific method, I paced them off and found that the landing areas are about a 25 yd avg, with the narrowest at 18 yds(on a par 5)and the widest at 36 yds. I don't know what might be considered standard or if there is one. Has anyone else run across this or do I have way too much time on my hands I do not think there is a standard and certainly the average width of fairways will vary significantly from course to course. Probably a good reason to count "playable drives" rather than focus on fairways hit.

especially since I tend to play better from a short rough than I do from the fairway anyway.

Check out a couple of courses on google earth. You'll soon notice FW widths vary significantly from course to course, but so do rough areas for example. Some courses require more precision than others

could also depend alot on lenght of rough, as noticed during the Open Championship the further you were from the center of the fairway the better off you were. Now I know most courses here there are forests and tree lines but where is the deep rough and where is the thin rough. There is a couple of holes on my home course that, while I would like to be in the fairway, I will take rought on a certain side of the fairway, just due to the green opening up on that side. I like the stat of playable drive as opposed to drive in the fairway.

I don't know if your "home" course is older or not, yet could be a factor. Older courses seem to have landing areas appreciably shorter than are in play today. My home course is from the 20s. It might be worthwhile to play a 3W from the tee. It seems my results are better when I do. Lastly, it might be a more conservative style of play when your away from the home course. I am always reminding myself not to try to hit it for that one magic spot reached only once. Not knowing what lies ahead or lack of familiarity makes me dial it back quite a bit.

not to be captain obvious, but in general, i'm assuming that fairway width is closely tied to length of the hole. the age of the course and the quality and type of course also factor in.

longer holes tend to be designed with wider fairways to accommodate use of the driver, while shorter ones might promote use of a long-iron or fairway wood

older public courses will generally have wide fairways even on short to mid length par 4's because they likely weren't considered 'short' when it was designed, unless the course has been updated and lengthened (or tightened).

most private courses (not that I've played any) seem like they're designed to challenge members, who are likely avid golfers, with narrow fairways and numerous hazards, while some resort courses in vacation getaway spots seem to have a lot of wide open fairways to promote a more relaxed, stress-free 'fun' round of golf.

Sorry to go off topic but sometimes I wonder if tracking the fairway hit is that meaningful at my level of play. I'm erratic off the tee as well. Sometimes a mis-hit will find the fairway somehow and a good shot just misses.

I'd like to analyze my rounds based on the quality of strokes, not the quantity. Same goes for chips, putts, everything. On top of this, sometimes a mishit ends up causing multiple strokes, like penalties or punch shots to get back into position.

Bottom line: what is killing my scores. Driving, approaches, sand, putting etc.