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Legends Question about Driving Distances

• TarheelsRule 5,471 Posts

  Tue, Apr 26 2011 4:11 PM

  I have been a Legend since the changes were made and wanted some feedback from my fellow WGT Legends.

  This relates to driving distances.  I have the R11 driver and play with good balls, not the Callaways but one level below them.  Before the tee box changes, I got off my best drive at St Andrews of around 380 yards, at least the one that counted as a long drive, I have had a few others in other play modes.  Since the changes the longest drive that I have mustered is 345, still at St Andrews and with a driver that was 10 yards longer than the one I hit the original shot with.

  It seems that the Legend tees on St Andrews put you in a spot were you hit a mound everytime you uncork a long drive down wind, maybe it is just me but it seems that the long drive potential is now limited.  Also using the R11, I find that it is shorter than the R9 (8.0) into the wind but longer downwind or under conditions of less than 5 mph.  Does anyone have any tips for the R11 in terms of backspin or overspin that I might be missing.

  Yardage for it seems to be about 290 with no wind, 310 with 15 mph wind and 280 into a 15 mph wind.  Feedback is appreciated.

• sixkiller 1,147 Posts

  Tue, Apr 26 2011 4:35 PM

  In order to get a really long drive with the R-11 you probably need to be playing a Heavy wind RG. on St. A. But in general, about 1/2 back spin gets the best results with any tail wind or crosswind. I use 1/4 to 1/2 topspin into the wind on uneven fairways like St. A #3 and #5 and no spin on the smoother fairways like on most other courses. I had my longest drive on ST. A #3 with 27 mph tailwind and got it out to 384 yds (R-9) several months ago. Longest with R-11 is several in the 350+ range with callaway z legend balls and a 19 t0 21 tailwind on St. A.  I think WGT toned down the long drive ability somehow, as you don't hear near as much about 400yd drives as we did for a short while there after the change. Hitemstr8!

• TarheelsRule 5,471 Posts

  Tue, Apr 26 2011 5:12 PM

  Thanks.

  Yeah the backspin / topspin is pretty much what I use as well.

  I did get one out to 355 today at St Andrews on #3 with a tailwind of 25 mph but as I said lately it seems 325 is pretty much max although I'm sure I could gain 5 yards with a change in ball but I can't seem to control the b/s with the Callaway balls and we won't even discuss the Clevelands wedges.

• Tresclub 934 Posts

  Wed, Apr 27 2011 10:31 PM

  Yesterday at SA#10 with an 18mph tailwind at 2:00, I drove one through the green and out the back door... 376yds.  R9 SuperTri driver, and Calloway S balls.

• oneputtdavid 1,337 Posts

  Thu, Apr 28 2011 12:19 AM

  TarheelsRule:

  Yardage for it seems to be about 290 with no wind, 310 with 15 mph wind and 280 into a 15 mph wind.  Feedback is appreciated.

  I think you nailed it with your calc's on distances. The distances for long drives do appear to be more sporadic even with the R11 and Callo' Z balls. I thought the same thing a few weeks ago (as a TM) using both the R9-282 and the R11, driving from the shorter tee's. Even w/27+tail winds at #3,16,18 at andy could never get more than 360-375 yds. And believe me when those conditions came along (few and far between) I'd go for it regardless if It was a RG or match.

  I personally use 1/2 to 3/4 B/S on every drive, regardless of wind conditions. I'm not comfortable using T/S with the driver, seems my meter "speeds" up when ever I use T/S.  

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Thu, Apr 28 2011 5:48 AM

  TarheelsRule:

  Yardage for it seems to be about 290 with no wind, 310 with 15 mph wind and 280 into a 15 mph wind.  Feedback is appreciated.

  This is pretty close and since six's post in another thread I've gone to partial bs off the tee with decent results. I use Tour-SDs. One of the oddities of using top spin is when landing on down slopes, like the back side of a mound, the mound turns into a trampoline. With the accuracy of the R11 you can find a few of these spots and get some good roll.

  Also, play with the wind and mishits. A 15 wind at 11-aim well right of where you normally would, use full back spin and pull the shot. The deviation is increased with the mishit and the spin and you get up in the wind for a long ride. Fun to try.

   :-)

• PugsAce 1,825 Posts

  Thu, Apr 28 2011 6:05 AM

  YankeeJim:

  Also, play with the wind and mishits. A 15 wind at 11-aim well right of where you normally would, use full back spin and pull the shot. The deviation is increased with the mishit and the spin and you get up in the wind for a long ride. Fun to try.

   :-)

  Yep! Despite the increased potential for disaster (just check my "Fairways Hit %"   lol), I get the most "astounded" comments from my playing partners when I use YJ's technique. And it IS fun to try.  :)

  btw... I've found that "full bs" works best for me while doing this... no clue why...

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Thu, Apr 28 2011 6:09 AM

  PugsAce:

  btw... I've found that "full bs" works best for me while doing this... no clue why...

  That's what makes it happen. The deviation on missed shots with this spin really exaggerates the error, just like it does with all the other clubs. LOL-you should see what misses with the cgs do when you're spinning them.  :-D

• DarSum 1,440 Posts

  Thu, Apr 28 2011 8:23 AM

  I've found that BS and no spin with the R11 it goes almost  the same distance on the same hole everything being equal. With full backspin on Bethpage 10 & 11 and the wind at 2 to 3mph I can drive to about 303 with full backspin and if ding it I can stick it where I put the blue arrow.

  Here is full backspin with 4mph cross wind that goes 300 at BP #10

  replay.aspx?ID=fb8637a6 824c 4a1d ab39 9ed3010322f6

  Here is no backspin with 3mph wind that goes 307 at BP #10

  replay.aspx?ID=b4c22b0c 354c 484f 8068 9ed301041a2c

  Into the wind and needing to carry a bunker or rough I use full BS to get maximum carry. With a 15 mph head wind you can carry around 280.

  With 15mph tail wind you should be hitting that thing at least 320-340 depends which course and terrain.

  Unless the wind is in my face there's very few times I'll be under 290. Actually I think that's about my average.

  I've only used topspin with the driver a few times. Never really saw any need for it and never saw any distance gain using it. The ball almost seemed to dive into the ground more with it.

  IMO the R11 is shorter than the R9 (8.0) into the wind because of the loft of the club.

  I would try out the Legend Z ball if I were you. Yes, they are expensive. But, I feel well worth it if you're playing a lot of RGS.

• TarheelsRule 5,471 Posts

  Thu, Apr 28 2011 9:08 AM

  Thanks for all the input guys.

  I tend to agree that the R11 is equal to a couple of yards shorter than the R9 (8.0) was into a heavy wind.  I don't go to the expensive balls because I can't do ready gos so there is no way to recover the cost of them.

  It is fun to tinker with the R11 seems that there are some quirks to it.  Now the Cleveland wedges, or wedge I only have the 60 degree needs some help too, that is one tough wedge to control.