How Many Fairways You Need to Hit a Round

Golfers spend vast sums on new clubs and lessons in search of the secret ingredient to gain distance and to hit more fairways, with improving accuracy from the tee essential to avoiding those card-wrecking disasters and lowering your handicap.

On the PGA Tour in 2021, Brendon Todd leads the way for Driving Accuracy, hitting an impressive 75.25% of the fairways this season. Overall, the average on the circuit is 60.72%, which may be higher than many would have expected considering the unquestioned focus on distance in the modern game.

But for the everyday golfer, hitting the fairways is a key foundation, removing the danger posed by the rough, trees, hazards, and bunkers that will likely cost you at least one shot on the hole. 

We have studied thousands of rounds submitted into the Golfshake Score Tracker and broken down the stats across each handicap category, with a direct correlation between fairways hit and overall scoring being showcased.

Naturally, different courses present unique challenges, with some obviously featuring tighter, harder to hit fairways. But it's clear that averaging 50% is required to break into single figures, while higher handicap players (21-28) only successfully find 30% of fairways off the tee, making consistent scoring difficult.

Fairways Hit By Handicap

Handicaps 1-5

Fairways In Regulation: 57%

Handicaps 6-10

Fairways In Regulation: 50%

Handicaps 11-15

Fairways In Regulation: 43%

Handicaps 16-20

Fairways In Regulation: 37%

Handicaps 21-28

Fairways In Regulation: 30%

Key Golfshake Tuition Section Tips

Practice Effectively For Straighter Drives

Correct Your Setup For Longer, Straighter Drives

How To Align Correctly & Hit Straighter Drives

Correct Your Backswing Face Position For Straighter Drives

Improve Your Driver Fundamentals

8 Tips To Improve Your Driving

If you're a regular Score Tracker on Golfshake, consider how your numbers compare with golfers of a similar ability and better, to see whether it's an area that demands improvement.

Hitting the fairways makes for a simpler, easier way to play the game, and it could be the gateway for you to reach the next level. For some drills and tips that could help you to accomplish that, visit the Golfshake Tuition Section!

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