Most golfers will use a sand wedge, gap wedge pitching wedge or 9 iron depending on their swing speed. The goal is to hit the ball on the proper start line and to be able to control your distances.
When most golfers have 120 yards or less into a green, they expect to hit the green.
Move it even closer to 100 yards and you should be dialing in your shot and hitting it somewhere in a 30 foot circle around the pin.
Whether you are an amateur or pro, when we get to this distance or closer, we must be able to not only hit it on the green, but hit it somewhat close on occasion.
The lower your handicap, the higher the expectations for this shot.
Below, I will dive into the 100 yard shot and help you with some common questions and tips to take your game to the next level.
What club to use from 100 yards?
Personal Experience: I use my 54 degree sand wedge from 100 yards. I typically try to play a high, soft landing, fade shot into the hole. I have played this shot with great success this past season. This 100 yard distance is one that I love!
Unlike with a driver, an extra 10 yards can be devastating. As a result, golfers need to be able to dial in their distances and know how far they can hit each club!
The best amateur golfers and into the pro level will us a variety of clubs from this distance based on the following factors:
- Pin Location
- Wind
- Down hill or up hill
- Lie
- Firmness of the greens
- High shot or low shot needed
The pin location is vital. If you are playing to a 100 yard front pin, you might want to go with a slightly longer club, especially if there are bunkers protecting the front of the green.
If the pin is in the back, you might play a lower, flighted shot that will hop and then stop back closer to the pin. The goal here is to make sure you don’t over shoot the pin and end up with a touch chip shot back onto the green.
Each of the variables above should be consider when selecting your club prior to hitting the shot.
Key Tip #1: Know Your Distance and Create a Chart
The number one key to becoming a quality wedge player is to know the distance you hit each club. The next level is to then know how far you hit an 80% and a 90% shot in addition to your stock 100% shot.
Here is a sample chart I have created for my own game:
| Club | Carry Distance (100%) | 90% | 80% |
| Pitching Wedge | 128 | 118 | 108 |
| Approach Wedge | 118 | 110 | 102 |
| SW Club | 105 | 97 | 91 |
| LW Club | 90 | 82 | 74 |
You can see from around 100 yards I have several options:
- Hit close to a 100% sand wedge
- Hit a slightly less than 80% approach wedge
- Or if I really want to take something off and fly it lower, I can go with the pitching wedge and hit it at about 70%.
The key here is that I know my distances and my options for the 100 yard wedge shot. I am able to refer to this chart during my round and focus on the shot that is best based on the variables above.
I will often look at where the best place to leave the ball if I do miss the shot, which provides some margin or error.
My main goal is to get down in a maximum of 3 shots, but to give myself a chance to get down in 2, by hitting it close and making a putt.
I would highly recommend checking out the SkyTrak and creating a chart like this for your own game.
How To Measure Your Carry Distance in Golf
There are two options. First, use a launch monitor to map out each club in the bag. Second, use the old fashion way of getting the ball you play with on the course and an open driving range where you can hit to specific distances and take an average.
Option 1: Use A Launch Monitor
I would highly recommend a launch monitor.
These portable devices can be used at the driving range, golf course or set up in your home net or golf simulator. These devices are game changers not only on being able to map your bag and know your distances, but they also provide quality feedback after on every shot and provide the following information:
- Carry Distance
- Spin Rate
- Launch Angle
- Spin Axis
- Total Distance
- Ball Speed
This information will help you map your bag, decide on which clubs are best for your game, develop a stock shot and much more. I love using my SkyTrak 365 days a year in my golf simulator setup.
The process for mapping your bag can looking something like this:
- Hit 5 shots with each club in your bag.
- Log the carry distance and total distance for each shot.
- Eliminate any outlier numbers (poor hits or low spin rates).
- Take the average and create a map of your bag.
If you visit any PGA Tour event you will see plenty of golfers utilizing their launch monitors. While most can’t afford a Trackman, there are some very affordable options in the 500-2000 dollar range. I own the SkyTrak and I think the world of it.
Here are the top 3 options to check out:
Key Tip #2: Control Your Low Point
The sign of a quality golfer is when he or she is able to strike the ball solid on the majority of their shots. This helps control the distance and the start line of every shot.
Some would argue this is the first fundamental of golf: Be able to strike the bal solid by controlling where the club first strikes the ground.
How To Control The Low Point in Your Golf Swing
I would highly recommend working on a drill to improve your low point control. Understand that the club will often bottom out relative to where your weight or pressure is in your golf swing. The further back the weight is, the better chance of hitting behind the ball unless you make a compensation, which can often lead to a bladed shot as well.
Low Point Control Drill
Whether you are hitting an 8 iron, a 4 iron or a pitching wedge, the first key is to be able to control the low point of the golf swing. This leads to solid contact, predictable distances and the ability to strike the ball like a low handicap golfer.
The lower the handicap of the golfer, the better chance of the golfer doing this rather easily and at a high level of consistency. The high handicap golfer will often struggle with controlling the low point, leading to fat shots or thin shots due to the weight being in the wrong location, centers getting too far back or too far forwards or an early casting of the golf club.
Here is an excellent drill to utilize to help you develop your low point control:
Here the the steps to take to complete this drill:
- Paint a 2-3 yard long line with some yard paint.
- Place the wiffle ball on the line.
- The goal is to have your divot start just on the target side of your line.
- Go ahead and hit shot after shot, working on controlling your low point and your entry into the ground.
- Assess your success rate out of 20 times and write it down.
- Complete this drill daily for several weeks and see if your game improves at the course.
If you start to hit the ball poorly at any point on your golf journey, return to this drill and keep it simple.
One quick tip: if you are struggling to control your low point, go ahead and set up with 60% of your weight on your front leg. Keep your head centered without a big shift off the ball and turn more around your front leg. This will help keep your centers in place and allow you to control the low point. Many golfers struggle with the low point because they don’t get their weight back to their front side early enough and end up casting the club.
Key Tip #3: Control Your Start Line
It is one thing to be able to control your distance and your low point, but all of that goes out the window if you can’t control the start line. There is nothing worse than pulling or pushing your wedge shot and missing the green, but you had the right distance.
How To Control Your Start Line
Once again, I would highly recommend a drill to help you practice and then assess the currency level of your ability to control your start line. My favorite drill for this is the stock shot drill found below.
Stock Shot Drill
- Set up an alignment stick 6-8 yards down your target line in front of the ball.
- If you have one, set up a second alignment stick 2-4 feet right of that target line
- Go ahead and see how many swings out of 10 you can get the ball to start to the right of the first of the alignment stick. The goal here is to progress to 7 out of 10.
- Practice this drill everytime you hit golf balls.
The key to golf is being able to control your contact and your start line.
Could you imagine a round of golf where you strike the ball solid and 7 times out of 10 the ball starts down your intended target line? This is the ultimate in golf and helps you start to focus on your course management.
You will gain confidence and the consistency that we all seek!
Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better
What does this mean for you? I believe in the following recipe to get better:
1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor. Here are some options:
Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:
2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed. Here are some options:
Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:
3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier. Here is a series on breaking through:
We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.
4 – Practice Frequently
Did you know that I build a golf simulator in my garage and have played over 500 rounds of golf on my SkyTrak system? It has been a game changer and one worth checking out. Here are some of my other posts on golf simulators frequently asked questions:
- Is a Golf Simulator Worth It?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator?
- What is the Best Golf Simulator?
- Golf Simulator Accessories?
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for under $7000
- Top 11 Reasons to Buy a SkyTrak
- How to Build a Golf Simulator for Under $1000
- Why Build A Golf Simulator?
- What Space is Needed?
- Can A Golf Simulator Improve My Game?
- How Much Does A Golf Simulator Cost?
- Don’t Forget to Check out our 15 best golf swings of all time.
