Make no mistake, the LPGA ladies can drive. The average driving distance is impressive and getting better all the time.
If you are wondering about the LPGA average driving distance, we have done a bit of research to bring you the facts.
A Little More About the LPGA
The LPGA or Ladies Professional Golf Association has been going since 1950. It is the oldest professional women’s sports association. They are headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida, and feature local as well as international lady golfers.
Who is in the lead?
A quick look on the LPGA site will show you the stats on the average driving distance for 2020 for the top 162 players.
Topping the list is Dutch golfer Anne van Dam. At 23 van Dam is relatively new to the LPGA and, according to association stats, she has an impressive average driving distance of 284 yards.
Next up is American Angel Yin at just under 282 yards.
The LPGA average driving distance leaderboard shows the top 162 players and at position 162, Louise Ridderstrom still has a respectable average of 240 yards.
While there are only 2 players averaging over 280 there are 21 with a 270 plus average and 67 that are 260 and above.
If you want to see how they do with the other clubs in their bag you can check it out here. They are fairly rough averages but will give you some idea.
How Has The LPGA Driving Distance Increased?
In 2018, at the top was Yani Tseng with a distance of 275 yards and the previous year Canadian Maude-Aimee Leblanc lead with an average of 279 yards.
What is interesting to note is how volatile the rankings are. While there is a gradual but consistent increase towards the top of the leaderboard, the average distances overall increase fairly dramatically year on year.
In 2010, for example, there were only 13 ladies hitting more than 260 yards compared to 67 now.
Many of the leading ladies are young and early in their careers. You can expect the average to continue to grow, possibly at an even faster rate.
This video from a few years ago will give you some insights…
How Does Distance Compare To Accuracy?
While it is great to hit far it is important that the drives are accurate. The LPGA site also gives stats on driving accuracy.
Top of the current LPGA driving accuracy leaderboard is American Dana Finkelstein.
While her average distance is just over 247 yards she has an 83.1-percent accuracy rate. She found 497 out of 598 fairways in the current stats.
Conversely, our current top hitter, Anne van Dam, has an accuracy of 64.6-percent.
What is important to understand is that both aspects are important and relevant. One is no good without the other so balance is critical.
How Do The Ladies Compare To The Men?
The current PGA average driving stats show Cameron Champ to be in the lead with an average distance of 316.6 yards.
This is significantly further than the highest lady driver’s 284 average. The top 180 players on the PGA leaderboard all average more than 284 yards.
The trends also show an ongoing increase in the average driving distance for men in the PGA.
LPGA Stats Controversy or Confusion
Some people following the stats have noticed an anomaly when comparing stats across different sites or platforms. Trackman, for example, puts the average a lot lower.
While the LPGA site does not specify, it does state “average driving distance.” This generally means the full distance the ball moves from the tee to where it lands. Other sites are quoting carry.
Carry is the distance a ball covers in the air and is measured as a straight line distance to the same height it was hit from.
One then has to adjust for height difference up or down. Players can improve their average driving distance depending on spin, launch angle and ball speed.
Two players with a similar carry could have a rather different average driving distance if one has optimized these factors and the other has not.
The LPGA ladies are quite good at optimizing what is necessary in order to maximize their potential.
The condition of the course, length of the frass, firmness of the ground, amount of or lack of water on the fairway, weather and other factors will also have a significant impact on the total distance a drive will roll.
What Does All This Mean?
The first point to note is there are a number of ways to measure and compare players and various external factors can also affect these statistics.
What is also relevant is that both men and women are constantly improving their average driving distance.
Lastly, while the top men do drive a lot longer than the top women, the ladies still have a significant and impressive average distance.
They will certainly put the average male golfer and even many of the better men to shame off the tee.
Nick is the founder of GolfSpan and an avid golfer. He's not quite a pro but has over 15 years of experience playing and coaching golfers worldwide. His mission is to bring the golfing community a better experience when it comes to choosing the right golf gear and finding the right setup for your game.
