Jaacob Bowden's Swing Man Golf Blog

Universal Golf Magazine: Interview with Christoph Gunther

by Jaacob Bowden

Be sure to check out the Swing Man Golf video on "Gauging Distance on Short Game" on page 3 and my interview with Christoph Gunther on page 25-26 in the current issue of Universal Golf Magazine.

Click here to read it.

Driving Stats for 2009 - Who had the Fastest Swing Speed?

According to Dave Lancer, the Director of Information for the PGA Tour, Bubba Watson had this year's highest average swing speed according to Trackman with a speed of 123.24 mph (311.4 yards per measured drive).  This is 0.01 faster than last year's highest average from J.B. Holmes.

Other interesting driving and distance stats include:

• J.B. Holmes carried the ball the farthest of the tee at an average of 298.6 yards.
• Charley Hoffman had the year's longest drive -- 467 yards on the first hole during the third round of the Valero Texas Open.
• A total of 47 400-yard drives were recorded this year. Dustin Johnson had the most -- five.
• Dustin Johnson was the only player to lead the field in driving distance and win a tournament in 2008 and he was again the only player to do so in 2009 when he won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
• Robert Garrigus lead the Tour in driving distance at 312.0 yards per drive.

On the Nationwide Tour:

• Won Joon Lee lead the Tour with an average of 312.7 yards per drive.
• Blake Adams had the biggest single drive at 393 yards.

On the Champions Tour:

• Steve Thomas lead the way with an average of 301.5 yard per drive.
• Eduardo Romero had the longest drive at 379 yards.

Thanksgiving 2009

Here is a bit of footage from the Thanksgiving party that Jen and I hosted for our local friends at our flat in Zurich yesterday.

What are the Swing Speeds for Professional Long Drivers?

If you've ever been curious to know how fast do the longest hitters swing in the Open, Senior (45 years old and up), and Super Senior (53 years old and up) divisions, here are some peak stats from them according to Trackman in this year's championships in Mesquite, NV: 

Open Division Finals:

• Jamie Sadlowski (champion) - 146 mph swing speed, 217 mph ball speed
• Jerimie Montgomery (runner-up) - 140 mph swing speed, 209 mph ball speed

Senior Finals:

• Bobby Wilson (champion) - 133 mph swing speed, 197 mph ball speed
• John Tumba (runner-up) - 132 mph swing speed, 196 mph ball speed

Super Senior Finals:

• Bobby Wilson (champion) - 135 mph swing speed, 201 mph ball speed
• Pete DeBoer (runner-up) - 122 mph swing speed, 181 mph ball speed

Military Long Drive Finals:

• Ryan Hixon (champion) - 134 mph swing speed, 199 mph ball speed
• Nate Chadwick (runner-up) - 135 mph swing speed, 196 mph ball speed

To put these speeds in to even more perspective, consider that last year's top swing speed average on the PGA Tour according to Trackman was by JB Holmes at 123.23 mph..and Tiger Woods has reported in his book, "How I Play Golf", that his average is 119 mph.

FC Basel vs FC Zurich

Prior to last week, Jen and I had never been to a professional soccer game before. So last Wednesday, we went and saw FC Zurich vs FC Basel with a couple of our friends.

Here is some of the footage we took: