How simple practice and a creative mindset can make you better from 100 yards.
If you haven’t had a chance to peruse Shot Scope’s enlightening and exhaustive Annual Performance Report 2026, it’s a great time to dive into the data.
Built using Shot Scope’s extensive on-course data, the report analyses over 870,000 rounds and upward of 74 million shots hit by amateur golfers in 124 countries worldwide, providing a truly global view of amateur golf performance. It breaks down into key game areas: scoring, tee shots, approach play, short game, and putting, while providing benchmark data helping golfers to identify where they most commonly lose and gain shots on the course.
So many data points stood out in the report, but one in particular was surprising and truly seems to have some achievable solutions. You might agree it’s unexpected to learn that a high number of golfers consistently miss the green from the distance of 100 yards.
The report shows this data: While overall skill and accuracy differ greatly by handicap, the tendency to miss short of the green with a wedge is a common theme across all levels, accounting for roughly 40 percent of all misses.
This indicates that golfers of all abilities consistently under-club, or that there is a universal tendency to underestimate carry distance on partial wedge shots.
Key Takeaway: Around 40 percent of wedge shots are missed short, showing that all golfers tend to under club or misjudge their carry distances. Even low handicappers are consistently coming up short with their wedges.
Perhaps you’ve heard Tour players interviewed and referencing anything from 8-iron range and in to be their “scoring clubs.” Considering that those players hit those clubs in excess of 150 or 160 yards consistently, the notion of you and your fellow amateurs hitting a sand wedge, gap wedge, or pitching wedge to the middle of the green from 100 yards doesn’t sound all that intimidating.
Rather than losing a half to a full stroke from such an enticing distance, you can try a few simple techniques to make hitting the green more automatic.
The first place to look is what club you call your Go-To tool on 100-yard shots. How consistent are you with this club? Are your misses short, long, or mostly to the left or right?
It’s also OK if you answer, “All of the above.” There’s definitely hope for improvement.
Again, the data shows, across all handicap ranges, the number one miss tendency is to leave 100-yard shots short of the green.
Here’s where Shot Scope can help. If you have access to an LM1 portable launch monitor, you can run some easy diagnostics on your game.
Use the LM1 to measure how far you consistently hit three different clubs from 100 yards. Maybe that’s a 1) full, stock gap wedge, 2) a three-quarter backswing pitching wedge, and a 9-iron played in the back of your stance that’s more of a low, running shot.
The more you practice these shots and use the LM1 to confirm your distance control, the more you’re likely to make consistent contact, so your data – and your results – are going to become more consistent. Your ego might tell you that you should hit your sand wedge 100 yards, but if the eye test and the data from the LM1 say otherwise, it’s time to make a change.
The numbers won’t lie. The shot type – full swing with the ‘ideal’ club, low-runner, or partial swing with a stronger-lofted club – and the club you use that gets you onto the proper part of the green most frequently is your Go-To shot.
This is an easy way to save strokes and improve your handicap without overhauling your swing or hitting shots 10 yards farther. Think about how many 100-yard shots you faced in your last round. If you could improve by a full shot in each of those opportunities, that’s a skill that’s worth practicing.
Learn more informative golf shot data and ways to improve your game with Shot Scope’s Annual Performance Report 2026.