How Far Do Pro Women Golfers Drive The Ball? LPGA Vs LET

The subject of driving distance in professional golf tends to lead to an immediate focus on the the distances PGA Tour pros drive the ball.

On this occasion though we wanted to turn our Golfing Focus to how far pro women golfers drive the ball.

On average pro women golfers drive a ‘total’ of 257.2 yards with a ‘carry’ distance of 223 yards or 204 meters according to LPGA Tour, LET and Trackman data. The longest current LPGA Tour player, Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, drives a total average distance of 290.6 yards while the LPGA average of 259.8 yards is over 5 yards longer than the LET average.

These are just the averages however and many of the best women golfers drive the ball further. And of course these numbers only cover driving distances.

So in the remainder of this article we go deeper and take a look at both how driving distances compare between the top pro female golfers on both the LPGA and Ladies European Tour (LET) as well as take a look at how far the longest hitters in the women’s game hit each club.

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Who Has The Longest Drive in Women’s Golf?

Any discussion of distance in golf always starts with driver.

But with all the obsession with distance in the modern game of golf much less attention is paid to how far pro female golfers drive the ball.

And this is despite the fact that the the average LPGA Tour driving yardage of 257 yards is over 30 yards longer than the average male golfer hits the ball with essentially the same driver swingspeed (96mph vs. 93.4mph)!

For the record LPGA Tour players hit their driver an average ‘total’ distance of 259.8 yards while on the less followed Ladies European Tour (LET) that average drops slightly to 254.7 yards.

Here’s a snapshot of driving distances for a few of the leading players on both the LET and LPGA Tour.

PLAYER	AVERAGE TOTAL DRIVING DISTANCE (2024 LPGA Tour / Ladies European Tour)	JOINED TOUR
Nelly Korda	269.8 yards	2017
Charley Hull	271.7 yards	2015
Kaitlin Milligan	287.4 yards	2024
Maria Fassi	276.9 yards	2019
Anne Van Dam	284.4 yards	2015
Lexi Thompson	268 yards	2012
Natthakritta Vongtaveelap	290.6 yards	2023
Lydia Ko	254.9 yards	2014
Danielle Kang	240.7 yards	2012
Brooke Henderson	263.6 yards	2015
Minjee Lee	265.1 yards	2015
Rose Zhang	259.6 yards	2023

Driving distance isn’t everything in golf and despite not even being in the top 100 longest drivers on the LPGA Tour Lydia Ko has still managed to win both the Olympics and Women’s British Open in 2024.

But as Professor Mark Broadie, the pioneer of the strokes gained metrics, consistently points out it is critical to scoring in the modern game given how the long game explains two thirds of the difference in scores between all levels of golfer.

And as a result we have seen the average distances pro women golfers drive the ball consistently rise over the years.

Since the great Laura Davies topped the LPGA Tour driving chart in 1993 with an average distance of close to 255 yards, Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, the current longest driver on the LPGA, has added another 35 yards to that mark 30 years later.

But when it comes to who has the longest drive in women’s golf, and whom Golfing Focus would consider to be the biggest hitter in the women’s game, we would argue it is the Dutch player, Anne van Dam.

While Vongtaveelap has only been playing on the LPGA Tour for little over a year van Dam has consistently topped the driving distance charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

Her career total driving average distance since she debuted on the LPGA Tour in 2019 is 284.4 yards. Meanwhile on the Ladies European Tour, where she plays the majority of the time, she has lead the driving distance stats in 7 out of the 10 years since she joined the LET in 2015.

And with her driving distance averaging almost 300 yards twice across the 2021 (297.7 yards) and 2023 (295.6 yards) seasons van Dam can certainly lay claim to having the longest drive in women’s golf.

[Editor’s note – To find out what drivers the top 100 women pros are using check out Golfing Focus’ deep dive analysis into the most popular drivers on the LPGA Tour]

How Far Do Pro Women Golfers Hit Their Woods, Hybrids and Irons? Taking Stock

As we move on from the driver and start to look at how far LPGA golfers hit each club technology now makes that task easy.

Trackman, arguably the world leader in the golf launch monitor and simulator industry, has been measuring average LPGA club distances for years and provides consistent updates on how far pro women golfers hit the ball.

And according to Trackman LPGA Tour players hit the following average ‘carry’ distances – the distance from strike to point of ground impact with each club:

• Driver – 223 yards / 204 meters
• 3-wood – 200 yards / 183 meters
• 5-wood – 189 yards / 173 meters
• Hybrid (15-18º) – 178 yards / 163 meters
• 4-iron – 175 yards / 160 meters
• 5-iron – 166 yards / 152 meters
• 6-iron – 155 yards / 142 meters
• 7-iron – 143 yards / 131 meters
• 8-iron – 133 yards / 122 meters
• 9-iron – 123 yards / 112 meters
• Pitching wedge – 111 yards / 101 meters

When it comes to average LPGA Tour club distances for woods and lower lofted hybrids we have to factor in the wider variety of shots the top women pros play with these clubs compared to driver.

Nevertheless we can be sure that the vast majority of the time women pros are looking to maximise distance with these clubs and as a result can be confident that the average yardages given are very consistent.

When however we focus in on irons, and also the higher lofted hybrids many of the best women professional players use, the distance picture becomes a bit more complicated.

And that’s because pro female golfers hit such a variety of different shots with their irons, especially for their approach shots, depending on a whole host of factors – ground conditions, wind, elevation etc.

Not to mention the tournament context in which the shot is played.

They will therefore hit the same iron a variety of different distances which makes questions like how far LPGA players hit 7-irons for example more complex that at first you may think.

However pro women golfers, like all top players, have what is called a ‘stock’ yardage for their irons and all their clubs. And this is in short the average distance they hit a full shot with each iron swinging normally.

And it is these average yardages that Trackman highlights in their stats.

Different women pros of course hit their irons different distances but in the table below we list the ‘stock’ iron yardages of a selection of the top pros including the best player in the world, Nelly Korda, together with Maria Fassi and Anne Van Dam, two of the longest hitters in the women’s game.

They are not hitting the ball as far as their male colleagues on the PGA Tour or Champions Tour but as we can see the best women golfers in the world still hit their irons a long way compared to regular amateurs.

PLAYER	4-iron (yards)	5-iron (yards)	6-iron (yards)	7-iron (yards)	8-iron (yards)	9-iron (yards)	PW (yards)
Nelly Korda	–	185	169	154	144	135	124
Charley Hull	190	180	170	160	145	135	125
Maria Fassi	212	200	188	175	163	152	142
Anne Van Dam	208	195	182	170	158	146	134

It’s Tricky To Look At How Far Pro Female Golfers Hit Their Wedges

The best women golfers on the planet are close to magicians when it comes to wedges.

They are the most versatile clubs in any player’s golf bag, are used in the widest set of circumstances compared to all other clubs, and pro women players are masters at using them to get the ball both close to the hole and out of trouble.

Different women pros also use varying combinations and lofts of pitching, gap, sand and lob wedges.

The question of how far pro female golfers hit their wedges is again therefore not straight forward but if we again focus on the ‘stock’ yardages of some top players we can get a picture of how far they hit their wedges.

PLAYER	PITCHING WEDGE (yards)	GAP WEDGE (yards / wedge loft)	SAND WEDGE (yards / wedge loft)	LOB WEDGE (yards / wedge loft)
Nelly Korda	124	115 (50º)	100 (54º)	83 (58º)
Charley Hull	125	110 (50º)	95 (54º)	75 (60º)
Maria Fassi	142	123 (50º)	110 (54º)	95 (58º)
Anne Van Dam	134	122 (50º)	110 (54º)	93 (58º)

Before You Go …

To see how LPGA driving and club distances match up against the top pros on the PGA and Champions Tour check out these articles.

How Far Do Pro Golfers Hit Each Club?

Champions Tour Club Distances – Lets Take Stock!

Or if your distance numbers don’t match up to the top women pros read our next post to discover the real reasons the pros hit the ball as far as they do, and how you can potentially add 20 to 30 yards to your own drives!

How Do Pros Hit the Ball So Far?

Other great posts related to this topic:

• Why Don’t Your Drives Go Far? Slow and Steady Loses the Race
• How Far Should You Hit a Driver? FULL GUIDE By Age, Handicap etc.
• How Far Does a 3 Wood vs 5 Wood Go? Tee and Approach Shots!
• How Far Should I Hit My Hybrids? 2 vs 3 vs 4 Hybrid Distances
• Hybrids vs. Fairway Woods – FULL Distance and Comparison Guide
• How Far Should I Hit My Irons? By Handicap, Age & Swingspeed
• How Far Should You Hit Your Wedges? Be Sure to Fill the Gaps!
• How Far Should Your Driver Swingspeed Go? 60 to 120 mph Guide
• Average Driver Swingspeeds? COMPLETE GUIDE by Age, Handicap etc.
• Ideal Spin Rate and Launch Angle for Driver? That’s Personal!
• How Far Should Your Ball Speed Go? 100mph All the Way to 210mph!
• What Should Your Driver Attack Angle Be? Try Not to Be Negative
• How Much Does Driver Loft Affect Distance? Loft is Dynamic Too!
• 10 Ways to Get More Distance off The Tee With & Without Speed!
• What Determines Driver Distance? Skill Triumphs Over All!
• Are Driving Range Distances Accurate? Golf Balls are a Problem
• Do All Golf Balls Go the Same Distance? Physics First
• What Affects Golf Ball Distance? Beware ALL the Uncontrollables!
• Do Certain Golf Balls Go Further? Brand and Cost Considerations
• Do Distance Balls Go Further? Marketing Matters