Par 3s I like 145 or 160, not much else.

Par 4 anything in the 280 to 330 is damn near a gimme with a good tee shot.

Par 5 500- 575 I have a shot at eagle.

I get jacked up when I get those intermedia distances that stick me with 50 to 90 yards after the driver... hate those!

    On average, I get roughly 8-9 reasonable birdie looks per round (within the 10-20 foot range), from 6450 yards. I probably average 3-4 birdies per round over the course of a season. Has more to do with my putting at any given time than anything else... have days when I'm making 5-6 birdies from beyond 6-10 feet, then days when I'm not making much of anything inside of 10 feet.

    I don't think moving up another tee box and playing a shorter course reveals much (if any) difference. My proximity to the hole is probably better with a 9-iron as it is with a SW.

    Move me back outside of 6500 yards and that's where the numbers start to drastically separate. I'm one of the best putters at my club, as it relates to securing PAR. For some reason I just seem to roll in a lot more 5 footers for par than 5 footers for birdie. Not sure that's a common ailment, but it sure seems that way to me!

    So maybe I'm not as good a putter as a lot of people think I am, on paper. But in my mind - I'm pretty good. I guess that's ultimately the difference between a good putter and an average putter. Confidence means everything, but at the same time - there are days when good putts just don't drop. Keeping in mind - I'm competing in a lot of matches and tournaments, so a lot of it is very situational. Why get aggressive trying to make a 15-footer for birdie when par is either good enough for a halve or maybe even an outright win. Forget birdies, for that matter... par is usually a hard score to beat at our level.

    I don't get overly frustrated when I stroke the putt on the intended line at the proper pace and it doesn't go in. I know a lot of guys who I play with that can't say that with any sincerity.

    One thing I've learned about golf - making putts is the biggest difference - no matter which tee box I'm playing. And those short ones for par mean just as much as the longer ones for birdie most days.

    Interesting, its winter so I'lI give this a try sometime!

    Best guess: par 3 165, par 4 370, par 5 515

    I'd argue I have more of a birdie slope than yardage. 120 to 127 slope is where I make most of my birdies. Anything higher than that I'll need to get a bit lucky with longer putts or a chip in to up my birdie totals.

      In an recent posting and having read something similar, it seems the idle courser length for one to play is their 5 iron distance times 36.

      180 yard 5 iron says 6480 yards.
      170 yard 5 iron says 6120 yards.
      160 yard 5 iron says 5760 yards.
      150 yard 5 iron says 5400 yards.

      I bounced this off some the more experienced players at my club and using their numbers, all seemed to agree.

      livegolf

      I agree. That's a good example that probably fits somewhere into my more comfortable preference as well.

        letthebigdogshunt

        This ultimately comes down to which aspects of one's game are most reliable. I can't speak to everyone else, but for me - I feel much more confident swinging driver at 85% and maintaining reasonable control of where the ball is going (based on the 460cc club face alone) versus swinging 100 percent and having to be 90-100% spot-on with both angle of approach into the ball and contacting the ball in the sweet spot (with a club with half or 1/3 the face circumference).

        I would never advocate playing away from one's ability to keep the ball in play, first and foremost. Everything beyond that, imo, is secondary.

        I've been forced to become good at that feathered tee shot with driver over the years (shorter par4's and longer par3's in the 200+ yard range) because admittedly I don't have a lot of confidence with my hybrids/fairway woods.

        Someday I hope to counter that, but I've worked pretty hard over the last couple of seasons to shallow out my swing and hit those shots more solidly/accurately, with mixed results. Some days are good, other days are like, "man - what the hell are you doing!" My tendency is to get steep with those clubs, whereas I'm much more level through the hitting area with driver. It is what it is, but I am working on it and will continue to need to work on it this upcoming season.

        In the meantime, that 3/4 driver swing seems to be a good fallback option for me.

          letthebigdogshunt

          It makes sense right? The thing I find is a mental issue from the tee. If I have a driver or 3 wood, I hit it and do so with confidence, generally it goes predictably near my target. The Hybrid/ iron approach which makes logical sense, seems to get me swinging less freely and I still miss the fairway a lot; now I'm 150 yards further back in the rough. So it's not a great play for me. I have a hybrid that I'm pretty comfortable with, I can sting it pretty well most days, but I get worse results from mishits with it than I do the driver in general, so unless it's purely a layup, I generally don't use it off the tee.

          What I really need to do is practice, but most years, especially the last two years, my practice is on course. I get thinking about scoring and my practice shots go out the window. If I got to a range more and actually worked on my tee game, not with driver, I'd be a better scoring golfer. I just haven't made the time for it. The game has lost its importance to me in the big picture, so it's more of a social thing now than anything. My scores aren't what I'd like and man do I have some super off days, but I still enjoy it.

              DC300

              There's a local public club that I enjoy playing from time to time... was a member there for years, played this course 1000+ times. There's a par3 there that plays downhill, in the 170-180 yard range, hazard in the front, bunker in the back, a tough bunker at that... green is a figure-8 design, wide but shallow, long usually leaving a short, delicate sand shot to a tight pin, and that front-green hazard staring you dead in the face from the opposite side. Not really an easy bunker shot.

              So many times I would be asked, "what's the smart club here?" when playing with friends who weren't familiar with the hole. I'd always say something along the lines of, "well... for me, it plays about a 1/2 club less, on a calm day." They would be like, "okay, should I hit the 5-iron or 6-iron?"

              There is no right answer there. He could hit 5-iron, he could hit 6-iron. Either club, if solidly struck, would probably work out just fine.

              My answer to them in that situation (at least on a relatively calm day) was most always, "take the club you're most confident that you can hit solidly."

              My overall opinion is that even if you happen to choose the wrong club, you're probably going to have a much more acceptable result swinging a club you have confidence in versus the club you'd rather not swing.

              An overwhelming majority of the time - that advice holds true. Not all the time, but most of the time.

                  "Birdie yardage"....šŸ˜œ

                  I guess it would be somewhere around 325. After a drive(straight) like that, I'm thinking I could birdie most Par 4s of 375 or less.

                  Then again, I may be somewhat delusional about my short game.

                  But I'm not.šŸ˜‰

                  PA-PLAYA Sound advise on the club selection!

                  As has been said 90% of the game is mental, the other half is physical šŸ˜³