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

                Weirfan
                My dad always said:

                "There are three types of people in this country. Those who can count and those who can't."

                  No clue. I birdie more par 3's than par 4's or 5's on longer courses. Just too poor of a player to string two or three good shots together most days. With that, I am a better iron player than I am a driver or putter. Most rounds I'll have 2 to 4 birdie putts of less than 20 feet, but with my putting those usually end up as the good pars on my score. I've only had maybe 3 eagles on holes 500 yards or longer, with two of those being pitch-ins while one was a short putt thanks to an immense tail wind and rock hard fairway. A course would probably need to be 5500 yards or shorter for me to expect many birdie opportunities, and even then it would need to be one of my best putting days. Not enough willpower or desire in me to practice like I should.

                  I don't make a lot of birdies. My game is more based on consistency. I hit a lot of fairways but not so much greens any longer. I get up and down and I putt well. About a half dozen years ago I holed out for eagle four times on par fours. I chipped in from about 25 yards for eagle on a par five and I made a hole in one on a par 3 for six eagles that year. I think I have had one eagle since then. My biggest problem today is distance off the tee. Accurate but short. I moved up to the senior tees 5 years ago, but some physical problems have curtailed my swing and I have a hard time hitting the ball out of my shadow. As the saying goes, I am to close to the ball after it stops rolling.

                  Par 3's: 12 birdies totaling 1,986 yards
                  Par 4's: 35 birdies totaling 12,484 yards
                  Par 5's: 26 birdies totaling 13,231yards

                  Average par 3 birdie is 165.5 yards
                  Average par 4 birdie is 356.7 yards
                  Average par 5 birdie is 508.9 yards

                  Based on that my birdie yardage is 6,265 yards, still not sure exactly what that means though! Not sure I want wedges into every par 4 and potentially reachable par 5's every hole if I hit a good drives (conditions dependent of course)

                    livegolf - Your stats are really close to mine and what I posted in the opening. You'll eventually remember your 'average' length for the different holes and make it a mental challenge to 'give yourself a chance' at a birdie. Boy do I get pissed off missing a very makeable birdie putt on holes that are longer than my average and the opportunity for the average to increase.

                    If you are concerned about how much fun a driver and wedge would be on par 4's, you are hitting it a lot longer than me. My average tee ball is about 220 yards (including flat out bad shots) and my average birdie yardage on a par 4 is about 160 so I have a reasonable chance to birdie any 380 yard hole. And that for me is a driver and six or 7 iron which is 'fun'.

                      I'm not a long hitter, typically fly driver 230 yards. That leaves 9 iron or wedge into 10 par 4s in the average example. Shorter holes are a flip wedge and longer are a mid iron. Thats assuming quite a few things though, including no wind!

                        Interesting! I went through my scorecards for the past season which was twenty four rounds. Three birdies on Par 3's from 160 yards to 195 yards. Five birdies on Par 4's from 329 yards to 410 yards. One birdie on a Par 5 of 560 yards! I have a habit of "putting a little extra" on my tee shot on a Par 5 and it rarely turns out well!

                        livegolfEither I'm drunk, or you are.
                        Think maybe there's a typo in that statement somewhere??

                            livegolf I'm not a long hitter,

                            Bullshit................when you're playing golf with me you are. šŸ˜‰

                              "long hitter" is relative, I guess.

                              I don't have any idea what length of par 3s, 4s, or 5s that I birdie most frequently. I have never tracked it.

                              I prefer par 3s to be from 115 to about 175, and I like there to be some variety in their lengths. Par 4s over 400 yards are rarely birdies for me. I like 320-390. For par 5s, the longest that I could potentially reach in two would be about 470-480, and it would require two great shots. But it's easier to birdie par 5s than any other type of hole; I generally have shorter approach shots to most par 5s around here.

                              Again, all guesses, though, since I have no data.

                              9 months later

                              Update! I have played a bit more this season, probably 45 rounds. Here are the birdies(no eagles) in past twenty rounds. Two birdies on Par 3's 161 and 144. Six birdies on Par 4's 325 twice, 333 twice, 344 and 360. One birdie on a Par 5 485. Very similar to my post in January. I am playing better overall but the improvement is mostly just eliminating double or triple bogeys!

                              livegolf This is a necropost, but the more I think about this, the more I think that these data are meaningless without a control.

                              For example, what are your bogey lengths? Is there a difference between your birdie lengths and your bogey lengths? That would provide something to really think about. (Sadly, I'd be racking up bogey data a heck of a lot faster than birdie data.)

                              Maybe I'll do this next year. Just make a spreadsheet with so-called birdie lengths, par lengths, bogey lengths, and double-bogey lengths, and see whether there is anything to this idea.