150 Yards Out

[Dasit]

Playing safe and short you can beat your handicap

But playing safe and short you are not going to be in the running for too many big competitions at your club

GiRs are very important, and being short off the tee makes it so much harder to hit them.

 

[MadAdey]

Playing safe and short you can beat your handicap

But playing safe and short you are not going to be in the running for too many big competitions at your club

Can you explain why last Sunday I shot 73 on a 6400 yard course by keeping it in play rather than maximizing distance off every tee? Out of 14 holes (excluding par 3s) I hit 7 drivers, 4 3woods, 1 19* rescue and 2 4 irons. All of those were by choice and I could have hit more club if I wanted, but chose accuracy over distance. A couple of those choices left me with 160 yard shots. Would I have shot lower if I had used the driver more? Possibly, but if I had used the driver I could have dropped more shots. 2 of my bogeys actually came on holes where I did hit driver. If you want the take putts into account I had 2 that rilled over the edge of the hole and another that finished an inch short.

Looking at my last couple of rounds I can't see how hitting my driver more would have lowered my score. But if a couple of putts that run over the edge of the hole had dropped I would have shot lower.

 

[Imurg]

Lots of ways to score well but the basic start should be to drive as far as possible while keeping the ball in play.
And that will vary on every hole and by your ability.
Anything that gets you on the fairway or first cut but as far as your ability allows gives you chances to score.
Placement is key as well.
What use is a 300 yard drive if it leaves you on the fairway but tight up against some trees so you can only punt sideways?
You have to play each hole as you see it but, to score, you have to keep the ball in play - simples.
Long isn't always best - neither is short...

 

[badgermat]

2 of my bogeys actually came on holes where I did hit driver. If you want the take putts into account I had 2 that rilled over the edge of the hole and another that finished an inch short.

Two strokes lost to the driver, three to the putter. The very essence of Brodie's theory

bm

 

[Beezerk]

Can you explain why last Sunday I shot 73 on a 6400 yard course by keeping it in play rather than maximizing distance off every tee? Out of 14 holes (excluding par 3s) I hit 7 drivers, 4 3woods, 1 19* rescue and 2 4 irons. All of those were by choice and I could have hit more club if I wanted, but chose accuracy over distance. A couple of those choices left me with 160 yard shots. Would I have shot lower if I had used the driver more? Possibly, but if I had used the driver I could have dropped more shots. 2 of my bogeys actually came on holes where I did hit driver. If you want the take putts into account I had 2 that rilled over the edge of the hole and another that finished an inch short.

Looking at my last couple of rounds I can't see how hitting my driver more would have lowered my score. But if a couple of putts that run over the edge of the hole had dropped I would have shot lower.

What do you play off mate? Looking by your score you're low single figures maybe.
Your plan is fine for someone of your ability, but leaving a long 2nd shot for someone with average to high handicap brings in another set of problems. Missing the green by miles, bunkers, oob etc. Kind of catch 22 for me in particular who can't hit anything over a 6 iron with much accuracy.

 

[MadAdey]

Two strokes lost to the driver, three to the putter. The very essence of Brodie's theory

bm

But I thought that Brodie's theory was that it's the long game that matters and the closer you get to the green the better you will score. I dropped 2 shots with drives into the rough, but dropped 3 shots on the green. I lost more shots with the putter than the driver, am I interpreting wrong, what people are saying about his theory.

 

[badgermat]

Unless I've completely misunderstood (entirely possible, I admit), Brodie's theory is that you lose less to poor drives (two in your case) than you do to poor putts (three in your case).

That said, I was being facetious.

bm

 

[Region3]

But I thought that Brodie's theory was that it's the long game that matters and the closer you get to the green the better you will score. I dropped 2 shots with drives into the rough, but dropped 3 shots on the green. I lost more shots with the putter than the driver, am I interpreting wrong, what people are saying about his theory.

More interesting would be if you could break down your score vs par for the distances you hit your approach shots from.

So maybe:

Under 100yds : -1
100-150 : +1
150-200 : 0
200+ : +1

Something like that?

 

[MadAdey]

More interesting would be if you could break down your score vs par for the distances you hit your approach shots from.

So maybe:

Under 100yds : -1
100-150 : +1
150-200 : 0
200+ : +1

Something like that?

Sounds like an idea, I'll do that just for arguments sake. I'll work it out and post it, might be interesting reading.

I'm not against any new theories on how to lower scores, after all that is what we are trying to do.

 

[MadAdey]

More interesting would be if you could break down your score vs par for the distances you hit your approach shots from.

So maybe:

Under 100yds : -1
100-150 : +1
150-200 : 0
200+ : +1

Something like that?

Ran through and this is what I got:

Under 100yds: 1 birdie, 4 pars, 1 bogey = 0
100-150: 3 pars, 2 bogeys = +2
150-200: 1 birdie, 4 pars, = -1
200+: 2 pars, =0

Not sure what this shows, but it would be interesting to know how this theory on how to improve can be applied to this.

 

[Papas1982]

Ran through and this is what I got:

Under 100yds: 1 birdie, 4 pars, 1 bogey = 0
100-150: 3 pars, 2 bogeys = +2
150-200: 1 birdie, 4 pars, = -1
200+: 2 pars, =0

Not sure what this shows, but it would be interesting to know how this theory on how to improve can be applied to this.

To me it looks like you know your game well.
You scored better with a full shot to the green with clubs you're comfortable with. Of course, the shots under 100 yards could have been from rough or behind trees? As with all stats, they can prove and disprove most things.
From reading your posts id say stick to what you do as it works best for you.

 

[MadAdey]

To me it looks like you know your game well.
You scored better with a full shot to the green with clubs you're comfortable with. Of course, the shots under 100 yards could have been from rough or behind trees? As with all stats, they can prove and disprove most things.
From reading your posts id say stick to what you do as it works best for you.

Looking back, maybe there is some merit in this mans theories. I might have got the wrong end of the stick when people started talking about distance is more important than accuracy and that by taking driver every hole will help you shoot lower scores.

In that round i didn't knock in any long putts and had 3 that would have gone in on another day.

I have spent a lot of time evaluating my game over the last couple of years as I always knew I had the length, the iron play and the putting to shoot lower scores, but never did it regularly. I've already said that one of the biggest changes I made was leaving the driver in the bag and using my strong approach play and putting to make the scores.

 

[Papas1982]

Looking back, maybe there is some merit in this mans theories. I might have got the wrong end of the stick when people started talking about distance is more important than accuracy and that by taking driver every hole will help you shoot lower scores.

In that round i didn't knock in any long putts and had 3 that would have gone in on another day.

I have spent a lot of time evaluating my game over the last couple of years as I always knew I had the length, the iron play and the putting to shoot lower scores, but never did it regularly. I've already said that one of the biggest changes I made was leaving the driver in the bag and using my strong approach play and putting to make the scores.

Hard to say from the outside. But I think you clearly know your game well enough to self evaluate. If I felt comfortable enough to leave myself 130 ever time then that would be my intention as a full pw is probabaly my most consistent shot.

That at being said, I think at my level (approx 15), using driver is the sensible option as I can mess up with anything on the tee so at least when I hit it well I'll be closer to the pin.

i think there is merit in both approaches, and the better you become the more you can choose your approach.

 

[Fish]

Playing safe and short you can beat your handicap

But playing safe and short you are not going to be in the running for too many big competitions at your club

GiRs are very important, and being short off the tee makes it so much harder to hit them.

Totally disagree with this and it's hugely 'contradictory'.

I've won and played well under my handicap with a 3w off the tees as I didn't use a driver for over 2 years!

So I was predominately short & safe off the tee but playing under handicap and anything under handicap puts you in the winning enclosure!

GIR's are not very important if you have a good short game, I shot my first sub 80 off the back stones with no driver in the bag so generally instead of going for long approach shots into the green I deliberately play up 1 club short of the green side bunkers leaving anything from 30-80 to the pin leaving good short par putt opportunities which should at worse be only a bogey, I'm not looking for birdies, pars will do for me so this philosophy will not be any good for low single figure handicaps as they look for birdies like I look for pars.

My putting stats are excellent but their false because I deliberately don't go for quite a few greens in regulation because the risk of missing them is too great, chipping close to the pin off the fairway means I down a lot of single puts for at least 6 holes per round.

My pro has me looking at holes in reverse asking me what ideally I'd like left to the pin or green, so if I can't make that distance with a driver off the tee and if it brings too much trouble into play I'll drop down so I'm short & safe but then play short of the green and more times than not they will or can be par holes.

I don't think there's a single ideal answer as we all have different strengths and weaknesses, so I'll play to mine which is not getting overly concerned about hitting GIR and I think another 3 shots off my handicap this coming season will underline that approach.

 

[Smiffy]

I play the game for fun.
Where's the fun in consistency???
I love visiting trees occasionaly.
He who dares Rodney, he who dares....

 

[jusme]

I play the game for fun.
Where's the fun in consistency???
I love visiting trees occasionaly.
He who dares Rodney, he who dares....

I can relate this to this a lot more than I can most of the responses on here. For me scoring is the least important factor when I hit a golf course. My intention is to enjoy myself and I get so much more pleasure out of shot making and shot quality. I never think about the score or how best to get the ball round for a lower score. I enjoy good ball striking and if I hit the shot/ball well then my day is a good one. Give me good ball striking and poor scoring all day long than a lower score with a bit of luck here and there. Of course a good score can come of good ball striking but not always and this simply does not matter to me.

Before someone feels the need to point it out, I do of course understand that for a lot of golfers if not most, scoring is the primary goal. Just not for me

 

[Smiffy]

I would get a lot more pleasure in playing a dramatic recovery shot from under a tree or out of the rough than I would hitting repetitive 8 irons from the middle of the fairway....

 

[timhowe]

Why does everyone on this thread compare them selves with a PRO...WE are not (Well most of us). All Im doing is trying to improve me game and become a lot more consisant and thus enjoying the game a lot more...!!!

 

[louise_a]

due to lack of length I find that I am nearly always hitting a wood for my second shot around my home course, so being on the fairway is very important to me, even if I hit a long drive it only makes a difference on a couple of holes.