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Distance vs Accuracy

I'd take accuracy over distance any day. I'd rather be 180 yards from the green on the fairway than 140 yards out but middle-stumped behind a tree. I've done that a few times this year when I've got greedy and ended up chipping out sideways or backwards. Knocking one down the middle does wonders for your confidence too as it's going where you intended it to go.
 
To be honest I the more I think about it the more obsurd this argument is, even those that tinkle it 220 still have handicaps, ie are not pros so obviously up the middle is no more advantageous than someone who can knock it 50 yards further up, granted risking more trouble, but the shorter hitters can still duff, blob and lose them like the best. The whole shorter is best ideaology is flawed in that you still have to hit it straight.
 
brendy said:
To be honest I the more I think about it the more obsurd this argument is, even those that tinkle it 220 still have handicaps, ie are not pros so obviously up the middle is no more advantageous than someone who can knock it 50 yards further up, granted risking more trouble, but the shorter hitters can still duff, blob and lose them like the best. The whole shorter is best ideaology is flawed in that you still have to hit it straight.
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I take your point but I think the question is if you would sacrifice distance in order to be more accurate. Obviously if your just going to hit it offline but not as far you might as well keep the extra yardage but I'd definitely give up 20-30 yards off the tee if it meant I was on the fairway more often.
 
Airlie_Andy said:
I take your point but I think the question is if you would sacrifice distance in order to be more accurate. Obviously if your just going to hit it offline but not as far you might as well keep the extra yardage but I'd definitely give up 20-30 yards off the tee if it meant I was on the fairway more often.
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The original debate started that way but seemed to get more of a slant what the individual would do.
If golf was boring, I wouldnt play it. I love trying to keep it straight but the masochist in me loves trying to get back into play with a bit of intended skill, doesn't always work but certainly brings me back every week.
 
So... what about teen handicapper? take me for example im neither long(teehee) or straight(well i am) so i cant afford to sacrifice either, because there is no guarantee that i could intentionally hit it shorter, and if i did, that that would be straighter!?

question/debate null and void for me. ill just keep trying to improve my score, surely with more rounds under my belt i will improve in every area. after all i like to leave plenty of room for improvement.

Phil
 
brendy said:
Or you can punt it up the middle, dribble another short of the green then chip and three putts. Golf is a game of hindsight.
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This is what frustrates more than anything I think - trying to do the "right" thing and use the shots and then still making a mess of it:(
 
There always seems to be the idea that the two are mutually exclusive, if you want to bosh it then you'll be hacking out sideways - but the guys who want to hear the ball land after hitting it are going to be arrow straight. It also seems to be a train of thought that to get extra length you have to lash at it with less control.

Every hole that requires a driver on our course offers you an area of AT LEAST 45yards wide to hit - that includes the rough which, because you knock it a fair way down with the driver, means you can get a fairly shortish iron on it.

To me, there is zero logic in not wanting to be able to hit it further, not only are your tee shots further down there, it also means that you can hit wedge rather than 9 iron and so on as you are longer right through the bag.

Give me more distance any day of the week, if I can't fit a ball into that 45 yard gap then it's a course management issue.

I am not in the "I can give it a good tonk" camp, probably around 240 or so, so extra yardage would be just what the doctor ordered for me.
 
If you play golf with the idea of using your handicap, then you will never shoot anything better than net level par. This would be very dull. Golf is meant to be fun. Dob it down the middle, dob it to 100 yards, dob it on the green, two putts. Where is the fun in that?
 
personally off 28 I would like a mix of both. No point being accurate with driver and getting 200yds, I can do that with my hybrid more consistently. I want to leave as short a club as possible as more accurate (sometimes). I am certainly more confident hitting a 8/9/pw than a 2h/3h/4/5 into the green
 
ArnoldArmChewer said:
This is being done to death right now!!
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dont complain, just join in, maybe we will be able kill the subject if we all talk it out of our system :)

ps im still to see any proof that the shorter is straighter thing has any truth to it.. although topping a drive is uselessly straight, but i wouldnt be happy with that.

Phil
 
me personally i'd rather be playing from the fairway everytime but in saying that i always think "what if i hit driver there"......i always see short par 4's as a great oppertunity of making birdie so will usually 9 times out of 10 take the driver and go for it.

sometimes playing from the rough isn't too bad,distance control can be a pain sometimes but a little bit of course management helps.
 
My course is long, well compared to the previous courses I used to play, so distance is key, but then again so is accuracy, the answer is simple, hit it long and keep it safe ;-) as someone said earlier it's about pushing the boundaries a little you could play your handicap and chip it up the fairway and walk away with net par, but where's the fun in that! With regards to my driving I’m probably around the 250 mark and consistency of 6/10 at the moment, but the more you try and practice the better you'll get, right?
 
Define short?

I don't drive the ball 300yds but 9 times out of 10 I'm as long or longer than people I play with. I also tend to be straighter. I'm happy with that.
 
bobmac said:
I wonder how far folks on here can hit a chipper?
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I can answer that. 147 yards. My old man was having such a bad round (shanking everything within 160 or so of the green) that he went to the chipper for pretty much every shot from the 10th onwards. The longest he got out of it was 147 as that was the range he had to the flag when he stiffed it with his Bronty.:)
 
Think the answer to all this is. To hit it long when you need to(wish I could hit it long). Play safe when you need to. So mix and match to suit.
 
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