Drive for show, putt for dough - True or False?

[Slab]

The often quoted saying that implies putting is more important than driving (maybe it means something different to you)

Ok so firstly is it a true saying and secondly (assuming I’ll get answers that start ‘depends on ability etc’... at what handicap/level does it become true?

I think for a higher handicap (& maybe even a good chunk of mid h/cap) this is a nonsense statement. Far too inconsistent off the tee means you’re effectively ‘out’ of too many holes after bad tee shot/s often leaving a best case scenario of a long’ish putt for a nett bogey

These long one putt attempts are normally missed anyway so no great surprise and no real expectation to make it, so I’m not really putting for dough (a score)

Whereas if I’m popping the tee shot 160-180 yards on the short stuff then a gross par is still on the table with that same one long putt and nett par perfectly acceptable with two putts, so my tee shot is far more important than that 40ft putt ever was (in effect the drive was my money shot)

& maybe this is where the statement is true insofar as taking the driver in an attempt to get 230+ is 'driving for show' when you know you only hit 50% FIR and there’s a club in the bag that’ll give you say 80% FIR

Thoughts?

 

[Retread61]

I think you nailed it Slab. I know that putting cost me at least 4 shots this weekend, and my shocking driving on the back 9 only really cost me 2 or 3. I think the tipping point comes when you get to a 14/15 hcap and below.

 

[patricks148]

The often quoted saying that implies putting is more important than driving (maybe it means something different to you)

Ok so firstly is it a true saying and secondly (assuming I’ll get answers that start ‘depends on ability etc’... at what handicap/level does it become true?

I think for a higher handicap (& maybe even a good chunk of mid h/cap) this is a nonsense statement. Far too inconsistent off the tee means you’re effectively ‘out’ of too many holes after bad tee shot/s often leaving a best case scenario of a long’ish putt for a nett bogey

These long one putt attempts are normally missed anyway so no great surprise and no real expectation to make it, so I’m not really putting for dough (a score)

Whereas if I’m popping the tee shot 160-180 yards on the short stuff then a gross par is still on the table with that same one long putt and nett par perfectly acceptable with two putts, so my tee shot is far more important than that 40ft putt ever was (in effect the drive was my money shot)

& maybe this is where the statement is true insofar as taking the driver in an attempt to get 230+ is 'driving for show' when you know you only hit 50% FIR and there’s a club in the bag that’ll give you say 80% FIR

Thoughts?

never a truer word spoken that that term. its no good booming 300 yard drives and wedging in onto every green if you then 3 or 4 putt it.

Played a Texas Scramble yesterday, we didn't miss a fairway or a green but only sank 6 birdie puts between us. we came nowhere!

 

[Slab]

never a truer word spoken that that term. its no good booming 300 yard drives and wedging in onto every green if you then 3 or 4 putt it.

Played a Texas Scramble yesterday, we didn't miss a fairway or a green but only sank 6 birdie puts between us. we came nowhere!

Not sure I can accept a scramble format to prove the statement true (by definition only 1 in 4 drives need be good off the tee anyway)

 

[ScienceBoy]

Three good 5 irons can get you pretty much anywhere... Or is that three 5h nowadays??

 

[patricks148]

Not sure I can accept a scramble format to prove the statement true (by definition only 1 in 4 drives need be good off the tee anyway)

I think it does, the team winning will be the ones sinking the most putts not the most fairways greens etc

 

[CMAC]

never a truer word spoken that that term. its no good booming 300 yard drives and wedging in onto every green if you then 3 or 4 putt it.

also no point 1 or 2 putting all greens if you're 3 off the tee or always playing your second from the clag!


It's one of these quirky sayings that sounds decent at the time, like "head still" or "never up never in" "thin to win" (thats me that is) but in golf you need either everything firing on all cylinders or no part being really bad so you can scramble a decent return

 

[Slab]

I think it does, the team winning will be the ones sinking the most putts not the most fairways greens etc

Yeah ok then, I'll admit that when having three mulligans on every tee then 'Drive for show, putt for dough' is always a true statement

 

[garyinderry]

Chip for doh. On a bad day you could miss every green. Its how many of these next shots you get right determines how well you will score.

Considering its only a 50-50 chance we make a putt outside 6feet, its imperative you chip well to maintain a good score.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I am more in the "Make your bad shots better" than in the "Drive for show, putt for dough" camp.

Some people can hook a 6 iron just as much as a driver, just not as far and less into the deep stuff... Usually ending up still costing shots.

 

[bobmac]

There's no point being a brilliant putter if you knock 2 OOB on every hole.
The higher h/cap you are the more chance you have of hitting buffer with a weakness in your game.
The lower you are means you cant have a weakness.

It's not easy making birdie if you

1. Drive it in the rough
2. Miss the green
3. Chip badly
4. Miss lots of putts.

 

[guest100718]

if you are playing crap then there is little you can do. But I find that having a hot day with the putter will certainly turn a decent ish round in to a very good one.

 

[One Planer]

I usually go with better putting will score better.

However.

I've always been a better putter of the ball than I have a Driver of the ball.

In my own personal experience, when I drive the ball better I score better.

You only have to look on the professional tours. There are plenty of player, probably most, who hit the ball over 300 yards as an average, but it's the guys that putt well that seem to far better.

Matt Kuchar spring to mind straight away. Not overly long, but a cracking putter.

I think it was said last week he had the most top-10 finishes of any player last season.

 

[Fyldewhite]

I think this saying is rooted in the pro ranks where to win consistently you have to be nailing 8-15 foot putts, knocking in a fair few longer than that, never 3 putting and never missing short ones.

For me, it's all about getting off the tee. If I do that well then I almost always play well. Yes I'll 3 putt once in a while but that's nowhere near as destructive to a score as wild driving.

 

[Alex1975]

Driving is so important for me... If I can walk off the tee in a straight line I will far more likely have a good hole!

That said, why do they need a level of importance... EVERY shot counts.

And in conclusion.. If I drive and putt well I will have a good day!

 

[G1BB0]

I usually go with better putting will score better.

However.

I've always been a better putter of the ball than I have a Driver of the ball.

In my own personal experience, when I drive the ball better I score better.

You only have to look on the professional tours. There are plenty of player, probably most, who hit the ball over 300 yards as an average, but it's the guys that putt well that seem to far better.

Matt Kuchar spring to mind straight away. Not overly long, but a cracking putter.

I think it was said last week he had the most top-10 finishes of any player last season.

Spot on for me. Putting has always been decent, if the driver is behaving I can score pretty well. I am out of most holes because of bad tee shots, something I am working on now.

 

[dufferman]

If 2 players put the ball in the same spot on the tee on a 400yard par 4, one hit a 300yard drive, one hit a 200yard drive, they both have a chance of getting on the green.

If 2 players put the ball in the same spot on the green, one sinks it and one leaves it 6foot short, or one has a tap in for 2 and one leaves it 10foot short, the shorter player is at a disadvantage. So in that respect, putt for dough is correct.

However, most players of a higher handicap are not that consistant, so I'd say they are equal in importance for a mid-to-high handicapper.

 

[Roops]

Lots of wise replies to the OP. I have always thought the statement was a load of tosh. If you have hit into the rubbish and take 4 more to get to the green the best you can do is 1 putt. That's not the problem. Reviewing your rounds on where you are losing shots is probably one of the most sensible things you can do to improve your scores. Focussed practice and work on the problem areas is the way forward.

 

[Slab]

The topic came up as chat during Saturdays game and boiled down to this:

A missed 2nd putt will normally cost you another one shot to the hole total (I think most will agree that 4-putting is rare enough)

However a wayward 280 yard drive will regularly cost one shot to the hole total (but here's the difference its often more than just one shot with a reload for OOB, unplayable penalty drops, water hazard penalties etc) and its rare enough for it not to add anything at all to the hole score

Which was the costly shot?

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Isn't the modern game now using strokes gained rather than GIR or FIR as an indication of a good round, a lot of emphasis on the long shot into the green, for amatuers though I still off the tee is the most important, you get a lift and gain confidence seeing your tee shot on the short stuff, in trouble off the tee and we more often than not end up chasing the game and (in my case) messing up!