Drives for show? Really??

[MKDave]

Being a player who only uses irons I'd wondered how much my game would improve with the extra yardage from the tee and deck. People always say to me "Drives for show, Putts for dough"

Looking at the Dubai Tournament:

All the par 5s have an average of sub 5 however of the 10 par 4's only 3 average sub 4. and of the 4 par 3's only one is sub 3 at 2.99.

Is this showing that anyone can hit a long ball therefore par 5 scores will always be a lower average or something else?

 

[JustOne]

People always say to me "Drives for show, Putts for dough"

Do people always talk to you in rhyme?

 

[MKDave]

People always say to me "Drives for show, Putts for dough"

Do people always talk to you in rhyme?

Riddles mostly.

 

[Macster]

The saying is undoubtably true, there is no point in beine a massive hitter off the tee if your iron play & putting is rubbish, - a missed 4' Putt is no different than a 280yd Drive.

Tis perhaps more valuable to be a good Putter than merely a good Driver only.

However, if you're good at both..............

 

[MKDave]

Well I'm definately not good at both.

Cannot hit woods, well not well straight anyway, and my putting can be terrible. Pretty happy with my iron play on the most part so just going to try an get to putting green after week everyday (light dependant) and put the hours in.

Surely can't be tht hard to get my putting like a pro

 

[thecraw]

Guess what areas of your game you need to practice then????

 

[Bacardibatman]

yes the saying is true to some extent


but pretty much everyone will have more chance of knocking an 8/9 iron from 140 etc closer to the hole than a 3 iron from 220 etc

so youve got more chance of making that "putt for dough"

.......

but if youre straight with your irons and all over the place with woods

youre gonna bleed shots from being in trouble (but its a learning process and you dont see any top players not using drivers etc )

when i was young i was small (5ft 6.5 stone til i was nearly 16 )i hit it 180-200 yrds with my driver while my friends were hitting it longer as they were bigger stronger etc

but i was straight very rarely missed a fairway and i managed to get to single figures because i was never in trouble & my short game/putting was top notch

my scores definately dropped when i grew and got longer,because i had more birdie opportunities from closer

but better being 200 in the fairway than 250 in the bushes & trees

something you need to try and work on and then decide weather its worth it for you....but give it a try and maybe even go for a 30 minute lesson on it so you get right advice from the beginning

 

[MKDave]

Guess what areas of your game you need to practice then????

Lol I'm starting to work on my putting and to be fair I have been sinking more 6foot+'s than ever before.

I need lessons to sort my driving out but as I don't want to invest/spend too much money before I leave this promised land for Aus, I'll wait until I return some time next year and start from there.

 

[TheClaw]

Being a player who only uses irons I'd wondered how much my game would improve with the extra yardage from the tee and deck. People always say to me "Drives for show, Putts for dough"

Looking at the Dubai Tournament:

All the par 5s have an average of sub 5 however of the 10 par 4's only 3 average sub 4. and of the 4 par 3's only one is sub 3 at 2.99.

Is this showing that anyone can hit a long ball therefore par 5 scores will always be a lower average or something else?

The example you give doesn't show that it's all about length. What it shows is that when you play a par 5 you have a larger margin for error. You can hit a dodgy shot (or two) and still get a birdie, providing you hit a couple of good shots on the same hole.

When you play a par 3 you need to be accurate with your tee shot or the best you can hope for is par.

If you could choose one part of your game to excel in it would be putting because it saves the most shots.

 

[surefire]

Drive for show.
Putt for dough.
Chip for ?

Putting wont necessarily save the most shots. Say you're a pretty decent putter, and guarantee a two putt within 20 feet. It will do you no good if when you miss a green you can only chip to 20 feet - You've still made bogey, where as if you chipped to 2 feet...

Also to my mind big driving only becomes an advantage at a certain point.
Generally..
If you can hit 200 in the fairway, or 220 but going wayward, I would stick with the 200, as for 20 yards more the trouble of being in the thick stuff most likely will outweigh the advantage of being 20 yards closer to the green.
If you can hit 240 in the fairway, or 320 going wayward, the advantage of being so much longer, and only needing a wedge for your next shot, may outweigh being in the long grass.

 

[Losttheplot]

I agree with TheClaw, it's the putting (and short game) where the shots are saved.

I know people who hit their driver only 200 yards but because they have a decent iron game and very good short game they play in single figures which sounds acceptable to me.

if you can sort your driving out an hit it further than your long irons then hopefully you will give yourself opportunities to score better and shoot lower. good luck!

 

[Ethan]

It is generally true, although in the pro game it presupposes that you can drive the ball a decent enough distance to get onto holes in regulation, so what it means is that the game then starts.

If a pro could only drive 180 yards, it wouldn't matter if he putted like God, he wouldn't eat.

Par 5s are generally easier because there are a range of ways to play them, and the approach shot is generally much shorter than on a typical par-4. If a player hits their drive into the rough, or a fairway bunker, they can play conservatively and still usually have a short iron in. Give a good pro a set of holes where he has a sand wedge shot in and he should be scoring a lot of birdies.

There are few par-5s where players routinely need more then a wedge, and often they are putting with their third shot.

The par-5 14th at Pebble Beach is a notable exception to the rule because of the severe run-off near the back. it is the hardest hole at Pebble Beach this week.

 

[Imurg]

The short game is important,more so in the pro game. You can be the best putter in the world but if you're always putting for bogey you're not going to score well.
If your drive ends up in the clag and you have to hack out sideways, then the par 4 becomes a par 3. Miss the green and you're almost certainly looking at a bogey.
Keep the ball in play and even if you still miss the green the same chip and putt gives you par.
They're both important. Without a good drive it's hard to score, without a good short game it's different hard!!

 

[Region3]

I'd imagine most people would prefer to be best at the one they're worst at. Human nature.

I'm still wrestling with my new driver. 5 times today I had no shot at GIR. Most drives had a draw except the one I wanted it on when it went straight into the trees.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Played with a guy in our roll up today. 180-200 yards max but never in trouble. OK anything over 350 yards and he couldn't get there but off 19 he didn't need to. He finsihed with 32 points but that was due to two bad shots meaning he didn't score points. The point is you don't have to be long to score. Keep it in play. I think you should learn to hit woods and learn to like them otherwise as you improve in other aspects you will make it harder for yourself with a lack of length. I think if you can be confident on 4-6 footers and make your fair share of those and get something resembling a reliable chipping action (if you get one let me know what it feels like) then you'll save plenty of shots anyway

 

[MKDave]

Well played this morning, again no bigger than 3 iron. Front 9 was hitting the ball beautifully. 44 front nine with par of 35, but I had 1 one putt and everything else was pants. 1 three putt. The worst part is the furthest away I was, was about 10 foot tops so should have sunk loads of singles. Green keeper has rolled the greens mid week so more movement so really happy as I know I need to work on my putting anway.

Had 50 on the back, par 37 but did have two drops both of which the wind caught.

I had 5 tee shots where I outdrove my dad (22 handicap also) and wa within a few yards of the bloke we played with (13 handicap) both of whom hit their drivers sweet.

Need to be hitting a 3 wood as it goes so far of the deck for the 13 handicapper.

 

[Losttheplot]

Doesnt sound a bad round when youve played to your handicap.

Make sure you practise with a 3 wood and driver before unleashing them on the course because if you dont then your scores will reflect it if you start spraying it around.

its worth noting, some of my best golf has been without using driver and woods. Because I was using a 4 iron off the tee I was in play all day long and I was shooting to my handicap and a few shots better on some occasions.

I was the same as you when thinking of getting a driver/3 wood so be patient and get them right before unleashing!

Good Luck!

 

[doubletripledouble]

The saying really only comes into things if you're a Cat 1 or below in my opinion. Whoever putts best on any given day gives them an advantage. 10 h/c and above have too many inconsistencies in their game for it to be relevant.

If you can become adequate in all areas, you can get to 10.
That's below good, very good and great. And then there's amazing...

Do you think you should be dropping a lot of putts say between 6 and 10 foot?

If so, I say get practicing... Lots!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I don't think anyone would disagree that the closer you are to the green the easier it should be to hit it so in that sense more distance increase your chances of hitting the green in regulation. But if you're gonna 3 putt what's the point.

I'm a fairly long hitter, not in the 300yd club like some forumers but pretty long and I'm fairly accurate with it with normally around 70% fairways hit. However, I'm only hitting 6 or 7 greens in regulation. That puts pressure on my chipping game where I'm looking to get within 4 feet but even if I do that, I still need to be a solid putter from that distance to make par.

Off of 22 I wouldn't say more distance is essential for you to improve, you should first concentrate on hitting every green in 1 over regulation and two putting, if you do that you're h'cap will come down. I would also worry more about your short game as no matter how good you get, you will come to rely on it.

 

[JustOne]

The saying really only comes into things if you're a Cat 1 or below in my opinion.

+1

How someone played their round with an iron off every tee and still shot their h/cap off 28 is of no interest to the golfing world