Is distance embarrassing?

[User20205]

No hitting the ball further is never a disadvantage if it's coupled with a bit of control. I'd rather hit a 9 iron in than a 5.


But if we are talking absolutes I'd rather be accurate than long. Especially on a typical members course which is usually under 6500.

You can score well round most courses we would play knocking it 220 off the tee with a half decent short game. You won't score well knocking it 300 yards into the woods.

 

[Nosevi]

Did you ever see Nick Faldo in the "flesh?"
Massive guy. Couldn't believe how big he was until I saw him at East Sussex National in the early 90's.
He wasn't a big hitter. By today's standards he would be laughed at.
But he had great course management and a half decent short game.
All I'm saying is that length isn't the be all and end all.
If somebody is bombing out there 300 yards, and has a top notch short game, why aren't they on tour????
Have you played with our very own "Leftie"...Roger Oliver????
He'll be the first to admit that he is a short hitter. A good drive for him is 200 yards or so. But most times I play in a group with him, he is in or around the money. Steady Eddie. 9 times out of 10 he'll turn you over for the pot. Because he has a short game that lower handicappers would be proud of. Chips are usually (usually) stone dead and he rattles putts in from all over the place.

I know Smiffy, I guess I'm just spinning the old 'drive for show putt for dough' debate on its head. Distance isn't the be all and end all........... but it's not a bad thing to have. Some would make you believe it is but as long as you know how to manage your way around a course having it in the back pocket to pull out when required is only ever going to be an asset.

I take your point about short hitters who have a sharp short game, they can score well. I was chatting to a bloke at my course the other day, well he was giving me a 'lesson' on fairway bunkers (not my strong suit yet) and we were talking drivers as we had both recently got G30s and were playing with the loft. He hits it a country mile off the tee and has a very strong short game. I guess that's why he plays off Plus 3

 

[chrisd]

Have you played with our very own "Leftie"...Roger Oliver????
He'll be the first to admit that he is a short hitter. A good drive for him is 200 yards or so. But most times I play in a group with him, he is in or around the money. Steady Eddie. 9 times out of 10 he'll turn you over for the pot. Because he has a short game that lower handicappers would be proud of. Chips are usually (usually) stone dead and he rattles putts in from all over the place.

Annoying little so and so isn't he !

 

[Nosevi]

No hitting the ball further is never a disadvantage if it's couped with a bit of control. I'd rather hit a 9 iron in than a 5.


But if we are talking absolutes I'd rather be accurate than long. Especially on a typical members course which is usually under 6500.

Isn't it only a question of 'either/or' if you lack the discipline to choose if you happen to be a long hitter? Off the tee which would you hit more fairways with - a driver or a iron / hybrid?

 

[Smiffy]

Isn't it only a question of 'either/or' if you lack the discipline to choose if you happen to be a long hitter? Off the tee which would you hit more fairways with - a driver or a iron / hybrid?

Got to be honest, whenever I take either an iron or a fairway wood "for safety" I invariably end up having to chip out sideways from some crap or another. Personally I'd rather give the driver a bash and take my chances

 

[Hobbit]

Once upon a time, 20 yrs or so ago, if there was a longest drive prize in a comp I'd be there or there abouts. These days I might get something within 20-30yds of those big hitting youngsters - 2 to 3 irons more into the green.

Handicap is still where it was 20-30 yrs ago because the ability to chip and putt.

 

[Nosevi]

Got to be honest, whenever I take either an iron or a fairway wood "for safety" I invariably end up having to chip out sideways from some crap or another. Personally I'd rather give the driver a bash and take my chances

Lol, isn't that always the way

I guess what I'm getting at is Mashie's story - distance isn't all about brute force, a lot of it is about technique too. You will not suddenly lose your accuracy because you spin the ball less, in fact, particularly into wind it'll help a great deal. I've never seen a really short hitter who gets properly low spin with a driver and I've never seen a very long one who spins it a lot - it's simply not possible to do. You get length by having a neutral ball flight and you get that with low spin. You also get more roll so it's a bit of a win/win.

I just sometimes think shorter hitters would benefit from looking at the numbers in a similar way to longer hitters - they'd invariably pick up yards and it wouldn't hurt their game one jot.

 

[ScienceBoy]

NOT knowing your distances is embarrassing. Like when you see someone attempt a 9 iron when an easy 7 would be safe.

And no, driving 220 with good technique and down the middle is pretty good.

 

[hovis]

It depends on the course. if you can' hit a long ball on courses i play off the whites such as the list below then your going to struggle even with the best of short games. i have yet to see a visitor hit his handicap on the pga (when paired in my group)
saying that, i recently played lutterworth cg and left my driver in the car as the course is so short. One person out of 31 played to handicap

The Warwickshire
Pga
Brabazon
Forest of arden:rofl:

 

[DaveyG]

I think with how much emphasis there is on here with people thinking anyone who drives over 250yards is a liar people play it down... I don't even bother participating with the how far do you hit anymore because some on here think its impossible for a handicap golfer to hit the ball 280 yards... I know from playing with some that is easily achievable and it wouldn't shock me in good conditions to see them go a good distance further.

I play with lads in their late 20's and 30's who look after themselves... I don't have much experience playing with people in their 50's/60's but when I do on average they hit the ball a lot shorter... I just think its one of those things!

Good thread OP :thup:

 

[MadAdey]

I am going to tackle each bit of what you said with my opinion on it........

I don't see length as a disadvantage in the game of golf ever. The idea that if you're a bigger hitter you lack course management skills or have no short game doesn't really stack up. When a longer hitter is faced with a tight 330 yard par 4 he may elect to play a 6 iron off the tee where a shorter guy may have to play a driver or 3 wood to be in the same place. Do you think the longer hitter is less likely to hit the fairway with a 6 iron than a shorter hitter is to hit it with the driver? If so, what brings you to that conclusion?

Distance is never a disadvantage, as long as it is controlled distance as myself like many have seen people who can give it a rip but do not have much idea of where it is going. Take two 5 handicappers, one a big hitter and one a short hitter. I've not seen may low handicappers that just swing the club and hope it hits the fairway. The hypothetical hole you speak of the short hitter will just stick a driver/3w on the fairway like the big hitter will.

Regarding better players being short or not, it just seems to me that the higher you go, the more distance matters. Someone mentioned Luke Donald as a short hitter earlier. Luke's a smallish guy - 5'9'' and slightly built - but he's far from short off the tee. Last year he averaged about 265 yards carry off the tee with a driver in hand..... that's not total distance, that's carry. Jim Furyk, another 'short hitter' that people sometimes quote? 261 yards carry on average with a driver. These guys have had to add yardage to their game in order to keep up.

But in comparison to his fellow pros he is a short hitter, with a lot of them having carries over 290 yards. But he makes up for it by being accurate and having a great short game.

Length off the tee vs sharp short game or course management - not even slightly connected IMO. It's possible to have both

It is possible to have great distance, a good short game and good course management......isn't that called a tour pro?

 

[Waitforme]

I'm a short hitter, there is a par 4 at the course I played for years with a burn requiring a 205 carry off the tee, I couldn't carry the burn unless there was a following gale.
Still managed to play off 6 but I'd reckon if I could have knocked the ball to 260 off the tee I'd have halved my HC.
I'd have been hitting short irons into greens instead of hybrids. Getting up and down was what got me my HC, with longer drives instead of putting for pars I would have been putting for birdie a lot more.

 

[Toad]

I agree with the Op, as both of my courses are over 6600y and one over 7000y from the back tee's that length really does matter. No good hitting it 200y off the tee to follow it up with a 170y 3w approach as you will still have 120 to go on some of our holes, we have 6 par 4's over 430y the longest one at 489y. If you can't hit far then you will struggle to get anywhere near them in regulation and unless you have a killer short game you won't be off single figures for very long.
I'm not a short hitter but I do struggle to reach some of them in regulation if its into the wind.

In fact a vast majority of our members won't play the longer course as they can't reach any of the par 4's in two, they will only do so if it is a yellow tee comp.

 

[Smiffy]

I'm not a big hitter by any stretch of the imagination, and get cheesed off with playing massively long par 4's where you have to hit your (my) Sunday best drive and I'm still knocking a wood in to get home. There's no fun in that.
I'd much rather play a short par 4, where the premium is on accuracy. Get it right and you are rewarded with a mid iron in.
You'd be surprised how many people blob high indexed short par 4's

 

[davidg2010uk]

Tough course! Sounds like distance is a must here.

 

[evahakool]

Y

Fine for single figure players like you with a modicum of ability. I am one of these short hitters averaging around the 235 mark.

If you're hitting out averaging 235 you shouldn't consider yourself a short hitter.

Remember most on this forum are very keen golfers and some can certainly hit it a long way, so for most club golfers I would say 235 drives is far from short.

 

[Ethan]

Golf psychology basically boils down to: play the shot you know you can play, forget about it and move on to the next one.

If you only hit the ball 200 yards off the tee, then play holes of over 400 yards as par 5s. The trick is how to do so most effectively. If you hit a 200 yard drive, and have 230 yards left, do you try to bust a 3 wood and get within 30 or 40 yards, or do you hit a 6 iron and leave a solid wedge?

The 6 iron/wedge is a rather conservative play, but I suspect you will end up with a few bogeys, the odd par and not too many blobs compared to the people who are slashing at a 3 wood.

 

[duncan mackie]

I'm super long as a double digit senior golfer...Most young cat 1 golfers make me look like a short hitter.

The end

 

[macca64]

I'm sure I would learn a lesson or 2 from them (in fact I play with them regularly) but doubt it'd be about course management - I know when I *should* play it smart, whether I do or not is another question.

Ok, just a friendly debate, deliberately a tad 'contentious' but why does the opposing view to mine always come down to an argument that it has to be length OR a decent short game. The 2 are not in any way linked. The best combo (by far) is a lot of length AND a decent short game. I'm a member at 2 courses - one massively short, one long(ish) especially off the whites. Length allows me to reach long holes on the longer course and gives me and easy ride on the shorter course. I don't see length as a disadvantage in the game of golf ever. The idea that if you're a bigger hitter you lack course management skills or have no short game doesn't really stack up. When a longer hitter is faced with a tight 330 yard par 4 he may elect to play a 6 iron off the tee where a shorter guy may have to play a driver or 3 wood to be in the same place. Do you think the longer hitter is less likely to hit the fairway with a 6 iron than a shorter hitter is to hit it with the driver? If so, what brings you to that conclusion?

Regarding better players being short or not, it just seems to me that the higher you go, the more distance matters. Someone mentioned Luke Donald as a short hitter earlier. Luke's a smallish guy - 5'9'' and slightly built - but he's far from short off the tee. Last year he averaged about 265 yards carry off the tee with a driver in hand..... that's not total distance, that's carry. Jim Furyk, another 'short hitter' that people sometimes quote? 261 yards carry on average with a driver. These guys have had to add yardage to their game in order to keep up.

Anyway, like I said, just a friendly debate but no one is likely to convince me that distance off the tee in golf is not important. It's an asset, if used wisely a huge asset.

Length off the tee vs sharp short game or course management - not even slightly connected IMO. It's possible to have both

I'm with you, im pretty straight but pretty short, would love to get extra yards on all my clubs, about 220 with the driver and 160 with 5 iron, just not good enough imo

 

[NimbleNeil]

Recently started playing and can only max about 190, I've heard all about spin and launch angle but know nothing of how to actually get them right. I'm 16, 56kg so there's not a lot of muscle to work with but like you said if there's any techniques that you can share that a beginner could easily pick up over the internet i'd be more than willing to hear it