Who needs a driver!?

bozza

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After the last couple of months of playing rubbish and not even playing to a 28 hcp nevermind a 22 hcp. This was mainly due to my poor driving leaving me in all sorts of trouble and getting me wound up and spoiling the rest of my game i decided when i played a new course today (Dinsdale Spa) that if i didn't hit it well or if there was any chance of a bad drive leaving me in trouble i'd play safe off the tee.

And it worked!

93 gross, 37 points and 6 pars and i had 3 birdie putts i just missed.

Only used my driver 3 times, the rest of the time it was either 3 wood or 4 iron off the tee. Off the top of my head i hit 9 fairways, left myself a few long 2nd shots but at least i had a shot in.

Got a lesson on my driving tomorrow but it's opened my eyes that i don't need to get the driver out on every par 4/5 and play the percentage shots more often.
 
Viscount17 certainly does not. He played at my place again on Saturday. Driver all over the shop, 3 wood dead straight every time and hitting it as far as the everyone else were hitting their driver. He is now banned from bringing his driver to our fourball invitation open next week.
 
I always ask the question...

Would you rather be 230 yards and in the trees or be 50 yards shorter on the short stuff!

I know some people argue the fact you sometimes have to use your driver to go over brooks etc, but I'm sure even playing a short iron in front of the brook then a long iron up to the front of the green this would be more successful than wasting a shot off the tee into the rubbish!
 
I'm usually fairly good with my irons, and terrible with a driver. Not the case on Sunday, where I hit my irons like a right pleb, but drove like a beast off the tee, out stripping my fellow players on most of them.

Massive inconsistency, if only I could play well in both areas I'd only have my putting to consider ;)
 
When your handicap gets down low you need to use the driver well, the irons well, the short game well and the putter well in the same round
 
Had a similar experience myself the other day. I decided to switch to a 3wood to try and play short of a fairway bunker that I usually found myself in with a driver. Ended up hitting it straighter and found I ended up with longer shot that still brought the bunker into play but the reduction in the slice kept me out of it. Also highlighted just how much distance I'm losing due to bad use of the big dog.

Booking a 5 week course with local pro to try and get a crash course in sorting my game.
 
I dont use a driver at the moment. Just handed back a TM R9 to my mate who I lent it off because I can't hit it further than my 3 wood and no where near the consistency.

At the moment there's so much run on the hard fairways it's sometimes safer for the 3 wood. It is in my case anyway! ;)
 
Driver is staying in the bag on most holes at the moment round my place. The rough is insane. A week ago, a spot I normally frequent on the 18th had rough about 6 inches deep. Today it's waist high!
4 wood's going sideways - literally, so the hybrid was used off a lot of tees today.
Must have done something right as I shot 2 over gross for 43 points.... :D :D :D :D
 
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