Who needs the Big Stick?

[Canfordhacker]

Don't get me wrong I love my G10 driver. But as the rough is being grown for our club Championship in two weeks I've been thinking about ways to keep the ball in play. So yesterday I played in a club medal, and went a bit radical. I left my driver, two rescues and 3, 4 and 5 irons in the car boot. The theory was that I would be playing off the fairway most of the time, and even on the 520 yard par 5 I would have at most a 50 yard pitch in, with two putts for a cast iron bogey. We played off the whites at 6170 yards.

Well I managed a 17 over (I play off 14), and those shots came with a lost ball (missed the fairway right on the 8th but made bogey with the provisional) and one I dunked in the water when I hit it fat on the fifth. It's really made me think about how often I need to go for position rather than macho distance. But will I be able to resist when I put the big dog back in?

We'll see!

 

[ColinR]

I agree with you. On Thursday I invited a guest to my club and told him "dont worry about being long, just be straight and you will always have a shot" He took me literally and only used a 4 iron off the tee ( Par 3's excepted ). His handicap is 22, but shot an 81, with one hole being a 7 !!!

Certainly made me think.

Next week I shall be playing a round without the big guy and the 3 wood, just to see.....

 

[brendy]

Guys, not to peepee on the parade however its all about restraint, knowing when to hit and when not to hit driver/woods. Walking onto the course with an ill stocked bag is tantamount to golfing suicide, the harder to hit clubs can come in handy for all sorts of reasons, from hitting low runners to getting the most distance out of a penalty drop, why strangle your options?
Before you next go out, draw up a plan and stick to it, if its written down its harder to ignore.

 

[ColinR]

Guys, not to peepee on the parade however its all about restraint, knowing when to hit and when not to hit driver/woods. Walking onto the course with an ill stocked bag is tantamount to golfing suicide, the harder to hit clubs can come in handy for all sorts of reasons, from hitting low runners to getting the most distance out of a penalty drop, why strangle your options?
Before you next go out, draw up a plan and stick to it, if its written down its harder to ignore.

I hear what you are saying Brendy and in general agree. However, I think we all reach for the big guy at a tee far to often without thinking through the options/scenarios.

 

[brendy]

Exactly mate, what im suggesting is actually go onto the course with a plan, no professional golfer would dare go out without one, we are not professionals but a bit of planning cant be bad for our game.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think the problem with playing the same course all the time is that you become "programmed" to playing each hole a certain way. You get on a hole and instinctively pull the driver out because that is what you hit every time.

I am having real problems with our 4th which is only 320 yards. I normally hit a 3 wood and then a wedge in. However I've been missing the fariway left and right into the rough and not getting the run and having to hit 7 or 8 irons. I know I should be able to still hit the target but more often than not I am missing the green and making bogey or worse. Yet every time I play it out comes the 3 wood.

I keep telling myself to use a 3 hybrid and get it on the fairway where a good 7 or 8 is easier to control and just make an easy par. I have made this my goal or plan for the next round.

Also, with the fairways beginning to firm up a touch it isn't always prudent to use the big dog (at least on my course) as there are a number of fairways that you can run through into hazards with a firm first bounce.

I think we all need to reassess our club selection more often if we are all totally honest. This thread has certainly prompted me to put a big sticky note on the front of my yardage chart for my next round which reads "think fairway - big dog?"

 

[Canfordhacker]

Homer - I agree. I wrote a while ago that the firmer fairways seem to make them more missable with the runoff.

Brendy - fair point, and it is something I try to plan for. I think I just needed to prove a point to myself this week so I have some evidence to sway my clubbing decisions in future.

One other question I asked my partners recently was this - if you only had 1 hole that you could use driver on, which would it be? My answer was the fourth on my course - because it sets up to suit me and the chance of being punished if I stray is least harsh. This has also set me thinking.

 

[theeaglehunter]

my best ever round was without using the driver once (85), although I agree with what Brendy said. I know one guy who seems to perfectly judge whether or not he will hit a fairway with his driver taking into account fairway width, conditions etc and he is a very good golfer as a result of this judgement. Since shooting my best score without reaching for the driver once (boy was it hard when it was just sitting in my bag crying to be used, but I had made a plan and decided to stick with it) I am much more able to say no to using the driver when a 5 wood to the centre of the fairway is a better option for me. If you get the judgement right than the big stick is an asset I just feel I am not quite good enough to do this yet as I am still prone to the odd random hook out of bounds off the tee so I feel safer with a more accurate and consistent club.

 

[mrobbie]

When I was struggling with my old driver, I left it in the bag for a round, but played 5 wood off the tee. Shorter, but left me on the fairway more often than if I used the driver. The downside was that I was 50+ yards shorter off the tee. This meant if I hit a 9 iron before as a 2nd, I was now hitting 5 iron, which made the approach harder, and I then had fewer GIR.

Its all about course management - using the driver when the opportunity is there (wide fairway, no water etc) or using an alternative when it would be better (tight fairway, hazards).

Also, if its a 350 yard par 4, does the driver benefit you? Odds are, you will not get there in 1, so you'll have a 2nd - I'd hit something off the tee that leaves me with a shot I am comfortable with into the green, rather than a half wedge or something.

 

[USER1999]

I do, it is the most accurate club in my bag. I love my driver.

 

[stevo]

I think it just depends on the course,with the dryer weather i would rather give up some distance but be on the fairway.I can get about 190 -200 yds with my 3 Iron..which would leave me about 150 on most of the par 4s

 

[GB72]

I love hitting my driver and would not be without it in the bag. My dodgy clubs are my fairway woods so a good drive leaves me within range for a mid or long iron which are far more consistant. My best rounds are when the fairway woods stay in the bag, even if that is because the lie I am left with after my drive is such that I can only get a hybrid to the ball.

 

[rgs]

I agree a game plan is a requirement to play a round of golf.
I have problems, like Home on our 7th hole index two, off the tee i just cannot hit the fairway and can be in water trees or OB-so for the past three months i have taken either a 5 wood or 5 iron off the tee to get the ball on play.

I generally play 5 iron off the tee and then 5 wood towards the green- i have managed to par the hole on a few occassions since a change in strategy.

 

[RGuk]

Clearly, if you don't need to make many pars, you'll pick up good scores on short holes anyway.
BUT, if you want to par the long ones every now and again and need max distance of the tee just to reach the green with the second shot, there's not really any question is there?????
I could play to my h'cap with just my irons, no bother.....but a) it'd be boring b) I'd miss the thrill of a booming beauty down the middle and c) it'd add to the risk of double-bogeying the long 'uns.
No thanks.....

then again, I only use it 6 or 7 holes as it is!!!

 

[USER1999]

It also assumes that if you hit a 5i off the tee, you will middle it every time. I certainly don't, so it is a strategy fraught with danger.

Better off with the big stick.

 

[TonyN]

Have had a couple of decent tee shots with my new 3 wood which have left me in a better position to attack the green on long par 4's.

Prob could do with out the driver if i really had to as my 3 wood is normally only 30 yards shorter at most.

 

[theeaglehunter]

Oh yea Tony is that the 3 wood you bought and originally didn't like or did you change it in the end? I don't think you said what you did in the end. (last I knew you were going back to where you bought it to see what they could do)

 

[TonyN]

I think i did say but just to clear it up i stuck with the same one.

Went back and seen the pro he checked everythin was ok, it was and he just pointed out that i was trying to take the ball too cleanly off the deck and once he pointed out i needed to take a bigger divot, i started using it better. He even took me out onto the grass (which he aint meant to do cause they have no grass bays) Once i got the feel for the club I started to trust it.

Now I have used it in the grass bays at my range and a few times on the course, I am getting there with it! When it goes.... IT GOES! I was out driving my mate with it on sunday and he was using his driver, he couldnt beleive it!

 

[theeaglehunter]

Well done mate I knew persevering with it was the best option, glad it is going alright for you. And apologies, I may well have missed it when you said originally.

 

[RGuk]

Talking of persevering, I have continued in my plan to get as good with my new 3 wood off the deck as my old. Today, I got the closest yet to the 3 longest holes, and sneaked 2 pars as well! On the whopper hole (457), I hit a great drive and then a slightly thin 3 wood, but found myself on the fringe front right (level with the start of the green)! Hooray, first time since joining last August. Two putted for a nice par. Today, I really enjoyed the extra run and couldn't have made so many safe scores on long holes without the old G5 beast.
I turned the 410 yard 10th into driver, 6 iron (quite something for me!). I LOVE my big stick.....and my driver too