Would you rather be a Good Driver or a Good Putter?

[PPE]

As the title really.

For example Would you prefer to hit ever fairway and take 36 putts OR hit half the fairways and take 29 putts, BUT end up with the same round score!

For me I would rather hit every fairway, as I used to be a terrible driver of the ball and am now hitting 50% and over fairly consistently, my putting however has always been good.

 

[Hobbit]

I'm not great off the tee but with a 2011 putting average of 29. Honestly, I'd accept a putting average of 32/33 if I could only hit more fairways. At least then both aspects of the game would give satisfaction.

 

[MKDave]

If the question is Good Putter or Good Driver suggesting both is not an option then Putting all day long!

If the question is which of the two would you say you need to improve on then, Driving.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Putting all day long. You can hit every fairway and bang it miles done the middle but it you can't get it in the hole at the other end your scorecard will suffer

 

[RGDave]

I'm an exceptional putter. No, really. I sit between Davis Love III and Trevor Immelman according to the PGA tour.

It's the rest of my game that's utterly rubbish.

I'd rather be a good driver.

------

I'm also a compulsive fantasist.....

Both the above statements are probably false.

 

[louise_a]

I can drive pretty well but my putting lets me down badly, I would forgo a few fairways a round to improve my putting.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

If I'm gonna end up with the same score every round I don't care but if I had to choose I'd choose putting all day long

 

[Imurg]

It's the age old question and there's no real answer.

You can be the best putter in the world but if you're putting for bogeys because you stuffed your drive in the trees then you're not going to win much
You can be the best driver in the world but if you 3 putt every green them you're not going to win much....

Given taht I'm goin to shoot the same score regardless - and I regularly do hit loads of fairways and take loads of putts/ hit few fairways and take few putts - that I really don't mind.

 

[duncan mackie]

As the title really.

For example Would you prefer to hit ever fairway and take 36 putts OR hit half the fairways and take 29 putts, BUT end up with the same round score!

For me I would rather hit every fairway, as I used to be a terrible driver of the ball and am now hitting 50% and over fairly consistently, my putting however has always been good.

you seem to contradict your own title..... are you saying that you would rather drive well but take more putts than you currently achieve?

personally I have days when the driving is exemplary, and days when it's terrible - equally I have days when my short game is dynamite, and others where I will 'chip and 2' every green (except the odd chip and three or 2 + 2)

on the extremely rare occassions that both come together I am called a bandit (I take it as a compliment), when neither work people question how long I've been playing and how I got a handicap - the vast majority of days things will be in the middle (somewhere)

so I know I can putt, and I know I can drive - it's that usual issue of delivery on the occassion.

 

[Shanks a lot!]

I'd say i'm a better putter than a driver, but to me I get a lot more satsfaction from 1 putting on the green than finding the fairway off the tee, so putting for me all day long.

 

[G1BB0]

a bit of both personally. Average drives and average putting = an average score which would beat my absolute pants scores by a mile

 

[Kellfire]

Driver, the same answer every dedicated golf should give...

Think about it, bad putting might cost you 5 or 6 shots in a round. More if you have an absolute mare.

But bad driving could see you unable to attack multiple greens and sometimes with penalty shots to add on.

This is all in degrees of poorness obviously but at amateur level, we need to give ourselves chances to hit greens and poor driving doesn't allow that.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Driver, the same answer every dedicated golf should give...

Think about it, bad putting might cost you 5 or 6 shots in a round. More if you have an absolute mare.

But bad driving could see you unable to attack multiple greens and sometimes with penalty shots to add on.

This is all in degrees of poorness obviously but at amateur level, we need to give ourselves chances to hit greens and poor driving doesn't allow that.

The OP was asking which you would prefer if you shot the same score with either but in any case I don't see why I should choose driving. The amateur golfer is probably being average at both disciplines rather than good at one nd bad at the other.

 

[Kellfire]

The OP was asking which you would prefer if you shot the same score with either but in any case I don't see why I should choose driving. The amateur golfer is probably being average at both disciplines rather than good at one nd bad at the other.

My bad for skim reading. I'd still pick driving.

 

[patricks148]

Putter everytime, nothing worse that hitting the middle of the fairway off every tee and 3 putting.

 

[User 105]

Driving everyday. I'm sure it's just a macho thing though.

Two weeks ago I had a mare of a round. Couldn't putt, irons were all over the shop, pitching and chipping were awful. But I probably drove the ball better than I have done in ages.

Came off the 18th with a crap score but in a good mood because I drove the ball well . Go figure.

 

[Slime]

Putting.

 

[Val]

Driver, It hasn't done Westwood too badly and all he has missing is a major.

It rather have the chance to putt well to get a great score than have to putt well to have an average score?

Plus it's easier together better at putting than driving as you can practice anywhere

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Driver, It hasn't done Westwood too badly and all he has missing is a major.

You're kind of losing you're own argument there, the difference between Westwood and Mickleson and Tiger is that the latter two could putt. Tiger won several majors driving it all over the place because when it came to the crunch, he could putt.

 

[Birchy]

Putting without a shadow of a doubt. How often do you see the leader in driving stats winning tournaments? And how often do you see the best in putting stats winning? The latter happens far more often.

You can drive wayward and still make the green a lot of the time but if your a poor putter it could easily cost you a shot per hole.