Firing at tight pins

I have always been a risk/reward kind of player that fires at way too many tight pins. I always figure my short game is good enough to get up and down and need be.

I just want to know what you guys do more often; play safe and make the sure par

or

fire at every pin with a chance to make more birdies, but also probably more bogies

When I was playing low, really low, I fired at sticks all day long. Like you, I had the confidence that I could do pretty much anything with a wedge in my hand and that getting up and down was assured. More often than not, I did get up and down when I needed to. This left me with a lot of great birdie opportunities but I also short sided myself from time to time as well which, unnecessarily, brought bogie into play. I approach this differently now and, as a result, don't put as many circles on my card. My game is more "boring" but I've taken a great deal of bogies out of play as well and seldom short side myself. My family situation has changed quite a bit though and I no longer have the time to dedicate to practice that I once did and as a result, getting up and down (especially when short sided) is no longer as automatic as it used to be. Now, instead of directly attacking pins, I'll work my ball into pins. Instead of trying to smother the stick I play for the smart side of the green with spin moving toward the hole. Quite often this will result in a nice tap in birdie but, more often than not, I'll end up with an easy 2 putt. In a way, I'm playing for the center/fat of the green. With a back left pin placement for example, I'll play a soft, lower spinning, draw into the center of the green. For a front right pin placement, I'm more apt to hit a crisp, high spinning, fade. Sure, I'm not knocking down as many sticks as I used to but I'm staying out of jail. When my putter is hot, I can still go low from time to time as well.

It really depends on the situation, first round of a tournament I usually try to play boring golf and take advantage of easy pin positions, a lot of middle of the green shots. If I have 9 or less into the flag I am throwing a dart into it though, or atleast I will try to.