How would you play this shot (if you were me) -->

I'm your basic average length driver (240-ish), typically wind up with 200-220 yards in on ALOT of par 4's, or if something for whatever reason goes wrong somewhere in the first two shots.    I hate that distance & I'm torn - never know if I should go for the hero shot if it's a nice fairway lie (3 wood - if I force myself to swing easy & make good contact, I can't get more than 200 out of it plus a goodly amount of roll) --- OR --- pull the PW or 9 iron & lay it up for a sand/gap wedge in.     I'm improving, but having trouble consistently breaking 90 - do it less than 50% of the time.      I'm just having a hard time coming to grips with giving a shot away by laying up, but often, I give more than one shot up recovering from an errant 3wood.

Which route would you recommend to maximize my scoring potential on this common shot ?

Thx

I'd go for it...pretty much every time.

I'd go for it too.  No way to get better at that 200+ yard shot if you don't take it...

You will sacrifice short term scoring for long term scoring potential.

Perhaps you are putting too much pressure on yourself in trying to hit the green with your fairway wood.  That's a tough shot for any golfer. Rather than admit "defeat" by laying up, I would suggest you work hard on your short game, so that you can convert more up-and-down opportunities from within 30 yards.  That way, a wayward fairway wood shot won't be so disastrous in your mind, which might free up your swing and allow you to hit more of those long par 4's.

We have a 215 yard par 3 at my home course.  It's a tough green to hit, especially with the wind blowing, which is most of the time.  I used to worry about missing the green, because that usually meant bogey. I really worked on my short shots around the green, and now convert most misses into pars.  This freedom now allows me to just go for it, knowing that even if I miss, I'll generally make par.

What are the total yards for the tee you are playing?

If your drives are 240 and you are left with 200-220 you must be playing from the back or second back tees.

Maybe try moving up a set of  tees for a while, get your long irons into play to make your GIR.

Your stats should tell you what to do.  If 75% of the time you go for it results in a double and if 75% of the time when you treat it like a par 5 you bogey, you have your answer.

Good luck!

Well you could always go move up to a set of tees, you might be playing the wrong length on the course.

what are you more comfortable with, a chip shot or a full wedge. If you can get it near the green and up and down, that might be easier than trying to lay up, and then if you miss your going to have to chip in for par instead of putt.

First, agree with looking at the tees you're playing.  If almost all the par 4s are 440-460+, you've really gotta be driving 270+ to be playing from those tees.  You shouldn't be playing from tees where you're hitting a smooth 3W as your approach shot on most par 4s.

That aside, I agree with Harmonious.  Get the practice of taking the pressure off yourself and seeing if you can hit the green with the long club, and practice the short game.  Plus, even if your short game is mediocre, you've still gotta have a higher up and down percentage from <= 30 yards compared to 100 yards, no?  Just think of it that way.  Hit a very smooth 3W where your goal is not to magically always put it inside 20 feet.  Have your goal be just to give yourself a reasonable shot at an up-and-down.

Thanks to everybody for the responses !     I especially liked rustyredcab's response - laying up to 20 yds instead of full wedge distance.     I've put more time into chipping than any other part of my game & I think I'll concentrate on this approach.     The best thinking is to shoot to whatever distance is your most comfortable UP AND DOWN distance - which in my case will not be the pin from >200 yds.     I will definitely work on this new approach  ... thanks again !

You never said what tees you play? And what is the yardage on the courses you are playing?

My course plays 6716 yds from the white tees, which is what I always play.    There's a bunch of 420-440 yd par 4's from the whites.     On another nearby course, there's one monster 465 yd narrow par 4 from the whites - my goal is to par that one ONCE this year - for that to happen I have to hit a massive 3w on my 2nd shot & get it at least close for an up and down - we'll see ...

For me the shot I would select varies with the situation at 200-230 yards.  If the green is well protected or/and my lie isn't good I'll lay it up almost every time (in a match play I likely would go for it if my opponent did and was successful regardless).  But if the green is pretty open and I have a good lie I'll go for it as the downside of missing isn't too severe.

I have a related question: what are your partial wedge distances? You might find that you like hitting a 52[ent]deg[/ent] quarter shot the most, and can "lay up" (on some greens/pin positions) to a spot where you'll be able to play that one easily with a good shot to get up and down. As for me, I love the half 56 shot. When I was playing regularly, I would frequently lay up to there (35 yards) if the hole and pin position permitted it (and if I was laying up). To expand on the point: you're going to get it on the green more often the closer you are. And you're going to hit it closer to the pin the closer you are. Among other things, being close to the green allows you to look at the break more easily. And if you're already thinking it's going to take you two shots to get to the green, give yourself two easier shots (maybe an easy hybrid or mid-iron followed by your preferred half wedge), especially if the hole setup permits you to hit the second shot from a closely mown area to the green without having to go over a hazard.

That seems excessive.  I played sets of blue tees at two different courses this weekend and both were right around 6500 yards.  Do they have a set of forward tees that aren't ladies/senior tees?  Is the course wide open with minimal hazards?  That just seems pretty long for a set of white tees.

Brandon

I think you are playing from the wrong tees...

I would agree those tees are too long for a higher handicapper.  The "white" tees at the courses I play are not that distance.

Interesting - this is apparently a pretty long course & maybe why I'm having trouble from the whites (greens are TINY as well).    If interested, I play the West Course - here's the scorecard: http://www.oobgolf.com/courses/scorecard.php?id=13644