Long Drive Challenge

**Ole_Tom_Morris** · May 7, 2005

Okay. Maybe long drive competitions are not golf, any more than miniature golf or Putt-Putt is. But long drive is an aspect of golf. Heck, Tiger has driven 400 yards, Vijay goes over 300 routinely, and John Daly is no longer Long John Daly, but is almost more renowned for his short game.
Every kid with a baseball bat dreams of hitting homers, not of mastering the bunt, even though bunting may be a more vital contribution to the team. Hitting homers is the sexy part of baseball, and hitting a long drive is the sexy part of golf. Back in the 50s, golf fans loved to see 6'5" ex-Redskin lineman George Bayer hit the long ball -- and he obliged, even though it hurt his game. So it is today.
Putting and chipping may be the nuts and bolts of golf, but sexy skills they ain't.
Tell the truth--do you have more drivers, putters or wedges in your closet? Did you pay more for your putter or your driver? And which gets more use?

**muskegman** · May 7, 2005

So far I've spent more money on putters than any other club in my bag, but thats not saying much right now. Actually three of my putters are worth individually more than the rest of my set, but not for long. The long ball is awesome and it makes a difference in your game no doubt. If you can be further down the fairway you are going to score better, that is for certain. Plus there is something really satisfying to knocking the crap out of one when you're buddies are watching. If only they could have seen the 295 yard drive today.

Yeah, everyone likes the long ball.

***iacas*** · May 7, 2005

I have more putters. That being said, the margin is only 1 and the total is only 7 (combined), and I've been playing for over a decade. My first driver was made of wood.

**mediaguru** · May 8, 2005

Honestly I have 1 driver, about 15 putters and a good 10 wedges.

And chipping can be sexy. If Tiger's chip in on 16 at the Masters wasn't "sexy" I don't know what is.

I've got friends who all knock it a mile. In fact I have fond memories of beating them all in match play because they lack in other aspects of the game. It is really fun to play these long knockers who think they can intimidate you with their long drive. Then I sink crucial 3-5 foot putts on them constantly and they gag on them.

The toughest matches for me are the guys who knock it long enough but have good short games.

Now if you find a real player who can knock it long AND has a short game you are in major trouble...OH wait, they are pros.

**sevenfourate** · May 8, 2005

I love the long ball - hence im a driver freak.Ive tried to get excited by draining putts,but im afraid nothing does it for me like a crushed,mega-hangtime big-dog

My thoughts on golf are "....never refuse the opportunity to hit a driver if you can"..... Its like all this "lay-up to 100yds" stuff on a short par 4's / whatever.Id rather get as close as i can - the way i see it a 20% mis-hit from 40 yds is gonna be way closer than a 20% mis-hit from 100yds.

That yardage stuff is ok if your 100% sure your going to hit the ball the same distance every time,know the exact yardage,can be assured of controlling (or not as it may be - the spin of the ball,know exactly how far the pin is on the green etc etc.

Anyway - im getting carried way.

DRIVERS ROCK !!!!!!!!!

**Rafcin** · May 9, 2005

I don't think I'm crazy about "long ball", but I do see the point, that even the best putter won't score, if it took him(her) 3 shots to get to the green. My approach is to hit it "long enough", but I will take a fairway approach every day vs. a 20 yds shorter rough shot.
Of course from 100yds I'll put the ball closer to the hole than from 150. I guess the trick is to find the balance. 260 off the tee with 90% fairways will do it for me. 300 yds off the tee with 50% fairways - I'm in trouble.

**PGAfan790** · May 9, 2005

I have waisted alot of money on Drivers. And im usually never satisifed. I cant drive the ball far but i am in ace usually when it comes to accuracy.

Putters are the second biggest thing that i am spend the most money on. But now i am happy with a Dunlop set i got.

**mediaguru** · May 9, 2005

Realistically if any part of your game sucks, you suck. Drive for dough, putt for dough, hit irons for dough, short game for dough, course management for dough.

**PGAfan790** · May 9, 2005

I will have to disagree with you mediaguru. Some PGA players have trouble with ther game and that doesnt mean they suck. So your statement doesnt really make sense.

**mediaguru** · May 9, 2005

I don't think we're talking about PGA players. We're talking about you and me. For me to say a player on the PGA tour sucks would be stupid.

As amateurs our games are weak overall in comparison to PGA players. If we are overly weak in an area, say putting, then that makes us even worse.

The real point I'm getting at is that there isn't any ONE part of your game that makes you a good player. If any part is weak, your whole game suffers. "The weakest link in the chain."

**PGAfan790** · May 9, 2005

I see your point but why are we different then the tour players. Just because i maybe cant drive very well that doesnt mean i suck. Im just remarking of what you said.

**mediaguru** · May 9, 2005

I guess the definition of the word "suck" is what we agree to disagree about.

**Rafcin** · May 9, 2005

...The real point I'm getting at is that there isn't any ONE part of your game that makes you a good player. If any part is weak, your whole game suffers. "The weakest link in the chain."

I'm not sure I subscribe to this theory. If you 2 or 1-putt every single green, eliminating 100% possibility of a 3-put, you'll score definitelly better than a long hitter who will 2 or 3 putt most of the holes. Why? Simply - even the 300+ hitter will miss the fairway and won't get on green I.R. every time. With good putting you can cover up a lot of crap, that happend on the fairway. Most of the strokes are made within 100yds. If you

consistently eliminate 1 or two strokes on every hole by putting "the lights out" - you can hit 200 off the tee and miss a few more greens. Here is my thinking: Assume you divide your game into 3 categories: 1. long shots ( driver, 3w, 5w, 3-6i) 2. short game( 7i-LW ) 3. putting take an "average" round where you score an 80 and you'll get something like this: 14 (long) tee shots 11 long shots 25 short game shots 30 putts Note, that 55 strokes out of 80 are short irons and putter. that's 68.75%. "only" 31.25% are the "long" shots. It's easy to see the point I'm trying to make: If you add a bad stroke to each long shot your score will worsen by 30%, if you mess up your short game - you'll go up by 70%! One can argue, that with bad drives you'd have a shift from "short irons" to "long irons" categories, but I think it still be weighted towards putting and short game... Especially putting. Of course - it's only my opinion, I could be wrong...

**mediaguru** · May 9, 2005

I'm not saying having a great short game wont improve your SCORES. But if you knock your tee shot OB, re-tee and knock it in the hazard, then miss the green with your 5th shot, 1 or two putting will make the difference between a snowman and something worse!

I say my game sucks right now because my chipping is mediocre. I can't seem to die the chip in gimme range. 80% of the time I have a knee knocker 5-10 footer which I can make only maybe 50% of the time. So if you miss 10 greens and get up and down 50%, yes you lose 5 strokes and go from say a 74 to a 79. If you are a higher handicapper then you may miss more greens or may be hitting the green in several strokes over "regulation." Then you'd really suck.

My point is basically that any bad part of your game can bring your whole score to it's knees, regardless if you 1 putt or two putt. Sometimes that putting stat doesn't mean as much anyway. You could have 18 putts and shoot a 90 because you got up and down with one putt for double bogey every time. I'm sure it's happened before!

**Rafcin** · May 9, 2005

I'm not saying having a great short game wont improve your SCORES. But if you knock your tee shot OB, re-tee and knock it in the hazard, then miss the green with your 5th shot, 1 or two putting will make the difference between a snowman and something worse!

I hear ya. However - teeing off O.B. is an extreme, I thought we're talking about 300+ drives vs. 250 drives. Once you're in play - my theory wins

**9wood** · June 23, 2015

I was out playing a round with a friend and his co-worker. We were on the 16th which is a 509 yd. par five. So before we teed off I told the other two players that I have a $100 for anyone that gets on the green in 2. These two players were thinking that they just might have a chance to meet my challenge. So they teed off and tried to clobber the ball to get maximum distance on their tee shot. Trouble is they tried so hard that they blew their first shot. The first one push his tee shot way to the left and deep into the woods, and there was no way he was going to find his ball, so it took him 4 strokes to get on the green. The second one teed off and hit way under his ball which went further up in the air than it traveled forward. His ball only went about 110 yds and he still had almost 400 yds to the green. It took him 3 more stokes to actually get on the green. I guess the pressure of $100 was just too much for then to effectively hit good tee shots. I was the last to tee off and using my 3 wood I drove my ball 210 yds down the middle. On my second shot I used my 3 fairway wood and drove the ball another 180 yds. I still had about 120 yds to the pin so I pulled out my 8 iron for my third shot and hit the ball onto the green and 4 feet from the cup and putted it in for the birdie. My two playing partners both ended up with double bogies on this hole. The pressure got to them and I won the hole.

**14ledo81** · June 23, 2015

I love the long ball - hence im a driver freak.Ive tried to get excited by draining putts,but im afraid nothing does it for me like a crushed,mega-hangtime big-dog

My thoughts on golf are "....never refuse the opportunity to hit a driver if you can"..... Its like all this "lay-up to 100yds" stuff on a short par 4's / whatever.Id rather get as close as i can - the way i see it a 20% mis-hit from 40 yds is gonna be way closer than a 20% mis-hit from 100yds.

That yardage stuff is ok if your 100% sure your going to hit the ball the same distance every time,know the exact yardage,can be assured of controlling (or not as it may be - the spin of the ball,know exactly how far the pin is on the green etc etc.

Anyway - im getting carried way.

DRIVERS ROCK !!!!!!!!!

Thumbs up on this old post.

Somebody was way ahead of the gain in 2005.

**mmoan2** · June 23, 2015

Okay. Maybe long drive competitions are not golf, any more than miniature golf or Putt-Putt is. But long drive is an aspect of golf. Heck, Tiger has driven 400 yards, Vijay goes over 300 routinely, and John Daly is no longer Long John Daly, but is almost more renowned for his short game.
Every kid with a baseball bat dreams of hitting homers, not of mastering the bunt, even though bunting may be a more vital contribution to the team. Hitting homers is the sexy part of baseball, and hitting a long drive is the sexy part of golf. Back in the 50s, golf fans loved to see 6'5" ex-Redskin lineman George Bayer hit the long ball -- and he obliged, even though it hurt his game. So it is today.
Putting and chipping may be the nuts and bolts of golf, but sexy skills they ain't.
Tell the truth--do you have more drivers, putters or wedges in your closet? Did you pay more for your putter or your driver? And which gets more use?

This thread panned out exactly as I would have expected it. (just notice it was from 05 - wow!)

Because real live-and-breathe-the-game type folks come here, you're getting more putters and wedges. Ditto for me. I've been playing for about 4 years and I've only owned three drivers. The first was a used clone, the second a new clone, and I've had my Ping G15 for over two years now. Next time I buy one, it'll be fitted and adjustable, so I don't know why I'd need another.

Counting clubs I've given away, I've owned about 15 wedges. 50 degree, 62 degree, more bounce on the latest 56 degree I have, etc.

Now, there's a reason most brand new big name drivers see more TV ads and cost $350+. The legions of more casual players want to hit the long ball. Watch the Golf Channel one day and count how many TM, Callaway, Nike, or Titleist driver/iron commercials you see vs. putter/wedge commercials.

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