Driving the green

[TheGeekGolfer]

What I mean is, I got up to the tee box and commented that the conditions made the hole driveable. I then hit 4-iron to the center. My friend decided to "go for it" with driver. I then pulled out another ball and attempted to do the same out of curiosity. Regardless of what the outcome was, I was counting the 4-iron towards my score, which was not in a tournament or applied to my handicap. I also moved my ball very slightly accidentally when I soled my putter on a putt earlier in the round. I did not count this towards my score either, just FYI

I'm not trying to cause any confusion; in an uncompetitive, friendly round who cares if you tee up an extra one (as long as you don't slow up play). My point, which I guess I didn't make too clearly, is that when you put one out safely and then 'go for it', it's different than your friend who 'went for it and played it'. Your swing is more free, you don't think about the miss, and you often hit the ball much better. I did this 'testing' a friend's driver once, hit my driver about 270, a pretty good hit. He hit his 285, I wanted to try his driver out (MacTec NVG) and let it all go and nailed it perfectly about 300 yards. The point is, the swing is different often when it's a 'freebie'.

[bunkerputt]

The point is, the swing is different often when it's a 'freebie'.

That's probably true. But I could have lost the ball in the creek, in addition to embarrassed myself. That adds a little pressure, even if it isn't that much overall. In this case the swing was VERY different. Mainly because I was trying to break the ball in half, and not so much because I was swinging freer. I think the moral is, it wasn't really my "normal" swing that would have gotten me to the green. That one is only good for 275 or so. I have to ramp it up out of my comfort zone to get the ball on in one.

[flopdarock]

drove one today... woot...
#7 par 4 375 dogleg left... according to my buddies gps... a straight shot to the green was 280... you just have to carry over a bunch of trees...
they were goading me on so i said why the hell not...
i didnt think it made it over the trees so i hit a provisional right down the fw...
we went around the bend and there was my first ball on the left front fringe... i even had to check the mark to make sure it was mine

[dag2000]

Playing Waverly Oaks in Plymouth, MA tomorrow morning and the 1st hole is 325, downhill. When I played here on Sunday, I hit driver, sliced it short and right, and put it in some tall fescue. I doubled the hole.

I don't think I'll try to drive the green tomorrow. I'll take a 4 iron and try to knock it on the short grass, have a somewhere between 95 and 110 yards in, depending on the roll.

[bunkerputt]

This is probably a new thread, but once I accidentally drove a par-4 with a 3-iron. It was 259 from the tees according to the GPS, but it was extremely uphill so it plays 270 minimum. There is about a 20 degree dogleg left so that probably knocks it down a bit. I intended to hit 3-iron up to the plateau and leave myself a wedge in and just try to make par (tough hole, tiny green, don't mess with it). Instead, I came over it and pulled it straight over the trees. The guy I was playing with yelled "pinseeker!", so I kept quiet and pretended I meant to do it, hoping that I didn't find trouble on the left. When I got up there I was greeted with astonishment by a few older gentlemen who commented that they "figured I was the animal who hit that shot". I was pretty amazed myself and said, "That was a heck of a 3-iron!". Their jaws dropped. They all then proceeded to watch me hit the eagle putt which I left 5-feet short. Thankfully I drilled the birdie. It's one-in-a-million time like that that leaves a fond memory of a mega-ego boost, and makes it tempting to go for it when it's a bad decision. I probably have a lifetime average on that hole of +1.5 otherwise.

[flopdarock]

it wasnt even a question today... i was lucky i was carrying the ladies teebox's with my vicious duckhooks

[Jesh]

I always attempt to drive greens, even if it's 200 out, and then a huge dogleg, I'll attempt a big fade/draw.

[Greg]

Theres a 9 hole course close to me with all short par 4's and 2 short par 3's too. Here's the scorecard and it only costs $10 w/cart for 9 or $15 w/cart for 18, not the nicest course but kinda fun sometimes to play there, heres the holes and yardages

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
300 294 252 135 267 271 209 197 138 2063
4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 34

I got a 38 once here, best score ive ever gotten in 9 holes anywhere, 4 bogeys and 5 pars.

[bunkerputt]

Theres a 9 hole course close to me with all short par 4's and 2 short par 3's too. Here's the scorecard and it only costs $10 w/cart for 9 or $15 w/cart for 18, not the nicest course but kinda fun sometimes to play there, heres the holes and yardages

2063 yards! That's teeny-weeny. I played a course a couple of weekends ago that measured ~2600. I was taking 4 and 5-iron off of nearly every tee. I actually like those because they make me not want to drive the green and play for position so that I have an easy wedge in.

[Rusty2228]

Playing Waverly Oaks in Plymouth, MA tomorrow morning and the 1st hole is 325, downhill. When I played here on Sunday, I hit driver, sliced it short and right, and put it in some tall fescue. I doubled the hole.

Go for the green...they are closing it soon so you need to have as much fun as you can.

The worst part about Waverly is the 17th where sometimes you need a driver to get to the par 3.

[Greg]

2063 yards! That's teeny-weeny. I played a course a couple of weekends ago that measured ~2600. I was taking 4 and 5-iron off of nearly every tee. I actually like those because they make me not want to drive the green and play for position so that I have an easy wedge in.

Yeah, I usually dont use driver very much there either. Its not quite as easy as it sounds as the greens are teeny-weeny too, the smallest ive ever seen so even a short pitch shot is hard to get to land on them but if you hit them it will stay cause they're usually not in that great of shape so the ball wont roll much. Its one of those courses where i could take a 4 hybrid, a 9 iron, and a putter and play and have a chance to make par on every hole. Actually the last hole is even shorter than the scorecard says, its about 100 yards and down hill too, first time I played there I lost 2 balls because I hit one too far with an 8 iron into the woods and then one with my PW too far, finally got it right and made par then, I think there used to be another set of tees for the last hole but the new owner doesnt use them. Its pretty much one guy taking care of it, I saw him one day mowing the rough around the greens with a craftsman lawn mower like you'd mow your yard at home with, no real fairways or rough, just open grassy fields to land the ball in. I could probably have listed this course in the worst courses forum but its so cheap, $10 for 9/w cart or $15 for 18/w cart. And theres only one set of tees for every hole, everyone plays from the same distance, men, women, seniors, all the same. But every once in a while i like to go there and can usually get a good score since its so short and make me feel better if ive been playing poorly. The owner is real friendly and its mostly older people that play there.

[pshizz]

I do recall that. It was an amazing performance...and probably not the average.

Play to your stregths. Zach has a great short game, and cannot overpower a golf course. Their was no sense in him going for par 5's in 2. Instead he laid up to his comfortable yardage and played it from their. This strategy seems to work for me the best, and it is also the least dangerous play, so i use it.