Why would tou hit a driver of the tee box ....

[Gerald]

I know personally I have had more pars on par 5's by hitting one in the trees punching out and then hitting a good third shot than I have hitting 3 solid shots in a row.

Well at HC 20 there is no need to force par on a par 5, 4x average 125 yds and 2 putts is an easy bogey .... at HC 20 one can not expect to hit 3 solid shots in a row and you should also no expect to hit a great escape from the woods followed by a super shot to reach the green ...... everytime I play with high handicappers I see them ending up with tripple bogeys and worse when they get into some trouble......

[mattttt25]

My buddy is about an 8 hcp. To hit his best score, he leaves all woods in the bag and tees off with his 3 iron, which goes anywhere from 210 to 230 off a tee. If he decides to work on driver during a round, I actually have a chance to make the score close if I'm playing well. He could lose 5 shots in the woods, something he never does with the irons. I'm guessing the guy you played with is similar.

[Zeph]

I'd much rather have a 7 iron into the green than a 4 or 5 iron. It's not juts "onto the green and down in two". Hitting a green with a 4 iron is harder than with a 7 iron. I judge the fairway on how much I can allow myself to miss. If I find it wide enough and without too mouch trouble, I'll hit driver. If it is more narrow, I'll use a wood or perhaps iron. I always want to get as far as possible on the tee shot. Hitting a 40 yard wide fairway is easier than hitting a 15 yard wide green, so why not try getting it as far as possible?

Being able to hit the driver confidently is of course useful. If you slice the be-jeesus out of your drives, you may be better off without it. Grabbing down the handle and swinging easier will help in getting you on the fairway.

[normdamarine]

The 1st thing I would have said to the guy is wow you know a lot, how much do you want to play for?

But seriously, I agree with some of what he said but the one thing I disagree with is I would not hit a hybrid for my second shot if I couldn't reach the green unless the hole was 600 yards. I would hit a 7 iron or so and lay up to 80-100 yards and hit a wedge into the green. The eliminates the 30% shot that you were referring to...