Driver off the Tee

[In the woods]

In the normal round, how often are your par 4 tee shots is made with a driver?  After I get over this hernia surgery, I am bound to play smarter golf.  I think by being smarter about my club choice in certain situations would be a big step in the right direction.  How many of you grip it and rip it on every par 4 and 5 with the driver?

[sean_miller]

Depends on the course. 2 drivers out of 10 on the course I played most last year. 5 out of 10 on the course I'll be playing most this year. The 5 driver course is shorter and tighter, but there are more driver holes. Go figure.

[In the woods]

Crazy how that works.  The course I have been playing lately is lined with trees or has short fairways that narrow at the landing point for my driver.  Its really annoying!!  I know better than to hit driver but grab it anyway.  Even during my swing I am going, "why am I hitting driver, stop your swing," annnnnnd I hit it anyway.  Quiting my driver is comparable to stopping tobacco for me!  It hurts to have the high dollar club in the bag.  Maybe someday I will learn.

[GaijinGolfer]

It depends upon how much margin for error I have.  If its a nice, wide fairway or if there isnt much trouble in play; I'll pull driver every time.  If its a tight fairway I will pull 3-wood or hybrid and leave the driver in the bag.

Its just a matter of weighing risk vs reward.

[In the woods]

I agree completely with that I guess I just don't have the will power to leave it in the bag.  At least I have finally been able to not hit a three wood as my seond shot on every par five.  I have gone to more irons to leave myself a distance that I am better with.  Have to start somewhere I suppose.

[phillyk]

My play is always to the 150 stick, regardless of the length.  So, for me, from 350 to 390, I'll use the hybrid.  390-430, I'll use the 3-wood, and 430+ I'll use the driver.  If the hole is 350 or less, I'll consider going for the green.  I won't necessarily hit the green, but i'd be able to get close.

[Sean Dainty]

It all depends on the length of the hole. The last thing you want is to be hitting 3-wood or 3-iron into every par 4, however, if you hit your 3-wood that much better off the tee then I can see your point in hitting it more often. Although now that I don't play competitively, I just say grip it and rip it!

[The Road Dog]

I am a recent convert to the driver when necessary and only then school. I tried to play a round using the driver only on par 5 holes to see how it would affect my Fairway hitting. The results were great. And the lack of distance was offset by being in the FW for the second shot. The result? a reduction of 5 strokes.  I'll keep trying this for a few more rounds to see if it's real or not. But the 3 wood is a lot easier to hit straight, at least for me.

[WUTiger]

I have only been playing a true jumbo driver for two years, and it took me a full season to learn how to tee one up properly. Once I got that, I found that the promised higher MOI actually helped control the ball flight.

So, I normally hit a driver on Par 4s and Par 5s UNLESS too much distance will get me in trouble.

If it's a tight dogleg, or a funnel-shaped fairway that slims to nothing near the landing area, I'll use less club. Also, if it's a short hole where an average drive would leave me with a 73-yard wedge shot, I'll hit less off the tee to set up for 120 yards out - a full shot going in. And if a driver would roll into a valley and leave me a blind approach, I'll use less club off the tee (assuming I can get home in regulation).

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by In the woods

In the normal round, how often are your par 4 tee shots is made with a driver?  After I get over this hernia surgery, I am bound to play smarter golf.  I think by being smarter about my club choice in certain situations would be a big step in the right direction.  How many of you grip it and rip it on every par 4 and 5 with the driver?

That is a choice I make from course to course and hole to hole.  I'm not the guy who has to feed his ego by hitting driver every chance I get.  On my home course, I play driver at most 4 times on the front 9, and that depends on the wind.  It can be as little as twice.

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

The course I play most often has 14 par 4's and 5's, and I hit a driver on 12 of them.  I hit a hybrid on the other 2, in both instances because it keeps me short of water that I can't reliably carry.

Tight fairways?  I better hit my driver; it goes a hell of a lot straighter than my 3-wood!  If there were any fairways where I felt that avoiding the rough was more important than a 50-yard loss in distance, I'd hit a hybrid.

-Andrew

[Gerald]

Wellllll ..... I actually prefer to use the driver on most par 4's as at most of our par 4's going with a 3W or Hybrid means a really long shot to the the green.

Besides that most of my drives are straighter than my 3W ....... I would only take let's say an iron if there is trouble at driving distance.

[Deryck Griffith]

As most others have said, it depends on the course.  There are some long holes I've played with fairways that either have a burn or water  260 yards out.  So even though that particular hole may be 430 yards, I will hit a 3w vs. trying to carry my drive 280 yards to fly the burn/water.  That's an example.  Another example would be short par 4s that "fish you" into driving it close to the green that is either super protected or has a fairway that narrows tremendously 50-100 yards in front of the green.  Those par 4s can easily turn into triple bogey's if you try to play aggressive with the driver and find yourself behind a tree, in super thick rough, or even in a hazard, etc etc. So with those short holes, a hybrid, 3w or even iron (depending how short the hole is) off the tee is best suited.

On the other hand, you can have 420+ par 4s that are wide open in which case, it bombs away.  On par 5s, I pretty much hit the driver everytime off of the tee.

[G8RNTN]

MY BROTHER-IN-LAW HARDLY EVER USES HIS DRIVER.... HE IS MORE CONSISTENT WITH HIS 3 WOOD AND HITS A LIL UNDER THE DRIVER. MYSELF SAYS GRIP IT AND RIP IT!!!!!

[Kieran123]

WHY ARE YOU YELLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????

[TN94z]

Mine club choice has always been dependant on the length of the hole and what hazards are in driver range.  I will pick a yardage that I would like to have an approavh shot from, and then decide if a driver will put me there, or another club will do just as well.   One other thing is how I am hitting my clubs that day.

[awmgolfer]

I just about always use it on a par 4 or 5. We have 2 holes on the front, number 7 which is very, very narrow and if I am not hitting a good line with it I use my 3 wood. Number nine is a sharp dog leg right and you either need to hit a fade or get it up fast over the small trees just off the tee box. Depending on how I feel I will either use driver or my hybrid since it's a short par 4. On the back nine it is much more open so driver on any par 4 or 5 works fine. Number 16 can be the only one where you might debate it, depending on the wind. The entire fairway up to about 75 yards from the green is a sever right to left slope in to the woods so if you can't place it right or hit a nice draw to get the spin to counteract the hole I wil use a 3 wood or a hybrid.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by TN94z

Mine club choice has always been dependant on the length of the hole and what hazards are in driver range.  I will pick a yardage that I would like to have an approavh shot from, and then decide if a driver will put me there, or another club will do just as well.   One other thing is how I am hitting my clubs that day.

The course I played most last year finished with a slightly uphill long par 3. On most days it was a full 3-iron, on other days it was a soft hybrid. The way I was hitting the 3-iron off the tee on the par 4s was my guide on 18. I didn't hit the green every time, but I was usually pin high.