How often do you "go for it"

[cruzthepug]

The 4th hole on my home course is a short, tight par 4. OB to the left the entire length and only a few paces from the left side of the green. Tree line to the right and a berm across the fairway at about 200 yds out.

I normally play an iron from the tee, short of the berm, then wedge approach. I've been thinking this weekend about hitting driver and trying to get on the green.

On risk/reward holes, how often do you "go for it"?

[zipazoid]

Depends how the swing feels that day. But I usually try to play to my strength, which is wedge & putter. So 9 out of 10 times I'm hitting iron off the tee.

[Stewie007]

Heck, what does it matter if you go out of bounds or into the trees. Good round or bad round, its not that big of a deal to me. I'd go for it every time until I stuck it! Of course, that wouldn't stop me from continuing.

The only time I wouldn't is if there were crap right in front of the green. Crap = thick weeds and underbrush that is impassible.

[xxsoultonesxx]

I tend to play a conservative front 9, and if I'm carrying some momentum, I'll gamble with some shots on the back.

[clubchamp]

Depends on the situation if I'm trying to come from behind and it's later in the round absolutely. If I'm ahead I would probably wouldn't since it could force my opponent into a mistake. If it's a casual round and my swing feels good I probably would give it shot. I don't think there is a true right or wrong but more of if the situation calls for it. When it comes to mistakes in a round of golf I always tell myself 2 things 1 don't force a shot and 2 never compound a mistake.

[tristanhilton85]

I probably don't "go for it" often enough.  I find myself trying to play the safe shot a lot of times and sometimes that doesn't even work out.  I'm playing again tomorrow so I think that if I have an opportunity to "go for it" I will.

[BuckeyeNut]

Play the percentages to average the lowest score.  Going for broke on a do-or-die hole isn't smart!!

yea, it's fun and you may succeed once or twice, but your average score will be lower playing the percentages.  You'll make more birdies and find fewer disasters wedging on.........Yea, I go for broke sometimes, but it's just plain stupid when I do.

[cruzthepug]

Both Saturday and Sunday are money games for us, so I tend to play safe most all the time. If the tees are up this weekend, I might give it a shot just for the hell of it.

[NBGolfer]

I got for it, If you hit a good shot you are in line for a chance at eagle or bird, if you hit a bad one you can still get up and down for par.

[Lefty-Golfer]

it just depends on the match - is it stroke or match - am i ahead or behind - who am i playing against - do i have the T or do i get to see the other team first...how am i hitting the ball on the given day...where is the hole in relation to the full round and how much time do i have to recover if it goes poorly.

[Laws of Woo]

It depends on the stakes. If I'm out just having fun, then yeah, I'll go for it. If the round matters (money on the line, or a tourny) then I'll more than likely play smart golf UNLESS I'm either way up, or way down.

[DFerlmann]

on par 5s i will always take a driver off the tee, but will always lay up with an iron, but if the hole has little or no trouble i will try to attack it in 2. And on short par 4s i will always take driver.

[bogey joe]

Very, very rarely will I not go for it.  Too many times early in my career I tried to play safe only to skank an iron or tug it into the high rough and it wound up costing me the bogey I was trying to avoid.  And I found out by going for it the vast majority of the time I became quite an accomplished scrambler and grinder.  So I guess my opinion on this topic would be, if you have the ability to make a couple or three birdies in a 9 hole stretch and a above average short game, going for it all the time is not such a risky approach.  If you don't have the game to pay for your mistake, the cautious approach my better serve you.  But in the scenario you laid out I would say go for it.  Sometimes a double-bogey can be like a good, swift kick in the butt and motivate you as you play on.

[Kieran123]

230 yards and in with a good lie I will go for it.....obviously if a strong wind is in my face I won't, or if the green is surrounded by water/thick bush, but I generally do

[saevel25]

Depends on how well i am doing, and what my gut feeling is. If i have a good angle, and there is no OB, and i know comfortably i wont end up in a hazard i will go for most any shot. Hell, even if i am in the trees, i have been known to tight one through a small window opening. Heck this one time i just examine the tree limbs infront of me, i am like, "Hmm, i can probably just take half a club up and just hit it hard through that stuff" So i do and the ball ends up just on the front of the green. Its a risk i might hit thicker limb, but hey it worked out. If i did the ball would probably have bounced somewere i could play it anyways, so it would be just like a punch out.

Now if your a very good wedge player, and think you can get birdies or pars better that way, play to your strenghts. I am a good long iron player, always have, i hit the ball high so i never have issue with the ball going off a green.

[Stewie007]

It reminds me of a smashing drive I once had that lined me up for a possibility of stretching to reach the green in 2. It was 240 (estimate based on where the 250 marker was) so I took out my 5 wood and gave it a crank. I felt like Tin cup out there, but since I just play all by myself it doesn't really matter.

Shot 1 slice....miss

Shot 2 bad aim....miss

Shot 3... going!!!! going!!!!!! DANGIT! hit the front side of the hill and bounced back into the garbage in front of the green....

hehe I lost 3 balls there and shot a 10, but heck it was a long par 5, last hole, I already had an awful score so what the heck, eh? hehe And if you're wondering why I didn't use a 3 wood it was out of commission with a bad grip at the time. Probably would have missed with that one too.....

[Tomboys]

There's 3 criteria that I look at:

1).  How's my swing that day?

2).  What are the risk/rewards?

and, probably the most influential,

3).  Are my buddies challenging me to do it?

IMO, sometimes in life, you have to "throw down" when challenged.

[hoser]

With the scenario you described, I'd do the following:

1) Stroke play tournament  - Lay up every time.

2) Match play - Lay up if I am hitting first.  If my opponent hit first and was on or around the green, then I'd be forced to go for it.  Otherwise, I'd lay up as well.

3) Money game - Go for it!

4) Casual round - Lay up every time.  I like boring golf ... greens and fairways.