Is Distance Really That Important for Amateurs?

[Lihu]

A 440 yard par 4, I'm playing it as a short par 5 because I can't reach it.

On average, I can't reach this either (225 average drive, 210 yard average hybrid), but some of the time I can reach it in 2 shots with driver/6i. with a 270 yard drive and a 170 yard rolling 6i in the summer.  These holes are usually on 6600-6800 yard courses. Like @turtleback noted, move up a tee.

Erik - I think by saying longer players are more accurate, the assumption is made that the player is a GOOD player.    I'm sure if you're referring to tournament players or single digit hcp's, sure those guys are usually out there 260+ and are accurate, no arguement.

However, I get teamed up with so many young athletic macho types that swing out of their shoes and can easily get it out to 260+, but rarely hit a fairway.    I know what I hit (235-250), and I know where they hit (often at least 20 yds past me) ... and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, most are far from accurate.     Again, only based on my limited experience (I don't see too many players that are even as good as me - maybe I need to play better courses ) ... most of those guys that hit it long around here and tend to brag about it are NOT accurate at all.

Not sure how they are that far off line. Are you talking about overshooting a dogleg or something?

There seemed to be a lot of golfers with passable swings playing recklessly.  And most of them were not all that young.   Maybe there is ego involved and they refuse to play anything but a driver off a tee, even if its likely the drive is going to land in the woods.  On this particular course, there was almost no rough. Just fairway, deep woods, and water.

It's based purely on distance. They select the driver because it gets them out there. They probably prefer to just take their chances on troublesome holes, probably the main reason they are not shooting low scores.

How does this chart work? I take it it's not literally 75% of the longest drives? I ask because it would put me at 202 yards on the chart (270*.75= 202)?

[turtleback]

Longer = Straighter?

David Toms.. most accurate off the tee = 173rd in Driving Distance

Bubba Watson.. longest off the tee = 102nd in accuracy

Rory McIlroy.. 3rd in distance, 108 in accuracy

With those examples you are talking about the extreme right-hand tail of the bell curve of golf abilities.  What is true at the extreme end of the data is not necessarily true for more typical data points.

Also, what you are citing as your measure of accuracy is flawed.  David Toms can miss by 2* and still be in the fairway because the ball didn't reach the rough on that side,   While Rory might only miss the ball by 1.9* but end up in the rough because his ball went far enough to reach it.  A significant part of measuring accuracy is lost if we only go by fairways hit percentage.

This happens to me all the time.  I might be playing with someone and they will boom a really nice looking drive but it rolls out a little too much and it ends up in the rough.  Then I step up and hit my drive and it is on a less accurate line than the other guy's shot, yet I end up in the fairway because my ball was far shorter.  I may have gotten the hit fairway, but his drive was still both longer and more accurate than mine.

[iacas]

How does this chart work? I take it it's not literally 75% of the longest drives? I ask because it would put me at 202 yards on the chart (270*.75= 202)?

Read the caption. 75th percentile of all "good drives."

[Lihu]

Read the caption. 75th percentile of all "good drives."

Yeah, I thought about it while eating lunch. Must have been too hungry to read it correctly.

[mvmac]

In the US Open do you want 120 yards out of the thick stuff or do you want 155 out of the fairway?

The topic of thread is amateur golfers. Amateur golfers aren't playing in US Open rough, heck even the pros only play in US Open rough for one week of the year (except for '14 and '15 of course ).

On average you're going to hit more greens, hit it closer to the hole from 120 yards in the medium to light rough than from 150 yards in the fairway.

There seemed to be a lot of golfers with passable swings playing recklessly.  And most of them were not all that young.   Maybe there is ego involved and they refuse to play anything but a driver off a tee, even if its likely the drive is going to land in the woods.  On this particular course, there was almost no rough. Just fairway, deep woods, and water.

If their shots are typically "reckless" then their swings aren't "passable". Good golf swings produce good shots. Shots that are longer and more accurate than the average golfer.

http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.102.2014.html

http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.101.2014.html

Longer = Straighter?

David Toms.. most accurate off the tee = 173rd in Driving Distance

Bubba Watson.. longest off the tee = 102nd in accuracy

Rory McIlroy.. 3rd in distance, 108 in accuracy

I thought Erik explained this pretty clearly. The longer you are the more you end up flirting with the outer edges of the fairways. I've seen Bubba in person, he's very accurate for as far as he hits it.

David Toms hits two more fairways a round than Bubba and is 40 yards shorter. Which player would you rather be? If you say David Toms, then you're crazy

I read Moneygolf and other "golfmetrics" type stuff that seems to be pushing distance over accuracy but when I played golf last time, my playing partners had good distance, seemed to have a decent swing but kept hitting out into the woods.  And the Japanese businessmen behind us did the same thing.   I didn't drive the ball very far at all, taking 3-4 shots to get to an approach to the green but I only lost two balls during 9 holes.   If the scoring were "for real", all the lost balls would be serious penalties and my score might have been a lot better in comparison.

I took my driver out for most of the tee shots but some of my worst shots were with my driver (and the only shots where I lost the ball) - now I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't just be using a 5 wood or even my 3 or 4 hybrid off the tee, leave the driver at home, and work on my short game and putting.   It just seems to me the short game is the area I could make big improvements to my score with a lot less effort, despite all I have read about the importance of distance.

I highly recommend you read Lowest Scores wins. It'll be the best $30 you ever spend on golf.

[saevel25]

I thought Erik explained this pretty clearly. The longer you are the more you end up flirting with the outer edges of the fairways. I've seen Bubba in person, he's very accurate for as far as he hits it.

David Toms hits two more fairways a round than Bubba and is 40 yards shorter. Which player would you rather be? If you say David Toms, then you're crazy

I would even say the dispersion isn't even that great. Given this measurement is from the center of the fairway, and I am not sure PGA Tour pro's aim for the center of the fairway 100% of the time.

The average distance from the center of the fairway ranges from 22.5 yards to 30 yards. Rory, Bubba and Dustin are all 27.5 yards to 30 yards. These guys are really really good. I would love to see actual dispersion data based on how they aim. Still, I would say center of the fairway is a pretty decent rough estimate. There isn't much difference between those who are considered more accurate and those who are not.

Yet the PGA Tour player can have as much as a 30-40 yards distance advantage. HELLO! I would give 8 yards of accuracy for 40 yards of distance.

[14ledo81]

To answer the title .... YES... Take it from a short hitter. I would give up a lot to hit it farther. Keep in mind (some of you longer guys), I don't even have a chance to hit par 5's in two on my home course...

[9424tm]

I highly recommend you read [URL=http://lowestscorewins.com/]Lowest Scores wins.[/URL] It'll be the best $30 you ever spend on golf.

I think few people on this thread need to. I don't want to be a dick, but arguing for accuracy without educating yourself first is pointless. You are basically going off personal opinion. The book goes into far more explanation then what is being discussed so it puts to rest quite a few arguments.

[mmoan2]

I read Moneygolf and other "golfmetrics" type stuff that seems to be pushing distance over accuracy but when I played golf last time, my playing partners had good distance, seemed to have a decent swing but kept hitting out into the woods.  And the Japanese businessmen behind us did the same thing.   I didn't drive the ball very far at all, taking 3-4 shots to get to an approach to the green but I only lost two balls during 9 holes.   If the scoring were "for real", all the lost balls would be serious penalties and my score might have been a lot better in comparison.

I took my driver out for most of the tee shots but some of my worst shots were with my driver (and the only shots where I lost the ball) - now I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't just be using a 5 wood or even my 3 or 4 hybrid off the tee, leave the driver at home, and work on my short game and putting.   It just seems to me the short game is the area I could make big improvements to my score with a lot less effort, despite all I have read about the importance of distance.

In the interest of trying to answer your question constructively and get to the bottom of what you're really asking (though I may be off-base), I think of it this way - distance is important over accuracy not only because of the reasons many others have mentioned here, but also because of what you should be working on as a golfer. @GHIN0011458 is a +.1 handicap, which means he's able to swing in a manner that puts a premium on accuracy while still hitting every club in his bag further than likely 95% of golfers while being more accurate than them at the same time. The guys you seemed to be referring to above are hackers - swinging like Hercules only to slice it in the woods. That used to be me - Mr. 300 yards 45 degrees in the wrong direction. A six pack of balls a round could mean an exit on the 14th hole because I was tired of borrowing from others. That kind of performance would make you wonder if distance is really all it's cracked up to be.

Those guys need to develop a "passable" swing, as it was called. They need to work on their swings before even being worth mentioning , honestly. When you approach improving your swing, the proper fundamentals will add length to your swing while giving you accuracy, trust me. When you are good enough to make generally decent swings, then you can worry about Moneygolf and golfmetrics, etc. Then you'll realize that hitting driver, let's say 260, to a 400 yard hole instead of hybrid 200, unless the hole REALLY dictates playing it safe, the 60 yards will almost always be preferred, even in short rough vs. fairway. As a mid-80s golfer, I'd take 140 to the pin in most rough vs. 200 in the fairway every day and twice on Sunday, unless I was behind a tree at 140. In short, I guess, when your swing is good enough where you can hit most of the clubs in your bag reasonably well, I wouldn't get in the habit of leaving your driver home and teeing off with an iron to stay in the fairway all day. If your driver is that much worse than your 4-iron off the tee, get yourself some lessons, man! Nothing is more depressing than a card with 13 fairways hit (of 14) and 4 GIRs on those holes. When you get to scratch level ,maybe the nuances of course management and strategy will tell you otherwise. Good luck with that

[rkim291968]

Per the char in previous posts, for my HI, I can improve 1 stroke per 10 yards gain.   That is true in my case.   I probably can gain 20 more yards off tee if I work hard at it.  That's two strokes per round my game will improve.   The rest of improvement will have to come from accuracy, short game, course management.

[Patch]

Here's a monkey wrench for you. Would a more accurate, hitting shorter distances, amateur play faster than a less accurate amateur who has a more distance? Obviously I am talking about pace of play and speeding up the game. .

[newtogolf]

I would think the another difference that should be factored in between pro's and high handicappers is that pro's have a standard shot type (fade or draw) that helps them to keep the ball on or near the fairway unless they completely mishit it.

[FireDragon76]

It might be easier to improve accuracy by two degrees rather than add twenty yards to a drive.

[rkim291968]

Here's a monkey wrench for you. Would a more accurate, hitting shorter distances, amateur play faster than a less accurate amateur who has a more distance? Obviously I am talking about pace of play and speeding up the game. .

Isn't it almost off topic?   But this monkey's answer is Yes.  My wife and I don't have distance but I have 62% FIR and my wife's is even higher.   We move along pretty fast compared to long hitters who hits their tee shots into garbage area.

[iacas]

Here's a monkey wrench for you. Would a more accurate, hitting shorter distances, amateur play faster than a less accurate amateur who has a more distance? Obviously I am talking about pace of play and speeding up the game. .

I don't know, but… I do know that it's off-topic for this thread.

[rkim291968]

It might be easier to improve accuracy by two degrees rather than add twenty yards to a drive.

x 10 for me.  Your mileage may vary.

[iacas]

It might be easier to improve accuracy by two degrees rather than add twenty yards to a drive.

And the opposite might be true. And there are times when I can help someone gain accuracy AND distance at the SAME TIME.

To you, specifically, and outside of the generalities of this thread… this doesn't apply to you. As @mmoan2 hinted at, until you (specific you @FireDragon76 , not generalized "you") can regularly break 110 or 100 or so, this thread is irrelevant. Hit the ball somewhat in the direction you intend to hit it and worry about the specifics of "distance vs. accuracy" later.

[WUTiger]

An abysmal short game will ruin your score. But, if your short game is stable - not great, just stable - accuracy off the tee is your next big thing to work on.

For beginners, part of accuracy is developing the swing. As you begin to groove your swing, you should have fewer mishits. If you combine lessons with play and purposeful practice, you should make progress.

If you can hit a decent tee shot and catch the first cut of rough or better, you'll be closer to the hole. Shots that go into the trees veer off the center line, and waste distance. Thus, square hits will improve your usable distance by moving the ball more forward than sideways..

If you get into the second season and still can't connect with your driver, maybe it doesn't fit your swing. Maybe loft and/or shaft are holding you back.