What do you think is the most important club in the bag?

[EverythingGolf]

What do you think the most important club is?

[JPK1988]

I picked driver, although I would more describe it as Driver/3W/Tee clubs.  From my perspective, if I can't find a fairway and keep putting myself in bad position/taking penalties off the tee, it doesn't matter if I am putting like Steve Stricker; those putts are to save bogeys or worse.  On the contrary, if I am splitting fairways and hitting most of my greens, but can't get anything to go down, I'm still probably only going to be a handful over par at worst.

[iacas]

Irons/wedges.

If you pick putter (and you're taking "important" as being about your scoring), you're wrong.

[RH31]

It's the Driver for me. If I can keep my drives in play, I'm usually going to play to my handicap or better.

[boogielicious]

The poll wasn't specific enough, so I chose irons/wedges.  The first an last choices are single clubs and the middle is up to 10.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Driver. I get more pars from the fairway than I do from the rough. And, if I'm getting the driver into the fairway, then my swing is working and my irons will be very good, too.

Hogan said driver, too, but I'm not him.

[newtogolf]

I'd say irons (and wedges).  Good approach shots reduce the number of putts you should have to make.

[Patch]

I'd have to say the club I was using at the time, on that specific shot. It could be any of them, at anytime. If I had a more important club, I'd be incline to use too often. Now If things are going south, and nothing is working with my physical swing, I will give all the the clubs in my bag a rest except my 7W, and putter. I have even putted with my 7W.

[trickyputt]

Irons/wedges. If you pick putter (and you're taking "important" as being about your scoring), you're wrong. :-)

Naturally I chose putter. Care to elaborate? I use it for 36 strokes on a good day.

[Shindig]

Naturally I chose putter. Care to elaborate? I use it for 36 strokes on a good day.

I would probably use my putter ~36 times per round if I hit every GIR, but that doesn't make it more important than the driver. If you think your putter is more important than your driver and irons, I worry about how you're spending your practice time. Check out this thread: http://thesandtrap.com/t/58816/65-20-15-practice-ratios-where-to-devote-your-practice-time

[Big C]

When I think back to my best rounds, almost every one of them was dominated by superior iron and wedge play, including a 76 a few years ago where I spent half the holes hitting my second shot from the trees.

Honestly, on most of the courses that I play (wide open munis), driver is probably the least critical club in my bag because even my bad drives will put me close enough to the green to have a realistic chance at par. The script changes a bit on a tight course with hazards and OB, but irons/wedges are far and away the most important regardless.

[mvmac]

Naturally I chose putter. Care to elaborate? I use it for 36 strokes on a good day.

Yes, but how many of those are tap ins?

If you were to play without a putter and putt with a wedge, hybrid or your driver, your score wouldn't be that much different. You're not going to go from shooting in the high 70's to low 80's to barely being able to break 100. If you had to drive with your putter or hit approach shots with your putter, you wouldn't come close to what you normally shoot.

Also this,

http://thesandtrap.com/t/77121/what-if-scenario-pga-tour-becomes-an-all-putting-tour-or-an-all-ballstriking-tour/36#post_1090079

http://thesandtrap.com/t/77121/what-if-scenario-pga-tour-becomes-an-all-putting-tour-or-an-all-ballstriking-tour/36#post_1090111

[trickyputt]

If I have tap ins, its because my putter put me that close to the hole. As the quality of my GIR improves in proximity to the hole, longer putts are important to me. Its the last place I can lock up a negative stroke number. I get that closer to the hole approaches are more important. I am just taking advantage of clubs I can maximize now rather than the sets of long, mid, short and wedge that I seem to be breaking down even as we speak. I guess I dont think of irons as a big group anymore as far as function goes because they have different roll outs, shot shapes and uses.

[David in FL]

If I have tap ins, its because my putter put me that close to the hole. As the quality of my GIR improves in proximity to the hole, longer putts are important to me. Its the last place I can lock up a negative stroke number. I get that closer to the hole approaches are more important. I am just taking advantage of clubs I can maximize now rather than the sets of long, mid, short and wedge that I seem to be breaking down even as we speak. I guess I dont think of irons as a big group anymore as far as function goes because they have different roll outs, shot shapes and uses.

As a 9 hcp, you, like me, seldom hit more than 5 or 6 greens in the first place. Those 12+ greens that we miss most rounds represent the biggest opportunity for us.

[Lihu]

There's no poll selection for "All of them" ;-)

[iacas]

If I have tap ins, its because my putter put me that close to the hole.

You're looking at it wrong.

If your tap-in is for a par, it's your full swing that got you there. If your tap-in is for a triple… like Ian Poulter had today, it was also your full swing that got you there. People rarely lose (or gain) all that many strokes with their putter. From 20 feet, they two-putt, whether they're on the PGA Tour or a 9 handicap like yourself. You can have a hot round with your putter, absolutely, but over a large enough sample size it simply doesn't result in much change.

As the quality of my GIR improves in proximity to the hole, longer putts are important to me. Its the last place I can lock up a negative stroke number.

You're putting too much attention on the putter simply because it's last.

If you're visiting your relatives in Phoenix, AZ, yes, it's important to know how to get to their address on their street, so you pull in the right driveway. But if you want to get there most efficiently, would you rather have connecting flights through Chicago, Seattle, and then Dallas before you get to Phoenix, or would you rather take a direct flight to Phoenix and find your way from there? Because even if you don't have the exact address right, and you arrive at the wrong house, you'll still get there sooner placing a phone call and redirecting yourself to the proper address than if you had to fly through three connecting cities far apart.

Nobody cares how well you putt if your first putt is for a triple bogey.

[cedrictheo]

I find that a lot of people see that on their low rounds they holed a lot of putts and instantly think that thier putter saved them strokes. However it was likely the proximity to the hole on their approach shots that saved them strokes (meaning they had makeable putts for par/birdie). That being said for me I believe the driver is the most important club in the bag. I am confident I can keep my irons and wedges out of trouble and in play just about ever shot. However a mishit driver can put me out of play or in the water where I'm losing multiple shots with one bad swing...

[Golfingdad]

If your tap-in is for a par, it's your full swing that got you there. If your tap-in is for a triple… like Ian Poulter had today, it was also your full swing that got you there. People rarely lose (or gain) all that many strokes with their putter.

They showed a stat as the final group was playing the 16th hole (or thereabouts) that said that Padraig Harrington and Daniel Berger were Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in strokes gained tee-to-green this week.