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

[trickyputt]

[QUOTE name="trickyputt" url="/t/80244/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-important-club-in-the-bag#post_1110734"] If I have tap ins, its because my putter put me that close to the hole.[/QUOTE] 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. [QUOTE name="trickyputt" url="/t/80244/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-important-club-in-the-bag#post_1110734"] 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.[/QUOTE] 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.

You have a dizzyin intellect. I got it though.

[trickyputt]

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...

Well, lets say in my original post that I actually get on the green in gir a lot. I havent counted lately but lets say 10 times. Or in other words, I have confidence that I am at least half gir. That makes the putter become important to me. The fact that I suck putting is my starting point.

[David in FL]

[quote name="Golfingdad" url="/t/80244/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-important-club-in-the-bag#post_1110928"]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. [/quote] And 105th and 85th in strokes gained putting!!!

[GangGreen]

This may sound stupid, when it comes to my score it's all about how I'm hitting my irons/wedges without question BUT when it comes to how I feel about my round more often then not it's how I feel I was hitting my driver (if that makes any sense). Put another way, I'm usually loving life when I'm hitting my driver well but I've also found that my best rounds almost always more closely correlate to how well I'm hitting my approach shots (even when I'm having one of THOSE days with the driver).

[cedrictheo]

Well, lets say in my original post that I actually get on the green in gir a lot. I havent counted lately but lets say 10 times. Or in other words, I have confidence that I am at least half gir. That makes the putter become important to me. The fact that I suck putting is my starting point.

Interesting, I averaged 9 GIR last season and my handicap was 2.7 to finish season. If you're a 9 and hitting 10 GiR your putting would have to very very bad. But I'd venture to guess you aren't averaging 10GiR... As @iacas says in lowest score wins, GiR is king. I'd highly recommend you start keeping that stat.

[iacas]

This may sound stupid, when it comes to my score it's all about how I'm hitting my irons/wedges without question BUT when it comes to how I feel about my round more often then not it's how I feel I was hitting my driver (if that makes any sense).

Makes sense to me.

[mvmac]

Well, lets say in my original post that I actually get on the green in gir a lot. I havent counted lately but lets say 10 times. Or in other words, I have confidence that I am at least half gir. That makes the putter become important to me. The fact that I suck putting is my starting point.

But your irons/ability to hit 10 greens is what allows you to be a 9, even with substandard putting. Think if it was the opposite. What if you were a crappy ballstriker (2-4 GIR, 1-2 drives OB/water) but putted as well as Brad Faxon? No chance you would be a 9 handicap.

[trickyputt]

[quote name="trickyputt" url="/t/80244/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-important-club-in-the-bag#post_1110931"] Well, lets say in my original post that I actually get on the green in gir a lot. I havent counted lately but lets say 10 times. Or in other words, I have confidence that I am at least half gir. That makes the putter become important to me. The fact that I suck putting is my starting point.

Interesting, I averaged 9 GIR last season and my handicap was 2.7 to finish season. If you're a 9 and hitting 10 GiR your putting would have to very very bad. But I'd venture to guess you aren't averaging 10GiR... As @iacas says in lowest score wins, GiR is king. I'd highly recommend you start keeping that stat.[/quote] Last time out I only made 1 birdie. Its early and frankly I havent played in a while because my father had a stroke last July, but I would expect at least two or maybe three a round when I am out every week. I really took the previous year to focus on irons actually, and I changed a design parameter related to my hand height being the same on every iron. Though I knew going in that the shaft length I was using was "outer limits" and would produce wider dispersion, I had to understand the distance and swing consistency I could get before I could begin to dial in the accuracy with a different shaped, shorter and closer to standard lie iron set. I have multiple sets of irons, and when I dig out a favorite, like the rocketbladez tours, I do better. This upcoming season will be exciting with a new set of 588 rtx 2.0s and some 2014 tm tp mc that I hope have a little better center mass than the toe weighted irons I have been favoring. The game will be a little shorter, but I speculate my iron dispersion will be 1/3 of what it was last season with reasonable distance. This should exceed any numbers I produced in the past relative to gir. Although its probably fair to describe it as a multi year journey into personal iron design, I wanted the course to be my fitter this time, rather than a person. I imagine my gir hasnt been as high recently as it has been, but that wall I hit in using standard fit clubs made me back up and consider what I wanted in a iron design relative to what I can do swinging naturally with a more organically designed set of clubs. The bonus is the pressure that having a interim set of irons placed on my putting game, culminating in a different understanding of putting stroke ( @iacas ty ) and the real potential of dropping down into your hc this coming year. I am a patient seeker I guess.

[cedrictheo]

@trickyputt One last piece of advice, check out aimpoint and edel. Both are game changers when it comes to putting. Hope you reach your goals.

[trickyputt]

[QUOTE name="trickyputt" url="/t/80244/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-important-club-in-the-bag/18#post_1110931"] Well, lets say in my original post that I actually get on the green in gir a lot. I havent counted lately but lets say 10 times. Or in other words, I have confidence that I am at least half gir. That makes the putter become important to me. The fact that I suck putting is my starting point.[/QUOTE] But your irons/ability to hit 10 greens is what allows you to be a 9, even with substandard putting. Think if it was the opposite. What if you were a crappy ballstriker (2-4 GIR, 1-2 drives OB/water) but putted as well as Brad Faxon? No chance you would be a 9 handicap.

I think having a lot of experience with crappy ball striking was instrumental in causing me to focus early and often on wedges. It helps now because I have distinct preferences in wedges. There is always something fun to work on.

[No Mulligans]

I thnk the club that helps my score the most is my lob wedge.  I use it really often from 50 yards in and have developed some conficence on dialing it in to everything from 10 to 50 yards.

I also really like my 5 wood, for me it's easier to hit than my 5 iron and 4 hybrid.

[DaveP043]

In my mind, driver and putter are about equal in importance, and for that reason they share the same compartment in my bag.  When I drive it well, I have shorter clubs to the greens, from better lies, with fewer obstacles in the way, and fewer penalties.  All of that is important in scoring well.  On the other hand, confidence in putting takes pressure off of the other facets of the game.  If I believe I'll make every 4 to 5 footer (I know I'll miss some, but I can still believe i WILL make the next one), that takes pressure off lag putts and chipping, knowing I don't need to hit it stiff every time.  THAT confidence bleeds into my approach shots, there's less pressure to stiff every iron, I know I can make par even from sub-standard shots.  Notice that I'm not saying putting well is so critical in actually scoring, but for the emotional peace it brings to the rest of the game.  So its driver, to give myself a chance, and its confidence in putting, to minimize pressure on the rest of the shots.

[trickyputt]

@trickyputt One last piece of advice, check out aimpoint and edel. Both are game changers when it comes to putting. Hope you reach your goals.

I think I know an edel as a putter. Or is it a process?

[cedrictheo]

I think I know an edel as a putter. Or is it a process?

Edel is a fitting process for putters that is miles ahead of anything else I've seen. Thinking about this thread more I realized that if you are going to lump irons and wedges together then they are more important than the driver. If it was just irons or just wedges it might be close for some people. However even though I voted driver I do believe irons/wedges to be the right answer. For everybody.

[trickyputt]

[quote name="trickyputt" url="/t/80244/what-do-you-think-is-the-most-important-club-in-the-bag/30#post_1111520"] I think I know an edel as a putter. Or is it a process?

Edel is a fitting process for putters that is miles ahead of anything else I've seen. Thinking about this thread more I realized that if you are going to lump irons and wedges together then they are more important than the driver. If it was just irons or just wedges it might be close for some people. However even though I voted driver I do believe irons/wedges to be the right answer. For everybody.[/quote] Well yeah but the op question/poll gave 3 solicitations for the entire game, D I, P, where were I to ask the same question in my state of mind I might ask after D, FW,H,LI,MI,SI,W,P. Of course that is not a one out of three, nor is it a original idea, but rather generated from the op post, which is the point really.

[The Recreational Golfer]

I have an old All-Star Golf show on tape where Byron Nelson said, "If you can drive and you can putt, you can play this game."

"Golf is one whole game. It is true that if you cannot putt you cannot win, for no hole is won until the ball is down -- but good scores are only made possible by good play up the green." - Percy Boomer.

[WUTiger]

The club I'm going to hit my next shot with.

[trickyputt]

The club I'm going to hit my next shot with. ;-)

The club I am about to purchase?