This Short Par 4 - Lay Up or Drive It?

[9wood]

Here is a short par 4 that I play regularly. It's a 252 yd. par 4. It's 211 yds to the front of the water and 222 yds to carry the water. Green slopes gently to the right. If you were playing this hole would you 1) Shoot for the green or 2) layup in front of the water? Which club would you use?

 

Edited April 8, 2016 by 9wood
addition

[Fourputt]

I just hit my 5 wood.  I'm unlikely to carry the water with a driver, even here in Colorado and definitely not where you are near sea level, so it's a no brainer for me.

[jamo]

For club selection I'd need to know how far it is to the back of the green, but it should be a very soft 3-wood. Maybe a hybrid depending on the slope and the wind. I'd play it like a par 3. 

[Golfingdad]

My 3 wood would have to be the club and my shot cone is big enough that all of that muck around the edges and back of the green comes into play along with the creek in front, so I'm laying up at my current skill level.

As close as I can get to the water without threatening to go in it, so probably a 6 iron.  That'll give me a 60-80 yard pitch for my second.

[chilepepper]

20 deg hybrid to 180 ish and a 56 deg into the green

[Jakester23]

Id go with a driver and try and hit the green. Thats a comfortable carry distance for me.  My miss lately is a pull anyway which appears to be the safest miss.

[bwdial]

Based on yesterday's raging dumpster fire my game was with an iron/wedge in my hand, I would probably hit a smooth driver and aim for the center of the green.  Maybe a hard 3 wood.

Laying up with an iron just means that I'd lay sod over it and dump my third into the water with a wedge.

Edited April 8, 2016 by bwdial

[Lihu]

Hybrid or 4i layup. The other option depends upon how far I'm hitting and how lucky I feel if I want to attempt to hit the green.

[iacas]

Hybrid or 3W, depending on how much room I have over the green.

@9wood, please start sharing the hole # and the course, so we can do our own measurements, please. And, if you have a copy of LSW, these questions answer themselves.

[pumaAttack]

Thats a soft hybrid of hard 4 iron.  Easy decision to go for it.

[bm85]

Looks like a big green, so 3w.

[onthehunt526]

I'd have to know how much room is behind the green. 

From the overhead photo, it doesn't look like a bunch of room. 

If I hit driver, I could end up in the trees over the green.

If I hit 4-wood and mishit it, I'm in the water (though my typical shot zone completely clears the water, but not its buffer zone)...

I would either go for it with a semi "chippy" driver... or hit 5-iron and leave around 60 yards.

[boogielicious]

5W to just before the water. I would guess 230 to hit the green, so depending on wind, I wouldn't use driver. Down wind maybe. The water is set up to eat off line fades or pulls.

[bkuehn1952]

I'd layup and then tee a 2nd ball, let her rip with a driver and see what happened.  That would guide me for future play.

[Jeremie Boop]

I don't really have a club that would go long enough to clear the water consistently and short enough to not end up in the trees. So right now I'd lay up short of the water with probably 4 or 5 iron, depending on how hard the ground is/how much roll I can expect. Then it'd be a 60* wedge shot in.

[9wood]

9 hours ago, iacas said:

Hybrid or 3W, depending on how much room I have over the green.

@9wood, please start sharing the hole # and the course, so we can do our own measurements, please. And, if you have a copy of LSW, these questions answer themselves.

Hole #3 at Oakwood, in Amherst, NY

When I play this hole I layup just short of the water with my 3 FW and then use my PW to try to stick it close to the pin. I normally either birdie or par this hole

[RH31]

I'd lay up. The water left of the green is where my driver miss might end up.

[rehmwa]

Go for it, fairly easy carry and stop with 3w

Which I'd hit with the excitement that this is an easy hole to score well on, thus I'd not finish my turn and yank the ball left, then wedge over the trees anyway for a normal regulation par most of the time

So....go for it....but my crapulence would make it a de facto layup anyway

the other win is to always have that ball retrieval tool along on this hole so I can scavenge while the others play up

Every once in a while I'd hit the green, thus I'd think I could do it every single time.