Most Important Club, Driver, Putter, Wedge

[chris975d]

Quite often I can hit my driver 20 or 30 yards in just about any direction from my intended landing area and it doesn't cost me a stroke. Quite often I can hit my irons 5 to 15 yards from my intended target and it also doesn't cost me a stroke. If I miss by 3 inches left or right, hit it too hard or too soft, a putter always costs me a stroke. I'll go with putter.

 

I have to say putter, at least for me personally. If I miss the target (fairway), it doesn't necessarily cost me a stroke. With irons/wedges, if I miss the target (green), it doesn't necessarily cost me a stroke. With the putter, if I miss the target (cup), it ALWAYS adds a stroke to my score. So I have to say putter for that reason. Other clubs missing their target do not ALWAYS add strokes to your score. But missing a putt always does.

 

Most putts have pre-determined outcomes. Missing a putt from fifty feet doesn't cost you a stroke. You never make that putt anyway. Its like saying it cost you a stroke that you didn't drive the green on a 450 yard par 4. Its true, but meaningless.

 

If you want to think that way, driver is by far the most important club. Every time you don't hit it directly in the hole off the tee you add like 3 or 4 strokes! If a shot has a less than 10% chance of success (i.e. every putt outside 15 feet) then it doesn't cost a stroke.

 

The putter costs you a stroke when you miss a putt you "should" make. For tour players, this is about 7 and a half feet and in. For us its probably around six feet.

 

So count the number of putts inside six feet you miss, divide it by about a third or a quarter depending on your skill (since nobody makes them all) and that's how many strokes your putting actually cost you.

 

I also did say for me. On the tee of a par 4/5 (and par 3s, really), holing out isn't my target. The fairway/green is. I'm just saying that I can (and do) miss those in a lot of cases and it doesn't affect my ability to par the hole or even birdie. But if I have a 5-6 foot putt, and miss my target, it does always add a stroke. Doesn't matter how close I stick it (aside from holing it on an approach/recovery shot), if I can't make the putt, my score goes up. I can miss my fairway in the first cut of rough off a lot of tees, and still make birdies. I can't miss my target on a 6 foot birdie putt and still make birdie, ever.

[pinestreetgolf]

But if I have a 5-6 foot putt, and miss my target, it does always add a stroke. Doesn't matter how close I stick it (aside from holing it on an approach/recovery shot), if I can't make the putt, my score goes up. I can miss my fairway in the first cut of rough off a lot of tees, and still make birdies. I can't miss my target on a 6 foot birdie putt and still make birdie, ever.

 

Totally agree. I just don't think people miss those putts often enough for putter to be the most important and I don't agree any missed putt from anywhere is a lost stroke. It has to be a putt you should make.

 

Missing a green by itself costs a tour pro a third of a stroke. So assuming your short game is tour-level, unless you hit almost every single green (or you hit it stiff and miss on two thirds of the holes) irons are going to trump your putter. If you are hitting 15 greens and stick 10 within six feet and shoot 70, I'd agree with you. I just think those golfers are incredibly, incredibly rare. But you did say "for me" and if that describes you (sticking shots on almost every hole and blowing the putt) then you are correct.

[chris975d]

But if I have a 5-6 foot putt, and miss my target, it does always add a stroke. Doesn't matter how close I stick it (aside from holing it on an approach/recovery shot), if I can't make the putt, my score goes up. I can miss my fairway in the first cut of rough off a lot of tees, and still make birdies. I can't miss my target on a 6 foot birdie putt and still make birdie, ever.

 

Totally agree. I just don't think people miss those putts often enough for putter to be the most important and I don't agree any missed putt from anywhere is a lost stroke. It has to be a putt you should make.

 

Missing a green by itself costs a tour pro a third of a stroke. So assuming your short game is tour-level, unless you hit almost every single green (or you hit it stiff and miss on two thirds of the holes) irons are going to trump your putter. If you are hitting 15 greens and stick 10 within six feet and shoot 70, I'd agree with you. I just think those golfers are incredibly, incredibly rare. But you did say "for me" and if that describes you (sticking shots on almost every hole and blowing the putt) then you are correct.

 

Again, I think this "answer" can very easily vary from golfer to golfer, and be totally correct. I have always been a really good putter, and have total (and often cocky) confidence in my putting ability, to the point that I lean on it to get me out of potential bad holes. Personally, I truly consider any putt inside 15 ft make-able, and rely on that. My playing partners can vouch for that. My lowest round of the past year or so, -3 under, came when I hit less than 25% of fairways, but made an a**load of long putts, several in the 20 ft range or more. For some strange reason that the golf gods won't reveal to me, my under par rounds almost always come when I don't hit fairways. To be fair, I'm talking about missing into primary cut, not OB/water/etc. So not on fairway cut, but not behind trees, etc.

 

I think this question relies on how "bad" someone's "bad" is with those given clubs. Is a "bad" driving round literally topping it off the tee, 5 OB balls, etc? Or is "bad" driving not ending up on the side of the fairway they want, just in first cut, etc? It's relative I think.

 

To be completely honest, I think approach shots/irons factor into my game (and anyone's) just as much as the putter does in mine. If I'm inside 10 ft more often, I'm going to make more putts. But, the OP DID ask which is more important..driver, wedge, or putter? Didn't say irons. Again, to show that everyone's game is a bit different, I don't usually use a wedge unless I've missed a green. I try to play most courses to my 8-9 irons (with the exception of the golf course I run...we goof off on it a bit more as there are several drivable par 4s). So I don't normally hit wedges unless I've already made a mistake. So out of the 3 clubs the OP mentioned, putter is mosr important to me.

[disco111]

I'll offer the this and you can make your own assessment. I will how ever state a caveat on the situation...........I had never played on greens that were rated at 12+ and coming from a muni course that was lucky to stimp at 7, it was a long day. !980/81 went and played in the state open, back then you could just declare your status and lay down your entry fee. Played 36 holes and hit 34 of 36 GIR. Shot a cool 84-87. :scare2: :swoon2:

[dubbelbogey]

While it is absolutely true every missed putt is a stroke, the important question is what percentage of your putts can you realistically expect to make at certain distances? On the PGA tour, the 1-putt percentage for all putts of 5ft or less is around 50% (https://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.420.html). And they miss something like 25% of all putts from a full 5ft. Sure, you miss a 5-footer, that's a stroke you'll never get back, but it's not realistic to expect to make anywhere near all of your 5-footers.

 

Can you significantly improve your putting percentages?

 

How many 3-putts is truly "bad" - 2? 3? More? I think most here would say 4 three putts a round isn't so hot. So that's 4 strokes from truly bad putting. What about 2 balls hit OB off the driver? That'll probably average 4-ish strokes, too.

 

It just depends what is costing *you* the most strokes as compared to what you have a realistic chance at improving. It's not the same for everyone.

[earleyrc]

But if I have a 5-6 foot putt, and miss my target, it does always add a stroke. Doesn't matter how close I stick it (aside from holing it on an approach/recovery shot), if I can't make the putt, my score goes up. I can miss my fairway in the first cut of rough off a lot of tees, and still make birdies. I can't miss my target on a 6 foot birdie putt and still make birdie, ever.

 

Totally agree. I just don't think people miss those putts often enough for putter to be the most important and I don't agree any missed putt from anywhere is a lost stroke. It has to be a putt you should make.

 

Missing a green by itself costs a tour pro a third of a stroke. So assuming your short game is tour-level, unless you hit almost every single green (or you hit it stiff and miss on two thirds of the holes) irons are going to trump your putter. If you are hitting 15 greens and stick 10 within six feet and shoot 70, I'd agree with you. I just think those golfers are incredibly, incredibly rare. But you did say "for me" and if that describes you (sticking shots on almost every hole and blowing the putt) then you are correct.

 

There was a good article I read on another site with aggregated data from the Grint comparing golfers by handicap. The numbers were interesting.. but not that surprising.

 

There were 3 key stats they looked at - FIR, GIR, & putts per round. The biggest delta across all 3 categories between a scratch golfer and a 25+ handicapper was GIR (10.26/rd for scratch compared to 2.16/rd for 25+), followed closely by putts per round (31.5/rd for scratch compared to 38.6/rd for 25+). Driving accuracy was a distant third (8.68/rd for scratch compared to 6.02/rd for 25+), but that number is misleading because missing a FIR is not the same as hitting a ball off the course and taking penalty strokes AND the "average" scratch probably hits the ball a lot further than a 25+ capper ... which leads to closer approach shots, which leads to more GIR (and closer proximity to hole), which leads to more 1 putts.

 

Unless you are hitting more than 10 GIR per round, tee to green is more critical to scoring well than chipping or putting.

[shaunG]

Wedges imo

[ashscache]

I think it's different for different handicap levels.

 

At one point I would have said the putter but someone on here not too long ago claimed the irons (specifically the shorter ones, say 7-PW) were the most important clubs and I think I've come around to this way of thinking.

 

If your driver's horrible, you're not going to have a good/great round but if it's "just OK" you still can.

 

If your putter's horrible you're not going to have a good/great round either but if it's "just OK", you still can.

 

But if your irons are horrible you're going to have a poor day. If your proximity to the hole is poor but you're still hitting greens with your irons you'll still have a good day.

 

The truly great (for ME of course) rounds I've had were ones where I was hitting greens, and close,,,,,,,,,, and if you're hitting greens you're going to score. If you're hitting greens with your irons there's little chipping needed. If your hitting greens with your irons it takes the pressure off your putter.

 

And of course the the closer I got the irons to the hole, the better the round. Hit enough of them close enough and you'll not 3 putt at all and you probably will make a few.

 

I agree. If I’m hitting solid iron shots, I’m gonna have a good day.

[jslane57]

Trick question. Which ever one is not working will penalize you dearly. Which ever one is working will surely save you strokes. Yesterday I had one truly bad hole, thanks to a balky drive. I had plenty of holes that could have been crummy, but were saved by good putting. The option not listed in the title, Irons, maybe the most important. Why? They can cover up a poor drive and keep you from even using your wedges.

[Dan Drake]

According to Harvey Penick - Putter > Driver > Wedge

According to Ben Hogan - Driver > Putter > Wedge

(I'd like to point out that they were both INCLUDING the psychological impact of these clubs as well)

 

That said, the most important factor in how well you putt is how close to the hole you start, and the most important factor in how close you hit those approach shots is how close to the green you are when you hit them.

 

Therefore, the beginning of that set of dominoes (how well you play off the tee), is extremely important (maybe MOST important?), but can be compensated for, to some degree, with your approach game and putting. Fair enough?

[pinestreetgolf]

According to Harvey Penick - Putter > Driver > Wedge

According to Ben Hogan - Driver > Putter > Wedge

(I'd like to point out that they were both INCLUDING the psychological impact of these clubs as well)

 

That said, the most important factor in how well you putt is how close to the hole you start, and the most important factor in how close you hit those approach shots is how close to the green you are when you hit them.

 

Therefore, the beginning of that set of dominoes (how well you play off the tee), is extremely important (maybe MOST important?), but can be compensated for, to some degree, with your approach game and putting. Fair enough?

 

Very close, for sure.

 

When Penick said that he was talking about match play, which is a totally different animal than stroke play (because you have to beat someone, not shoot the best you can on that given day). In stroke play against yourself putter is by far the least important but still important.

 

Which is the most important to you: oxygen, food, or a brain?

 

Well, I'd argue a brain first, oxygen second and food third. But its not like you can survive without food. Nobody is saying putting isn't important. Just that its the least important. Eventually bad putting will limit you, just like no food will. But not having a functional brain is probably worse. That doesn't mean food is unimportant, just that its unimportant *relative* to oxygen and your organs. You need it to be OK, but you don't need it as often and you don't need it to survive for a little while (unlike the others).

[btmoney]

Big stick...can shoot in the 70s easily with a crappy putting day. A crappy driving day and its 80s more often than not.

[dubbelbogey]

 

The putter costs you a stroke when you miss a putt you "should" make. For tour players, this is about 7 and a half feet and in. For us its probably around six feet.

 

 

The PGA Tour 50% make rate at 7-1/2' is that they "should" only make 50% and they "should" miss 50%.

 

If an average amateur's equivalent 50% make distance is, say, 6', then I don't think any single missed 6' putt is one I "should've" made. I can only look at it over many more putts to know if I'm putting well. One, two or three missed 6' putts in a round tells me nothing about whether I'm a good putter or not. I'm expected to miss a lot of 6' putts even if I'm a better than average putter and putting isn't a major weakness of my game. Those misses are not "extra strokes" that I can eliminate very easily.

[Sean2]

They are all equally important.

 

That said, a Touring pro might say the putter, as he already hits his driver well, has a good short game, and knows to win tournaments you have to make putts.

 

For the mid-handicapper, he might say the wedge as he drives and putts okay, but doesn't hit a lot of greens so being proficient with a wedge is important.

 

For the high-handicapper, he might say the driver because he struggles with not only hitting it, but keeping it in play. They say drive for show and putt for dough, but if you are putting for a triple...

[pinestreetgolf]

The putter costs you a stroke when you miss a putt you "should" make. For tour players, this is about 7 and a half feet and in. For us its probably around six feet.

 

 

The PGA Tour 50% make rate at 7-1/2' is that they "should" only make 50% and they "should" miss 50%.

 

If an average amateur's equivalent 50% make distance is, say, 6', then I don't think any single missed 6' putt is one I "should've" made. I can only look at it over many more putts to know if I'm putting well. One, two or three missed 6' putts in a round tells me nothing about whether I'm a good putter or not. I'm expected to miss a lot of 6' putts even if I'm a better than average putter and putting isn't a major weakness of my game. Those misses are not "extra strokes" that I can eliminate very easily.

 

Totally agree. I was giving him the benefit of every doubt to show just how far behind all the other clubs the putter is.

[Dry Tortuga]

Isn't the topic "Most Important Club", not "Which Club Do You Need The Most Work On"?

 

 

I think the most important club type is the iron, and if I had to pick one it would be the 6 iron. I could play a whole round of golf with just the 6 iron.

[ago33]

“A strokes gained analysis of millions of shots in the PGA TOUR's ShotLink database shows that approach shots account for about 40% of the scoring advantage of the top forty pros on the tour.”

 

Approach > Driver > Putter

 

https://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/06/10/book-excerpt-mark-broadie-every-shot-counts.html

 

 

[jkumpire]

With respect,

 

I think club soda is more important in many situations at a course.

[SwooshLT]

I'll offer the this and you can make your own assessment. I will how ever state a caveat on the situation...........I had never played on greens that were rated at 12+ and coming from a muni course that was lucky to stimp at 7, it was a long day. !980/81 went and played in the state open, back then you could just declare your status and lay down your entry fee. Played 36 holes and hit 34 of 36 GIR. Shot a cool 84-87. :scare2: :swoon2:

 

And yet Sei Young Kim just hit 67 of 72 greens and shot 31 under! I watched most of it and her proximity was incredible....she actually missed quite a few putts but I feel her irons gave the BEST chance to set that record....everything else supported the approach game as she certainly drove it well and putted good enough.....i just don't think if she hits 12 less greens , that she could have scrambled and putted her way to that score.....I'd love to find out greens hit by Els in 2003 , Sorenstam in AZ and SY Kim in AZ....

[nsxguy]

I'll offer the this and you can make your own assessment. I will how ever state a caveat on the situation...........I had never played on greens that were rated at 12+ and coming from a muni course that was lucky to stimp at 7, it was a long day. !980/81 went and played in the state open, back then you could just declare your status and lay down your entry fee. Played 36 holes and hit 34 of 36 GIR. Shot a cool 84-87. :scare2: :swoon2:

 

I believe Sheldon Cooper would refer to your argument as "reductio ad absurdum". ;) :D

[armyhawk3342]

For me it's the putter. As long as my drive isn't out of bounds I'm good enough with my recovery shot or irons to still give my self consistent chances at birdie and par. Where it goes south for me fast is putting...a 3 putt will kill your score every time. I can hit a drive 250+ yards down the middle and hit a wedge within 10-15 feet but if I 3 putt that it negates any good shot prior to that.

[SwooshLT]

For me it's the putter. As long as my drive isn't out of bounds I'm good enough with my recovery shot or irons to still give my self consistent chances at birdie and par. Where it goes south for me fast is putting...a 3 putt will kill your score every time. I can hit a drive 250+ yards down the middle and hit a wedge within 10-15 feet but if I 3 putt that it negates any good shot prior to that.

 

But do you CONSISTENTLY hit all of your irons within 15ft?

[disco111]

I'll offer the this and you can make your own assessment. I will how ever state a caveat on the situation...........I had never played on greens that were rated at 12+ and coming from a muni course that was lucky to stimp at 7, it was a long day. !980/81 went and played in the state open, back then you could just declare your status and lay down your entry fee. Played 36 holes and hit 34 of 36 GIR. Shot a cool 84-87. :scare2: :swoon2:

 

I believe Sheldon Cooper would refer to your argument as "reductio ad absurdum". ;) :D

We've all seen how Sheldon drives, it's highly doubtful that his putting would be any better than mine........... :cheesy:

[ghoul31]

For me it's the putter. As long as my drive isn't out of bounds I'm good enough with my recovery shot or irons to still give my self consistent chances at birdie and par. Where it goes south for me fast is putting...a 3 putt will kill your score every time. I can hit a drive 250+ yards down the middle and hit a wedge within 10-15 feet but if I 3 putt that it negates any good shot prior to that.

 

This. The guy I played yesterday was crazy wild off the tee, but there wasn't many trees on this course so it didn't affect him

He still shot 1 under

[BForrester]

Driver or wedge. You can't score if you're punching out or taking penalties on holes and it doesn't matter how good a putter you are if you're facing 25' par putts all day.

[jacobEDGE]

For me, driver (and the right shaft).

 

My wedge game is so piss-poor, it doesn't matter what brand I'm using. I sweep the ball, have an extremely high flight, and don't have much back spin. I've used MD3's and the new TM Milled Grind. I don't notice a difference. A wedge is a wedge to me.

 

Putters? I've putted with mid-mallets, a Spider, and bladed Scottys. It all feels the same to me. My putt averages are all basically the same no matter what I'm using. As long as the shaft length & lie angle is correct, I can use almost anything.

 

But a driver? I've had drivers that go straight, but only end up 230 total. I've had drivers that, no matter what I do, slice 40 yards to the right. The driver I'm currently using, is ideal. It gives me about 275 yard drives, on average, and I hit 60% of fairways. And when I miss fairways, it's by a matter of feet. I'm never wild of the tee and take myself out of play.

[BForrester]

According to Harvey Penick - Putter > Driver > Wedge

According to Ben Hogan - Driver > Putter > Wedge

(I'd like to point out that they were both INCLUDING the psychological impact of these clubs as well)

 

That said, the most important factor in how well you putt is how close to the hole you start, and the most important factor in how close you hit those approach shots is how close to the green you are when you hit them.

 

Therefore, the beginning of that set of dominoes (how well you play off the tee), is extremely important (maybe MOST important?), but can be compensated for, to some degree, with your approach game and putting. Fair enough?

 

Agree with this. I've seen numerous charts that display the correlation between driving distance and handicap and the stratification is pretty illuminating.

 

I'm not a low cap, but I hit the driver a long way (relative to the average golfer) and I've seen how big an advantage it is. I play with a buddy who's a good 60-70 yards shorter than me, but putts and hits his irons much more consistently. He has to be on with all aspects of his game to keep up with me in score, simply due to the distance disparity.

[BForrester]

For me it's the putter. As long as my drive isn't out of bounds I'm good enough with my recovery shot or irons to still give my self consistent chances at birdie and par. Where it goes south for me fast is putting...a 3 putt will kill your score every time. I can hit a drive 250+ yards down the middle and hit a wedge within 10-15 feet but if I 3 putt that it negates any good shot prior to that.

 

If you're three-putting from 10-15', something is seriously wrong with your putting.

[SwooshLT]

Are you guys really that bad at driving? You ever consider 3 metal?

[hook_or_slice]

Nobody can recover from a short and crooked drive, unless the course they are playing has no trees or hazards.