MD/VA/DC Golfers - Ten Seconds or Less

[misplacedtexan83]

288 yard par 4. Is there any major trouble? If not, that MFer looks like driver fo sho.

 

I banged driver just short..

 

Little dog leg left nothing more. Over cooked one way or the other and woods but plenty of room for a little miss.

[SullGolf]

I installed a nice fresh white superstroke putter grip while eating some Indian food. Long story short...permanent butter chicken stain before it makes it's maiden voyage.

[vtnerf]

"butter chicken stain" is what we are calling it now?

[FAbb]

288 yard par 4. Is there any major trouble? If not, that MFer looks like driver fo sho.

 

I banged driver just short..

 

Little dog leg left nothing more. Over cooked one way or the other and woods but plenty of room for a little miss.

 

 

[TheCityGame]

That 288 yard par 4. . .problem is it's one of those holes that goes cartpath-woods very quickly. And, if you pull it, it's OB. If that ball you drew doesn't draw at all, it's going to hit and then run down to where the carts park, and then run into the woods, and they're not really woods you can play out of. It's functionally narrower than it looks.

[dcmidnight]

As someone that hits the ball L>R I could see about a million different ways that hole could go wrong. Those woods don't strike me as Pinehurst style woods where you can easily punch out or even have a clear shot to the green either.

 

Funny how the "always driver" guys are guys who would be in the Top 3 of a "Thread Total Driving" stat (distance+accuracy). @ 95% of this thread could *easily* get in trouble with driver on that hole.

 

I bet if I played that hole 100 times I'm better off hitting 5 iron, SW 95 of those times.

[TheCityGame]

My general rule is "only leave the driver in the bag if a good drive gets you into trouble".

 

My general rule is only hit driver if a 3w (or less) can't get me inside 135 (a stock PW).

 

If you give me 10 drivers, Im probably in trouble 6 times. Give me 10 3 woods, I'm in trouble 3 times.

I totally get how that's the best strategy for you. It was for me for so long. As part of my trying to improve, though. . .I'd go play with Abb and you watch a guy for a couple months go driver all day, and it starts to dawn on you (the Royal You, meaning "me") that you have a hole in your game.

 

Like, "if I want to be a 2 handicap, I better learn to hit my driver".

 

Even at times last summer, I'm pretty sure Fabb said to me, "why don't you just hit 4W off the tee all the time?"

 

I have been lucky enough to mess around with it in solo rounds at Hobbits this winter. . .go hit driver and 4W off the same tee and compare results. I'm at the point now where a good driver is better than a good 4W. The bad 4W is worse than a bad driver. And, I don't hit the bad ones any less frequently with the 4W. Matter of fact, maybe more frequently.

 

One's golf game is an every changing thing, though.

 

I used to use driver for draws and 4W for cuts. I mean like 2 years ago. Now, I'd go almost complete opposite with those. I can't draw my driver any more at all.

[TheCityGame]

As someone that hits the ball L>R I could see about a million different ways that hole could go wrong. Those woods don't strike me as Pinehurst style woods where you can easily punch out or even have a clear shot to the green either.

Correctamundo.

 

If you play a fade, you're starting it over those traps, and so a slight pull is death, and an over-fade is death. It's a good driver hole in a scramble. You can have a 50º in if you hit 5 iron. If you're on that hole in a scramble format, or even best-ball (and you trust your partner), then that brings other considerations into play.

[dcmidnight]

I used to use driver for draws and 4W for cuts. I mean like 2 years ago. Now, I'd go almost complete opposite with those. I can't draw my driver any more at all.

 

Same. I'd like to be able to learn how to get that driver draw back again this year.

[FAbb]

Like, "if I want to be a 2 handicap, I better learn to hit my driver".

 

Yup. I think you've got to learn to make the driver a weapon to keep pushing the cap lower. Especially folks like us that don't really hit the ball a ton. We've got to squeeze every possible yard off the tee that we can. Your driving has made tremendous improvement over the winter. Tremendous. A guy like PQ can get away without it, but even he would be a lot more dangerous with a reliable driver shot. I mean, can you imagine the damage he could do with a reliable driver shot, and his length?

 

I'd like to be able to learn how to get that driver draw back again this year.

 

You is playing with fire.

[TheCityGame]

I used to use driver for draws and 4W for cuts. I mean like 2 years ago. Now, I'd go almost complete opposite with those. I can't draw my driver any more at all.

 

Same. I'd like to be able to learn how to get that driver draw back again this year.

Not me. No no no. If I never draw a driver again, it will be too soon.

 

It bothered me for a while. I was like, "I can't be a guy who fades his driver". Yes I can. Jack, Tiger, DJ, Me. And I'll pass it on to the next generation.

 

Someone wrote up a funny thing on this website once that about the evolution of a golfer's mindset. It was like. . .

 

1. I fade the driver.

2. I'd like to play a draw

3. Oh, that's a nice draw.

4. Oh god, I'm hooking the ball.

5. Please make it stop.

6. I'd really like to be able to fade the driver.

[TheCityGame]

A guy like PQ can get away without it, but even he would be a lot more dangerous with a reliable driver shot. I mean, can you imagine the damage he could do with a reliable driver shot, and his length?

It's all I think about every time we play.

[FAbb]

A guy like PQ can get away without it, but even he would be a lot more dangerous with a reliable driver shot. I mean, can you imagine the damage he could do with a reliable driver shot, and his length?

It's all I think about every time we play.

 

Yup. Any time we're both in the fairway, I'm just looking up at his ball like, "Damn!" 30+ yards longer off the tee, plus about 2 clubs longer with irons. I'm hitting 6-iron, and he's probably hitting 9, or PW.

[dcmidnight]

I'd like to be able to learn how to get that driver draw back again this year.

 

You is playing with fire.

 

Don't misunderstand me - or I typed it confusingly. I'm ecstatic hitting a controlled fade with my driver 99% of the time - more than ecstatic. But there are a few holes I play often where being able to hit a reliable driver draw would gain me 20-30 yards vs taking a safer line or hitting 3W. A driver draw is something I want to add (back) to my arsenal, not a replacement for my stock fade.

[FAbb]

You practice quite a bit, so more power to you if you want to spend the time to cultivate that shot. I'm just a big believer in playing a stock shape off the tee for golfers at our level. Either aim more aggressively on holes that don't fit your shape, or I deal with being a little further back on a conservative line. Especially if you're legit moving it one direction as consistently as you seem to be. If you know your ball is going to fade, you can aim a little more aggressively, and know a pull is your worst possible miss. Get up there and hit your once a round draw, and that puppy can turn into a pull-hook at a moments notice.

[SullGolf]

Hey DC. Can you wait until after Saturday to think about hitting driver draws? Thx.

[baddomes]

Speaking of drivers, we had dorm night at the EPP range yesterday and I was set on working out the D.

 

That D got a workout.

 

Picked up siegels cut down ping shaft I used once last year. I actually hit it great last time, but it's like that one-nighter that was awesome but you know is crazy, but you can't stop thinking about, and you're in a slump, so you call her (or him.... It's 2017) to reconnect, and before you realize it you're seeing her 5 nights a week and on the nights you're not she starts leaving gifts for you outside your front door on Vermont Avenue in 2012 and it creeps you out to the point where you have to go radio silent and hope the gifts on the doorstep don't turn into dead alley cats.

 

Anyway.

 

I had the skypro set up, swinging about 93mph aoa -2 with the ahina to get a baseline. Throw in the ping and it's actually a little higher. Feels lighter. Dispersion is good. Then I start messing with backswing. Let's get steeper....

 

99mph

 

.... Hmm let's try again.

 

99mph.

 

Hmm. That ball is flying higher as well. What's the aoa? +4

 

Awwww Sheeeeeeit.

 

I almost ran to my car to get my cobra but I played it cool. And grooved that swing with both the titahina and siegelping. Git the ss up to 101 at one point.

 

My point is, I'm about to start hitting my driver really far again. Was getting way too flat. Excitement.

[TheCityGame]

I installed a nice fresh white superstroke putter grip while eating some Indian food. Long story short...permanent butter chicken stain before it makes it's maiden voyage.

The funny part is that the "butter chicken" only got on the tip in a concentric circle.

[Puppetmaster]

Hey DC. Can you wait until after Saturday to think about hitting driver draws? Thx.

 

Don't worry, you really only *need* a draw on 1 hole at Bristow, the 9th. Maybe 18, but it isn't necessary.

 

And have I mentioned before that you get to lay up on 3 of the 4 par 5s?

 

[Puppetmaster]

I installed a nice fresh white superstroke putter grip while eating some Indian food. Long story short...permanent butter chicken stain before it makes it's maiden voyage.

 

Hopefully it was butter chicken on the way in, not on the way out...

[TheCityGame]

Timbers re-opening May 11th.

 

I'm going to be out of town. If I was here, I'd book a time that day.

[TheCityGame]

[FAbb]

Every day I go without playing, I get a little closer to running back to PING and buying these.

 

[Puppetmaster]

Every day I go without playing, I get a little closer to running back to PING and buying these.

 

[2moreTerps]

that 288 yard hole isn't just a 288 yard hole ... it's the first hole of the capitol cup!!! You have to factor nerves into the equation. five iron wedge is the only reasonable play. think about how you feel on #2 tee box if you hit driver into trouble vs. skanking some 5 iron 155 yards but safe. if i'm tex i stand on that tee box and don't let anyone do anything else.

 

The "have to hit driver every where not 3 wood" thing just isn't nearly as concrete as you guys are making it seem. playing with the 2-4 handicaps at turf a lot of them hit a lot of 3 woods. look at the pros. within ranges of common swing speed/distance, some guys are WAY more conservative than others. if you really want to apply some math to the question the first thing to figure out is where your birdies come from.

 

i don't like the "good drive puts you in trouble" thought either. what if hole is 400 yards dead straight but 30 yards wide. what % can you hit a driver into a 30 yard wide hole? what % can you hit hybrid? obviously that's an extreme example but the logic still holds. so maybe the idea isn't driver vs. 3 wood but driver vs. hybrid. if you can hit a hybrid 220 no reason you can't hit if off the tee on certain 400 yard holes. i'm not advocating the strategy a lot. i'm advocating it when it makes sense.

 

i hit 3 iron on holes that are 375, 377, 347, 345, 396, and 359 on Hialeah. and i'm not wrong.

[baddomes]

It's a shotgun start though right? So it might be someone's 9th hole. Or is that the singles course?

 

I have no idea what the hell is going on with this capitol cup.

[FAbb]

five iron wedge is the only reasonable play.

 

 

[FAbb]

The "have to hit driver every where not 3 wood" thing just isn't nearly as concrete as you guys are making it seem.

 

Strategy wise, if this is your game:

 

If you give me 10 drivers, I'm probably in trouble 6 times. Give me 10 3 woods, I'm in trouble 3 times.

 

Then of course you shouldn't just go out there and relentlessly hit driver off the tee all day. That would be stupid. You can't go pounding tee shot after tee shot into trouble, if you're trying to make a score. Throttle back to whatever is going to keep the ball in play. BUT, like City said, you've also got a hole in your game. One you're going to need to address at some point to keep pushing your scores down.

[TheCityGame]

that 288 yard hole isn't just a 288 yard hole ... it's the first hole of the capitol cup!!! You have to factor nerves into the equation. five iron wedge is the only reasonable play. think about how you feel on #2 tee box if you hit driver into trouble vs. skanking some 5 iron 155 yards but safe. if i'm tex i stand on that tee box and don't let anyone do anything else.

I think we start with a scramble. If my teammate hits one 200 yard in the FW, it's driver.

 

If we're best ball, maybe the same thing. Gotta trust ya boy sometimes.

 

 

The "have to hit driver every where not 3 wood" thing just isn't nearly as concrete as you guys are making it seem. playing with the 2-4 handicaps at turf a lot of them hit a lot of 3 woods. look at the pros. within ranges of common swing speed/distance, some guys are WAY more conservative than others. if you really want to apply some math to the question the first thing to figure out is where your birdies come from.

the math doesn't have to do with birdies. It has to do with scoring average. Was reading something the other day that said if you never take penalty strokes, you're probably playing too conservatively. Food for thought.

 

i don't like the "good drive puts you in trouble" thought either. what if hole is 400 yards dead straight but 30 yards wide. what % can you hit a driver into a 30 yard wide hole? what % can you hit hybrid? obviously that's an extreme example but the logic still holds. so maybe the idea isn't driver vs. 3 wood but driver vs. hybrid. if you can hit a hybrid 220 no reason you can't hit if off the tee on certain 400 yard holes. i'm not advocating the strategy a lot. i'm advocating it when it makes sense.

 

i hit 3 iron on holes that are 375, 377, 347, 345, 396, and 359 on Hialeah. and i'm not wrong.

You might be wrong.

 

Hole 10 at Hobbits is 398 and "functionally" 30 yards wide. I still haven't figured out the correct play there, but I think it's driver. I can tell you that coming into a raised green that slopes towards the front, with deep rough back and fronted by two deep bunkers is no fun to come into from 185 yards.

 

If you catch the power alley in the fairway, you can have a wedge in and it becomes a birdie hole.

 

OTOH, I've hit driver into the woods several times on that hole.

 

Holes 10 & 11 at Pine Ridge are examples where a "perfect" drive is great. A good drive CAN be bad, and a 3 iron is often the right choice.

 

I've probably tried different strategies through the years on holes 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 16, 18 at Pine Ridge (in terms of club choice and line). It's part of why I like that course so much. As time has gone by, however, most of my strategies have started zero'ing in on driver.

[TheCityGame]

FTR, I've never seen the Hialeah course up close. I've seen a couple holes from I-70 and it seriously does look like you're playing through a chute for the length of the hole.

 

Whenever I see those holes, I think, "I hope that hole is about 300 yards long".

 

So, when I say to 2More, "you might be wrong", I'm speaking in very general golf terms. There are plenty of holes around where a 3 iron off the tee is absolutely the correct play.

 

These look very narrow. . .the first one, "functionally" narrow, like you better be on the right side to have a good look at that green. And, that one green looks like a baby turtle sitting on a hill. . .