Strategy - not using irons longer than an 8 iron off the fairway

[Wormkiller]

Hello all,

 

My aim at the moment is to break 90 consistently. Im usually there abouts. I am continuing to work on improving my ball striking with my longer irons.

 

I struggle hitting irons longer than my 8 iron off the ground consistently, and hybrids/woods so I've been changing up my strategy and leaving them in the bag except for tee shots on par 3's and scrambling. Instead I've adopted a strategy of hitting driver off the tee, and hopefully leaving me an 8, 9 or wedge into the green from the fairway.

 

My driver isn't very consistent, I generally get good distance with it, but fairways hit average is probably only 50% at best. I feel I do scramble well and have learned to utilise my longer irons well pitching out from under trees. Only because I'm in the woods a lot, and the course I play most at is lined with them. So for times I do stray off the tee, my strategy now is to pitch out getting as far up the fairway as possible, then hit a short iron/wedge to the green to try and aim to make bogey as opposed to going for glory in an attempt to salvage par and risk getting in an even worse position.

 

I've previously tried implementing the strategy of using long irons (2 or 3), 5 wood or hybrids off the tee to improve my fairways hit percentage, but the reality is Im still prone to missing the fairway a lot even with these clubs and if I do miss I'm so far back from the pin, so at least with the driver I can get it up there. I don't tend to hit the ball wildly OB with it. 

 

Par 5's my aim is to get good distance with the driver, and lay up playing for par  if possible. If not, I accept that 3 short irons or 2 short irons and a wedge might be required to get to the green as Im happy with bogey.

 

Anyone use a similar strategy?

 

 

Edited October 13, 2020 by Wormkiller

[Lefthook]

I never did that. I wanted to master all the clubs in the bag. But one of the keys to smart play is to never hit a shot you're not comfortable with. 

 

Actually I think the approach may turn you into a smarter player, perhaps even better. I probably went for way too many shots that I didn't believe I could pull off for the first years. I had the hope though: "Hit and hope". It's a typical high handicap mistake.

 

The more good shots you hit with the 8, the better your swing will get. Before you know it, you're comfortable hitting a 7 or a 6 and so forth. And staying away from hitting shots you're uncomfortable with may serve you well short term and long term. 

[pktaske]

8 hours ago, Wormkiller said:

Hello all,

 

My aim at the moment is to break 90 consistently. Im usually there abouts. I am continuing to work on improving my ball striking with my longer irons.

 

I struggle hitting irons longer than my 8 iron off the ground consistently, and hybrids/woods so I've been changing up my strategy and leaving them in the bag except for tee shots on par 3's and scrambling. Instead I've adopted a strategy of hitting driver off the tee, and hopefully leaving me an 8, 9 or wedge into the green from the fairway.

 

My driver isn't very consistent, I generally get good distance with it, but fairways hit average is probably only 50% at best. I feel I do scramble well and have learned to utilise my longer irons well pitching out from under trees. Only because I'm in the woods a lot, and the course I play most at is lined with them. So for times I do stray off the tee, my strategy now is to pitch out getting as far up the fairway as possible, then hit a short iron/wedge to the green to try and aim to make bogey as opposed to going for glory in an attempt to salvage par and risk getting in an even worse position.

 

I've previously tried implementing the strategy of using long irons (2 or 3), 5 wood or hybrids off the tee to improve my fairways hit percentage, but the reality is Im still prone to missing the fairway a lot even with these clubs and if I do miss I'm so far back from the pin, so at least with the driver I can get it up there. I don't tend to hit the ball wildly OB with it. 

 

Par 5's my aim is to get good distance with the driver, and lay up playing for par  if possible. If not, I accept that 3 short irons or 2 short irons and a wedge might be required to get to the green as Im happy with bogey.

 

Anyone use a similar strategy?

 

 

Try choking up on your 7 iron as a start and see if that helps you. To post increasingly better scores, you'll need those longer irons eventually so Im not sure this 'strategy' should be long term unless you play golf only a dozen times a year. This comes from a guy who was deathly scared of hitting any iron over a 9 from fairway grass. Now irons all the way to a 4 are part of my game. What I struggle with now is left/right inconsistency.

[Priceyd]

my advice that worked for me, start with 6iiron but only try and hit it 100yards really just think half swing hit the centre of the face and then increase it, plus will be surprised how handy that shot comes in. 

[cardoustie]

Lots of top players bags start with 6 iron

 

Keep doing what you are doing. And the driver off the tee is the smart move, it is easier to hit straight than a 3w etc per some stuff I have read

 

Get a driver lesson to learn straight .. could be a simple tweak like ball position etc

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

9 hours ago, Wormkiller said:

Hello all,

 

My aim at the moment is to break 90 consistently. Im usually there abouts. I am continuing to work on improving my ball striking with my longer irons.

 

I struggle hitting irons longer than my 8 iron off the ground consistently, and hybrids/woods so I've been changing up my strategy and leaving them in the bag except for tee shots on par 3's and scrambling. Instead I've adopted a strategy of hitting driver off the tee, and hopefully leaving me an 8, 9 or wedge into the green from the fairway.

 

My driver isn't very consistent, I generally get good distance with it, but fairways hit average is probably only 50% at best. I feel I do scramble well and have learned to utilise my longer irons well pitching out from under trees. Only because I'm in the woods a lot, and the course I play most at is lined with them. So for times I do stray off the tee, my strategy now is to pitch out getting as far up the fairway as possible, then hit a short iron/wedge to the green to try and aim to make bogey as opposed to going for glory in an attempt to salvage par and risk getting in an even worse position.

 

I've previously tried implementing the strategy of using long irons (2 or 3), 5 wood or hybrids off the tee to improve my fairways hit percentage, but the reality is Im still prone to missing the fairway a lot even with these clubs and if I do miss I'm so far back from the pin, so at least with the driver I can get it up there. I don't tend to hit the ball wildly OB with it. 

 

Par 5's my aim is to get good distance with the driver, and lay up playing for par  if possible. If not, I accept that 3 short irons or 2 short irons and a wedge might be required to get to the green as Im happy with bogey.

 

Anyone use a similar strategy?

 

Similar. I typically play driver/9i into my average par 4. Long par 4 or short par 5 are usually hybrid.

 

This way, on bad drives or drives into the wind end up 7i-ish on average.

Edited October 13, 2020 by Lincoln_Arcadia

[Wormkiller]

Thanks for the advice all. I forgot to mention that on long par 4’s that need a long iron even after a well hit tee shot my strategy now is to “lay-up” with say a couple of wedges, playing for bogey. I feel my pitching is one of my strengths.

 

its not like I shank or duff my 5, 6 or 7 iron every time, I just feel the reward v the risk doesn’t pay off for me on course at the moment, especially adding the pressure of playing for a score from tough lies etc. 

[SNIPERBBB]

This is golfwrx...we never need to hit anything longer than a wedge into a par 4 unless we're playing at 7500+.

 

At the trying to break 90 level, just getting the ball airborne semi-decently is a big win. If you got clubs you can hit more reliably from the same lie, hit those.

[Santiago Golf]

Lets say your typical drive is 250 ... so your typical 8 iron goes maybe 145. So you should be fine on most par 4s and par 5s ... so I would say its not a bad strategy for playing towards your strengths. 

 

Though I would work on getting into a better impact position ... because notting being able to play 7 iron to hybrid is going to make it very difficult to shoot anything below 85 ... unless you play absolute perfect

 

50% fairways is pretty good for a golfer that is trying to break 90 ... it matters more where you are missing the 50% 

   1) are you able to hit a shot towards the green

   2) or do you have to punch out or drop

 

So FIR is pointless stat to keep track of, Ball in Play is a better one ... are you able to go for the green on your approach shot after your tee or do you have to punch out, layup, or take a penalty shot. 

 

As well, GIR is a pointless stat, keep track of how many shots after your tee shots it takes to get within 50 yards of the green ... this will show if you are missing around the green or hitting bad shots.

 

Then keep track of how many shots it takes to get in the hole from inside 50 yards ... counting putts is pointless because number of putts is more based on how far your avg first putt is than your ability to putt. That distance is based on how good your approach play & short game is. Easiest way to get better at putting is to get the first putt closer to the hole

 

Finally keep track of missed putts inside 5 feet ... pretty self explanatory

 

 

 

[PJ1120]

Check out what's in Obee's bag. He shot a 64 recently

[llewol007]

Not in the exact manner. For me it was always getting to a go to yardage. I only did this when the course was tight or there was too much in terms of bunkers, hazards and the hole layout just didnt call for a driver off the tee box. I would often times take the yardage and see what gets me to either a 7 or 8 irons distance which for me was between 155 and 165. From there I would subtract the yardage and use the club off the tee needed. My strongest suit for me is my driver but when it leaves me an unfamiliar wedge shot it, I would back off and either use a 3 wood or 5 wood or even my 3 iron off the tee. These are just examples of how I go about it. I think for you, it might be to your benefit to take a lesson and shore up your driver. Often times too many players give up on it. Even use a higher lofter driver and see if that helps. There is nothing wrong with being a master at mid to long irons but you also need to be able and utilize clubs that offer a higher trajectory coming in like a 9 iron on down. That is the greatness of the game in finding out what will get you the lowest score on a golf course. 

[PJ1120]

9 minutes ago, PJ1120 said:

Check out what's in Obee's bag. He shot a 64 recently

PING G400 Max - Atmos Tour Spec Red - S
TaylorMade Sim Max Titanium 15* 3-WOOD - Diamana - S
Titleist 818 H2 19*. Tensei black 90g - S
Titleist 818 H1 21* Atmos Tour Spec Blue - S
Adams Idea Tech V4 5H 25* ProLaunch Blue 75 HY x-stiff
Adams Idea Tech V4 6H 28* ProLaunch Blue 75 HY x-stiff
Adams Idea Tech V4 7H 32* ProLaunch Blue 75 HY x-stiff
Titleist AP2 716 8i 37* KBS Tour S
Titleist AP2 716 9i 42* KBS Tour S
Cleveland RTX-4 mid-bounce 46* DG s-400
Cleveland RTX-4 mid-bounce 50* DG s-400
Cleveland RTX-4 full-sole 56* DG s-400
Cleveland RTX-4 low-bounce 60* DG s-400
Odyssey Works Versa Tank 1W (bent to 76.5*)[/si

[bortass]

I didn't break 90 on a 6300 yard course until I could use my driver off the tee.  I wasn't great with it but I kept it in play and got it out there probably about 220ish. The extra yardage over a 3w made a big difference. My game at the time was such that I could mess up any shot, so laying up didn't help me any. I wanted to get as close to the green as I could since the odds of success were higher the closer I got. 

 

I documented my attempt to break 90 on these forums back in 2010-12. The link is Journey to break 90 in case you're curious or want a good laugh.

[sshadow2]

Look up Golf Sidekick on YouTube. His break 90 videos. He regularly recommends sticking with your 150 yarder as your longest club and making every hole a par 5 when playing at your appropriate tees. Playing bogey golf which on a 72 par course is 90 exactly. 

 

That’s 3 shots to greens of 350yards. If you can execute your shots and avoid 3 putts, you can break 90 easy. 
 

Holes where your par 3s are 150 or less and par 4/5s where the second/third shot is 100 yards or less can be considered scoring holes. Tees max’ing length to about 6100 yds will have plenty of these. Usually whites and sometimes blues. 

 

Though your ego may take a hit. I personally struggle to leave 6i and lower alone. 
 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2020 by sshadow2

[chippa13]

I got into the 80's regularly when I defined my goal as having a putt for par on every hole. On well played holes it can be a 2 putt par and on scramble holes it usually leads to a 2 putt bogey.

[scooterhd2]

You may say your goal is to break 90 on a given day, but your goal is really to shoot the lowest score possible. This has no inherent strategy of only using these clubs or those clubs, but to evaluate each shot and to choose the best club and best strategy for that shot. What those clubs are depends largely on your game and on your strengths and weaknesses, along with the course conditions, and placement of hazards. Any other hard rules that you make to limit selections, are only useful because you do not deem yourself capable of making the right decision without them. That gets people thinking I am only going to chip out, or only hit 3 wood, or only use irons. Instead, I am only going to play the shot with the most strokes gained.

 

That may very well be short irons only for you, but it would be hard to imagine that if you were your 8 iron distance + 10 yards out from the green, with bunkers in front of the green that you would want to lay up into or short of trouble. The smart play would obviously be a 7 iron, and even if you have contact issues and come up a club short, you are no worse off than the 8 iron was. 15 yards short of the green is likely 2.5 or 3 strokes for a 18 handicapper to hole out. But a well struck shot on the green is closer to 2. Anytime you can save 1/2 or a whole shot with little added risk, that is a no brainer. 

 

 

 

 

[Soloman1]

"Lets say your typical drive is 250 ... so your typical 8 iron goes maybe 145. So you should be fine on most par 4s and par 5s ... so I would say its not a bad strategy for playing towards your strengths."

 

He's said he's trying to break 90, so his typical drive is about 200 yards, not 250. (The average drive of a 6-handicap is about 245, so you're way out in left field.)

His 8-iron probably goes about 115 yards.

So how about driver, 8-iron and another 8 or 9-iron for a par 4?

And that's fine. He should try it a few times and enjoy the times he makes good contact.

 

 

 

 

[cardoustie]

knowing your weaknesses is a key to scoring

 

I know so many guys that shoot 85-90 and could do so much better if they didn't try hero shots all the time

 

eg a 3h over a lake from 185 or a 3w off the deck with a forced carry 

[sshadow2]

26 minutes ago, Soloman1 said:

"Lets say your typical drive is 250 ... so your typical 8 iron goes maybe 145. So you should be fine on most par 4s and par 5s ... so I would say its not a bad strategy for playing towards your strengths."

 

He's said he's trying to break 90, so his typical drive is about 200 yards, not 250. (The average drive of a 6-handicap is about 245, so you're way out in left field.)

His 8-iron probably goes about 115 yards.

So how about driver, 8-iron and another 8 or 9-iron for a par 4?

And that's fine. He should try it a few times and enjoy the times he makes good contact.

 

 

 

 

Jeez, this again?

 

Handicap, scoring potential, does not equate to strength/speed. It's about consistency. I don't break 90. My whole game needs work. Particularly anything above my 3h. But my 8i consistently goes 145. and my driver, if I don't slice off the planet (which rarely happens now), consistently carries 230+ even on a fade.

 

I also play with single handicappers that max distance 220 off the tee.

Edited October 13, 2020 by sshadow2

[jomatty]

Maybe I see this differently then everyone else but it seems like a stressful way to play golf to me.  It just seems like you are forcing yourself to hit the greens with a lot of short irons to just make bogey.  For instance if you are 185 out on a par 4 it’s hard for me to th8nk that hitting an 8 iron to 40 yards could be the right play.  5 iron is not a strength of mine but I’m still likely to hit it closer than 40 yards, which is the best case scenario if you hit an 8 iron.  I’d keep working on hybrids and 5 irons.  You mentioned 2 and 3 irons and those have no place in a bag of someone trying to break 90 (or even 80 most likely).  Learn to hit a hybrid and give yourself a chance, and when you miss you will usually still be chipping.  Of course there will be times when it goes haywire, but there will also be times when you miss your wedge shots.  If nothing else you will be learning parts of a skill set that will be necessary as you progress.

[Krt22]

If a bad drive results in a punch out and then two irons shots to reach the green, you are probably playing the wrong tees. 

[scooterhd2]

19 minutes ago, jomatty said:

Maybe I see this differently then everyone else but it seems like a stressful way to play golf to me.  It just seems like you are forcing yourself to hit the greens with a lot of short irons to just make bogey.  For instance if you are 185 out on a par 4 it’s hard for me to th8nk that hitting an 8 iron to 40 yards could be the right play.  5 iron is not a strength of mine but I’m still likely to hit it closer than 40 yards, which is the best case scenario if you hit an 8 iron.  I’d keep working on hybrids and 5 irons.  You mentioned 2 and 3 irons and those have no place in a bag of someone trying to break 90 (or even 80 most likely).  Learn to hit a hybrid and give yourself a chance, and when you miss you will usually still be chipping.  Of course there will be times when it goes haywire, but there will also be times when you miss your wedge shots.  If nothing else you will be learning parts of a skill set that will be necessary as you progress.

 

Totally agree. I've said many times, the problem with standing on the tee box and playing for bogey, is that you have now forced yourself to hit good shots to make bogey. Sounds fine to swing away with 8 irons, but if you are an 18+ handicap its not like you are hitting 8 irons 150 yards dead on your line everytime. Your'e pulling them, pushing them, hitting them fat and thin and short. And probably occasionally, completely duffing a shot. And I imagine your partial wedge game from 20-60 yards is not that great either. So to think you are going to get up and down from there or even home in 3 from there consistently is a pipe dream. The obviously key to breaking 90 is to not double bogey a hole. And if you are playing for bogeys, you are flirting with disaster. 

 

 

[Hawkeye77]

14 hours ago, Wormkiller said:

Hello all,

 

My aim at the moment is to break 90 consistently. Im usually there abouts. I am continuing to work on improving my ball striking with my longer irons.

 

I struggle hitting irons longer than my 8 iron off the ground consistently, and hybrids/woods so I've been changing up my strategy and leaving them in the bag except for tee shots on par 3's and scrambling. Instead I've adopted a strategy of hitting driver off the tee, and hopefully leaving me an 8, 9 or wedge into the green from the fairway.

 

My driver isn't very consistent, I generally get good distance with it, but fairways hit average is probably only 50% at best. I feel I do scramble well and have learned to utilise my longer irons well pitching out from under trees. Only because I'm in the woods a lot, and the course I play most at is lined with them. So for times I do stray off the tee, my strategy now is to pitch out getting as far up the fairway as possible, then hit a short iron/wedge to the green to try and aim to make bogey as opposed to going for glory in an attempt to salvage par and risk getting in an even worse position.

 

I've previously tried implementing the strategy of using long irons (2 or 3), 5 wood or hybrids off the tee to improve my fairways hit percentage, but the reality is Im still prone to missing the fairway a lot even with these clubs and if I do miss I'm so far back from the pin, so at least with the driver I can get it up there. I don't tend to hit the ball wildly OB with it. 

 

Par 5's my aim is to get good distance with the driver, and lay up playing for par  if possible. If not, I accept that 3 short irons or 2 short irons and a wedge might be required to get to the green as Im happy with bogey.

 

Anyone use a similar strategy?

 

 

 

You are an 8 handicap, how is breaking 90 consistently an issue?

[scooterhd2]

3 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

 

You are an 8 handicap, how is breaking 90 consistently an issue?

 

Added relevance (possible typo? 18?):

 

Edited October 13, 2020 by scooterhd2

[Krt22]

18 minutes ago, scooterhd2 said:

 

Added relevance (possible typo? 18?):

 

Interesting...I don't know any 8s that punch out and then proceed to lay up with an 8i. lol 

[Soloman1]

2 hours ago, sshadow2 said:

Jeez, this again?

 

Handicap, scoring potential, does not equate to strength/speed. It's about consistency. I don't break 90. My whole game needs work. Particularly anything above my 3h. But my 8i consistently goes 145. and my driver, if I don't slice off the planet (which rarely happens now), consistently carries 230+ even on a fade.

 

I also play with single handicappers that max distance 220 off the tee.

 

"Jeez?"

 

I used the words "typical" and "probably" when referring to his distances. If you don't understanding the meanings of those words, there are resources online to help you.

[tte720]

5 hours ago, sshadow2 said:

Jeez, this again?

 

Handicap, scoring potential, does not equate to strength/speed. It's about consistency. I don't break 90. My whole game needs work. Particularly anything above my 3h. But my 8i consistently goes 145. and my driver, if I don't slice off the planet (which rarely happens now), consistently carries 230+ even on a fade.

 

I also play with single handicappers that max distance 220 off the tee.

I also don't break 90.  I'm in my mid 30s, and will sometimes outdrive my 3 handicap buddy who is the same age as me.  My good drives are ~240-250 carry, but only happen maybe 10-20% of the time.

 

My problem like you is keeping the ball in play.  Based on my last 20 rounds played on Grint, I average ~5 GIR, which according to some chart should have me shooting in the mid 80s.  Of course, that doesn't account for penalty strokes.  If I can keep the ball in play off the tee, I should be able to break into the 80s on a consistent basis.  My most reliable/accurate club off the tee is 5w, but the distance gap between driver and 5w makes it harder on approach to the green. 

 

The struggle is real.

[hybrid25]

My lowest iron is a 7-iron oh, then I go right into my hybrids. Hybrids are so easy to hit, it's hard to imagine you having trouble with them. I game a 7 Hybrid 31 deg, and it fits in the gap below my 7-iron perfectly. I also carry a four, five, and six hybrid as well. Hybrids really improve my game and allow me to be able to hit the green from anywhere inside 220 yards to 150 yds. Then I use the 7 iron. 

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

10 hours ago, Wormkiller said:

its not like I shank or duff my 5, 6 or 7 iron every time, I just feel the reward v the risk doesn’t pay off for me on course at the moment, especially adding the pressure of playing for a score from tough lies etc. 

Many subsequent responses are also valid.
 

It’s not about duffing the longer irons. It’s generally about where shots land. I can hit a 5i with reasonable consistency, 4i not as much. Strikes on my 6i are about as good as it gets, but direction is not so good with a dispersion of over 20 to 25 yards at 175 yards then unpredictable roll on top of that. I’ve rolled over many greens even when landing a bit short.

 

Ideally, your driver will get you in position to score. Not good if you need a 6i for the average hole.

 

Breaking 90 is quite a milestone, and it certainly sounds as if you’re on the right path. Play up and play fast, and enjoy being in position for more birdies.

Edited October 13, 2020 by Lincoln_Arcadia

[sshadow2]

4 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

 

"Jeez?"

 

I used the words "typical" and "probably" when referring to his distances. If you don't understanding the meanings of those words, there are resources online to help you.

 

You're being too general and I don't agree with your assessment. There...I flat out said it rather than implying it.

 

Since "typical" and "probably" is used to suggest most, I'd think you're using the wrong words.