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Club Selection from the Tee

War Eagle

War Eagle

the Beags of THP...
Albatross 2024 Club
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Jun 3, 2011
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The past few months, I have been working on keeping myself in the fairway and out of trouble in effort to better my course management, whether that means going with a fairway wood or hybrid off the tee, a long iron, or even a mid iron just to set up my second shot. I started thinking about this at the Outing in Orlando a month ago, and trying to decide what factors must come in to play for me to decide which club to hit.

Lately it seems that any Par 4 under 400 yards, I have been going with my 3W or 5W depending on what distance I want my second shot to be from. During a round with the Florida THPers, a few of us were discussing course management and what makes us make certain decision. One hole in particular this came up on, and I had just hit 5W dead down the center of the fairway, leaving me a comfortable 9iron in to the pin. There was water all down the right side and I didnt want to risk flirting with my power fade and getting wet. The other two ripped driver down the fairway, well past my tee shot and made me instantly rethink my shot, even though I was in at a yardage that I knew that would work well for me. I played my next shot great, and ended up with a par. The two I was playing with ended up with a par and a bogey. The results of the hole reassured me of my decision, but still had me thinking about what leads me to make a decision on the tee.

So, I am curious to how you decide? Is it based purely off distance? Based of a hazard or water that needs to be laid up to or carried over? Or is it depending on how you are hitting driver that day?
 
Usually a combination of danger and distance. If I can hit a 5w and then have 7 iron or less in, I hit 5w most of time no matter the danger.
 
Golf Ghost said:
Usually a combination of danger and distance. If I can hit a 5w and then have 7 iron or less in, I hit 5w most of time no matter the danger.
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That's pretty much where I have been at as well. Get to 160 yards, and I feel that I have a good chance of getting it close. Obviously, it doesnt always happen as I draw it up, but that's where my thinking is.
 
Hole shape. Distance to trouble. wind. How well am I playing. And just overall distance.
 
War Eagle said:
That's pretty much where I have been at as well. Get to 160 yards, and I feel that I have a good chance of getting it close. Obviously, it doesnt always happen as I draw it up, but that's where my thinking is.
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I know what you mean, you know if you pull it off, it's going to give you the best opportunity to have a great second shoot. That's the main goal for me. I've come to the conclusion that driver can stay in the bag, put the ego aside.
 
What I hit off the tee is dictated by how well I am hitting my driver that day, and what danger lurks out there. If a 3w or 5w or even an iron allows me to avoid trouble and still have enough distance to reach the green with a short iron, I will go with what gives me the best scoring chance!
 
For me I once had a nice draw but that left years ago so I don't work the ball. The only time i take a hybrid or and iron off the tee is on a dog leg I always look at the gps and try and put it right in the middle. Or if there is a hole that I can't get comfortable on I break it into half. so if the hole is 370 I will go 6 iron 6 iron
 
There are holes on my course I almost always take fairway wood on and it's usually based on where I want to take my second shot from. I struggle with 'resorting' to something less than driver because when my driver swing is bad, my fairway wood swing isn't usually that great either. The results are almost always better though.
 
As inconsistent as I am from day to day, alot of it depends on what club I am hitting well. There are days when my driver is just on, and on those days I hit Driver unless it will put me into trouble. Other days another club might be working. On an average day, 370 and in and I am going 4 iron. I always like to be an 8 or 9 iron. 160 and in is an 8 iron for me so a 4 iron off the tee will put me in that distance comfortably. Between 370 and 400 will typically be a hybrid. Outside of that I will hit driver or 3W, depending on what I am hitting well. Some days it is all going so bad, I just hit Driver just in case something excellent happens.
 
I usually hit driver it is longer than 350. I really need to rethink my strategy as i'm far more consistent with my 4w.
 
Wake said:
As inconsistent as I am from day to day, alot of it depends on what club I am hitting well. There are days when my driver is just on, and on those days I hit Driver unless it will put me into trouble. Other days another club might be working. On an average day, 370 and in and I am going 4 iron. I always like to be an 8 or 9 iron. 160 and in is an 8 iron for me so a 4 iron off the tee will put me in that distance comfortably. Between 370 and 400 will typically be a hybrid. Outside of that I will hit driver or 3W, depending on what I am hitting well. Some days it is all going so bad, I just hit Driver just in case something excellent happens.
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Ive been there dude. Have had someone during a round say, it's a short hole, why are you hitting driver? My reply; "Why not?"
 
I'm with you WE. If its under 400 I like to hit something that will leave me 120-130 yards. That's either a comfortable PW or 9-iron. I'm not real comfortable playing tweener yards. I like going in with a full club. I'm trying to par every hole. If I can steal a birdie that's cool. But since I have been doing this I have seen a dramatic decrease in big numbers!
 
Danger is the #1 consider for me. A tight OB, water hazard either left or right and it's 4W everytime even on a par 5. The second consider is length to the end of the fairway. I've got a couple of wholes here even 240 ded straight can be too long.
 
Good topic War. For me, it's how I'm hitting driver on the day. I'll know after the first time I hit it whether or not I'm in trust mode or not. Well, I also like to assess where trouble is. The good thing is, I know I'm either straight or going to cut the ball, never draw/hook/pull it. That makes it easier to pull more often than not.
 
I am like most mediocre golfers. Always pull out the driver. It is entirely ego, and the guys I play with. They are always like "Why are you hitting 3 wood or hybrid?". I need to ignore them and think about putting myself in the best position, but I never do. Totally my fault.
 
I'll never forget having this conversation on the tee with TC and Biggsy. Lucas gives us this entire speech about what to hit, so biggsy and I both hit 3 woods off the tee. Next to tee up was the big mountain man and what do you think he hit? Thats right a driver. He just looks at us and says something along the lines of "3 wood is the smarter play, but I just love hitting the driver"
 
TC said:
Good topic War. For me, it's how I'm hitting driver on the day. I'll know after the first time I hit it whether or not I'm in trust mode or not. Well, I also like to assess where trouble is. The good thing is, I know I'm either straight or going to cut the ball, never draw/hook/pull it. That makes it easier to pull more often than not.
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Isn't that what the game is about? Managing your misses? It took me forever to realize driver 14 times a round just isn't the best play. I'm with you on this one. I know my miss with the driver is right. I have taught myself to hit driver only 6 times at my home course. The 4 par 5s and two of the longer par 4s
 
Depends on how I'm swinging that day. From the first hole I know if it's a good driver day or not. If it's a hole with not a lot of trouble, I'm probably pulling driver. If there's trouble, I'll take FW or Hybrid depending on what gets me to 150 yards or less. That being said, I'm pulling out driver less and less these days.
 
Good topic war. As you saw on Saturday I seldom pull anything less than driver, unless I'm throwing it all over the course. My logic is this, random numbers to make it easy: on a 400 yard par 4 if I hit my driver 250 vs my 3 wood 230 I'm left with 150 or 170 into the green.

That is a big difference for me, it could be a 7/8 iron compared to 6 iron/ hybrid. I feel much more confident with the shorter iron in my hand which goes back to another thread from long ago. My likelihood to make a mistake while still very possible is lessened by taking the shorter iron.

Now of course if a hole is designed in a way that forces a carry I will most likely go with less of the tee to take trouble out of play.

--
Tapatalk2
 
ddec said:
I'll never forget having this conversation on the tee with TC and Biggsy. Lucas gives us this entire speech about what to hit, so biggsy and I both hit 3 woods off the tee. Next to tee up was the big mountain man and what do you think he hit? Thats right a driver. He just looks at us and says something along the lines of "3 wood is the smarter play, but I just love hitting the driver"
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hahaha, I don't remember that. I'm sure I screwed myself too.
 
Big picture, I decide where I want to be for my second shot and decide based on that (my home course has a lot of doglegs-most single digit cappers only hit driver on 6-8 holes max; 5 holes if you hit farther than 180 your landing zone is only about 15 yards or you're in trees). However, on those holes where driver is called for, I always hit driver if I'm hitting it reasonably well. If I am confident I'll be able to have a shot at the green (i.e. not snap hooking half my shots, which is my big miss), I'll hit driver. Of course, I hit 3w off the tee 3 times at my tourney on Sunday b/c I've been driving terrible and put 3 shots into dead spots. So it doesn't always work.
 
TC said:
hahaha, I don't remember that. I'm sure I screwed myself too.
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It was during that round we played at PGA national. I bet you smoked that drive. But since I don't remember I'll just say that you did
 
TC said:
Good topic War. For me, it's how I'm hitting driver on the day. I'll know after the first time I hit it whether or not I'm in trust mode or not. Well, I also like to assess where trouble is. The good thing is, I know I'm either straight or going to cut the ball, never draw/hook/pull it. That makes it easier to pull more often than not.
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This is something that I have been trying to work on as well. In the past, it's Driver on every hole, whether I am hitting it well or not. Lately, I have been good about putting it in the bag and just working with what I am hitting well. I have had days where I have scored much better, basically because I have just gone with the 3W from the tee and hit fairways and give myself a decent second shot.
 
War Eagle said:
This is something that I have been trying to work on as well. In the past, it's Driver on every hole, whether I am hitting it well or not. Lately, I have been good about putting it in the bag and just working with what I am hitting well. I have had days where I have scored much better, basically because I have just gone with the 3W from the tee and hit fairways and give myself a decent second shot.
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Don't remember where I read this on THP but it was a while back, and it was the most helpful thing thats happened to my golf game in 10 years. Play to 150 yards. I know that for me, 150 yards is an easy 8 iron every single time. And I feel very comfortable hitting that shot into any green. So lately off the tee I've been playing whatever club will get me closest to 150 yards. If its driver, hybrid, or 5 iron - thats probably what I'm going to hit. Helped drop my scores immensely.
 
ddec said:
I'll never forget having this conversation on the tee with TC and Biggsy. Lucas gives us this entire speech about what to hit, so biggsy and I both hit 3 woods off the tee. Next to tee up was the big mountain man and what do you think he hit? Thats right a driver. He just looks at us and says something along the lines of "3 wood is the smarter play, but I just love hitting the driver"
Click to expand...
Similar situation as this past Saturday. Im sitting there talking about course management, and then smoke my 5W about 225ish off the tee and I am all excited. Freddie and SW step up with driver and just blow it past me. Im sitting on the tee holding my 5W looking at them like, wth? Here we were talking about course management and they go and bomb out on driver. Freddie looked at me, and I will quote him here, "Im just htting my driver good though, bro."
 
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