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What's more important?

For me it's definitely Tee shot. My misses with my approach shots aren't nearly as penal as my misses off the tee (usually my driver 3 Wood). Penalty strokes are a KILLER!
 
I agree with this to. Was going to say the samething. The Tee Shot is where it begins and well if you don't get it right there it's not going to end well.
troyefl said:
I would think tee shot. Nothing worse than not getting off the tee and assessing a penalty stroke. Yes, your approach shot needs to be on the green to score well, but getting into trouble off the tee wont leave you a clear shot to any green.
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ArmyGolf said:
Well, I think the only correct answer here is the approach shot. I can only assume that a "good approach shot" is one which finds the green.

A good approach can save an awful drive, but the opposite cannot be said. At the end of the day being on the green in the correct amount of shots for a GIR is all that matters.
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I agree with this Army. You see quite often guys win tournaments who have high GIR's or proximity to the hole, but driving appears to be less important for the majority of tournaments.
 
For me, I play my best golf when I am playing well from the tee. I prefer, if I need to, to scramble from 50 yards and in. It makes for a frustrating day from having to start scrambling from 150+ yards.
 
I'd say the approach shot, you have to get it close to the hole if you are going to score well. Yes I understand you need your tee shot in play and in good position, but there are times even if you put your drive in a bad spot you can save yourself with a good approach shot. If you're approach shot doesn't hit the green your chances of scoring well drop dramatically.
 
Depends on the hole for me really.

Sometimes it is the tee shot (being where I lose most of my penalty strokes due to Out of Bounds/Lost Balls).

Sometimes the approach shot (being 50 feet from a pin isn't nearly as good as being 10 or 15 ft away from a pin...)
 
I think ole Tigger himself proved you can spray the ball all over the cow pasture and still win so I vote for the approach shot.
 
This is an interesting question. It used to always be the tee shot for me. I thought, if I hit a great drive then that will boost my confidence and give me a better chance at good shots for the entire hole. But then I thought about the short game being the 'great equalizer' and now that has me thinking the approach shot is more important.
 
For me a solid tee ball is more impotant. Like it has been said earlier in the thread nothing worse than throwing away shots punching out, taking a drop or having to re tee. Put me in or around the fairway and that just sets me up to finish the hole strong
 
There's a little bit of a "chicken v. egg" discussion here.

I think most would say the approach is more important, because it gives you a better chance at scoring if you hit a good approach shot. But, the approach shot is usually set up by the drive. A drive in the fairway gives you a better chance at a good approach. A drive out of bounds or into a hazard generally leads to a bad score.

If I'm being asked which shot is more important for scoring, I'll say the approach shot. But, if I'm being asked to choose one over the other, I'll choose the tee shot. If I hit great tee shots and a lot of poor approach shots, I still think that I end up with a better score than great approach shots and poor tee shots.
 
Tee shot. Cause alot of times the tee shot could put you in a bad spot like trees or water
 
GolferGal said:
This is an interesting question. It used to always be the tee shot for me. I thought, if I hit a great drive then that will boost my confidence and give me a better chance at good shots for the entire hole. But then I thought about the short game being the 'great equalizer' and now that has me thinking the approach shot is more important.
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Morgan stole my response. The better I get, the more important I see the approach shot being. I feel that I am now good enough to get out of trouble off the tee. But where I really score and go low is on those 100 yards and in shots.
 
ATLGolfer said:
There's a little bit of a "chicken v. egg" discussion here.

I think most would say the approach is more important, because it gives you a better chance at scoring if you hit a good approach shot. But, the approach shot is usually set up by the drive. A drive in the fairway gives you a better chance at a good approach. A drive out of bounds or into a hazard generally leads to a bad score.

If I'm being asked which shot is more important for scoring, I'll say the approach shot. But, if I'm being asked to choose one over the other, I'll choose the tee shot. If I hit great tee shots and a lot of poor approach shots, I still think that I end up with a better score than great approach shots and poor tee shots.
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To use your chicken/egg analogy, I think I would have to go with the tee shot. It is hard to hit a solid approach shot if you are in the trees or a pond, etc.
 
For me its the tee shot. Its difficult to hit a good approach shot from the middle of the woods, very heavy rough, or out of bounds.
 
I find them equally important. If my first two shots are solid that usually means birdie or at worst par. I will take that everytime.
 
mancest said:
To use your chicken/egg analogy, I think I would have to go with the tee shot. It is hard to hit a solid approach shot if you are in the trees or a pond, etc.
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I don't know man because I have become pretty good over the years hitting shots out of the woods and stuff. :D Expectations are less and I usually put a really good move on the ball and hit some shots that amaze myself.
 
Whatever shot I am about to play.
 
There was a thread of similar topic a while back that got kind of heated between the two sides, regarding what would you rather have a perfect tee shot or a perfect shot in to the green.

It's hard to say, but they are equally important. If I can hit a great tee shot, but never sniff the green, what good is it?

If I can hit the green from anywhere on the course because my iron game is so strong, does it matter where I am off the tee?

The two go hand in hand.
 
My opinion is that the closer you are to the pin, the more important the shot is. I know this expands on the question from the OP, but even a perfect Tee Shot and Apporach can still lead to a 3 putt and negate both fantastic shots to get to the green.
 
Drive for show, putt for dough.

Approach shot it is, how many times have we been center cut only to wonder how that double or triple happened!!
 
Since the OP never said anything about being out of bounds I would have to say 100% the approach shot for me is most important. If I put a ball in a fairway bunker say I could still get the ball to the green with a good approach shot and still have a shot at birdie but if I put my second shot into a greenside bunker I need to hole out for birdie. I use golf logix on my phone to keep stats and at the end of the round I look at my scores and can say my rounds are always better when my GIR are higher than my FIR.
 
I have had poor driving days and still scored, I have had fewer poor approach shot days and still scored so I am going to have to vote for approach shots. The more GIRs usually the better the score. Neither is an exact science but these observations seem to hold true for me.
 
It's approach for me. Last season I was pretty good at finding the fairway, but wasted a lot of strokes getting to the green. Some times my short game would save me, but it was tough to rely on all the time. When I did stick approach shots, my score went down a lot.


Taps away
 
Golf Ghost said:
I agree with this Army. You see quite often guys win tournaments who have high GIR's or proximity to the hole, but driving appears to be less important for the majority of tournaments.
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But we aren't talking about the pros. Everyday golfers need to set the table . Proximity to hole doesn't even come into play
 
I'm inclined to say the approach is more important, but that it largely depends on the course. The rough on my home course is not particularly penal, so a drive that ends up off the fairway is not such a big deal. The greens, though, are fast and generally sloping, so getting close on approaches is huge.

Have been to other courses that are much meaner off the tee and have more receptive greens (bigger backstops, less undulation) where the drive is much more important.
 
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