We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Does Drive for Show and Putt for Dough really hold true today?

If "putt for dough" means that you're putting for birdie or reasonably-distanced pars on most holes, I agree with the statement. If, however, "putt for dough" simply means that you're a great putter, than I might disagree. As previously stated, a great drive will put you in position to hit more greens in regulation, and the resulting putt for a birdie or par. If, on the other hand, you're not on the green in regulation, and consistently face long putts to save pars and bogeys, the game might not be as rewarding.
 
fuffle master;n8883597 said:
I could spare just about every frame, but it's the strikes that will get you over 200. ;)
Click to expand...

It's not always about getting to 200. :) Over the course of a tournament, missing spares will most certainly be a reason why one does not make a cut.
 
Not really because distance is so important in today's game. IMO, its more like, "drive for dough, putt for more dough."
 
Badger_Golfer;n8883668 said:
Not really because distance is so important in today's game.."
Click to expand...

Do you mean Pro Tour golf or amateur golf?
On the pro tours all players are long because the equipment makes it so.
For amateur golf a 220 yard tee ball is enough length to shoot 72.
 
Most of us amateurs can eliminate the drive for show part by moving forward a set of tees or two. That leaves putt for dough, and I'd choose that personally. However, both are pretty important. If you aspire to low-handicap or scratch golf from longer tees, it is way easier to be hitting PW into a Par 4 than 7i, and that clubbing difference might result from just 10 mph of clubhead speed.
 
Happened to me today. Hit most every fairway and nearly all greens. Stuck my approach shots to I kid you not like 10' proximity to the hole for the entire round. Some closer, some further. However, I could not make a damn putt if my life depended on it. The ball wasn't even sniffing the hole. It wasn't even coming close. It was embarrassing to say the least. Ended up shooting even at TPC Scottsdale Champion course. +1 on front and -1 on back. I should have been -7 or so.
 
DG_1234;n8883759 said:
Do you mean Pro Tour golf or amateur golf?
On the pro tours all players are long because the equipment makes it so.
For amateur golf a 220 yard tee ball is enough length to shoot 72.
Click to expand...

I disagree hitting 220 off the Tee is long enough to shoot 72 unless you have an incredible long iron and short game.

I hit just above that distance (230-240) and you find yourself 180-200 out on many par 4s. Plus any par 3 over 175 and you are looking at long iron/hybrid/wood. Yes, par 5 can be reachable and shorter 4 and 3s, but overall if playing from 6300 yards you are generally not hitting 72 if only reaching 220 off the tee.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Driving for me for sure.

Putting is something I have always been pretty good at - so as long as my putting game doesn't drop as a result of the trade-off.
 
I recently played a pro-am Texas scramble. You take the best tee shot out of your 4-some and then Every one plays their own ball from there. The pro was very long and put us in position on every hole. I made 8 birdies that day. Most of the time I make 1-3 per round. Long drives down the middle make putting for dough easier. I will take long drive all day long.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
This is what i think this very old quote means:

Hitting a good drive doesn't guarantee you a good score (par, birdie) on a given hole; you still have to get the ball into the cup. So in that sense driving is for show.
If you are a lights out putter, making "everything you look at" - whether for par or birdie - you can guarantee yourself a good score on a given hole. Putting is for dough in that sense.
 
fuffle master;n8883776 said:
I disagree hitting 220 off the Tee is long enough to shoot 72 unless you have an incredible long iron and short game.

I hit just above that distance (230-240) and you find yourself 180-200 out on many par 4s. Plus any par 3 over 175 and you are looking at long iron/hybrid/wood. Yes, par 5 can be reachable and shorter 4 and 3s, but overall if playing from 6300 yards you are generally not hitting 72 if only reaching 220 off the tee.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Hit it straight and sharpen the short game you can shoot below 72 hitting 230-240 yard tee balls.
 
DG_1234;n8883759 said:
Do you mean Pro Tour golf or amateur golf?
On the pro tours all players are long because the equipment makes it so.
For amateur golf a 220 yard tee ball is enough length to shoot 72.
Click to expand...
Both, really. More distance makes the game easier because you are hitting wedges and short irons into greens instead or mid irons, hybrids or fairway woods.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
I don't think they are mutually exclusive, but from my own experience, the older I get, the closer I am to the ball after I drive it.
But...the putter has become quite the weapon for me and my overall scores are lower.
 
The fact that so many really good players (and even some of the best ever) can't agree tells me both driving and putting are very close to being equally important.

In my world, there's such a need for improvement at everything that the putting vs driver vs irons vs short game vs mental game vs course management debates become non-issues. It's fun to talk about, but as far as applying it to a practice plan.....
 
Drumdog;n8883930 said:
I don't think they are mutually exclusive, but from my own experience, the older I get, the closer I am to the ball after I drive it.
But...the putter has become quite the weapon for me and my overall scores are lower.
Click to expand...

Agree they are not mutually exclusive. However, I could argue that driving and distance is much more influential in your score then putting. Yet, everyone looks at their putting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
you know where that old saying comes from? And fwiw so does the ideology that short game and putting are somehow most important over all else?

Those ideologies come from watching pros play. But what it always fails to notice.....is that we are talking about players who already have it as a given that thay have no issue getting from the tees to the greens in a gir amount of strokes at all, and are on most, and are also very close on most the ones that they miss. You see....anyone on the pro level who is not consistently doing that is simply not on tour nor a pro. They wouldn't be good enough even if they possessed the best short and putting skills. So in that sense,,,,the saying can hold true but its they (and I mean "only" they as in tour pros) as for where it can be viewed that way because they are all in the same ballpark as for being great getting from tee to green. That part is a given and so it by default only then makes the other become the greater good to posses but that's between them (great players).

But out in our amateur world (for most of us who play this game) this is simply just not the case. I mean just show me anyone who is too often sitting even just 3 and still not on most greens yet, and ill show you someone who will have trouble consistently breaking 90. The math, regardless how great they putt just doesn't add up. Its not possible. Not even to mention sitting 4 or more. Getting off tees efficiently as possible needs to be done without penalty and without having to recover on a constant basis in order to begin to have a chance at scoring. That's step one and the better step one is the better chance at being in better position for step two becomes. And that leads to hitting more greens or being closer to the ones you miss. Putting is not less important but the dough (even in our world which just means playing well) is a product of "everything" we do from tee till holed.
 
Not really, to me though the driver and putter are the most important clubs in the bag. If I am driving it well, I will have a decent round. If I am putting it well I will also have a decent round. If I do both well it could be a career low round.
 
JonMA1;n8883931 said:
The fact that so many really good players (and even some of the best ever) can't agree tells me both driving and putting are very close to being equally important.

In my world, there's such a need for improvement at everything that the putting vs driver vs irons vs short game vs mental game vs course management debates become non-issues. It's fun to talk about, but as far as applying it to a practice plan.....
Click to expand...

I agree completely!

I’ve read a couple of times where driving distance determines potential. That, in my opinion is total crap. An individuals potential is determined by his/her ability to execute their entire game, from first tee to the 18th cup.
Im 64 and also drive the ball 220 on average. I normally play the senior tees on my home course @5,600. And I normally score +1 to +6.
Yesterday I decided to test what I could do on the blues, @6,600. Long story short, I shot 77. 11 fairways, 5 GIR, 25 putts. Chipped like I was possessed. Where I couldn’t reach a green, I played short in the fairway. That round taught me a lot.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I shot a 40 the other day and drove it horribly. But I putted extremely well. I can’t remember the last time I drove it well and putted horribly but still scored well.
 
I'm going with Putting....driving would be great, but putting well produces good scoring...normally.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
rollin;n8883978 said:
. Getting off tees efficiently as possible needs to be done without penalty and without having to recover on a constant basis in order to begin to have a chance at scoring.
Click to expand...

This is why driver is ridiculously overrated. Playing consistently straight tee shots is a big help to lower scoring, which means a lot of players would score lower if they left driver at home.
 
I'm obsessed with the long ball but in reality, I need to be a better putter. I'm firmly in the putt for dough camp.
 
Misike;n8884109 said:
I can’t remember the last time I drove it well and putted horribly but still scored well.
Click to expand...

You can't remember it because it never happened.
Nobody has ever scored well putting poorly.
Millions of people have driven it well all day long but do not shoot low scores.
 
Yeah that statement is about as far off from reality as you can be at least when it comes to decent players. (first post haven't read thread yet.
 
DG_1234;n8884138 said:
You can't remember it because it never happened.
Nobody has ever scored well putting poorly.
Millions of people have driven it well all day long but do not shoot low scores.
Click to expand...

The same goes for poor driving. No amount of 1 putts will save a round full of OB drives and penalty strokes off the tee.

The statement isn’t about extremes though. It’s about what’s more important of the two. Amateurs rarely make “dough” playing golf. Of the players that do, strokes gained says driving is more important.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top