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What's more important?

I think it's a tough call. I think most are saying tee shot because typically misses off the tee are usually more dramatic and misses into the green are often "close enough" to have a clear shot to get up and down. That is often the case for me, so I think I'd say the tee shot, but if the approach is a huge miss for someone, then I could understand that being their answer. I think in general more struggle with the tee shot though.
 
Tadashi70 said:
But we aren't talking about the pros. Everyday golfers need to set the table . Proximity to hole doesn't even come into play
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It was never stated originally if we were talking about pros or amateurs. Either which way though, I think both works.

If drive poorly, obviously its going make hitting the green harder. That second shot though gives you a chance to putt or puts you in an awful position to get up and down. Even if you don't hit the green, I believe that the second shot holds more importance. If it goes poorly, there's a chance you may be making a very high number. If it goes well, you're putting for birdie and giving yourself a decent shot at a two putt par.

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Depends on how bad the tee shot is and how much trouble is around the green. Most people don't hit a ton of greens anyway.
 
Trout Bum said:
What's more important the tee shot or the approach shot?

Why?
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Definitely the approach. If I hit 100% FIR, I may still shoot 80. If I hit 100% GIR, ill be par or better

sent without the boss's knowledge...
 
For me mentally it's the tee shot, if I am hitting my tee ball well the rest of the game just follows. But I am sure stats will say approach shot, because as pointed out you could drive it all over the place but knock your approach shot close and the bad tee ball is forgotten
 
jitzy said:
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.
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The second part is where I differ as I can scramble for par if I miss the green and my stats reflect it and at worse I'm bogey.

I don't miss the fairway by a little or loose a little distance on a bad tee shot I'm in some serious trouble when I miss off the tee and am then playing for at least bogey.
 
For my game it's the tee shot. It sets up the hole & my ability to score. If I'm punching out, recovering from OB tee shots, etc. my 2nd & 3rd shots are trying to get me into position to minimize the damage.
 
Approach, 100%. Getting on the green is what matters. You can definitely ruin your chances with a bad tee ball, but even if you hit a perfect one, you still have to execute on the approach.
 
NoLine said:
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!!
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How many times have you been hitting three (or five) off the tee? Or been in jail off the tee and have to chip back out to the fairway? You don't have to wonder how that horrible score happened then!
 
Missing the green still leaves opportunity to get up and down to save par. If you start the hole in trouble it will take a great, much more difficult, 2nd shot to be in position to save par. Set the table and then knock it as close as possible. Chipping out from a bad tee shot then having a approach shot is not the strategy I want.
 
Golf Ghost said:
It was never stated originally if we were talking about pros or amateurs. Either which way though, I think both works.

If drive poorly, obviously its going make hitting the green harder. That second shot though gives you a chance to putt or puts you in an awful position to get up and down. Even if you don't hit the green, I believe that the second shot holds more importance. If it goes poorly, there's a chance you may be making a very high number. If it goes well, you're putting for birdie and giving yourself a decent shot at a two putt par.

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First of all it's has to be assumed we are talking about amateurs and not pros. This a forum filled with amateurs and it was what was more important to you.

Secondly if you hit in the hazard, on, duff it off the tee the second shot doesn't matter as you are now scrambling to make as low of a score as possible. All while the bad swing sits in the back of your mind or the looming Double bogie. But that just me especially since the ball is in a tee and it easier or should be easier then an unpredictable lie on your second shot.
 
Smallville said:
How many times have you been hitting three (or five) off the tee? Or been in jail off the tee and have to chip back out to the fairway? You don't have to wonder how that horrible score happened then!
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Fortunately that's not my miss!
 
Tadashi70 said:
First of all it's has to be assumed we are talking about amateurs and not pros. This a forum filled with amateurs and it was what was more important to you.

Secondly if you hit in the hazard, on, duff it off the tee the second shot doesn't matter as you are now scrambling to make as low of a score as possible. All while the bad swing sits in the back of your mind or the looming Double bogie. But that just me especially since the ball is in a tee and it easier or should be easier then an unpredictable lie on your second shot.
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Think one thing we can both agree on is that both is important.

To me, I've just seen myself drive the ball poorly and still shoot well. Never have I driven the ball well and play my irons and wedges poorly, but still scored well.

I still don't see anything wrong with relating it to the pro's game and proximity to the hole, but that's just how I look it at.
 
My gut instinct was to say tee shot. As has been said you can rule yourself out of a hole with a poor tee shot, but a poor approach may not be so costly.
All depends on the scenario.

Is your approach shot giving you a shot at GIR? Is it an attempt to get down in two to save a score? These factors are most likely determined by how good the tee shot was....so that was why I was thinking tee.

But then I started thinking about my golf game, and where I drop my shots. Up until two rounds ago it was within 50 yards of the green. I would miss a few fairways, and one maybe two a round would cost me shots or put me in very poor position. But duffed short/approach shots were costing me plenty. It is no exaggeration to say that I was dropping anywahere around10 shots per round. I have had a short game lesson and this has actually been used to improve all aspects of my play, and in y last two rounds I have not hit a poor chip/pitch.

So in my own game the approach was far more costly to my score, ergo it is the most important to me at the moment.
 
I cannot put more importance on either shot.
If you can't get off the tee with a reasonable shot, then you have to rely on great approach shots.
If you can't hit an approach shot from any distance, then you have to rely on big drives.
Therefore, to me, they are equally important.
 
For me , at my current level (or lack thereof) of game I would say the Tee, simply because a good tee shot sets me up mentally to not be wondering what went awry etc on my way to my approach shot. Also not having to try and be creative on the approach shot helps me as well.
I tend to have more confidence on my approach shots as well just feel more comfortable for some reason.
 
Depends how bad the tee shot is. If it is playable then I would say the approach shot is the important shot. A good tee shot is the start to every hole though and then you can think about the next shot.
 
good tee shot, sets the table for everything else. i rarely run into lost ball or OOB issues on approach shots...can't say the same about tee shots
 
For me, the tee shot is more important, it sets up the rest of the hole and allows me an easier approach shot.
 
Getting off the tee box with a nice drive sets up my confidence for the rest of the hole.
 
In my opinion, approach shot. First, I think after a bad tee shot, there's usually an opportunity to get back into play and make part. Also, I think there's usually more trouble that you can get into on your approach shot (bunkers, water, etc...) whereas with a tee shot, you can be in the rough, fairway or whatever, but usually have a chance to get back into play so you can get your next shot to the green.
 
In my game, the tee shot is more important.
- It sets up the approach on par 4 holes
- Determines whether I can attack or have to lay back on par 5 holes
- Determines whether I'm putting or not on par 3 holes
- it is the one that has the greatest potential to cost me a bunch of strokes due to penalties from hazards & OB or bad lies in the rough/trees/bunkers

That said, a really good scoring day has to include hitting a fair number of greens in reg. I can kill a round off the tee but I have to hit greens to score low.

That's the great thing about golf, as soon as one part of your game comes around there's always something else to improve whether it's your approach game, short game, putting or mental game. What a sport!
 
I'd say a tee shot for me. There's a much larger probability of me getting myself into serious trouble or a penalty of the tee. Good tee shots lead to better approach shots right now for me. If I'm in the crap or hitting 3 from the tee, I've already hurt myself enough that a great approach shot may not be enough to card a decent score.
 
Depends on the hole. I play a few holes where you can miss the fairway and still have a good shot at a GIR while some others are set up where you must be in the fairway. For me, hitting fairway's and GIR go hand in hand.
 
For me, it's the tee shot. If I can keep it in play even if I'm in the rough it leads to better scores. A bad tee shot just sets up for a rough hole. Even if I scramble to save the hole, the bad tee shot just makes the rest of the hole more difficult.
 
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