When do you hit your driver?

General rule of thumb is Driver on any hole more than 400 yds. Obviously if there is trouble or something that warrants me to deviate I will do so.
 
Every time I can. So every par 4/5 and heck I've even played it on a couple par 3s. I'm not an incredibly long hitter but I'm pretty accurate with the driver.
 
I used to pull driver on every hole regardless of yardage or logical play. Now my game allows for fairway woods and long irons off the tee. #deadlycombination
 
I used to pull driver on every hole regardless of yardage or logical play. Now my game allows for fairway woods and long irons off the tee. #deadlycombination

Is it because you are more accurate with he others vs your driver?
 
Is it because you are more accurate with he others vs your driver?

I think it came down to when hitting the driver on a 385 yard par 4. Did hitting the ball 250 vs pulling 3w and leaving myself 150 in better than trying to hit it 25 yards further. Accuracy also played a factor.

Smarter golf = less blow up holes
 
I haven't quite come up with a distance threshold for pulling driver or not. I am being smarter about it more often though. If I can put myself at 150 or less in with 4H or 3W I'm trying to be smarter and go with those and put myself where I've got an approach I know I'm comfortable with.
 
I will hit driver on most holes because I know that I will get a slight fade a majority of the time, but I am not against hitting something else if the situation calls for it.
 
I think it came down to when hitting the driver on a 385 yard par 4. Did hitting the ball 250 vs pulling 3w and leaving myself 150 in better than trying to hit it 25 yards further. Accuracy also played a factor.

Smarter golf = less blow up holes

Oh, I agree dude. Smarter golf helped me drop my handicap to where it is, that plus solid wedge play.

On short par 4s, like you mentioned above, driver doesn't make sense for a lot of people.
 
Oh, I agree dude. Smarter golf helped me drop my handicap to where it is, that plus solid wedge play.

On short par 4s, like you mentioned above, driver doesn't make sense for a lot of people.

But 80-90% of mid handicap golfer's pull the driver, either leaving themselves in bad positions or with an unfamiliar club in their hands for approach shots.
 
But 80-90% of mid handicap golfer's pull the driver, either leaving themselves in bad positions or with an unfamiliar club in their hands for approach shots.

Agreed.

I found myself in that position all too often, so I sharpened the short game.

My goal every time is to be as close to the 150 marker. I don't have internet distance, so more often than not my driver is needed. Banging driver in every hole is rarely a good idea, but for me, my focus on every shot is to set myself up for the next one. Preventing the big number is key.... Which is why inlaid up on my 2nd shot on #17 during the third round of the Morgan cup last year and sealed the win.
 
I will pull driver as long as it wont get me into less than 100 yds, and cannot reach any hazards or doglegs distance wise. Typically hit driver 4 to 5 times per round. I did hit driver 8 times today though
 
If its a wide fairway or there isnt much of a penalty for a miss (rough isnt too thick or deep, no water and not many trees); I'll roll the dice and hit driver every time. When there isnt much of a penalty, why not take the risk?
 
I am very very accurate with my driver and it's my best club so I find myself hitting it 90% of the time on par 4 and 5's. Looking at it from a strategic standpoint, I think it is the right decision because of how accurate I am with it. On off days when the driver is being not so friendly I will usually hit 3 wood or 4 iron.


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At my age (52), you driver on all par 5's and most par 4's. The only time I'll hit a wood off the tee now, is on par 4's where I want to lay up to a number.
 
I would like to say that I try not to grab the driver when a hole is playing under 400yds. But I do occasionally still pull it out. It really depends on the hole layout.
 
Unless the hole is extremely tight or there is a hazard at 260 or less I will hit driver.

I need all the distance I can get and I can miss just as badly with a driver or a hybrid off the tee.
 
I'm with Cookie, I'll hit it as often as I can and the only time I don't hit it is when I can drive through the fairway which isn't very often lol.

#shortknocker
 
I'm with Cookie, I'll hit it as often as I can and the only time I don't hit it is when I can drive through the fairway which isn't very often lol.

#shortknocker

You're so full of it Marc.

I will hit driver every chance I get. It is the most consistent club in my bag usually. On the rare occasions when it is too much club, I'll just choke up an inch for every 10 yards shorter I want to hit it.
 
I try to think about more of the number I want on my second shot versus getting the most distance off my drive. Watching the PGA tour players, they don't always pull driver either, it is more about course management and distance they want on the second shot (I get that they are far better than most of us but the point still stands). I used to use driver all the time but as I have gotten better I find myself using it less. The problem I see sometimes, and this can contribute to length of play, is that far too many people try to go for the "big drive" cutting the over the dog leg and they end up going in the trees or hazard, look for their ball for 5 minutes, and slow down the rest of the course. This is of course based on ability as well. Some people can cut the dog leg and leave themselves in perfect shape and that is perfectly fine, I am more referring to the people that no way in hell will make the cut. That crap drives me crazy and I just want to go up to them and say "Please play smart, you are not going to reach that with a driver!" These are people I have seen do the same thing over and over and it never works.
 
I'm not very good at golf yet and take satisfaction from good shots at the moment rather than great rounds, I can't hit my irons very well yet but inside 100 yards I put in some solid work.

My driver is my best club in the bag so I hit it more often than I should but the alternative of laying up leaves me in anxious territory with irons I'm not comfortable with.


On my local course the 12th is a 90 degree right turn dogleg where you'd hit to around 200 yards, leaving around 180 or so in to the green, it was 313 to the middle of the green the other day over trees and I decided to let rip at it, I finished just short of the green with a chip on and 2 putt for par.


That drive makes me want to hit my irons better and improve my tactical aspect of the game and I'm practicing my irons with a bucket of balls each night and seeing improvement but if it wasn't for my driver I'm not sure if have the patience to try and get good at this stuff!!


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I pull drive on almost every par 4 & 5. I'll go with something else is there's a carry required that seems unreasonable or trouble that is better avoided by laying up.
 
If the tee box is more than 200 yards from the green, I'm reaching for my driver... unless there's a hazard in the way I'll have to carry or avoid. In that case I'll make a shorter shot and try to avoid the hazard with my second shot.
 
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