over shooting a hole

[snafu]

i just has a debate with @PatsFan the other day about over shooting the hole. We played a 240 yard par 4 and i whipped out thd driver and over shot the hole in to a little rough in the back oc the green. By about 20 yards. short chip and eagled the hole. Question is is it better to undershoot the hole and deal with sand traps and bunkers or let it rip

 

[GoldenBuff]

Depends on the hole. My primary local course has raised greens and typically the backside is a bad place to go. Those are nearly all blind chips back up to a green that slopes away. Our greens have helped me become proficient with a 60* PM wedge. I try to think about missing where I can have the best chance for up and down. That can be all around the green depending on the hole.

 

[Gyro25]

I'd agree with goldenbuff, if you know the course, even if you end up off the green but have lots of room to chip it close I'd aim for that shot

 

[snafu]

Depends on the hole. My primary local course has raised greens and typically the backside is a bad place to go. Those are nearly all blind chips back up to a green that slopes away. Our greens have helped me become proficient with a 60* PM wedge. I try to think about missing where I can have the best chance for up and down. That can be all around the green depending on the hole.

our talk was more on if the holes 240 dont use a 240 yard club lol i said to him im mot im ising my 260 and chocking down lol but in all seriousness i was trying to eagle it

 

[snafu]

my phone has spelling issues

 

[PatsFan]

i just has a debate with @PatsFan the other day about over shooting the hole. We played a 240 yard par 4 and i whipped out thd driver and over shot the hole in to a little rough in the back oc the green. By about 20 yards. short chip and eagled the hole. Question is is it better to undershoot the hole and deal with sand traps and bunkers or let it rip

My argument was to hit 3w. If your 240 to the hole and your can hit your driver 300 your hitting the wrong club.

@snafu just because you made the recovery shot doesn't mean the 1st shot was the correct play. Your 3w might be on and your putting for eagle.

Course management is where i think most amateurs give up strokes.
Trying to hit a shot that they can only pull off 1 out of 10 times instead of just taking the medicine.

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[Golf Ghost]

I mean this is a very course and shot dependent scenario. Know the hole and know the miss, sometimes long is better, sometimes short, left or right is better. A lot of variables here.

 

[GolfTravelDude]

Most courses....not all.... are designed so that up and downs from short are easier than from long. Most greens are sloped back to front......There is one course which is prominent that this is not the case....And One Tiger Woods used his knowledge of this to almost lap the field...…..The Old Course of St Andrews. He intentionally hit over the par 5's in two based on the easier up/downs.

 

[baylrballa]

most greens I'm used to tend to slope back to front which alone makes this chipping more difficult.

 

[ddstanford]

Most courses....not all.... are designed so that up and downs from short are easier than from long. Most greens are sloped back to front......There is one course which is prominent that this is not the case....And One Tiger Woods used his knowledge of this to almost lap the field...…..The Old Course of St Andrews. He intentionally hit over the par 5's in two based on the easier up/downs.

Exactly how it is at my course, over is dead and short gives you an uphill shot, normally.

 

[tahoebum]

At the courses where I play most of my rounds, long by 15 yards is mostly a lost ball or an impossible up and down on a majority of the holes. At my home course, on many of the greens a two putt is a victory if you are putting from even 10 feet above the hole.

 

[wubears71]

Most courses I play do not forget overshooting the green. Even if it doesn’t go into the crap, the green is probably running back to front and keeping it near the pin on the chip is very hard.

 

[fairwaynut]

Like what has already been mentioned. Depends on what's around the green whether I would overdrive the green. And how much you can get into.

 

[Snickerdog]

Course management is the key here IMO. Do you know for sure you could get away with being long? Most holes on my course you cannot get away with it, yes you may have a few yards behind the green to play with, but the chips back will be brutal to stop a ball anywhere near the hole.
I would rather be short and looking at the pin with an easier chip or even in the bunker on my course.

 

[snafu]

At the courses where I play most of my rounds, long by 15 yards is mostly a lost ball or an impossible up and down on a majority of the holes. At my home course, on many of the greens a two putt is a victory if you are putting from even 10 feet above the hole.

thanks for all the replys I think you guy lost me the discussion and pointed out all the postitives and negatives in both. I have to give @PatsFan the win on this one.

 

[Raiderboost]

I think in this scenario it depends on a few things. Is there trouble long? Is the green severely slopped back to front? Is a 240 3w a flushed shot with a chance to come up short in the bunkers? How hard are the bunkers to play from and how is your bunker game? If the first 2 are no then I don't think trying to lay off a driver and going long is a bad play. I can't hit a 3w that well so trying to hit a high soft driver would probably be a safer option for me.

 

[PatsFan]

My whole point to @snafu was that the distance to the pin is not necessarily the number you want to hit!

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[Drumdog]

It's really a personal preference decision on "going for it" or not.
Sometimes I feel like hitting driver and sometimes I choose a shorter club to get to that comfortable iron distance.

 

[CBaker]

Where are these 240y par 4's? haha

Also, did you chip up and hole out? So many questions...

in terms of the question originally posed, it really is course dependent. A lot of courses I have played, long is potentially disastrous with either water, or steep drop offs. But, if it's 240 out I'm probably trying to hit a 230 club since I don't get a lot of roll, and that would be a 5 wood for me. Once we start getting down to irons I hit for exact length because I have high spin and a steep descent angle, so I can pin hunt most greens.

 

[BlueHen2006]

Most courses around me have a steep hill on the back of the green, anything over usually shoots deep into the woods. When forced to choose, I would rather me short than long on most holes.

 

[OldandStiff]

On my home course there are 5 of 18 holes that aren't pure death if you go long. That tends to hold true elsewhere, so most of the time shorter is safer.

If you're playing the exception and not the rule, let it rip.

 

[MNMarc]

It all depends on the dangers of a particular hole for me. At 240, I can probably get there with a hybrid or 3 wood depending on the days conditions. I’m pretty accurate from 100-120 so maybe I just hit a short iron to that distance. Play your game to what you’re most comfortable with!

 

[chile]

i just has a debate with @PatsFan the other day about over shooting the hole. We played a 240 yard par 4 and i whipped out thd driver and over shot the hole in to a little rough in the back oc the green. By about 20 yards. short chip and eagled the hole. Question is is it better to undershoot the hole and deal with sand traps and bunkers or let it rip

the USGA will be in touch soon #1000

 

[RetiredBoomer]

I just has a debate with @PatsFan the other day about over shooting the hole. We played a 240 yard par 4 and I whipped out the driver and over shot the hole in to a little rough in the back oc the green. By about 20 yards. short chip and eagled the hole. Question: is is it better to undershoot the hole and deal with sand traps and bunkers or let it rip?

It was over forty years ago, but I overdrove a 258 yard par 4. Then I chunked my first attempt from the weeds, bladed my next over the green, tried to lob right at the pin rather than chip and put it on the far fringe, and three putted from there.

One remembers a hole like that for a lot more than forty years.

 

[OGputtnfool]

Tiger has said multiple times that short is better than long. I think he's smart enough to rely on. Now, granted, there are the exceptions, but I agree, in my experience, short is almost always better than long.