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When do you hit your driver?

I hit the driver when I think it's the right club to hit :alien:. If it's not a dogleg I can hit through with the driver, it's probably the club I'm using. One of the 9 hole courses I play on in the city I hit no drivers during the round, and another one I hit driver on all the 4s and 5s. It's just a matter of knowing your game, and what club is going to give you the best chance to score that day.

I saw PhillyV go wedge-driver on a par 3 during the Indy weekend, so there's that...
 
I pull driver on any hole longer than 370, unless there is trouble at 255 yds. At my home course(s), one track has a front 9 where you only need driver on 3 holes (two par 5 and one par 4), although you could get away with hitting it only twice. Of course, you could hit it 6 times if you wanted to, but then the distance to the green is inside 100 yards, not a good distance for me.
 
Whenever possible. The Alpha gives me more confidence than just about everything in my bag.
 
I'm pretty capable of missing right and left with any club, so if the hole is long enough I will always hit driver.
If there's a dogleg under 250 I will move down to whatever makes sense.
 
Depends on the course. Some I hit it on every hole and some I hit it once or twice a round.

I am still a big believer that for someone to have a true traveling handicap they need to be able to hit all clubs well in their bag including driver. To many fear the driver and then end up mishitting their safe club anyway.
 
I hit driver on just about every hole that's not a par 3, and I hit it on some of those.
 
I almost always use it. But I am also just as accurate with it than i am with my 5 wood so it doesn't make too much of a difference for me.
 
Joshsmit56001 said:
So with all of this said, when do you pull your driver?
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I will hit driver whenever the circumstances allow it, I love that club. That said - I've gotten better over the years at determining when I should or shouldn't be using it and don't take as many chances as I used to from the tee. And I've never been a play to a certain yardage kind of guy, unless a hole absolutely demands it. I feel comfortable hitting from all yardages so I'd rather hit the driver, which I have total confidence in, and then work with whatever shot I have left.
 
More often than i should
 
Anytime I think it puts me in the best position to score the lowest on the hole. I've taken driver on par 3s, iron on par 5s. Totally depends on the field, but I love using the most forgiving club in my bag.
 
Yeah like others I see my driver as the most forgiving driver in my bag, so I use it as much as possible.
 
Philly Golf Guy said:
Yeah like others I see my driver as the most forgiving driver in my bag, so I use it as much as possible.
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That is such a strange thought to me because my driver is the least forgiving in my bag. I hit my 5 iron or even my 3 wood off the deck better. It is coming along but still not where I want it to be.
 
Joshsmit56001 said:
That is such a strange thought to me because my driver is the least forgiving in my bag. I hit my 5 iron or even my 3 wood off the deck better. It is coming along but still not where I want it to be.
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I struggle with a rather flat swing, so teeing the ball up and being able to hit it solidly on the upswing helps. Also I don't know if it's the size, but I find the driver the easiest to swing at a nice tempo.
 
At the local course I play the most, If the day I'm swinging my driver well, I will pull it 12 times a round. The 2 holes I won't pull it are both dog legs, and because I frequent the course and know the layout, I know if I sit at the turn of the dogleg, I'm a good 140-150 range into the greens. So to the OP's question, I will sometimes try and play the hole backwards, pulling driver only when I have a comfortable distance in. However sometimes I won't pull driver because it'll be a bad driving day.
 
I hit it when I can afford to be a little left or right. I am not as consistent as I should be with it so when its possible to be in better position with a lesser club I will hit one.
 
Whenever the lay of the hole supports my shot shape (a slight fade) and distance (about 250). Which means often. Today was one of the rare times I found myself in trouble pulling driver, because I utterly failed to hit a cut and as a result blew my tee shot over the dogleg. Whoops.

Even if I'm not hitting the ball well, I'm still going to hit it, because I've grown accustomed to being pretty erratic with the driver and feel the decent to good drives set me up better than the best possible 4-wood off the tee. That being said, in a tournament setting, I might be more inclined to play something more conservative off the tee, but the distances are a driving portion, because I've discovered that a bad 4-wood and a bad driver can find very similar terrain.
 
I will go with driver for most holes over 380, although if it is a dog leg that I can try to cut to end up somewhere near the green, I may give it a go.
 
I go with Driver on most holes unless I can get inside 150 with 3 wood.
 
Depends on how my swing is working, on average just the par 5's. I pound 3wood 260 so driver might go 20 further with a high chance of going left
 
The driver has been great for me this season. I pull it on any hole over 400 yards.
 
my driver is really hit or miss. when its on i can get at least 250-260. lately i've been trying to play smart/conservative off the tee and hit my 3 hybrid which i hit 190-200 and straight. when i know its going to be in the fairway its a real confidence boost.
 
Some interesting replies in this thread, and like to see how other people gauge what to hit vs the driver.

For me, I pull driver on every hole, unless there is a reason not too (trouble long, dogleg, etc). If I am in a groove with the driver, I will more than likely pull it every chance I can get. For example, last week playing with some THPers, I pulled driver on 12/14 holes. Only reason I didnt pull it on the two were because they were both extremely short Par 4s and there was a bit of trouble all over the place.
 
DevRickus said:
I am by no means a long hitter so I pull driver on pretty much every par 4 and 5. Dog leg, I aim for the middle of the fairway and hit it as far as I can and hope I get it far enough where I have a line at the hole.
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I'm with Dev. I am getting longer, but nowhere close enough to being able to afford to give up the distance.
 
Driver on most par fours, when a three wood is called for, I just grip down to the bottom of the grip and hit driver anyway. For some doglegs and shorter holes, maybe a four iron off the tee. Driver off the deck second shots on par fives when conditions warrant.
 
My home course plays 6,400 and I hit my driver 7 times on avg. I've found that hybrids and 3w tend to give me my best options on most holes under 380 and I also only pull driver on two of the par 5's.
 
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