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Distance or dispersion, pick one!

SuperStroke
J

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I was watching the Canadian Pacific Women's Open where diminutive Mo Martin (all 5' 2" of her) is leading the pack. One of the commentators mentioned that of all the LPGA and PGA tour pros, she has the highest fairway's hit percentage of any of them. Somewhere around 86% with Steve Stricker a close second (ha ha) at like 72%. As I watched her play, I started wondering, what would I rather be long, or in the fairway. In my case, there's no doubt about that answer... I'd rather be in the fairway because I know how shots from the rough can ruin a hole.

I next thought about all the hype that I see about golf clubs... they always emphasize distance first, then dispersion. Am I missing something?

What would you rather be, long or in-the-fairway? I bet I know the answer.
 
MLB had it right back in the 90's. Chicks dig the long ball. So do everyone else.
A while back I posted a thread asking if you would play a more forgiving driver, even if it cost you 5-8 yards. Concensis was that was crazy. Distance was what you should be after.
 
Since I rarely play anything longer than 6800 yards, I'd take accuracy. I've been hitting 9+ 3 woods off the tee each round for as long as I can remember and I'm in the short grass at least 75% of the time.
 
I'm a short hitter (carry driver about 230) and would still sacrifice a few yards to hit 75% of my fairways.

225 @ 75% of FW
or
250 @ 40% of FW

225 all day long.
 
In today's day and age, you don't really have to pick one, right?
Accuracy comes from proper fit, swing, etc
Speed comes from technology and impact (relative to swing speed)
 
JB said:
In today's day and age, you don't really have to pick one, right?
Accuracy comes from proper fit, swing, etc
Speed comes from technology and impact (relative to swing speed)
Click to expand...

Unless you can rarely duplicate your swing and have like a 7 way miss like I do. LOL
 
It's not a black or white issue in my mind because there is a point where enough distance (relative to tees being played) actually becomes more beneficial than accuracy.

240 in the fairway will almost always be better than 250 in the rough/bunker/etc.

But 280 in the rough can be a lot better than 240 in the fairway for some players, especially on most muni setups where the rough isn't even punishing.
 
As long as I don't lose any of the accuracy I have now, distance all the way. Not that I hit every fairway or anything.

But if it's a question of being in jail for my second shot vs being in the fairway, give me the fairway.
 
I take distance. My instructor can teach me to reduce dispersion. you can't teach distance (power).
 
ArmyGolf said:
It's not a black or white issue in my mind because there is a point where enough distance (relative to tees being played) actually becomes more beneficial than accuracy.

240 in the fairway will almost always be better than 250 in the rough/bunker/etc.

But 280 in the rough can be a lot better than 240 in the fairway for some players, especially on most muni setups where the rough isn't even punishing.
Click to expand...

I agree with this sentiment. Can't be mutually exclusive. If I'm looking at a difference of 10-ish yards, I'm likely to take the better dispersion, but if we're talking 20+ yards, then I'd have to do some work to play out of some trouble spots. LOL
 
It really think it depends on the course layout a lot.

A course where being in the rough isn't super penalizing.... i would take distance.

A course where OB is everywhere, fairways are tight, and the rough is brutal? Give me a fairway all day.

Honestly though, I am a short hitter. I don't carry the ball anything more than maybe 220 if I am lucky. I would gladly take a consistent distance boost.

The courses where I play, the extra distance is almost always more beneficial than the gains from being in the fairway.
 
I don't think I lack power so I would take accuracy.
 
Accuracy. 300 yards is nice but not when its in the trees on the other side of the next fairway.
 
Ball in a playable spot over long and wrong.
 
I think this is largely dependent on the amount of distance we're talking.

If my options were 280 with 45% Fairways, or 265 w/ 75% Fairways, I'd take the latter.

If my options were 300 with 40% Fairways or 265 with 60% Fairways, I'd take the distance.

Most of the places I play aren't super punishing on the holes where I'm hitting driver anyways. If the hole demands a tight shot, I'll be hitting 4I or Hybrid off the tee.
 
As someone who is not long off the tee normally, distance is very important from my point of view.

I played this morning in our normal group and one guy (the youngest) can honestly hit it 300 yards. 270-280 is his average and with the Courses we play (no more than 6,300) that means Driver / wedge for him 90% of the time, so from just about any lie he can get up and down or be on any Par 5 in two.

Thankfully (for my wallet) his wedge game is very inconsistent or we would have had to break his Driver a long time ago. We will have to back him up if he ever figures out the 125 in part of his game.
 
I'll take accuracy over distance all day, every day.
 
If I go for distance, I usually swing out of my shoes and in the trees (if I'm lucky). Give me control all day long. At least then I can hit whatever is in my bag and then rely on my short game.
 
This thread again. If I am worried about accuracy I will just use a 3 wood or hybrid off the tee.
 
I'm going for accuracy. For me, most drivers throw it out there within 5 yards of each other. Hitting fairways improves my game, when I'm confident off the tee I'm confident in most other aspects of my game.
 
ntanygd760 said:
This thread again.
Click to expand...

There is no need for comments like this. If you aren't interested in a topic, hit the back button and find one you care about. I am GLAD that members of THP feel comfortable creating threads and that needs to not change any time soon.
 
Canadan said:
Depends on the distance. I've got a nice mix of both right now and I couldn't be happier.
Click to expand...

This is thought process as well.
 
It's all relative. If you hit the ball 270+ but are wild in any direction but could hit it 250 straight 75%+ of the time, I would take 250 straight all day long. Rarely play courses longer than 6500-6600 yards so 250 off the tee on a par 4 leaves 150-160 yards in at most.
 
How much dispersion? As long as I am still left with a playable lie and not taking a penalty stroke then I'll take Distance.


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