There has been a fair amount said on TGC at least about how driving accuracy is not nearly paid as much attention to as driving distance. so my question is, when you are on the tee, do you try to put the ball in the fairway or do you just try to put it out their as far as you can and hope you get a good lie. to be honest, i go for distance. if im on the tee of a nice long straight hole i can help myself, i get up their and try to rip it was far as i can, i could care less bout my lie after! hopefully this year i will finally be able to clear myself of this habit and try to hit more fairways! so what do you go for? distance or accuracy. lets say its just a straight par four or five, no dog legs and no hazards, just rough on both sides.
PLEASE someone teach me a secret that will allow me to listen to my brain!
Smittles14, you're not the only one. I played a tough course last week, that I knew going in that there was only one hole that you really needed to use driver. So what happened? Pulled driver out on almost every hole and promptly opened sleeves of balls.
I also, will try before the end of this summer to cure this ugly habit.
I'm so goofy, that I have hit perfectly placed 3, 5, 7 woods into the fairway and have less than 100 in, and STILL pull driver out next hole because my swing must be ready now.
lets say its just a straight par four or five, no dog legs and no hazards, just rough on both sides.
Let 'er rip... Usually I'm accuracy all the way... I'm not comfortable enough with my ability to get up and down to risk missing a green from the rough, under a tree or make a double from the water. I know I will have a good lie in the fairway... but in this case, if the only penalty is the rough, I'd go for it.
Why let a little rough get in the way of a possible dreamshot. DISTANCE is what I'm aiming for. Now that's not to say that I hit that target with any type of frequency, quite the opposite actually. But my thought is "playing outta the rough is only strengthening my game" or at least that is how I console myself when I rooting around in the trees...lol
Other than that I agree totally with what dante says---aim left and hope the fade kicks in.
Most of the times I just rip it. That might explain why I hit only 5 fairways a round ... The course I play most of the time the rough isn't a factor. There's only one spot that where I can think that rough would be a problem. Lately I've started to hit 3wood off more tees in an attempt to hit fairways. A lot of times it doesn't work though....
I just hit try to hit it hard and then go find it, then hit it again. Like Wishbone, my course isn't overly penal if you're a little wild off the tee. The rough isn't high and while there are some trees, they're not too difficult to hit over or around if need be. I too normally hit 5 or 6 fairways a round.
Every hole on the front 9 at my course has either water or OB... so accuracy is a premium... my other home course has jungle on literally every hole, no stakes but it will be a lost ball if you get in there... so it might as well be OB... There are a few holes on either course where I can get away with going after one, but my practice time is usually spent focusing on accuracy rather than distance...
During the summer we play a course in Canada, it is a links style course and the rough is savage. It is almost comical to see guys try to advance 5 and 6 irons out of this stuff. Accuracy is key, the fairways are fairly open so If you have self-control you can hit them. That place taught me more about getting off the tee box than any other course in my life. Missing a fairway is trouble, missing a green is disaster.
Its proven fact that for pga tour players, the big hitters make way more money then the accurate hitters. I mean who cares if you're in the rough sometimes...if you're only 100 yards out its not that hard of a shot.
If it's just rough then I'll just whale at it. Very few places I play are like that, though. Most are tree/woods-lined and more than a bit crooked costs me at least a stroke. I really don't concentrate on either truthfully. If there is trouble or a bail-out area to one side or the other I might adjust my aim, but if I could obtain accuracy by merely concentrating on it, then I wouldn't be a 16.
I typically hit only 50% fairways per round. For me, whether I hit fairways or not is not a big deal as I feel like I can get pretty close to the green. It's always my short game that makes or breaks my round. Actually, I play a lot of holes with my driver that others may not because even if I miss with my driver, I'm still close enough to make green while if I miss with a shorter club than I might now have a chance to reach green.
I just aim left and hit a high fade. Then just thrash the ball within its an ounce of its life. I'm only hitting 42.2% of fairways at the moment but still scoring all right. When I actually hit the fairway when I get into trouble. I don't know how to hit it
April 25th, 2005, 08:20 PM
... The course I play most of the time the rough isn't a factor. There's only one spot that where I can think that rough would be a problem. Lately I've started to hit 3wood off more tees in an attempt to hit fairways. A lot of times it doesn't work though.... 
but still scoring all right. When I actually hit the fairway when I get into trouble. I don't know how to hit it 
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