For all you fellow golfers out there... I've often wondered if it really makes any sense to hit driver on par 5's if there's basically no chance of getting home in two?
It seems like everyone almost automatically hits driver on every par 5 no matter what. I know some par 5's that I play frequently where there is virtually no chance for nearly anyone to get on in two and there are trees lining both sides of the fairways, so an errant tee shot could be long gone.
But yet, everyone hits driver on that hole just because it's a par 5. Lately I've been thinking, why not hit like 5 iron, 5 iron, and then 8 iron or something? It would almost eliminate all the lost balls and penalty strokes for me by hitting driver into the trees half the time or more.
Thoughts? Is it just me, or could you really hit a lot more hybrids or long irons off the tee on par 5's when you have virtually no shot of getting there in two?
As one example... back when I played Veenker in college at ISU.... there was a par 5 (probably still there because it was probably the best hole there) where you teed off across the creek, then you had to play back over the same creek as it passed in front of the green. It was a dogleg right with almost no chance of getting on in two without taking a TON of risk of putting it in the creek in front of the green or all the trees on the right side of the entire hole.
But I think I ALWAYS hit driver off that tee. But there really is no need to do so if you don't plan on going for it in two. Just play safe off the tee and layup as usual. There really is no advantage to hitting a long drive, it just leaves a shorter layup, but who cares if your layup is a 9 iron versus a 7 iron?
It seems like everyone almost automatically hits driver on every par 5 no matter what. I know some par 5's that I play frequently where there is virtually no chance for nearly anyone to get on in two and there are trees lining both sides of the fairways, so an errant tee shot could be long gone.
But yet, everyone hits driver on that hole just because it's a par 5. Lately I've been thinking, why not hit like 5 iron, 5 iron, and then 8 iron or something? It would almost eliminate all the lost balls and penalty strokes for me by hitting driver into the trees half the time or more.
Thoughts? Is it just me, or could you really hit a lot more hybrids or long irons off the tee on par 5's when you have virtually no shot of getting there in two?
As one example... back when I played Veenker in college at ISU.... there was a par 5 (probably still there because it was probably the best hole there) where you teed off across the creek, then you had to play back over the same creek as it passed in front of the green. It was a dogleg right with almost no chance of getting on in two without taking a TON of risk of putting it in the creek in front of the green or all the trees on the right side of the entire hole.
But I think I ALWAYS hit driver off that tee. But there really is no need to do so if you don't plan on going for it in two. Just play safe off the tee and layup as usual. There really is no advantage to hitting a long drive, it just leaves a shorter layup, but who cares if your layup is a 9 iron versus a 7 iron?
