Only irons or driver also?

Hi I was wondering what was general opinion about use of driver for high handicappers/beginners.

Do you think driver should be immediately used, or would it be better to first focus on being consistent with irons and giving up some distance for more accuracy? I mean, on a 350+ mt hole, would it be better to play 2 safe 6 irons or immediately start out with driver and an iron?

I know of mid handicappers who lowered their handicap to around 20 without using driver at all, just with a good irons play, and then started it, and also heard people saying that driver should be introduced immediately so to get confidence as with irons.

Anybody wanting to share their experience/opinion?

Personal opinion? Bring out the big guns! My contact with irons is worse off than my contact with woods and driver. I try to play such that I get 1 driver + 1wood then maybe 1iron on for par 4/5. I minimise my iron play till I find the remedy. For me I learned contact with irons. Then once I had a rough feel with my irons I moved to woods immediately, helps alot.

My opinion - Distance is nothing without accuracy...so I would definitely give the former up for the latter.

No point hitting a 270 yd drive and spraying it all over the course

I used to hit driver on my Par 4s and 5s, but always end up with a pretty bad slice, then recently I told myself to just tee it up with a 3W, and got much more consistent results in terms of the direction of the ball flight.

A 3W, and a good long iron shot should get you onto the green in 2 shots for a Par 4 on MBGC. That's what I've observed.

I would say go with a 3W until your swing is consistent (I know mine isn't!), and of course good iron play.

HTH!

Wow..if you are hitting your 6 iron safely 175m..don't think you will have to take out a driver unless for long par 5s from the white tees

I think the more important question is why do you play golf?

If you really want to enjoy, hitting a driver (even though it goes everywhere) can feel really good. However, if you want to play an awesome game/bet and win, then you should play to your strengths, i.e. play the iron shot if you cannot hit a driver well.

Of course if you're like me and hit the ball straight down into the ground and get plugged, then it may not be much fun...

guangzhao wrote:

I think the more important question is why do you play golf?

If you really want to enjoy, hitting a driver (even though it goes everywhere) can feel really good. However, if you want to play an awesome game/bet and win, then you should play to your strengths, i.e. play the iron shot if you cannot hit a driver well.

Of course if you're like me and hit the ball straight down into the ground and get plugged, then it may not be much fun...

as long as you can hit past the red tee...

shimizu.toruk wrote:

My opinion - Distance is nothing without accuracy...so I would definitely give the former up for the latter.

No point hitting a 270 yd drive and spraying it all over the course

I used to hit driver on my Par 4s and 5s, but always end up with a pretty bad slice, then recently I told myself to just tee it up with a 3W, and got much more consistent results in terms of the direction of the ball flight.

A 3W, and a good long iron shot should get you onto the green in 2 shots for a Par 4 on MBGC. That's what I've observed.

I would say go with a 3W until your swing is consistent (I know mine isn't!), and of course good iron play.

HTH!

In the recent Ryder Cup singles match between Luke Donald and Bubba Watson


Luke won the match comfortably even though he is always 50 yards behind Bubba..

Also, Luke's irons game is very very accurate...

I forgot to add. I get more accurate returns from my driver and woods than long irons (: hence my choice of wood play. On course my 7,6,5 irons always manage to mess up so I stick to my 5 wood if possible. And it somehow matches my distance gapping. 180-220 drive. 140-160 5 wood.

andrew-golf wrote:

shimizu.toruk wrote:

My opinion - Distance is nothing without accuracy...so I would definitely give the former up for the latter.

No point hitting a 270 yd drive and spraying it all over the course

I used to hit driver on my Par 4s and 5s, but always end up with a pretty bad slice, then recently I told myself to just tee it up with a 3W, and got much more consistent results in terms of the direction of the ball flight.

A 3W, and a good long iron shot should get you onto the green in 2 shots for a Par 4 on MBGC. That's what I've observed.

I would say go with a 3W until your swing is consistent (I know mine isn't!), and of course good iron play.

HTH!

In the recent Ryder Cup singles match between Luke Donald and Bubba Watson


Luke won the match comfortably even though he is always 50 yards behind Bubba..

Also, Luke's irons game is very very accurate...

Moral of the story - Accuracy, Accuracy, Accuracy.

This game that we all love and hate at the same time is all about ball control...

joshyo wrote:

I forgot to add. I get more accurate returns from my driver and woods than long irons (: hence my choice of wood play. On course my 7,6,5 irons always manage to mess up so I stick to my 5 wood if possible. And it somehow matches my distance gapping. 180-220 drive. 140-160 5 wood.

yea for me my longer irons and woods sucks... thank God for hybrids

I agree on accuracy first.

Btw, as you were mentioning hybrids, which I've never used: are hybrids really easier to use compared to long irons?

d1g wrote:

I agree on accuracy first.

Btw, as you were mentioning hybrids, which I've never used: are hybrids really easier to use compared to long irons?

for me yes especially for distance. currently my 4i and 5i goes as far as my 6i.. and my 3w is inconsistent. so for longer shots i would use a hybrid which somehow is easier for me to hit.

For me, driver easier to hit than iron. Driver at least can get 200m consistently. Anyway, dispersion same same, everywhere

Thanks a lot for all the info here, I also a new golfer and struggling to hit my driver consistently

lsh87 wrote:

Thanks a lot for all the info here, I also a new golfer and struggling to hit my driver consistently

Bro, may I know what info did you learn from this thread? Until now, I still did not get what I suppose to do.

guangzhao wrote:

I think the more important question is why do you play golf?

If you really want to enjoy, hitting a driver (even though it goes everywhere) can feel really good. However, if you want to play an awesome game/bet and win, then you should play to your strengths, i.e. play the iron shot if you cannot hit a driver well.

Of course if you're like me and hit the ball straight down into the ground and get plugged, then it may not be much fun...

good answer.

I used to think that distance is important. Not anymore.

Now i prescribe to "Accuracy is important in golf".....and even now i am still struggling to be accurate.....

At the end of the day, play with the clubs you're most comfortable with...and the one that gives you the best outcome.

Cheers!!

IMHO, I think it's up to your personal preference for hole, If you felt that by playing iron iron will get better result by all mean, go ahead. Just don't hit because everyone using driver so you think u'll do better than them...remember every road lead to rome.

enwee wrote:

IMHO, I think it's up to your personal preference for hole, If you felt that by playing iron iron will get better result by all mean, go ahead. Just don't hit because everyone using driver so you think u'll do better than them...remember every road lead to rome.

lol some roads just take longer

some roads cross waters cross deserts cross jungles still cannot see rome.. those called bypass roads hehe

Slicer51 wrote:

lsh87 wrote:

Thanks a lot for all the info here, I also a new golfer and struggling to hit my driver consistently

Bro, may I know what info did you learn from this thread? Until now, I still did not get what I suppose to do.

For me, I can't seem to get my driver to work, but my irons work fine, I have been working hard at the range to make it work so that I have the confidence to go take the PC test (which does not require a driver) and head on to the course. Friends have been telling me that I can play a course without the use of a driver but I have been reluctant ( grew up watching all the pros teeing off with their drivers and I always thought I have to be like them to get on the course)

This thread has proved my friends right, and gave me the confidence to maybe give the PC test a go and hopefully head on the course with just my irons and FW in the near future

jeffman88 wrote:

some roads cross waters cross deserts cross jungles still cannot see rome.. those called bypass roads hehe

after awhile some give up and move on to see if they can find a new rome lol

With everybody agreed saying that distance is secondary compare to accuracy. Please do not flame me in what I am going to say. I still remember I ever mention in one of the thread that I will give anything for accuracy to distance.

However, if one cannot swing the longer club in the bag that suppose to provide one the longer distance. How are one going to be a good player with a lower hcp ?

I know there are many players that can play very well without hitting long but how short are we talking about? I think one still need to able to hit in reasonable distance with his longer club.

Back to the question above of 350+ m. If one can hit a i6 iron of 175m, use the 6i x 2 and hit GIR, why need driver. However, eventually one still need to learn to hit the driver with less mistake and confidence. If not, what to use to hit if one have a long par 4 like 450m+ ? (unless one hit a 3w over 200+ m. If so, I am sure one can handle the driver already)

If one unable to hit their long or longer club in bag then one need to train hard on them and learn to hit them well. Hard works, no short cut if you want to do well in the game. If one felt that one is just having fun and happy with high scores then why bother to ask the question?

Finally, one should not use any club at all if one knew he cannot even hit it properly in a course. One shall play within one mean and learn to swing with confidence. People say "swing and then prayed". These people will just kidding. What you think or wanted might not be the same outcome but if one has no confidence before one swing then why bother ?

It is not a must to use driver but can one reach in GIR with other club if not driver? With weak GIR, how strong is one short game to get up & down (1 chip & 1 putt).

Slicer51 wrote:

With everybody agreed saying that distance is secondary compare to accuracy. Please do not flame me in what I am going to say. I still remember I ever mention in one of the thread that I will give anything for accuracy to distance.

However, if one cannot swing the longer club in the bag that suppose to provide one the longer distance. How are one going to be a good player with a lower hcp ?

I know there are many players that can play very well without hitting long but how short are we talking about? I think one still need to able to hit in reasonable distance with his longer club.

Back to the question above of 350+ m. If one can hit a i6 iron of 175m, use the 6i x 2 and hit GIR, why need driver. However, eventually one still need to learn to hit the driver with less mistake and confidence. If not, what to use to hit if one have a long par 4 like 450m+ ? (unless one hit a 3w over 200+ m. If so, I am sure one can handle the driver already)

If one unable to hit their long or longer club in bag then one need to train hard on them and learn to hit them well. Hard works, no short cut if you want to do well in the game. If one felt that one is just having fun and happy with high scores then why bother to ask the question?

Finally, one should not use any club at all if one knew he cannot even hit it properly in a course. One shall play within one mean and learn to swing with confidence. People say "swing and then prayed". These people will just kidding. What you think or wanted might not be the same outcome but if one has no confidence before one swing then why bother ?

It is not a must to use driver but can one reach in GIR with other club if not driver? With weak GIR, how strong is one short game to get up & down (1 chip & 1 putt).

I think what slicer means is every club is also important to use.. And practice is the only key to both, precision and distance. There u go, so not only irons but u need ur driver and woods as well. Unless u play executive course then MAYBE dunnid woods.

Hi guys

thanks all for your contribution. I definitely agree with Slicer, and actually the main sense of my question was this: would it make more sense to first learn to use at best of my possibilities my irons (from i4 up) and then focus on woods, or would it make more sense to start learning everything together? Cause sometimes I feel like instead of practicing my driver it would make more sense to get to a level where whatever iron I play, I'm somehow confident of the result (of course then some mistakes happen but we're not pro).
Then for sure on long holes driver is mandatory..

d1g wrote:

Hi guys

thanks all for your contribution. I definitely agree with Slicer, and actually the main sense of my question was this: would it make more sense to first learn to use at best of my possibilities my irons (from i4 up) and then focus on woods, or would it make more sense to start learning everything together? Cause sometimes I feel like instead of practicing my driver it would make more sense to get to a level where whatever iron I play, I'm somehow confident of the result (of course then some mistakes happen but we're not pro).
Then for sure on long holes driver is mandatory..

Cheers bro! You got it spot on.
Wishing you good golfing experience ahead