Driver or 3 wood...?

Been out for a knock this evening and just took a few clubs out in a carry bag and only 9 holes. Once upon a time unless you were a really decent golfer you wouldn't even have a driver in your bag.

I guess this is more even modern technology won't help if you're not striking it reasonably well, or perhaps its more about what will help get you the best score. Okay the ball wasn't going as far but I hit the middle, not just the fairway but the middle, of every fairway.

Back in the day I had a 2 wood that not only hit a high percentage of fairways but could also be used off the fairway. My 3 wood, today, is a strong 3 pretty much like a 2 wood.

Next time you're out for a quiet knock consider taking the driver out the bag. You might just be pleasantly surprised.

Sorry Brian, my go to club is the 'chief'. The smile on my face last week when I hit through a green 320 yards away just cant be matched with a 3 wood!  Mind you if I could hit the middle of every fairway with a 3 wood I might be tempted. Happy golfing!

lol Sanders... "He's not the Messiah!"

I too love to nail a huge drive, and a couple of weeks ago knocked it over 300 yds to pin high just left of a par 4 green but its about the score over 18 holes not how big my bails are.

When the results sheet goes up does it say xyz drove it 300+ yds or does it say abc won with a score of? sought of says it really doesn't it.

Yes, I was wondering about this too today, so I played 36 holes today, the 1st 18 without touching the driver and the 2nd 18 with it. I hit the same number of fairways in both rounds...

I have always felt that the FIR is a little misleading in that I would rather be 300 yards away from the tee even if it was in the semi as opposed to 200 down the fairway.

I know what you mean John though my scrambling Seve days are well and truly over. I have just come through a bad patch with my driver though all it needed was a tweak with my grip (have a bit of a fade but I can live with that). In this bad patch I did use my 3 wood to good effect and really if you strike it well there's not that much in it, granted the reachable par 5's are that little bit harder.

Reachable par fives, Patrick, we don't even have reachable par fours.

As a novice golfer i carry a driver but have rarley used it on course. I find when i am tempted to use it my shots are very wayward. Due to this i left my driver out of my bag for a full round and recorded my best score so far.

I am a long way off consistency with my 3 wood but want to feel more confident with this before i bring out the driver. For now i am sticking to using my driver on the range only until i have nailed the drive.

My thinking is now, not to waste a tee off with the driver when i know i will get a better result with the 3. I am sure this will change over time when i get more used to my driver.

Out of interest why would you be necessarily be more accurate with a driver than a 3 wood? At present, I've actually only got a driver, 4W & 7W (so no 3W right now) but I feel more confident with the driver off the tee than the other woods - a Ping G15. OK it's got the longest shaft in the bag but the biggest head.

Lost a bit of confidence with my 4W and 7W - I hit a nice 4W off the deck to the fringe on a very long par 4 on my last round but on the 3 other times I've used the 4W or 7W the result was awful. Would have been better with a PW. More practice and/or a lesson maybe in order.

Dan, with your obvious power off the tee, leaving 150 yards for you is probably no more than a nine iron, which makes the shot relatively easy. 150 yards for me is around a 5/6 iron, so I much prefer to be within the 120 yard distance.

I have to agree with John. My accuracy of the tee is woeful but I would rather be closer to the green. I don't think that there is much difference in accuracy between hitting a driver or any other long club. If the basic swing is the same it should produce similar results.

I have rounds where i dont take the driver with me or the course means i hardly use it.

My take is this

1 - I am arguably as accurate with my driver as my 3 wood

2 - Hitting the perfect drive feels far better than hitting a perfect 3 iron.

3 - Scoring  well isnt always the reason i play golf

4 - I hit far less birdies without the use of the driver

Then again

1 - I score better in comps when i play the course rather than ripping it off every tee

2 - I have very few doubles when i dont use driver

3 - I can play full shots with all clubs rather than manufacturing short irons and wedges

The most important thing for me though is that DRIVING IS FUN !!!

I just don't get the love affair thing with a driver , it gives me the least satisfaction out of all my clubs on the course (even when I hit a goodun). Its the most misbehaved club and rarely does exactly what you want it to do , I mean how you saw it your minds eye. I use to get as far down the track as I can on certain holes , but would much rather hit a well behaved as i want flight 3 wood or long iron. (Ivan your excempt for obvious reasonshttp://www.golfshake.com/scripts/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/wink_smile.gif" title="wink" width="20" />)

Ivan , you kill me http://www.golfshake.com/scripts/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/teeth_smile.gif" title="laugh" width="20" />  That explains alot . I'm know convinced my driver "stella" suffers from PMT  1 1/2 weeks before and 1 1/2 weeks after!http://www.golfshake.com/scripts/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/tounge_smile.gif" title="cheeky" width="20" />

For someone with your power, Kevin, of course it's a no brainer, I am surprised you even took a three wood seeing as your 3 iron will beat most peoples drives.