The most accurate club in the bag and what does this say about architecture

[Thomas Dai]

Which club are you most accurate with?
Mid-iron? Short-iron? Wedge? Part-wedge? Something longer?
Which club are low hcp amateurs most accurate with?
Mid-iron? Short-iron? Wedge? Part-wedge? Something longer?
Which club are the guys and galls we see on TV most accurate with?
Mid-iron? Short-iron? Wedge? Part-wedge? Something longer?

We can all speculate but in the interest of discussion does anyone have any actual data, or a link to actual data, that indicates which clubs players of various categories are the most accurate with?

And what, if anything, does/should this tell us about architecture in general and the comparative approach to design in yee olde days vrs post-WWII vrs modern times?

atb

[Wayne_Kozun]

How do you define accurate?  Lowest mean difference between intended target and result in yards?  In percentage terms? 


If it is the former it would have to be your shortest clubs. I can see a miss of 100 yards occasionally with a driver but that is almost impossible with a LW since even a whiff may lead to a miss of 90 yards.

[Peter Pallotta]

Reminds me of the strangest question I was ever asked on here:
It was from my friend (and top flight golfer) Jim Sullivan. I'd mentioned something about preferring to come in with an 8 iron rather than a 5 - and he asked me if I thought 8s were easier to hit than 5s (and by implication more accurate).
I was so stunned that I never even tried to answer the question -- but my very incomprehension told me that *his* game and approach and mind-set were a lot lot different than mine.

[BCowan]

Which club are you most accurate with?  4-2 iron

[Pete Lavallee]

Before Dave Pelz became a short game expert he did extensive research on the long game. He found, from collecting data from Tour Pros, that everybody has a fairly consistent miss percentage that doesn't vary from club to club. The most accurate players he charted were Trevino and Miller, Allan not Johnny! They had a 5.05% miss percentage meaning 15 feet for a 100 yard shot and 30 feet for a 200 yarder.

Strangely the driver has gone from the least accurate club to the most due to the larger sweet spot of the modern 460 cc titanium models.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Why...the putter, of course....

[Jeff_Brauer]

The slope system measured lots of golfers, and as mentioned, basically, we miss all clubs by the same degree, but longer clubs go further astray, a la 20 yards on a 200 yard shot, 10 yards on a 100 yard shot, etc.

[JESII]

Strangely the driver has gone from the least accurate club to the most due to the larger sweet spot of the modern 460 cc titanium models.

I wonder if there's any actual data to support this statement!?!






Peter Pallotta - sadly, I wish I could remember my reason for asking that question.

[Peter Pallotta]

Some friend you are - mess with my head and then tell me you can't remember! Here I am, hanging on your every word, and there you are tossing words out like confetti...

[JMEvensky]

Some friend you are - mess with my head and then tell me you can't remember! Here I am, hanging on your every word, and there you are tossing words out like confetti...

Next Sully will probably ask if you inhale or exhale on your backswing. I wouldn't trust him.

[Pete Lavallee]

Jim,


That was surely an anecdotal statement on my part but surely a persimmon driver was the hardest club to hit on my recollection. I know that I now choose driver whenever possible, it just seems improbable to hit a poor shot with one. Does your experience say otherwise?

[Peter Pallotta]

Some friend you are - mess with my head and then tell me you can't remember! Here I am, hanging on your every word, and there you are tossing words out like confetti...

Next Sully will probably ask if you inhale or exhale on your backswing. I wouldn't trust him.

Perfect.
Thanks for the heads up.
He'd ask that, I'd start fixating on it, my game would go to h-ll, and then when I asked for clarification he'd say "I asked *what*?"
I bet he's friends with TE Paul. He used to bamboozle me too!

[archie_struthers]

 




Peter......as to TEP and Sully.


Bingo!

[JESII]

Haha...not really sure what to make of that. The real question is...we'll, do you?

[JESII]

Pete Lavelle,


My experience does not say otherwise...but the statement has been repeated on here (and on GeoffShackelford) so often I think people are beginning to assume it's fact.


For me, I'm as likely to miss the driver as anything else. When I do, I'm closer to the green...that's my excuse. I watch the guys on Tour drive it all over the planet but never ever miss a fairway when they go to shorter clubs.

[JMEvensky]

My experience does not say otherwise...but the statement has been repeated on here (and on GeoffShackelford) so often I think people are beginning to assume it's fact.

I don't know whether or not the driver is now,in the absolute,the most accurate club in the bag. But I do think,relatively speaking,  it's the club that technology has most improved the accuracy of. Maybe that's what some people mean.

[Thomas Dai]

Other than Pete's comment about Dave Pelz research does anyone have any firm data rather than just personal anecdotes and speculation?
Atb