A confession of a GCA lover...I love my driver and hit it on every hole

[Chip Gaskins]

Joel Stewart's thread about Cypress Point #9 got me thinking....For the most part, I hit my driver straighter than any of the long clubs in my bag.  Therefore (gasp) I hit driver on every non Par 3 hole on the course.  The closer I am to the hole the lower my score.  The only holes I do not hit a driver on are the ones that have cross hazards (say a ditch 260-280 yards from the tee) otherwise I hit driver.  I do love great architecture, but I would be lying if I told you I play any of the holes the way the architects would say is the "most strategic" way to tackle a hole.  I don't look at in the sense of risk-reward, I just look at it as the driver is easier to hit (straighter) than the other woods and hybrids in my bag, why not hit it. 

I think technology has disproportionately helped the driver the most of any club in the bag.

Does anyone else love discussing great golf architecture, as well as playing it, but then take little of its nuances into account in the way they actually play the game?

[Jim Colton]

Chip,

  I hate my driver and hit it on every hole. Still, I think that puts me in the same boat as you. I love discussing and dissecting, but I'm not good enough any more to execute at a level of precision necessary to really take full advantage of the nuances and strategic options. Mainly, I just hope to keep it in play.

[Ronald Montesano]

Chip,

I confess to the kids I coach that their driver is the straightest club in their bag...I then suggest that they learn a punch/half-swing driver and a gripped-down/75% driver, to have three swings in total with that one critical club. I developed the 225 yard punch and the 240 75% swing for my own game, to go with my 255/260 flush driver swing.

[Terry Lavin]

As a "bunter" and a gca guy I always reach for the big bat. The first last and best option.

[Joe_Tucholski]

I usually reach for the driver because I feel like it's my straightest club off the tee.  On the occasion that I think I'm going to play smart I usually end up spraying the 3 wood.

Pac Dunes is the only course that comes to my mind where didn't pull driver on every tee.

[Link Walsh]

I'm pretty much a driver all the time player too.  It is much straighter than my 3 wood, so I have learned to hit the "punch" driver like Ronald talks about.  In fact, I'm not even sure why I carry the 3 wood around really- probably because I'm allowed 14 clubs...  Occasionally, I'll hit the 2 iron hybrid to lay up short of a hazard, but it kills me to do it

[Jeff_Brauer]

I have surveyed audiences when I give an architecture speech.  Almost all of them prefer to hit driver on every hole.  I start there, and then ask how many feel one non driver per course is okay.  A few hands go up. Then two, three, and four.  I stop there, as usually mine is the only hand up.  You are not unique.

So, the real question is, is there any reason to design any hole where its not naturally dictated (like a stream crossing that cannot be adjusted out past 320 yards) to purposely limit the driver?  I say no, especially on such a dramatic choice.  However, a gradually narrowing fw where its not required, but perhaps wise to throttle back a bit is probably okay. 

If done purely by choice, not hitting driver is far more acceptable to golfers than when forced by design.

[Tim Martin]

If done purely by choice, not hitting driver is far more acceptable to golfers than when forced by design.

Jeff- This statement is right on the money and should certainly be a major consideration for players when choosing the tees that are commensurate with their skill level.

[J Sadowsky]

You guys (except for Chip) all play par 3 holes very weirdly.

[Kalen Braley]

Everyone has a go to club, and the 3w is the club for me.  Sure I don't hit it good everytime, but more often than not it gets the job done and I can usually hit it 210-230 every time.

[Duncan Cheslett]

You guys (except for Chip) all play par 3 holes very weirdly.

Not necessarily...

I've just been out for a few holes at my club and the wind was up. Our par 3 2nd has a carry of 170 yards to the green and in benign conditions it is a 6-iron for me. Today into the face of a gale I took a 5-wood and hit it sweet as a nut. It fell short into the ravine.

A driver would have made sense today. On our 240 yd par 3 6th a driver makes sense any day!

[Carl Nichols]

My driver is by far the wildest club in my bag, but I also hit it a long way, and my wedge game is finally kinda back from the dead -- but it does me no good if I'm finding hazards or trees.  So every hole presents a strategic choice for me, and even at my home course, I probably walk up to 80% of the non-par-3 tees with two clubs (driver and the layup option) in my hand.  Thankfully I haven't started talking to myself yet -- though this was cathartic.

[Jud_T]

I hit driver whenever possible.  I thought it was because my old club's main defense was length but was fairly wide open so that's what everyone did.  Now I realize it's because I need the length and I hit it better than virtually any other club in the bag.  In fact I'm considering dumping my 3-wood and getting a 4-wood since it's my worst club in the bag...

[Kevin Pallier]

Like a dog to a bone...

So some of you guys are telling me that you pull the driver on every short P4 you come across ?

[Jeff_Brauer]

Kevin,

I think the advent of the Pelz short game system of distance control makes the driver a better choice, in that there really isn't any preferred distance, unless, like your go to club, you have a go to distance you really favor based on experience.  However, I can rarely play to exactly 110 yards, or whatever with any club, and my driver is pretty darn straight, and I usually need the distance.

So, I guess we have to figure, when designing golf holes, that we can never get into any golfers head particularly, but just offer some broad choices, and let them mentally screw themselves up!

I still think the gradual narrowing of fw is the bigger mental challenge than the pinch at drive distance to force an either or situation.

[Chip Gaskins]

Jeff

Unless the rough is "Prairie Dunes gunge" rough, I would still rather hit a 9 iron out of the rough versus a 6 iron from the fairway....and that is if I could hit the fairway with my 3 wood or hybrid...which is the point, my driver is straighter than my other long clubs, why not hit it.

I was hoping you and other architects might chime in illustrating how you could design holes that forced me to try and shape a shot into a certain spot OTHER than a horizontal creek (Murifield Village, Carnoustie, etc).  Pot bunkers in the UK do make me think, but the turf is so firm there I am just as likely to run a lay up shot into a pot bunker anyway..again, leading me to hit driver.

I suppose I am admitting I am in the bomb and gouge crowd, even though I don't really want to be in it, but there is rarely a time on the course I can't hit my 9 iron closer than my 6 iron.

[Kevin Pallier]

Jeff

I appreciate what your're saying but whilst my golf game is going backwards I still dont pull the driver on every P4 I come across. Time over (and if ever my prayers came true) I wouldn't consider pulling the driver on # 9 CPC for but one example.

I dont carry a 3W but on a lot of short P4's would consider laying up short of a lot of "risk" more times rather than taking same on ?