finesse over force

[billnchristy]

I put down the bag for the back 9 the other day because my arm hurt so I decided to keep score for my wife and try to constructively coach.

When we got to 16 at East Roswell Park I told her to just get to the crest of the hill (about 100-120' away) because it opens up after that. It is a 430 something footer with a real narrow fairway and some painful to get out of woods and brush if you get off the path. A lot of good players walk out with 7-9s here because of it.

It kind of hit me then...if she throws 100' 4 times she is in putting distance and can take a really satisfying bogey...push it a little (not much...110-120' and she can par (it is listed as a 4).

She ended up getting a 5 and being pretty happy.

I started to think about it more today...if you could throw dead accurate 150' then you could have a good chance at parring a good 80% of holes and still have a legitimate birdie shot on several.

I think I am going to 1 disc it for a week or two...worse case my approach game will pick up, best case I will crack the Divinci code.

 

[Cgkdisc]

Viva la Super Class discs. You can even throw up to 200 feet accurately to pick your way thru the woods with Zephyrs.

 

[Nick C]

This would make sense if all 400+ foot holes were par 4's. The harsh reality is that they aren't. In fact I've yet to play a course with a par 4 on it and I've played some seriously long courses. I agree with your overall thought of control over power but this logic doesn't really work on a 400+ foot par 3. Many holes at the Conifer course play that long with short tunnels but none are par 4's so unless you are happy with double bogies, you kind of have to just grip it and rip it.

 

[billnchristy]

No but all 300' holes are par 3.

I do agree that it will not work everywhere...sometimes you do have to grip and rip but I have paid dearly for that at times and a bogey wouldve felt like a deuce.

 

[Cgkdisc]

If all a designer had to do was set par on each hole at 2 to make people play foolishly by "gripping and ripping", that would be another design tool. Isn't the idea is to complete the hole in the fewest throws possible regardless what par is set on the hole?

 

[Omega SuperSloth]

thats why i love having a woman doubles partners, they dont throw that far but can throw dead straight 150-200ft and alot of them can putt real good to make up for lack of d.

you may not use their tee shot very often but when you screw up your still looking at a par.

 

[sidewinder22]

DG is mostly about the placement shot.

 

[ChainMan]

I'd say many players, self included, suffer from gambler's syndrome. When we could easily park it 100 feet from the hole in an opening we'll still try and make the stupid disc do something that physics won't allow.

 

[Roc1Time]

Thats fine in theory but I think you will find out that it wont work for the most part. I do think control is more important then pure power for sure though. I can throw 375-400 on a line all day long compared to a couple of guys I play with that can throw further but "sprinkle" it all over the place. That D is great if you play wide open courses but when you need D ad your in the woods that seems to hurt them more then it helps them.

 

[KMaC]

When I play putter rounds, I usually shoot as well as or better than I usually do, and this is exactly why. It's hard to REALLY screw up a shot if you don't put much into it.

 

[billnchristy]

I have a Pro Classic Roc coming so we will see how it works for me...If I can lose 3-4 strokes by using just it in the woods and throwing normal on open holes I will be very happy.

 

[dukdukgolf]

I'd say many players, self included, suffer from gambler's syndrome. When we could easily park it 100 feet from the hole in an opening we'll still try and make the stupid disc do something that physics won't allow.

its called the tin cup syndrome. I suffer from it also.

 

[TheDGWizard]

The real solution:

Use a TL

That way you get some good distance, and laser-like accuracy.

 

[billnchristy]

I know, everyone has a magic disc that flies 350' that they can hit a moving gerbil in the woods with...

 

[TheDGWizard]

I've never seen a gerbil in the woods. I usually just aim for birds in flight.

 

[Technohic]

I've never seen a gerbil in the woods. I usually just aim for birds in flight.

Richard Gear must have been out and farted.

 

[BrotherDave]

I would rather shoot myself than play putter only rounds. I refuse to scuff up my Warlocks.

 

[jesus]

I throw putters all of the time.

 

[Adaven]

putters are great but I have found I am more accurate with a mid from 150'-200' than with a putter. I have to muscle the putter a little to get it there which means I am losing a little something as far as accuracy.

Back to the OP, I think that I could par every course around me with this strategy but as it is I throw under because I can park a couple long drives a round. The ones I goof, and they are the majority, I have to rely on my mid game to get the three. But all in all your strategy will probably improve your mid/approach shots so I say go for it.

 

[12StonesScott]

I started to think about it more today...if you could throw dead accurate 150' then you could have a good chance at parring a good 80% of holes and still have a legitimate birdie shot on several.

That basically described my game for the first couple of years after I started playing again, at ERP (well, not "dead accurate", but reasonably so). The problem with it is that you end up, a lot of times, with a third-shot putt that's just outside your comfort zone, and take a lot more fours than you'd expect (at least I did). And you're not throwing far enough on most holes (except for very short ones like 2, 12, and 13 at ERP) to have any reasonable expectation of an occasional birdie to make up for those bogeys.

Last night, for example. I've been screwing up my game badly trying to add even a modest amount of distance. It's just been brutal -- I've gotten worse every time out. So for singles last night I just told myself to dial it down a notch and focus on making the shots I know I can make. Hole 1 from the blacks I left it 30' or so shy of the dead tree across the fairway, with a 130' hyzer shot at the basket. Too much angle, not enough power, and left myself about 25' out. Grazed the chains. On 4 from the red tees, same sort of thing -- not a great tee shot -- a little too close to the trailers, but in the fairway. Sweeping rhbh hyzer shot again, on the line, but hit short with too much still on it and skipped way past the basket, leaving me with a 35' uphill putt. Just nicked the chastity belt, and gave myself another 4. Similar stuff all night. The point is that with another 70-80 feet on my drives, I'd have been close enough in to lay up accurately for much shorter putts and could have taken 3s. And I've thrown that at times, but not consistently, and not without hurting my accuracy.