The ‘long’ and ‘short’ of scoring better

We’d all love to hit bombs down the fairways. Having a wedge instead of a 7-iron for your second shot into a par-4 greatly increases the chances of hitting the green in regulation. Of course, aside from distance and accuracy off the tee, you’d still need decent approaches and short game to score.

But how much does a good day off the tees versus a good day on and around the greens compare when it comes to scoring?

Let’s face it, there are no pictures on the scorecard so it will always boil down to the score. Let me share my experience during my two most recent rounds.

My two most recent rounds were played at Valley Golf’s North and at Tagaytay Midlands. One round resulted in a 74 and the other resulted in an 88. That’s a 14-shot difference.

I didn’t lose any balls in either round so the scores are without penalties. They were a result of a good driving day, against a good approach and putting day. One course is relatively wide but long, while the other is tight but short.

Valley Golf

My game at Valley late in July was one of my worst days off the tees in recent memory. I was hitting all my drives left, which is not common for a fader like me.

Since Valley is a tight and penal course, wayward drives all resulted in pitches and punch shots out of the trees. Since my driver was misbehaving, I decided to take 3-woods and hybrids off the tees instead.

Unfortunately, even with shorter clubs, I was still hitting it left and into the trees. In short, it was a day of scrambling out of trouble. But as bad as my long game was that day, my approaches were decent (not great), and my putter was on fire.

As bad as I was off the tees, I made four birdies and saved par from 70-90 yards after playing out of tree trouble a few times. What I didn’t do is hit hero shots from trouble. I just played out and tried to make par with my approach and putting. So, on a day when I was terrible off the tees, I shot 74 and could have shot two to three shots lower if not for silly mistakes. I actually began my round with a three-putt double bogey, so I shot even par in the next 17 holes even with bad drives.

Tagaytay Midlands

On my most recent round (last Sunday), I was playing at our club’s qualifying tournament for the club championship. Off the tee, my game was pretty solid. I hit most fairways and of the two or three I missed, I was just at the first cut and had unimpeded lines to the green.

I am not a long hitter, averaging 240-250 yards on decent drives. Midlands has some long par 4s so even from the fairways, I had a few approaches with 190-200 yards to go. But most approach shots were in the 110-160-yard range so I should be able to hit at least half the greens in regulation.

But I had one of my worst approach days in a long time. Even from 100 yards, in the middle of the fairway, I couldn’t hit the green. As good as my driving was, I only hit two greens in regulation the entire day. Of course, I also three-putted both those GIRs and bogeyed them. On a day when I was in play on every hole, I shot 88. My putting wasn’t terrible, my play around the greens was not great but decent. But my iron play, my approach to the greens was the worst it’s been in a long while. I was hitting it short, left, right and fat.

Conclusion

While I wouldn’t wish for a bad driving day, I’d rather have a good approach and short game day. The difference between the two is just night and day. I could score close to even par on a good approach and putting day, but hardly broke 90 on a good driving day.

The irony is, like many golfers, I, too am obsessed with hitting it longer off the tee. I am on the lookout for a new driver, hoping that the latest technology can help with my distance and accuracy off the tee. Being in my mid 40s and being about 20-30 yards shorter off the tees, I am also planning a swing change that can hopefully bring back my old distance off the tees.

But my last two rounds were a reality check on where I should be focusing if I want to score better. Short game is where scores are made, not off the tees. If you want to score better, stop obsessing about your drives and start sharpening your “arrives.”