Mr. Nicklaus
 

I heard Mr. Nicklaus talking about this once... he said he practiced his long clubs the most...Driver--Long irons. He thinks driving it long and straight is very important.

Full swing is everything but about 10 shots in my case. It seems that no matter how well, or poorly I strike the ball, it is the short game that accounts for a good vs average vs poor score that day.

My scores tend to average a certain 'baseline' and a good day is about five shots better, a bad day five shots worse, than that average.

I can have a great ball striking day, and shoot my average with less than great putting, or a poor ball striking day and shoot a good score with a hot putter and good chipping. Almost always in that 10 shot window.

Of course if I play often, that average baseline goes down and the variation gets much smaller than 10 shots, but with very little play in the past year (maybe 10 rounds total), the 10 shot window is about right.

I think it also depends on your overall strategy and approach to the game. If you hit driver on every hole, even if you hit it pretty straight, your short game better be good or you won't score. If you think your way around, play to certain yardages for approach shots, etc... then your short game is less of a factor...still a major factor, but your full shots become more imortant tee to green IMO.

Gir
 

Don't agree. I believe the more important stat is GIR. The long hitters on average out drive the short hitters by 20 to 30 yards and they tend to have better GIRs. When they're in the short grass they can have one to two less clubs into the greens (the second shot advantage). So, let's hit'em LONG AND STRAIGHT.

DG

It seems to me that, as a higher handicapper, the full swing is more important, and that the pendulum shifts toward the short game the better you get. I'll give you an example. My brother and I played 9 today. I'm about a 25, he's a single digit handicap. On decent hits, length is about equal. Now my putting is a little better than his, particularly this early in the season (only the second round for both of us). Of course he dusted me. But I beat him on 2 holes, because I was able to match him on the full swing shots; only in those instances did the short game matter. On the rest of the holes, as far as our "competition" was concerned, my putting touch became a moot point, because I could barely get the ball airborne. My point? Most higher handicappers are such because they can't get the ball to go anywhere near where they want it to go on a consistent basis. When they can get around the green in regulation on a regular basis (the result of an improved full swing), then the short game's importance increases relative to the player's overall game. You could be a short game genius, but if you finally reach the green only after 4 or 5 shots, your score will still suck :)

Amen Brother.:salut:

You have just spoken for 90% + of the golfing population, even though most of them are loth to admit it.
Only the remaining few % experience the joy that a decent short game can bring them.

Game On!
 

A good long game (full swing) will lower the highest score you are going to shoot.

A good short game and mental approach will lower the lowest score you are going to shoot.

In a nutshell.:salut:

Great point. Won't get too much disagreement on that.

The long game makes a big difference.

There is a clear relation between handicap and ball striking distances.