The Long Game in Golf: How Good is Good Enough?

OK, enough about Henrik Stenson’s long game. Let’s talk about Average Joe’s (or Josephine’s) long game. They stand up on every tee with a (wo)manly driver in hand, heads filled with thoughts of hitting the golf ball farther and straighter than ever before. This can make the tee shot much more difficult and stressful than it needs to be. Think about it – the tee shot in golf should be the easiest shot on the course. First, the lie is always perfect. And second, the target (fairway) is very unspecific and much less tied to distance and direction than any other shot.

How many times per round do you hit your driver? Or more to the point, how many times do you choose something other than a driver off the tee on a par 4 or 5 hole? Here’s a niblick of truth: Did you know that less than 10% of golfers consistently hit their driver farther in the fairway than their 3-wood? (And trust me, there is an inverse correlation between driver success % and handicap.)

If you really want to improve your golf score, perhaps it is time to re-think your driving club selection. If tee shots are a problem for you then your card is probably showing more than its share of double and triple bogeys. (DUH?) Here are a few statistical niblicks about the game played by the single-digit handicappers that Mr. or Ms. Average Golfer should be emulating:

• They record double bogey or worse in 1 out of 10 holes
• Over 70% of their double bogeys or worse start with a problem tee shot
• Their odds of recording a double bogey or worse plummet to 1 out of 35 holes when the tee shot is successful!

The point is that simply getting a tee shot in play not only creates the opportunity for good things to happen, it dramatically reduces the likelihood of disaster. The bottom line is that if you are setting realistic goals, the golf tee shot should not need to be great in order to be "good enough" to achieve your goal.