Is Laying-Up Helping or Hurting Your Golf Scores?
We have all been there—do we go for the green or do we layup? Do we give into the temptation and pull the 3 wood or do we play it safe to a comfortable wedge number?
Obviously every golfer is different, and some players can be very confident which shots ‘they have in the bag’. But evaluating the performance of millions of shots from hundreds of thousands of golfers from all skill levels can start to show us some patterns in what this means to most players ‘most of the time’.
‘Managing Your Expectations’ is back for another segment and this week Arccos’ own (and self-proclaimed) “data nerd” Lou Stagner and Golf Channel’s Anna Jackson Whiteley discuss the importance of going for the green when the opportunity arises. While we all have our own feelings on the topic, the data doesn’t lie… as much as we wish it did sometimes to spare our egos.
Stagner notes that when it comes to strategy and scoring, players are better off hitting it as far as they can down the fairway. While there are always obstacles to consider (water hazards, bunkers, etc), laying up costs players some valuable strokes.
It may seem like the extra control would save shots, but the loss of distance is proving to be more costly to players. Lou further explains the value of hitting it longer.
This premise doesn’t just apply to going for a par 5 in two. Lou also mentions that while PGA Tour professionals often hit their 3 woods off the tee, it isn’t the best play for amateurs. Most amateur golfers will hit the same amount of fairways with their 3 wood as they do driver but will sacrifice a ton of distance (15-20 yards). Losing that much isn’t worth 2% more of fairways hit.
Related: 3W VS Driver: is the accuracy gained worth the distance lost?
So the next time you’re faced with this age old question, have no fear! The “grip it and rip it” method is the way to go! If you are interested in tracking your on-course performance, get your Arccos Starter Bundle today. The system gets more fine-tuned with the more golf you play for the most detailed and accurate performance stats available to amateur golfers.
Don’t miss the Manage Your Expectations segment during Golf Today live on the Golf Channel. The show airs on Tuesdays usually between 11-2pm EST depending on other golf news.
Here are some of the other ‘Managing Your Expectations’ segments you may have missed!
