Fairways Revisited
Below is every past T2C post on hitting fairways and their importance (or lack thereof). TLDR: Stop stressing about missed fairways. Ingrain this in your DNA.
Finding Fairways
“Successful tee shots are about keeping the ball in play and avoiding trouble than hitting fairways. Fairway bunkers, trees, penalty areas, and out of bounds cost golfers far more strokes than hitting it in light rough.”
-Jon Sherman (@practicalgolf)
I know checking off a fairway hit on the scorecard feels nice, but it’s overrated. The #1 goal should be avoiding trouble off the tee and then hitting it as far as you can while achieving goal #1.
A little trick is to tee up on the same side of the tee box as the trouble. So if there’s water on the left, I’ll tee up on the left side of the tee box and slightly turn my body away from the water. This shifts my dispersion area away from the hazard and gives me a bigger margin for error.
Another key part is accepting that the dispersion of your drive is going to vary a lot, no matter how good you get.
The chart above is a dispersion chart for a top-ranked amateur. The player’s driver variance is roughly 70 yards from left to right!
Stop worrying about fairways, aim away from trouble, and, as Lou says, Manage Your Expectations.
Tee Shots
Forget fairways hit. Overrated. The goal off the tee is to stay out of trouble and hit it as far as possible while achieving goal #1. As you can see in the graphic, hazards like trees, bunkers, and OB/Water cost golfers > 1 shot.
But hitting it in the light rough is only .3 shots.
Lesson: You can have a GREAT round, hitting very few fairways.
Stat of the Week
We’ve talked many times about Fairways Hit as a highly overrated stat. The graphic above shows the top 4 players in fairways hit %. You’ll notice that although they are good players, none are top PGA players.
On the flip side, the top players in shot gains off the tee include names like Scottie Scheffler, Rory Mcilroy, and Patrick Cantlay, but their average fairways hit % ranks 46th, 158th, and 16th on the PGA Tour.
Rory is #1 in Distance off the tee and #2 in shots gained off the tee, yet he only hits 53% of fairways.
This applies to amateurs as well. The most important things off the tee are distance and staying out of trouble (water, OB, bunkers, etc.). Sure, a fairway is nice, but remember Rory and Scottie.
PGA Pros Average 60% Fairways Hit
As Golf Science Lab says in their tweet, we must accept that missed fairways are an inherent part of the game. Accept it and move on. As loyal readers know, Fairway Hit % is an incredibly overrated statistic! (click below for more info)*
Have a good weekend.
