LONGER OR STRAIGHTER?

Everywhere you look, every golf equipment claim seems to be about hitting the ball further. From golf balls to drivers, fairways, hybrids, and now irons, the message that hitting it longer is the ultimate... and maybe only... goal we have as golfers.

While this quest for distance has certainly improved the performance of golf balls and many of the longer clubs (I.E.: drivers and even fairway woods), is it really what makes the difference in a round of golf? I have written about this before, but today I want to get you all involved in a discussion of what really is important to each of us when it comes to hitting a golf ball where we want it to go.

As you all know, I am an unabashed fan of Mr. Hogan and the way he played the game. His control of the golf ball was legendary and stories abound about how he rarely missed fairways and greens. He was known to control his driver ball-flight to hit certain areas of fairways to give him the best approach to the flag. He aimed at specific areas of the green to give him the best putt. He worked the ball differently based on the flag position — hitting fades to right pin placements and draws to those on the left, bringing it in high to a front pin, and lower to release to one in the back. Of course, that was the way the game was played back then by all the top players; it was just that Mr. Hogan seemed to take it to a whole other level.

As I contrast that with the power game of today, the best players in the world hit two out of three fairways and about that same percentage of the greens. But they do hit it a mile, for sure, giving rise to the oft-quoted "bomb and gouge" approach to the game.

That approach seems to work for them, but does it for you and me?

What would improve your scoring, and reduce the "big number" holes that just deflate us? Is it being a few yards closer to the green off the tee? Or being able to improve your command of the ball so that you could keep it between the trees? Is it hitting a full-out 8-iron from 160 and hitting the green 20-30% of the time, or opting for a controlled soft 6-iron and improving that percentage by double or triple?

A golf research professional told me just a couple of months ago that what golfers say they really want out of the game is "to hit better golf shots more often." What I am asking is...

"What does that mean to you?"

Let me have it, guys...