Driving Or Putting: Which Is More Important?

How many times have you heard it said, "Drive for show and putt for dough"? Anyone who has played golf has most likely heard it. So, is this old saying really true? Is putting really more important than driving the golf ball? Well, let's take a closer look and you can decide for yourself.

You will hear people give you two different thoughts on this. Many will say that the your tee shot is more important because it sets up the entire course of events for that hole. In general, you will only use your driver on approximately 14 holes during your round. But, the holes you do hit your driver on will go a long way in determining your score on that hole.

The other school of thought is that your putter is more important since you use it 2-3 times on every hole. While that makes sense, let’s take a look at it from a different angle and see if this helps.

When you’re out on the golf course and you hit your driver off the tee, where your ball lands will make a big difference in your score. Put the ball in the fairway, and you set yourself up for an easier shot to the green. Now you can hit a pitching wedge into the green and have a good shot at getting a birdie, or at least a par for that hole.

But, if you put your golf ball in the deep rough, or under a tree, in the sand trap, or the worst of all places, out of bounds, your now faced with BIG trouble. You're going to have to either get real creative and hit a miracle shot, or at least hit some really good shots to get a bogey or double bogey.

And if you hit your golf ball out of bounds, you’ll have to go back to the tee box and hit all over again, along with having penalty strokes added to your score. Now you could easily be looking at a 7 or even a big fat snowman. That is why hitting a good drive off the tee box is so important if you want to score low.

Even with this said, there is still no other part of your golf game that can save you more strokes than your putter. A good putter can make for some good scores. You can easily eliminate several strokes off your score just from keeping away from the 3-putt greens. 3-putts can add 4-5 strokes to your golf round, so practicing with the flat stick can dramatically lower your scores.

The bottom line to all of this is that BOTH your driver and your putter are equally important to your golf game. You must practice with both of them and work to improve. You will need both good putting and driving to help you lower your golf scores. Spend time out on the driving range working with your driver. Then go to the practice putting green and spend some quality time working with your putter. Use most of that time hitting putts from 3-4 feet. Make a game of it by forcing yourself to sink 10 in a row before quitting. Master putts of this length and you’ll notice a dramatic improvement in your golf scores.

The most important things above all else though is that no matter how bad, or how good you're playing, have fun doing it!