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300 yd drive or 12 foot gimmies?

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  • 300 yd drive or 12 foot gimmies?


    Saw this on twitter and reddit and thought it generated a very interesting discussion.

    To set the ground rules; I would say for the drive you are allowed to walk out exactly 300 yards from the tee and drop the ball wherever you want. Making everything inside 12 feet I don’t think needs any explanation.

    What do you think would result in a better score for the average player? Modern theory is that approach and driving are the two most important factors in scoring, so it would suggest the drive is the way to go. That’s the way I lean.

  • #2
    Thats tough.

    12ft gimmes essentially eliminates 3 putts and guarantees up-and-downs on ‘straight forward’ greenside recovery shots.

    300 yard drives in the fairway guarantees a scoring club into every par 4, and the ability to reach every par 5 in 2. However, there is no added benefit on par 3s.

    I’m also leaning 300yd drives, but a statistical argument could be made based on my GIR% vs putting% from 6-12ft.

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    • #3
      I lean the drive because penalties with the driver are usually what de-rail my round.

      And I’m not a good putter, but I can make 3 footers and I just don’t have that many 4-12 foot putts per round.

      Interesting wrinkle though is if you knew you made everything inside 12 feet you could be an awful lot more aggressive on say 12-25 footers knowing so long as you don’t go crazy by the hole it’s auto make coming back. I think that would lead to a fair number of more made putts of that length for me.

      Just one round and one guy, but a 10 handicap on reddit played two balls and tried it and was 6 shots better with the 300 yard drives vs 12 foot gimmies.

      Comment


      • #4
        tour players only make 35% from 10 feet - so making every 12 ft putt is an unbelievable advantage -
        Driver - Cleveland Classic 290 - 10.5- Miyazaki Stiff -- Taylor Made Burner 3 and 5 wood
        23* and 26* Adams Idea Tech hybrids both with Fubuki 65HY S
        6 - W - Srixon Z 745 - Dynamic Gold S300
        52* - 56* Cobra Tour Trusty
        Scotty Cameron GoLo #7 --- Kia Ma Imola 8

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        • #5
          I would take the 12 foot gimmies, as my short putting from any distance is not very good and I am very nervous from 2-3 feet...missed 5 of these recently

          Also, I think it to be more satisfying to hit a driver 200 + yards off the tee...300 yards...awesome "Drive for show and bragging rights albeit temporarily"

          Comment


          • #6
            This topic comes up every now again. Any smart person would take 12 foot gimmies as on the greens is where you make hay.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by cuonthe1t View Post
              tour players only make 35% from 10 feet - so making every 12 ft putt is an unbelievable advantage -
              Yes but they are something like 90% if you include all putts within 10 feet, maybe it’s 75% 12 feet and in?

              Making all your 12footers is a massive advantage for sure, but most people already make almost everything inside 3 or 4 feet and rarely do we hit it inside 12.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by sunshiNee View Post
                This topic comes up every now again. Any smart person would take 12 foot gimmies as on the greens is where you make hay.
                I would disagree. The average player very rarely is going to be inside 12 feet for birdie. With 300 yard drives in the middle every time you should have very good birdie chances on almost every par 5 or driveable par 4, and you’d have a wedge in your hand on every other par 4.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by NineNineSix View Post

                  I would disagree. The average player very rarely is going to be inside 12 feet for birdie. With 300 yard drives in the middle every time you should have very good birdie chances on almost every par 5 or driveable par 4, and you’d have a wedge in your hand on every other par 4.
                  true - but they will be at 12 feet numerous times on the second putt
                  Driver - Cleveland Classic 290 - 10.5- Miyazaki Stiff -- Taylor Made Burner 3 and 5 wood
                  23* and 26* Adams Idea Tech hybrids both with Fubuki 65HY S
                  6 - W - Srixon Z 745 - Dynamic Gold S300
                  52* - 56* Cobra Tour Trusty
                  Scotty Cameron GoLo #7 --- Kia Ma Imola 8

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    12 foot gimmes is the way to go for me. I shoot in the 90s and 12 foot gimmes would probably let me do even par or in the 80s at least. Drive, approach, pitch, then gimme all par 4s. Tee shot, pitch, then gimme on par 3s, par 5 I would aim for birdie, getting there on 3 then 2 putts. Now if you tell me to switch tee boxes, then that's a different story. haha I play the whites.

                    Maybe for the really beginner ones, the drive would be the better choice.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by cuonthe1t View Post

                      true - but they will be at 12 feet numerous times on the second putt
                      True, but a lot of times maybe you have a 20 foot putt you hit to 2 or 3 feet. The 12 foot gimmie is of basically no use there.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Sarangani View Post
                        12 foot gimmes is the way to go for me. I shoot in the 90s and 12 foot gimmes would probably let me do even par or in the 80s at least. Drive, approach, pitch, then gimme all par 4s. Tee shot, pitch, then gimme on par 3s, par 5 I would aim for birdie, getting there on 3 then 2 putts. Now if you tell me to switch tee boxes, then that's a different story. haha I play the whites.

                        Maybe for the really beginner ones, the drive would be the better choice.
                        No way, if you shoot say 90 and you think 12 foot gimmies you could shoot 72!? Do you miss 18 putts inside 12 feet in a round? Think about that.

                        It is not simple to just pitch or chip inside 12 feet every time.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by NineNineSix View Post

                          I would disagree. The average player very rarely is going to be inside 12 feet for birdie. With 300 yard drives in the middle every time you should have very good birdie chances on almost every par 5 or driveable par 4, and you’d have a wedge in your hand on every other par 4.
                          Youʻre kidding me right? You should expand 300 yard + automatic GIR then.

                          The assumption that people will hit the greens even from the middle of the fairway is laughable. Even from 100 yards perhaps pros maybe hit greens 80% of the time and on average to 15 feet. A birdie putt is not always guaranteed and 2 putt is not guaranteed depending where you leave yourself on the green. However the verbiage of 12 feet gimmie is quite clear.

                          300 yard drive doesnt mean automatic GIR.............

                          Case in point I played a company scramble the other week. We had a lot of shots from 100-90 yards out and well we didnʻt always hit the green... only made 3 birdies, thatʻs having 4 chances each time from ~100 yards too!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            The .Pros benefit from 300+ drives because they can hack it onto the green from most anywhere and still par the hole.
                            The average player's second shot seldom hits the green and he is forced to wedge within 12 feet .
                            The AP would benefit the most from 12 ft. gimmie.


                            The emphasis on length sells drivers.
                            things change

                            Maga Lies Matter

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by sunshiNee View Post

                              Youʻre kidding me right? You should expand 300 yard + automatic GIR then.

                              The assumption that people will hit the greens even from the middle of the fairway is laughable. Even from 100 yards perhaps pros maybe hit greens 80% of the time and on average to 15 feet. A birdie putt is not always guaranteed and 2 putt is not guaranteed depending where you leave yourself on the green. However the verbiage of 12 feet gimmie is quite clear.

                              300 yard drive doesnt mean automatic GIR.............
                              Where did I say it would be an auto GIR?

                              If you are average player playing a 6100-6300 yard course with a 300 yard drive you’re probably going to have on average 50-80 yards to the green on par 4s? That’s a pitch shot. I’m not saying it’s an automatic GIR by any means, but give me 10-12 of those a round and yeah, I’ll have a fair number of birdie putt chances. Now go to par 5s which you are probably going to have 180-200 yards into the green with your second shot. You have two shots from there to hit the GIR. It is very likely the 3rd shot will be from 30 yards to the green or less, again, it’s not automatic but yeah give me 4 “par 3s” from 30 yards yards every round and I’m probably going to have at least a couple good birdie chances.

                              Comment

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