Opinion & Analysis

The Wedge Guy: A shot to a spot

Published

5 years ago

Dec 1, 2021

Over the past few years, golf has entered the statistical era, with the help of ShotLink, launch monitors, and “strokes gained.” As more and more data is analyzed, much is being written about which parts of the game are most important to scoring and winning out on tour.

It started out with “strokes gained-putting” as maybe the best indicator, but of late, we are reading more and more about ‘strokes gained-shotmaking’, which is the measure of a golfer’s ability to keep it in play and hit greens in regulation.
However, the statistics on strokes gained on tour are very different from the game most recreational golfers play. Realize that “out there”, all these guys are extraordinarily skilled in every aspect of the game, so what separates the winner from the “also-rans” in any given week drills down to a very few specific things. That is a far cry from the game you play week in and week out.

So, what about your game?

From my observation, for almost any recreational golfer, hitting 2-3 more greens per round does two things for you. 1) It gives you that many more birdie tries, and you’ll just have to make some of them. And 2) it takes that much heat off your scrambling. For the average golfer, a missed green leads to a bogey or worse more often than not. Very few recreational golfers can come close to an up-and-down percentage of anywhere near 50%, and most are around 20% at best. Think about that.

So, here’s one way to look at how you might be able to hit more greens in regulation. On the PGA Tour, greens-in-regulation percentage drops by almost half on shots from the rough over shots from the fairway. If that doesn’t hammer home the importance of hitting fairways, I don’t know what will.

Growing up in the era of persimmon drivers – which I’m sure many of you completely missed – the driver was for positioning the ball in the right part of the fairway for an approach shot, not for just blasting as far “that way” as possible. The top players of the era hit their drives to particular spots that allowed for the best approach to the green, and they didn’t let it “all out” all that often.

In his 1949 book “Power Golf” Ben Hogan, listed his ‘regular’ distance with a driver as 265, but his ‘maximum’ as 300. Who keeps 35 yards in reserve for only those times when you really need it?

So, here’s a little experiment for you the next time you can get out for a “practice nine” in the afternoon or early morning.

Each time you hit a drive in the rough, walk it out to the fairway and then back 10 to 15 yards. My bet is that you’ll find that the hole plays a bit easier, even though you have a longer club in your hands for your approach shot.

Then think about how much better you might score if you thought of each drive as a comfortably controlled shot to a spot, rather than just “hit it that way as far as I can.”

Just something to change the game a bit and keep it interesting.

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Terry Koehler

Terry Koehler is a fourth generation Texan and a graduate of Texas A&M University. Over his 40-year career in the golf industry, he has created over 100 putter designs and dozens of wedges. In 2014, he put together the team that reintroduced the Ben Hogan brand to the golf equipment industry with his TK 15 wedges and Ft. Worth 15 iron designs. Since receiving a U.S. Patent for his “Koehler Sole” in the early 1990s, he has been challenging “conventional wisdom” in the wedge category. In addition to inspiring multiple companies to emulate this sole technology, the performance of his wedge designs have stimulated all other companies to reposition some mass toward the top of the blade in their wedges. Terry is retired from his role as Chairman and Director of Innovation for Edison Golf, and remains active in the industry as an independent designer and consultant. But his most compelling work is in the wedge category. Since he first patented his “Koehler Sole” in the early 1990s, he has been challenging “conventional wisdom” reflected in ‘tour design’ wedges. The performance of his wedge designs have stimulated other companies to move slightly more mass toward the top of the blade in their wedges, but none approach the dramatic design of his Edison Forged wedges, which have been robotically proven to significantly raise the bar for wedge performance. Terry serves as Chairman and Director of Innovation for Edison Golf – check it out at www.EdisonWedges.com.

7 Comments

Jeff

Dec 3, 2021 at 8:03 pm

Better chance of getting to make a birdie hitting a 7-PW to the green from the rough, than hitting a 4-6 iron from the center of the fairway!!

Reply Report comment
A golfer

Dec 3, 2021 at 9:57 am

I think even more important than not being in the rough, depending on the course, is not being blocked out by trees, OB, or lost in the woods or a hazard. Thoughtful article nonetheless. Terry is right to point out that the strokes gained stats analysis done from pros’ games may not apply exactly to average golfers.

Reply Report comment
geohogan

Dec 1, 2021 at 8:05 pm

No course management “rules” apply in all situations.

Good to keep, “shot to a spot” in mind on those holes where
long rough and hazards can be very penal.

Reply Report comment
l

Dec 1, 2021 at 6:05 pm

Who hurt “E”? ^^^^^^^^^ Jeez man relax.

Reply Report comment
E

Dec 1, 2021 at 1:43 pm

Multiple flaws with this. First, the rough on Tour is significantly more penal than rough on most courses that amateurs play, so the “advantage” of playing in the fairway is smaller for amateurs. Also, hitting “comfortably controlled” drivers are not likely to increase your fairways hit by a measurable amount. Even if you increase your FIR % by 20%, that’s only an additional 3 fairways a round. What it definitely will do is increase the distance of your approach shots by 15 yards every single hole, which is going to negatively affect your scoring more than the additional 3 fairways hit will positively help.

Once again a low quality article from Terry that is not rooted in facts, but merely an old school thought and mindset that golf was better “back in the day”, and the best golfers back in the day knew better just because they were the best. Follow Lou Stagner and Scott Fawcett on Twitter to learn about how to actually improve your game through an understanding of the statistics, as opposed to reading this garbage.

Reply Report comment
- birdieman12
  
  Dec 3, 2021 at 9:48 am
  
  Really Pro? what game are you watching, the tour pros play 2 tournaments a year with tough rough, the US Open and sometimes the PGA. If that wasn’t the case the bomb and gouge wouldn’t work the way it does at every other tournament.
  
  Reply Report comment
- John
  
  Dec 3, 2021 at 10:30 am
  
  You have some serious Anger management issues hiding under the surface me thinks..
  
  Reply Report comment

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