Opinion & Analysis

The Wedge Guy: How important is the fairway?

Published

6 years ago

Jul 29, 2020

I know you all expect me to always write about wedges and wedge play, but my lifetime in golf and 40 years in the industry has caused me to think deeply and investigate all areas of playing better golf. So, today I want to share some thinking about your tee shots that might be a bit different.

My premise is simple and verifiable–golfers of all skill levels are much better with their approach shots from the fairway than from the rough.

I know, “chicks dig the long ball”, but paychecks dig the straight ball. Let’s go to the PGA Tour stats to see just how much.

For this illustration, I picked Seamus Power, who is currently 50th in greens in regulation at 69.25 percent—one of the better iron players obviously. But he’s actually better than most from the rough, ranking 13th in proximity to the hole on those shots. But even so, let’s dig deeper to see just how important it is for him to hit the fairway.

Mr. Power’s average distance from the hole on all shots from 125-150 yards is 21.1 feet…but from the rough that average is twice as far–40.4 feet. To put that in perspective, he averages less than that–under 39 feet–on his approaches from 200-225. Let’s assume Mr. Power could hit every fairway if he would only back off on his drives by 25 yards. What would that mean to him?

Well, his fairways hit success is 59 percent, so that would mean he would have 20-25 birdie putts a tournament that are 15- 20-feet shorter than what he’s getting now. If you look at his putting and scrambling stats, that could translate to 4-5 more birdies per tournament and maybe 3 to 4 fewer bogeys–up to two strokes per round.

So, he’s made $209,000 this season, ranking him 181st. His scoring average of 71.264 ranks him 129th. That’s only four strokes per tournament behind Colin Morikawa, who’s made over $3 million this year.

So, back to what this could all mean to you.

We can talk about those few extra yards all we want, but statistics bear out that fairways hit is one of the more important stats, and that applies even more to recreational golfers. No matter where the course, a drive in the fairway lets you play the hole with an advantage. That goes for your second shot on par-5s as well. If you could hit more of your approach shots from the fairway, your scores will go down for sure.

There are a number of ways to prove this to yourself, but my favorite is to play a practice round and hit every approach shot from the fairway. If you hit a drive in the rough, walk it straight out to the fairway and even back 10-15 yards, and hit your approach shot from there. My own informal research is that it makes a huge impact for golfers of all skill levels.

So, now that you’ve learned that, how do you hit more fairways? That takes some time on the range and/or with your professional, but mostly it takes a huge mental adjustment. We all are coached and coerced into thinking that the purpose of the tee shot is to move the ball as far as humanly possible. We are pounded with millions of dollars of advertising and TV talk about the “long ball.” But statistics prove that a ball in the short grass makes any hole play easier.

To me, there are three keys to hitting straighter drives, and most of them will actually improve your average distance as well:

Grip the club lightly. If you have a light grip on the club, it prevents you from trying to muscle it too much.
Swing at 85-90%. Just back off a bit on your entire swing pace, from start to finish. Feel like you are hitting the driver like you would a controlled 7-iron shot into a green.
Aim small, miss small. That’s a favorite line of mine from Mel Gibson’s “The Patriot”, and it applies to golf. Pick out a specific tree, corner of a house, edge of a bunker, etc. and aim your tee shot precisely. Take time to get set up with a dead aim on where you want the ball to go. Too often, we just aim “at the fairway”, and that’s not good enough.

I hope this helps you hit more fairways as you get the most out of the last half of the 2020 golf season!

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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.

8 Comments

Bob Jones

Aug 1, 2020 at 3:42 pm

There was a time long ago when the driver was called the play club, because it is what you used to put the ball in play.

Reply Report comment
Peter

Aug 1, 2020 at 6:23 am

Maybe the guy hitting more fairways will also hit more greens? Or the guy on his day of hitting more fairways will also hit more greens…?

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Osnola Kinnard

Jul 30, 2020 at 10:45 am

TK,

I would add something that I have found to be true. I got ‘fitted’ on a Trackman that showed near perfect launch and spin rates and dispersion. I was dead on at the 14* launch and 2000-2400 RPM spin range. I think my driver was set up at 9*.

I got to the course and hit the ball all over the place. I hit a couple of really big bombs…I mean BIG drives…but I lost balls, hit them OB, hit them behind trees, and missed fairways.

I went to the driving range and pretty much did the same thing, hitting it all over the place. I started adding back loft .5* at a time and finally settled at 10* and my dispersion really tightened up as did my consistency. I was astounded at how much difference one additional degree meant.

My point being, the ‘best’ numbers don’t always translate to the ‘best result’.

Reply Report comment
drkviol801

Jul 30, 2020 at 9:23 am

Hey wedge guy, what are tomorrow’s lottery numbers? You seem so smart and knowledgeable.

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Shawn

Jul 30, 2020 at 7:21 am

Thank you for the tip I find my self not making contact with the ball is my undoing However look back at a set up when pros set up thire is a slight lean in the upper club ware grip the club and always faces the target

Reply Report comment
Gunny

Jul 29, 2020 at 5:13 pm

This is 90% true.

The courses that I and most of us on this site play do not have rough that resembles the PGA tour setups. Many times if I miss the fairway by a few yards it’s no difference because the rough isn’t too thick most days. During our club championship, member guest, etc the rough can get gnarly, but most days the rough isn’t too big of a deal.

Being out of play or having an obstructed shot is a different deal. And that is where the advice in this article ring very true.

Reply Report comment
- Jimmy
  
  Jul 29, 2020 at 9:18 pm
  
  I’ve done a lot of work on this with my own stat tracking (on my game). It’s more nuanced than this article & consistent with your comments. LANDING the ball in the fairway, regardless of whether it stays there, is the most important thing for my score. The reason is that you lose 10-30 yards of distance by landing it in the rough (depending on slope & how deep the rough is). And I’m way better with a 9-iron from the rough than a 6-iron from the fairway so backing off isn’t helpful.
  
  The reason these tour numbers don’t work for amateurs is that tour rough is a much worse penalty, and tour players are way better with a mid/long iron from the fairway than amateurs are.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - karsten's ghost
    
    Jul 30, 2020 at 1:25 am
    
    Absolutely nailed it, Jimmy. Driver with rollout is the key. Guys trying to hit it super-high and plugging their drives are missing out on whatever perceived advantage there was about height.
    
    Hit the fairway on the fly, and everything’s gonna work out ok.
    
    Reply Report comment

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