What's the Best Club Off the Tee? - Golf Myths Unplugged - Plugged In Golf (2024)

The Big Decision

Make the “smart” play for the fairway or let the big dog eat?

That’s the decision golfers are faced with 14 times in each round. The choicesyou make on the tee box are unparalleled in their impact on your scoring, so why rely on “common sense” and myths? At PluggedInGolf, we don’t! That’s why we set out to discover what is truly the best club to hit from the tee.

The Myths

For this test, we examined five myths relating to the distance, accuracy, and consistency of tee shots.

Myth #1 – 3 Wood is more accurate than driver

Myth #2 – Driver is less consistent than shorter clubs

Myth #3 – Accuracy off the tee is more important than distance

Myth #4 –Shorter, more lofted cubs are always more accurate

Myth #5 – Taking “less club” off the tee is the smart play

How We Tested

For this test, we recruitedthree above-average golfers. Each brought in their driver, 3W, longest hybrid, and longest iron. Each player hit 10 shots with each club. No shots were deleted, and each golfer hit the clubs in a different order. Thedata can be found at the bottom of this post.

All testing was done at Club Champion.

The Results

This myth is 100% busted. In both absolute and relative terms, each of our testers hit their driver more accurately than their 3W.

We looked at accuracy three different ways. First, we looked at how far each shot was from the center line. Our testers hit their driversan avergage of 8 yardscloser to the center line. Next, we looked at degrees offline. This is an important number to consider because it levels the playing field between the driver, which goes farther, and the 3W. Our testers hit their drivers 2.3° straighter, on average. Finally, we looked at how many “bad” shots were hit. For accuracy, we defined a bad shot as any shotthat finished 15 yards or more from the center line. The results here were mixed: one tester hit an equal number of drivers and 3Ws badly, one did better with the driver, and one did better with the 3W.

There are some possible explanations for why golfers hit a longer, less lofted club straighter. First, drivers have higher MOI(moment of inertia) than 3 woods, meaning they’re more stable and forgiving on mish*ts. Also, golfers practice with their driver much more than they do with their 3W. Finally, it was our observation that golfers swung harder with their 3W in an effort to hit it as far as their driver.

Regardless of the explanation, it is clear that 3 woods are not more accurate than drivers.

Our testing showed that not only is the driver as accurate as shorter clubs, it’s also every bit as consistent.

To judge consistency, we looked at the range that each player covered, both in terms of distance and left-to-right accuracy, with each club. We also looked at how many bad shots were hit with each club. Bad shots were defined as being 15 yards or more from the center line or 10 yards short of that club’s average distance.

With regard to distance, thedriver had a smaller distance range than the 3W for 2/3 testers. All of our testers had smalleror equaldistance ranges with their driver compared to their hybrid. When comparing the driver to the long iron, the results were mixed.

When we turn to accuracy, the supposed advantageof shorter clubs, we see ajumbled picture. One tester was least accurate with his driver in terms of range, but his driver producedthe fewest bad shots. Our second tester was most accurate with his driver according toboth metrics. Our third tester was roughly equal with driver, 3W, and hybrid, but his long iron was consistently better.

In sum, there is no clear consistency advantage to shorter clubs. While the results are mixed, the onus is on the distance-challenged short clubs to prove their worth off the tee, and they failed to make their case.

This is a myth that doesn’t lend itself to being busted or confirmed because it’s too ambiguous. Would you give up 3 yards to be in bounds rather than out of bounds? Of course. Would you give up 50 yards to be in the fairway instead of the first cut? Obviously not.

We do know two things: distance is underrated in terms of its impact on scoring and golfers give up more distance than they realize when clubbing down.

Let’s quantify the importance of distance. According to Mark Broadie’s book Every Shot Counts, an extra 20 yards per tee shot is worth 0.8 strokes/round to a PGA Tour player. That distance isworth more to the amateur golfer. For an 80 shooter, that distance is worth 1.3 strokes. For a golfer shooting 115, those 20 yards areworth 2.7 strokes!

It’s no surprise that golfers overestimate the distance that they hit their clubs, andthis really hurts them when it comes to decision making off the tee. Our testers lost 35yards, on average, when switching from driver to 3W. The drop-off gets even more dramatic when you talk about hybrids and long irons. Compared to their drivers, our testers’ longest hybrids were 45 yards shorter. Their longest irons were 80yards shorter.

Hitting fairways is important, but it’s not on the same level as having a pitching wedge as opposed toa 5I on your approach.

Just like Myth #1, this is absolutely busted. In fact, we found that, at least for some golfers, the driver is significantly more accurate. Check out the graphic below showing all the shots that we measured. The shots furthest from the center were hit with 3W and hybrid, not the driver.

As we discussed earlier, when you look at distance in absolute terms – yards offline and left-to-right range – the results are somewhat mixed. Based on range, driver was most accurate for one tester, it was least accurate for another, and driver was in the middle for the third. Based on average yards offline, the driver was bettered only by the long iron.

When we switch to looking ataccuracy in terms ofdegrees offline, we see little tono advantage for shorter clubs. We’ve already discussed that each player hit the driver more accurately than the 3W, andthat extended to the hybrid as well. Our testers hit their driver 1.3° closer to the center line compared to their hybrid, on average. When we compare driver to the long iron, two of our testers still showed measurabledriver advantages: 0.4° and 2.2°. Player 3did hit his long iron exceptionally – only 1.2° offline compared to 3.6° for the driver – but it must be restated that the long iron was nearly 80 yards shorter than the driver.

It should be obvious by this point that this myth is busted. First,we’ve shown that thereis not a clearaccuracy benefit to shorter clubs– the drivercan be as accurate or more accurate. Second, our data shows that shorter clubs are not more consistent. Finally, shorter clubs give up a lot of distance – much more than most people realize – without returning a benefit.

Conclusion

It turns out that the guy who hits driver on every holeisn’t a meat head after all…at least not when it comes to club selection. Our testing found that hitting driver off the tee results in longer, more consistent, and more accurate shots than any other club.

This doesn’t mean that you should snap your 3W in half. The smart play on any given hole takes into account a lot of things:your personal shot pattern, the shape of the hole, hazards, weather conditions, etc. There are plenty of holes that call for a fairway wood, hybrid, or iron off the tee, but overall the driver is the best club off the tee.

The Data