Play Smarter with Wayne Radar Riley – Tee Shots

1 May 2024

The one and only Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley shares some tee box tips to help you Play Smarter on the course with Shot Scope data the next time you tee it up.

Our performance data can help you save strokes without getting a lesson by simply making better informed decisions on the course, in this edition of Play Smarter with Radar we look at tee shots.

3 wood isn’t any safer off the tee it’s just shorter!

If you are a golfer that believes hitting a 3 wood off the tee is any safer than hitting a driver, you are falling victim to one of the most common misconceptions in golf.

When we look at the likelihood of hitting the fairway with a driver and 3 wood, we see that the two are almost identical.

Driver vs 3 Wood FIR%

So the next time you are standing on the tee and are toying with the idea of possibly hitting a 3 wood to find the fairway, remember, your chances of hitting it down the middle are basically the same.

What will you be sacrificing if you do hit 3 wood? A lot of distance, and that can be costly. Here we have tee shot distances with the driver and 3 wood.

Driver vs 3 Wood P-Avg Distance

Across the board, players give up distance with little to no accuracy gain. How does the choice off the tee impact scoring?

On a Par 5, we can see that statistically, the decision to pull 3 wood negatively impacts your scoring across the board.

Par 5 Scoring

The only factor that can settle the debate between driver or 3 wood is whether or not you can reach trouble.

If a hazard is in reach, then yes use the 3 wood, if not… hit the chief!

Thinking your game would benefit from insight like this? Check out one of the various performance tracking products Shot Scope offer.

Performance tracking is one of the few proven methods to improve your golf game. Shot Scope users on average enjoy a 4.1 stroke reduction after 30 recorded rounds – get the most out of your game!