Legendary golfer Ben Hogan believed that your shot off of the tee was the most important shot in golf,
"You've got to hit the fairway before you have a good chance of putting the ball close to the pin. You can be the greatest iron player in the world, but if you're in the boondocks it won't do you any good."
Players like Dustin Johnson rely on their long drives to move them down the fairway and into position for an easier approach shot. At the 2018 WGC-Dell Match Play event, DJ smashed a drive a quarter of a mile (although it included hitting a cart path, this was still a "wow" moment).
Some golfers would argue that the most important golf shot in your bag is the approach shot because, if executed properly, you can get on the green in regulation and make possible birdie or par.
Other golf gurus, such as Dave Pelz, state that it isn't your putting which should consume your focus but, rather, you should work on your wedges, "Putting is not the most important part of the game – it’s your wedge game. Putting is the second most important because you do it half the time."
PGAprofessional.com states, on the flip side, that the "importance of putting cannot be overemphasized",
"If there are 18 holes on a golf course and each green is worth two putts that means that par for putting is 36. The majority of 18-hole golf courses are par 72. That means that half of par is putting."
Read: Three Smart Ways to Lower Your Golf Score
One question to consider is..."What is more important for your game... to start each hole well or to finish strong?"
As for my own personal game, I add strokes to my round on my approach shots and through lack of feel on the greens - hybrid clubs, mid-irons and putting are where I need to strengthen my game.
Titleist believes that hitting greens in regulation is a basic statistic which players should track, "golfers play more shots to the green than from the tee. The higher the score, the more shots that have been hit to the green."
Everyone's golf game is different and we all have our "pain points", so, it is necessary to practice all shots in your bag, identify weaknesses in your game, decide where you need work and focus on those shots.
What are the shots you need to practice? Comment at the bottom of our Golf for Beginners golf blog and tag us on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.
