When do you use Iron off the Tee? (Or anything other than Driver)

[HeathS16]

After reading and listening to a ton of stuff on this I really only use iron if it meets several criteria: 

1. The landing zone that I am hitting at is considerably wider in than where my driver would land. 

2. There are too many hazards in play to use driver (ex. hole 14 at the home course has OB right, forest left and bunkers guarding the green. 325 yards.)

Generally speaking the rule of thumb for me is play what you can hit the furthest AND keep in play.  

[Raj LP]

26 minutes ago, Shankster said:

Manolo?

Yes! Glad someone caught it.

[MScott]

I have a PXG 1 iron that I use especially on windy days when a high drive or 3w off the tee can be pushed further in the wrong direction. I hit it almost as far as my 3W (with no wind), sometimes farther on firm ground with the run out.

WITB

Epic Flash Sub Zero. 10o. Mitsubishi Tensei 75g shaft.

PXG 1 iron. Stiff.

Mavrik Sub Zero 3wd. Mavrick 3Hybrid

Mavrik Pro 5-PW. 

Mack Daddy 46, 52, 60 wedges

Odyssey Stoke Lab Marxman

Chrome Soft Triple Track

[Shankster]

28 minutes ago, MScott said:

I have a PXG 1 iron that I use especially on windy days when a high drive or 3w off the tee can be pushed further in the wrong direction. I hit it almost as far as my 3W (with no wind), sometimes farther on firm ground with the run out.

WITB

Epic Flash Sub Zero. 10o. Mitsubishi Tensei 75g shaft.

PXG 1 iron. Stiff.

Mavrik Sub Zero 3wd. Mavrick 3Hybrid

Mavrik Pro 5-PW. 

Mack Daddy 46, 52, 60 wedges

Odyssey Stoke Lab Marxman

Chrome Soft Triple Track

A 1 iron.  Love it.  I’ll buy you an Ice Tea if we ever meet in person.  Gen 1 or 2? I almost bought one last year.

[HeathS16]

31 minutes ago, MScott said:

I have a PXG 1 iron that I use especially on windy days when a high drive or 3w off the tee can be pushed further in the wrong direction. I hit it almost as far as my 3W (with no wind), sometimes farther on firm ground with the run out.

WITB

Epic Flash Sub Zero. 10o. Mitsubishi Tensei 75g shaft.

PXG 1 iron. Stiff.

Mavrik Sub Zero 3wd. Mavrick 3Hybrid

Mavrik Pro 5-PW. 

Mack Daddy 46, 52, 60 wedges

Odyssey Stoke Lab Marxman

Chrome Soft Triple Track

Courage my dude, I'm not super comfy with anything below a 4 much less hitting a 1 iron! 

[ForeRightAgain]

Only on par 3's.  Only other time I don't use Driver is on tight holes or holes with trouble where I will probably play my 5W

[Kensky10]

I irons off the tee to hit my number on short par 4s or to avoid hazards and bunkers. 
 

I also had a coach teach us on par 5s you should go 5 iron, 5 iron then that will give you full scoring club into the green. 

[M. Parsons]

It's something I'm still working on, but I like to try to play the hole in reverse...basically shooting to a targeted approach distance.  So, that usually determines what I use off the tee.  Any trouble can play a factor as well.  But there are also times when I'm really feeling it with the driver, and I just pull it on everything, but that can get me in trouble if I get to a close distance I don't like going into the green with.

[IONEPUTT]

I ONLY hit irons off the tee when it's a Par 3 I'm playing. I have 4 woods in my bag, 3,5,7, and 9. Nine wood is 24*'s with a carry of 205, so my longest iron is my 6i. Depending on what distance off the tee works best, I'll hit one of my woods and that usually means Fairway hit and an iron into the green on Par 4's or high loft wood for the second shot on par 5's. MY driver is about 265 carry so if that will not get me into trouble off the tee, I hit driver. My 18* 5 wood is good for 255 total, so that is my club of choice on most short Par 4's, especially a dogleg hole where more than 265 means running through the fairway and into the rough. 

[Drew212]

I use my 4i, 5w and 3w off the tee pretty frequently. I prefer hitting driver when possible but my home course has 6 holes that I have to use the other 3 clubs to tee off with. It’s mostly due to a creek that runs throughout the course. Many of the tee boxes are up high with the creek running across the fairway down below. So I have to use less club to stay short of the hazard. Another hole has a tight fairway that slopes hard to the right forcing you to hit the left fairway which will funnel your ball back to the middle. The problem is there are woods lining the left that start about 230 yards from the tee box. I use my 4i to tee off with because it only carries about 215 yards which keeps me short of the trees if I go too left. This takes the penalty out of the equation and it funnels me back to the middle for my approach. Hope that helps give you some ideas. 

[vagabon68]

Never use a Tee with an iron personal preference.  I tee off with driver on probably half of the holes but it always depends on the shape and hazards of the hole. If I need a good draw it’s the 3 wood, for a low fade my 3 hybrid, for a tight short hole it’s the 6 hybrid. 

[Willie T]

Short and/or hard dogleg par 4’s are typically fairway wood or 3h.  Rest of the time it’s big stick unless it’s misbehaving and then I back down till there is an agreeable club that day.  

[Dweed]

Whenever there is a high probability that I'll hit thru the fairway. Primarily on hard doglegs or very narrow fairways.

 

[Donn lost in San Diego]

My local course has a narrow tree and O.B left and right par 4.  And a par 3 nearly 200 yards from the whites.  So I was at a demo day, and ordered up a Mizuno MMC18 Fly Hi 3 driving or utility iron.  I already owned an older Mizu 24 degree Fli Hi that is a GFF, love it, so went and got a 3 iron of the current technology, for more yards, even tho the new one is not a GFF.  Works for me, if I can quit pulling it.  I do a lot of serious practice at the range with it.  I don't control a 3 wood shaft as well as this shorter Mizu iron. 

[Donn lost in San Diego]

12 hours ago, scooterhd2 said:

I agree. Alot of people think they have a great 150 yard or 125 yard shot, but if you really looked at the numbers they would be shocked how many greens they miss from there.  Just think what is your Par 3 scoring average? Most of us are over par, and much worse than your par 4 or par 5 averages relative to par. And that's because you are not hitting greens with your irons.

From 125-150 yards, Danny Willet is averaging a miss of 27 feet from the fairway, 48 feet from the rough, 59% GIR from that distance and he has probably has a wedge in his hands. Most of us could not hold Danny Willet's bag or make his tea right. 

Chop the distance to 75-100 yards which is likely a partial shot for him and Willets GIR is 94%. Approach from fairway is 11 feet. Approach from rough is 16 feet. 

I don't have numbers to back it up but I agree. I just don't get this common idea that your full swing wedge is more accurate than your 3/4 shot or 1/2 shot wedge, or going to a higher loft wedge.  Maybe it works for a single digit hdcp/index golfer but it still defies logic.  Of course, most of the whole sport defies logic.

[DaveP043]

14 hours ago, Kensky10 said:

I also had a coach teach us on par 5s you should go 5 iron, 5 iron then that will give you full scoring club into the green. 

Modern statistical evaluations would suggest that this is a poor plan, voluntarily giving up close to 100 yards over the first two shots.  

[heavygolffeels]

2 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

Modern statistical evaluations would suggest that this is a poor plan, voluntarily giving up close to 100 yards over the first two shots.  

And thats assuming good hits. What happens if you chunk your five iron on a 500 yard hole? You hit your tee shot with 5 iron 180, your second shot is chunked and goes 100. Now you are in the middle of the fairway but 220 out hitting 3 with a FW metal off the deck.  Bogey is a good score at that point. 

Same hole and hit a 250 yard drive, and lets just say you chunk your 5 iron on the second shot. Or maybe you need to hit a low punch from a poor drive, and you are only able to advance 100 yards. Either way, you have made 1 poor swing out of 2, yet you are 150 out. Par is reasonable from there. You'd have to hit another poor shot to make bogey.

 

[MC3157]

On short narrow or dogleg holes where there's a danger of hitting through the fairway into trouble, I'll use 3w or a hybrid off the tee. I get plenty of distance with those clubs off the tee when needed. On average I use my driver about 10 to 12 times a round off the tee box. If I end up in the trees or other trouble and need to keep a shot really low to go under tree branches then I'll use driver off the deck to get back out!

[Alf. S]

Normally I'm driver unless there is a lot of trouble in range. A burn (creek), bunkers at both sides of the fairway. And will normally try to lay up a doglegs so I'm in the fairway. My best irons are 8-LW so if I can get within 150yds off the tee I'm either GIR or greenside chipping.

But I think I'm about to change strategy. Scotland is usually a lovely green country but we have had a long dry summer locally only 2.5 inches of rain in the last 3 months, normally we are 12-18 inches in the same time period. Most courses have sprinklers on  tees and greens but not fairways. Fairways are hard and fast, greens are firm so you can't fly the ball into most of them. Over the last 4 days I have had a gross 76, 87, 77, 86. I was wondering why, was I hitting the ball so much better on the good days? I don't think so! I then tried to analyse the games and OK I had putted better on the low rounds but I surmised that I was leaving myself with really difficult approach shots, at the moment you have to run the ball in, if I'm out of position I have to try and manufacture a shot or fire at the green and hope for a good bounce, not a good strategy. So at the weekend I'm going to try and go for placement rather than distance. My 5i is probably going about 220yds at the moment so this maybe a good bet on some of the holes. Saying that the weather may be about to break, out at 11am.

[Kensky10]

On 8/5/2021 at 5:44 AM, DaveP043 said:

Modern statistical evaluations would suggest that this is a poor plan, voluntarily giving up close to 100 yards over the first two shots.  

I didn’t say he was a good coach.

[Micah T]

Driver stays in the bag when the hole cannot hold a right miss 265-300 yards out: OB, water hazard, trees, etc.

If that trouble extends farther back towards the tee, then 3 wood is out. My miss with woods is to the right, so if both could find trouble, I’ll go to my 3 iron.  
 

I used to “play to a go-to yardage” but find I’m actually more accurate on partial shots inside of 100 yards than full shots from 110-160 yards.

[CRW]

Very rarely.  I use driver on the majority of holes and use the Decade decision tree:

 

Occasionally I will hit 3w or 2i/u off the tee if the hole is really tight, or a dogleg would make driver too long for the hole.