Why Fairways Matter More Than They Used To

There was probably a time when missing the fairway did not feel like much of a problem.

A bit of rough was annoying, but you could often get away with it.

Trees were inconvenient rather than disastrous.

And one loose tee shot did not automatically make the hole feel like hard work.

That tends to change as the years go by.

Not because fairways suddenly become exciting.

Just because missing them can ask a bit more of you than it used to.

The hole usually gets harder from the rough

That is really the heart of it.

A ball in the fairway normally leaves the hole open in front of you.

From the rough, things can become less certain.

The lie might not be as good as it first looks.

The ball may not travel as far as you expect.

And what looked like a straightforward second shot can suddenly become something you have to think about.

That is often where the trouble starts.

Not with one terrible shot.

More often with an ordinary miss that makes the next one harder than it needed to be.

If you do find yourself in an awkward position, The Next Shot After Finding Trouble is really about stopping that one miss from becoming two.

Fairways make the next shot simpler

A lot of golf as we get older comes down to giving ourselves fewer awkward jobs.

That is one reason fairways start to matter more.

From the fairway, you normally know what you are looking at.

The lie is cleaner.

The target is easier to see.

And you have a better idea of what the next shot is asking.

From the rough, there is usually a bit more doubt.

Will it come out cleanly?

Will it travel far enough?

Is the grass thicker than it looks?

Fairways do not guarantee a good hole.

They just make the next shot a bit easier to deal with.

Distance is not much use if it leaves you in trouble

A longer tee shot is not always the better tee shot.

Not if it finishes in thick rough.

Not if it brings trees into play.

And not if the next shot becomes more about getting out than moving forward.

There may have been a time when you could get away with that more often.

Now, a slightly shorter ball in the fairway can be worth far more than a longer one that leaves you with a problem.

That is not cautious golf.

It is just looking at what happens next.

Fairways can make the whole round feel easier

This part gets overlooked.

A tidy tee shot does more than help the scorecard.

When the ball stays in play, everything tends to feel simpler.

You walk straight towards it.

You are not climbing banks or wandering through rough looking for it.

You are not standing behind trees wondering how to get back into play.

And you are not using extra energy trying to repair something that did not need repairing.

Over 18 holes, those little things add up.

A round with a few more fairways can simply feel easier.

Pride can still get involved

Sometimes trouble starts before the ball has even been hit.

You reach for the club you used to hit well on that hole.

You remember the old shot.

You remember how far it went.

For a moment, that memory starts making the decision for you.

We have all done it.

But if another option gives you a better chance of staying in play and leaves you an ordinary next shot, there is plenty to be said for that.

Staying in play leaves you more options

A tee shot in the fairway may not be particularly exciting.

That is fine.

What it does is keep the hole in front of you.

You can see where you are going.

You are more likely to have a normal lie.

And the next shot is usually something familiar rather than a recovery from somewhere awkward.

That matters more now than it used to.

You do not need every hole to become a test of how well you can get out of trouble.

Sometimes avoiding the trouble in the first place is enough.

This is not about hitting every fairway

Nobody needs another target that makes golf feel harder.

You do not have to hit every fairway to have a good round.

The point is simply that fairways are worth a little more than they may have been years ago.

They make the next shot clearer.

They reduce the amount of recovery golf you have to play.

And they can make the walk and the round feel easier as well.

That is worth remembering when you are standing on the tee.

Instead of only thinking:

How far can I hit this?

It can be more useful to ask:

What gives me the best chance of an ordinary next shot?

That does not mean choosing the safest possible option every time.

It just means thinking one shot further ahead.

Fairways matter more as the years go by because they make the hole easier before it has a chance to become awkward.

They do not guarantee a good score.

They just leave you with fewer problems to solve.

And sometimes that is enough.

If club choice is part of this for you, The Club Choice That Saves More Shots Than Pride Does follows the same idea.