To the golfers considering "leaving driver in the bag"

Imagine you have a buddy who is just starting to get into golf. He steps up to a 150-yard par three, 5-iron in hand, and shanks it into the fescue, barely 20 yards from the tee box.

On the next hole, he takes a few wacks at it and eventually winds up with a 130-yard approach shot to the green. He pulls out a 7-iron, and chunks the shit out of it, barely moving the ball a foot in front of him. Frustrated, he tries again, this time blading it over the green, bouncing off the cart path...OB.

So your buddy turns to you and announces, "from now on I'm just gonna leave irons in the bag."

Skeptical, you ask him what he plans on doing when he's 100-200 yards out. "Well I can't seem to keep my irons in play so I'll hit my putter as hard as I can towards the green. I'm pretty sure I can score better that way."

Would you encourage him to do this? I'd certainly hope not. I mean it might be a fun experiment to see how he does, but long-term it's extremely obvious that he won't be able to play real golf this way.

Leaving driver in the bag is no different. If you are doing it for fun and view it that way, no problem! Have at it! But to argue that it's a "smarter" way to play is just as silly as leaving irons in the bag. If you want to be a good golfer, don't do it!