Aggressive vs Conservative Golf: Which Style Is Better?

Written by Todd in Online Golf Instruction

Have you given much thought to your strategy around the golf course?

Are you an aggressive player or a conservative player?

If you have 225 yards left to a par 5 with water in the front of the green, are you pulling the 3 wood and letting it rip?

Or are you going to lay up short of the water hazard, wedge it on there and give yourself a birdie putt?

These are the decisions that golfers often wrestle with during a round of golf.  Many people ride the emotion of a round of golf and might have multiple golfing personalities.

When things are going well, they might play a bit more conservative, but as soon as they make a double bogey or two, the entire conservative approach goes out the window.  They hit driver off every tee, aim right at every pin and try to hit every par 5 in 2 shots!

Driver or 3 Wood off this tee. Do you risk the driver and leave a wedge or hit 3 wood and maybe have 150 left?

Aggressive vs Conservative Golf

There are pros and cons to playing either style of golf.  Ultimately, the golfer should have a plan for the round of golf they are going to play and try to stick with it.  Of course, whether you are playing match or stroke play might also impact your level of aggressiveness.

Below, we will dive into the pros and cons of each style and help you decide what identity you want as a golfer.

Aggressive Approach To Golf

The aggressive golfer can be identified by the following characteristics:

  • Loves to hit driver off every par 4 and 5
  • Is seeking pins, regardless of bunker or hazard location
  • Gets a thrill from hitting the great shot
  • Wants to reach every par 5 in 2 shots
  • Never sees a shot they can’t hit from the tree
  • Might be better at match play vs stroke play
  • Expects to make every 30 foot putt, disappointed when they don’t

This golfer often enjoys playing skin games or big money games that pay out for low scores on a hole or some spectacular shot such as a pin shot or a long driver.  They love the thrill of the game and seek the thrill shots whenever possible.

What does laying up mean in golf?

The negatives of an aggressive style of golf include:

  • Might hit a shot or two out of bounds on occasion
  • Will short side themselves and make an unnecessary bogey
  • The thrill shot might only happen 10% of the time
  • Makes higher scores than necessary on the par 5s
  • An errant tee shot can lead to a double bogey
  • Can often lead to unnecessary 3 putts

The positives of an aggressive style of golf include:

  • Might make more birdies or eagles compared to a similar skilled playing partner
  • More than likely leaves the course talking about a great shot they hit during the round
  • If they get on a hot run, they can win a match play event or skins game event on the right day

Overall, this style of golf can be fun.  If you are someone looking for a great round of golf, a great shot to remember or want to make plenty of bridies and the occasional eagle, then go with the aggressive style of golf.

If you play a lot of stroke play, you might want to find a way to tone down the aggressive approach on some holes to keep the ball in play and avoid the higher numbers that are unnecessary at times.

When to hit driver off the deck?

Are you aiming right at this pin or playing 10-15 right of the pin?

Conservative Approach To Golf

The conservative golfer can be identified by the following characteristics:

  • Enjoys the strategy of plotting their way around a course
  • Is fine with hitting a long iron, fairway wood or something other than a driver off a par 4 or par 5
  • Enjoys hitting many greens in regulation and playing to the bigger part of the green.
  • Takes pride in a successful 2 putt from 30 feet
  • Is fine with punching out from the trees and saving par with their wedge and putter
  • Plays away from danger and feels good about saving par by getting up and down
  • Enjoys making bridies with quality wedge shots on a par 5
  • Might be better at stroke play vs match play

This golfer enjoys entering stroke play competitions where the low score wins and consistently is rewarded.  Might avoid the skins game where every golfer is trying to hit a great shot to create a great memory on every hole.

When to hit 3 wood off the tee?

The negatives of a conservative style of golf include:

  • Might not make a birdie on an easy par 4 or par 5 because the are too conservative
  • Might lay too far back on a par 4 or par 5
  • Will 3 putt from leaving a 40 foot putt and play too conservative
  • Might not make enough birdies to compete on an easier course

The positives of a conservative style of golf include:

  • Might make more pars and less big numbers compared to a similar skilled playing partner
  • More than likely leaves the course talking about the quality score they shot and the pars they saved by getting up and down.
  • Can grind out a round and win some stroke play or match play competitions through consistency and eliminating the big number.
  • Will avoid 3 putts and potential birdies for 2 putt pars

Overall, this style of golf can be fun for the right personality and the golfer that takes pride in controlling his or her emotions for 4-5 hours and grinding out a quality score.  If you are someone that enjoys making pars and being strategic in their approach to the round of golf, then try this style out.

If you play a lot of match play, you might want to find a way to make a birdie or two more per round by being a bit more aggressive on some easier holes on the course.  You could play off your partner a bit and be strategic on when to be aggressive.

Lag putt drills and tips

Are you going right at this pin or playing short and right? What would the analytics say?

Aggressive vs Conservative Golf: Which Style Is Best For Your Game?

Some people might pick a style based on the personality that they have and what is the most fun.  Eventually, however, if someone wants to play their best golf, they need to lean more towards the analytical side when it comes to approach shots and deciding the best club off the tee. 

Some might say the analytics plays towards what would have been considered aggressive off the tee (hitting driver more often) and more conservative with approach shots (playing more towards the center of the green).  This is a very general overview, but the most elite golfers dive into the analytics and the great news is that the studies have been done and there are services to support you in the journey.

The analytics are pretty clear when it comes to the best way to play golf.  I would highly recommend Decade Golf at the link here.

What Is Decade Golf? (From Their Website)

The DECADE Course Management System, created by Scott Fawcett, has solved golf strategy by combining shot distribution patterns and PGA Tour scoring statistics. When Scott combined those two data sets he created a simple way to optimize target selection. Good players know if a pin is closely guarded by a lake to favor the center of the green – but how much? DECADE quickly generates the optimal target that will produce the lowest score based on distance, hazards, and hole location.

My Secret To Golf Improvement

Let’s face it, in order to get really good at golf, we must practice frequently.  About four years ago, I made the leap and invested in a golf simulator build for my garage.  I went with a SkyTrak Launch Monitor and the TGC software and can now play over 100,000 courses including Augusta, Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, Whistling Straits. St. Andrews and many other of the top 100 courses in the world.

This golf simulator setup, which is more affordable that you might imagine, has been a game changer.  I can now play golf everyday of the year regardless of rain, snow, cold weather or time of day.  I can practice or play rounds of golf.  I can stand in the 11th fairway at Augusta and with the auto-rewind feature I am able to practice my approach shots from various differences.

It is worth checking out through Rain or Shine Golf as they offer some incredible packages along with financing offers that are difficult to beat.

Some direct links to Rain or Shine Golf for pricing and financing:

Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better

What does this mean for you?  I believe in the following recipe to get better:

1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor.  Here are some options:

Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:

2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed.  Here are some options:

Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:

3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier.  Here is a series on breaking through:

We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.

4 – Practice Frequently

Did you know that I build a golf simulator in my garage and have played over 500 rounds of golf on my SkyTrak system?  It has been a game changer and one worth checking out. Here are some of my other posts on golf simulators frequently asked questions:

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