There is a debate about whether it is best to hit the ball a long way, or to hit it straight. You read this on golf forums all the time. And sooner or later someone will chime in with, “220 in the fairway beats 270 in the weeds.” Let’s examine that tired trope.

It implies that short hitters are always in the fairway and long hitters are always in the weeds. The guys I have played with who can really put it out there are very straight, too, because they have a very good swing. The guys who hit the ball all over the place are the 220 hitters (if that), because they don’t have a good swing at all.

If you could give me 270 off the tee I would take it in a heartbeat and learn to control it if I had to. You can always learn to hit it straight. You can’t learn to hit it long if you don’t already, despite what you see in the golf mags or on YouTube.

It comes down to this: 220 in the fairway beats 220 in the weeds, which is around where most of us are playing. So straight is better. With the distance you have.