Here are the facts. I have been playing golf steady for the last 20 years. Before that I quit playing for about 20 years and I started playing when I was around 9 or 10 and played up until my early 20's. Yep, you guessed it. I'm in my mid 60's. Can't get down into the single digits for a steady handicap. Currently I'm a 10.0. My lowest round ever has been level par. My average drive is 220, 7 iron 140 PW 105. I play with a group that plays 6500 yards. There are several par 4's that I cannot reach in regulation except once in a blue moon and then that would be a driver and a 3W. I really have to scramble to get up and down to shoot in the mid to lower 80's for my 10.0 index. At my club there is a tradition that you don't move up to the 6000 yd tees until you reach 70. When I don't play with my group (15-20 players) I occasionally play from the 6000 yard tees and it makes the game a lot easier. There is a big difference from trying to get on in regulation with a 3W/3 Hybrid and a 7 iron. Here is the real question though. It seems like on one or two holes I will have a train wreck that would really help my score if they did not happen. How do you avoid train wrecks ? Usually happens when a drive goes into the rough and all you are trying to do is get back in the fairway and you hit a tree and go even deeper from where you were. Or even worse, you are in the middle of the fairway and slice/pull hook your next shot into the woods or into a water hazard that should not even come into play. I will say that if I could avoid what seems to be the one consistent thing in my game, the inedible blow up hole or two in a round I would be most grateful.