I try to not lay-up whenever possible. To me, laying up all the time is a mental handicap for the progression of your game. If you always lay-up you're never going to challenge yourself, and are never going to get better.

When I play with my friends, I ALWAYS take the risky shots - there is no penalty. If I'm playing with my girlfriends dad, yeah, I'll lay it up. I don't think your buddys would care.

160 yards isn't exactly an impossible feat either. With a little work, im positive that you can get it on there consistantly. It's always nice to hear an "OHHHH!" from some random people watching, especially when it's not because your ball almost hit them.

I used to have this problem too, here's my story.

310 yard par 4

The pin is located dog-leg left, and high on a hill. You can't see the pin from the tee box. I usually hit a soft 9 (straight), and a booming 6 (left and up the hill) to get on. I've always played this hole the same way, and have never been able to birdie. This is probably the hardest hole on the couse, because the green is VERY shallow, and you can't see the exact location of the pin, only that if it's right, or left. There're houses behind, so you can't just "slam and guess".

I had a bit to drink, and was feeling a little bit brave. I took a range ball out of my bag and told my self "**** it, I can get within chipping distance with my driver in one shot." I teed up, aimed straight at the trees and let loose. After the rest of the party teed off, we hoped in our carts. When we got arround the bend, I saw that my ball had landed 90% up the hill. Needless to say I took my trusty SW and ran it 2 ft from the hole. I tapped in for birdie, and in turn, changed my golf philosophy forever ^.^