You're Correct!

Most amateur golfers do not actually know how far they hit the golf ball on average with each golf club. One of the biggest mistakes amateurs make is only knowing how far they hit each club when they strike it from the middle and absolutely pure the strike.

This shot will fly further than the others hit with that club, but it is this yardage that the player remembers, even though they only achieve it once in every ten shots or so. As a result, amateur golfers over estimate how far they can actually hit each club on average. This means that when you go out on the golf course to play, you select the wrong club for the yardage of the shot that you are facing because nine times out of ten that club does not fly the distance that you believe it does. The shot is hit short of the green, possibly into a hazard such as a bunker or pond and the score you achieve on that hole goes up.

An advantage of taking too much club, or one extra club than you think you need when you are playing an approach shot into the green is that you probably have the correct club for that yardage when playing the shot on average. It will allow you to play the distance required even when the ball is not struck purely from the centre of the face, which causes distance loss. It allows you a larger area to hit from off the face to achieve the distance of the approach shot and therefore allows you more forgiveness on off centre strikes.

A further advantage of taking too much club is that you will clear the hazards that you face with the approach shot even if you do not strike from the exact centre of the club face. Clearing hazards such as bunkers or ponds that are positioned for shots that are struck short of the required yardage, means you will still hit the green and be able to achieve a low score. If you do strike the shot purely and hit a little further than your average distance for that club, you will finish at the back of the green but this is a much better area than being short of the green, as hazards are usually positioned short, rather than beyond the green, meaning you have a much simpler shot to play and helping you to keep your score low.

If you take too much club on an approach shot, it allows you to make a swing that is much more within you and therefore more controlled, with a better outcome on the strike with the golf ball, rather than having to swing as hard as you can with the golf club to force the yardage, which risks a lot more mis-hit golf shots that will fall short of the target.

Taking too much golf club does not guarantee a close and accurate golf shot. You need to know the distance that you strike the golf ball on average with each golf club and work on repeating this distance, rather than trying to hit as far as you possibly can. This will result in you becoming more accurate.

Taking too much club on approach shots is definitely an advantage over not taking enough. Hazards are usually positioned short of the green to catch mis-hit golf shots that fall short of their intended yardage and the ball never has a chance of going in if it does not even reach the hole. It is definitely an advantage to take more club rather than less.